R E L A X AT T H E R I T Z - C A R LTO N L O D G E ( S E E PAG E 2 6 )

For the City of Sandy Springs July/August 2009

www.sandyspringsliving.net

Is Your Child Struggling

with ADHD?
Brain Balance Provides an
Innovative Solution

Parks and Rec. Update

at Morgan Falls
 C o v e r S t o r y g

by Lorrie Bryan

Brain Balance is helping

children with ADHD achieve
amazing results.

Like many of the millions of children

diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive
Disorder (ADHD) Beau Fincher, 9, struggled
academically, socially and behaviorally.
“He was below grade level in reading,
he had little impulse control and he was
prone to fits of rage that were driving us
all crazy,” assesses his father, Lee Fincher.
“When he was four, he was diagnosed
with severe environmental allergies and
we found out his vestibular system was
out of whack. We consulted with doctors
and he underwent sensory integration and
occupational therapies. He was an active,
bright child, but slow to read and he acted
impulsively. When he was 6, a psychologist
for Fulton County schools confirmed what
we suspected—he has ADHD.”

18 S A NDY SPRINGS L I V ING July/August 2009


Currently more prescriptions
are written for ADHD than
for any other childhood
condition.
Fincher says medication helped some, but
Beau continued to struggle, and his behav-
ior was affecting the whole family. “Our
daughter, 11, told us she couldn’t take it
anymore—he was increasingly unmanage-
able and he was making her miserable. We
heard about Brain Balance and went to a
seminar about a year ago to find out more.
I am naturally skeptical and frugal, but
after hearing about the program’s amaz-
ing results, we decided we had to give it a
try. We made helping Beau get better our
number-one priority.”
It wasn’t easy at first, Fincher admits. “The
first thing we discovered is that Beau has
severe food allergies—gluten, wheat, dairy
and eggs. We had to learn how to shop
and rethink the way we eat. And Beau was
“Within nine to ten weeks, we saw a
dramatic improvement. His teachers
remarked at how mature he was acting and
how much he’d changed.”
-Lee Fincher, father of Beau Fincher
reluctant to go to his sessions for the first
few weeks, but then he bought into it and
looked forward to them. Within nine to ten
weeks, we saw a dramatic improvement.
His teachers remarked at how mature he
was acting and how much he’d changed. He
went from being a behavior problem to get-
ting all A’s and S’s in conduct. He went from
being a year behind grade level to just shy of
grade level. We’ve drastically decreased his
medication, and we think he’ll be ready to
move out of IEP entirely and into a regular
classroom by Christmas.”
“When I met Beau last year, I knew that
we could help him,” affirms Dr. Peter Scire,
executive director of the local Brain Bal-
ance Centers. He was struggling with the
classic symptoms of ADHD—excessive
July/August 2009
distractibility, restlessness, impulsive-
ness, rage—and our program is designed
to address the underlying cause for these
symptoms while medications are formu-
lated to treat the symptoms. The great
majority of children graduating from
our program are on less medication or
completely off their medication. I knew
that with the right assessment we could
develop an individual plan for him that
would be successful.
What is Functional
Disconnection
Syndrome?
FDS is a functional imbalance
of brain activity within each
side and/or between the right
and left sides of the brain.
Current research continues to
describe this as brain under-
connectivity, desynchronization
and/or functional disconnection
syndrome. The brain literally
becomes desynchronized or out
of rhythm. So just as an orchestra
may be filled with extremely gifted
musicians, the music played will
sound horrible if the musicians
play out of rhythm with each other.
The brain, too, must function in
rhythm or in synchronicity. 
s a n d y s p r i n g s L I V ING 19
 and motor) activities, cognitive exercises,
and supportive nutritional initiatives
for each child.” Scire says. “We literally
change the brain through exercising the
circuits and retraining the hemispheres
to communicate effectively. The brain is
designed to be in balance, so once you
strengthen the weaker hemisphere, the
negative symptoms disappear. We’re
pleased with Beau’s progress. He’s done
quite well and is on a different path now.
He knows that he is capable of learning
and controlling his impulses and that
if he works, he will succeed. We’ve seen
hundreds of success stories like his.”

What’s the best part? “The peace that

Brain Balance has brought our family
is unbelievable,” says Fincher. “He is a
different kid—one of the most confi-
dent kids you’ll ever meet—and we’re
grateful that he is now able to live up to
his potential.”

For more information, go to

www.brainbalancega.com or call the
Roswell location (770.650.8010),
Suwanee (770.614.4790) or Peachtree
City (770.631.3033).

Photography by Jack Tuszynski

“We now know that the most accurate

diagnosis for children like Beau and
children often diagnosed with autism,
ADHD Medications in the News
Asperger’s, Tourette’s, ADHD, dyslexia and A recent study in The American Journal of Psychiatry
other learning disabilities is actually Func-
tional Disconnection Syndrome or FDS,”
suggests that children and teens who take stimulants like
explains Scire, a board-eligible chiroprac- Ritalin for ADHD have an increased risk for sudden cardiac
tic neurologist. “The latest functional MRI death.
brain research shows that in FDS there is a
functional disconnection between the two
hemispheres of the brain. The hemispheres Authorities say an increasing number of young people
of the brain are essentially out of synch. from Eastern Iowa have been seen at hospitals for abusing
One hemisphere processes information at
a slower speed, like dial-up and the other
drugs prescribed for ADHD. The Iowa Poison Control
hemisphere is processing at DSL speed,” Center reports that seven people, ages 13 to 24, were seen
he explains. at Eastern Iowa hospitals in four days for abuse of such
“First we determine if a child exhibit-
medications as Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin and Vyvanse. The
ing abnormal emotional, social, physical center director says the prescription medications are being
and academic symptoms has FDS. After abused to get high, to lose weight, to stay awake and to
we determine which hemisphere is func-
tioning abnormally, we design a specific
increase mental alertness.
program integrating physical (sensory

20 S A NDY SPRINGS L I V ING July/August 2009