Has anyone tried neurofeedback?

I am wondering if anyone has tried neurofeedback for SPD. I have a 5 year old sensory seeker who is often aggressive-sometimes because he is angry, and sometimes because his wild movements cause him to crash into us, our pets, walls, and other children at school. We always thought he was normal, just high energy, but his behavior rapidly deteriorated at 4 years 10 months, especially at preschool.

After months of waiting lists, he began therapy this Feb. It seemed to be going well at first, but 5 weeks into therapy, his preschool teacher kicked him out of school with no notice and said that she felt that things had gotten worse since therapy started. Then about 8 weeks into therapy, he started being more aggressive and emotionally volatile at home, as well as throwing more tantrums in therapy. The therapist said that things usually get worse before they get better because we are addressing issues and asking him to change, so he is resistant. While this makes sense, I have become frustrated and depressed, and have no idea how long things will take to get better.


A family therapist at work recommended neurofeedback and gave us the name of a local practitioner. The therapist is familiar with SPD but not a specialist and recommended it due to its benefits with other behavioral problems, not SPD. I called the center he referred me to, and the woman who works there said that she thought it would work for the symptoms I described, she said that she had treated children and is currently working with a 6 year old. However, she was not aware of any specific studies that had addressed the success of neurofeedback with SPD. I know that neurofeedback has well documented success with ADHD. My son has all of the hyperactivity symptoms of ADHD, but none of the concentration problems, and three different OTs have said that he doesn't have ADHD.

I'm eager to try neurofeedback, since it makes sense that training the brain would help someone cope with SPD. However, it is not covered by insurance, and will probably cost $3000-$4000 maybe more or less depending upon how many sessions he needs. We could afford it and I am desperate, but if we try it and it does not work, that means we couldn't spend the money on something else, like hiring a private therapist to work on his social interactions in his new preschool (something I'm also considering).

Please, please, let me know if you know of any case studies, personal experience, or references that address this.

THANKS!