Accelerated Summer Treatment Program for ADHD and Autism, with remote treatment options for CA patients. To learn more,
click here >>Accelerated Summer Treatment Program for ADHD and Autism, with remote treatment options for CA patients. To learn more,
click here >>If you or a loved one has a developmental disability like autism and traditional treatments covered by insurance haven’t provided life-changing improvement, you may be wondering about additional treatment options. While some therapies may seem out of reach due to lack of insurance coverage, the California Regional Centers (such as the Westside Regional Center, Regional Center of Orange County, and Inland Regional Center, etc.) offer an alternative path to acquiring funds for treatment. Their Self-Determination Program (SDP) allows people with qualified disabilities to use public funding to choose additional effective services for treatment, including qEEG brain mapping and brain map-guided neurofeedback therapy.
The Drake Institute of Neurophysical Medicine has over 30 years of clinical experience providing non-invasive, non-drug treatments for autism. Under the guidance of our physician, we provide brain map-guided neurofeedback therapy to improve brain functioning to reduce and improve symptoms. In spite of its effectiveness, this non-conventional treatment isn’t usually covered by traditional insurance providers. However, with the Self-Determination Program, you can take control of your care and access additional treatments without paying out-of-pocket or relying on limited insurance coverage.
In this article, we’ll explain how California Regional Centers work, who qualifies for the Self-Determination Program, and how you can use it to access therapies like neurofeedback and qEEG brain mapping under a physician’s guidance.
California Regional Centers are a network of 21 community-based non-profit organizations, each serving a specific geographic area. Created under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act and Contracted by the State of California through the Department of Developmental Services, these non-profit organizations coordinate a wide range of services to help people with developmental disabilities improve their lives.
Regional Centers offer comprehensive support systems that address each person’s unique needs, including:
A primary Regional Center benefit is their support for therapies that help improve focus, emotional regulation, and behavior, especially when other treatments have been ineffective. This becomes especially valuable for family’s seeking options beyond what is covered by traditional insurance.
Through the Self-Determination Program, Regional Centers offer unprecedented flexibility, allowing access to funding for services like qEEG brain mapping and neurofeedback therapy when they align with treatment goals. In this program, Regional Centers can coordinate with independent providers who specialize in brain-based treatments for autism and related conditions.
The Self-Determination Program is a revolutionary approach to make necessary services available to people with developmental disabilities. With other programs, treatment options are often limited to pre-approved vendors and services. The SDP offers more options over treatment choices, giving participants direct control over their treatment choices. Qualified individuals and their families are given a personalized budget based on their needs, which can be used to access resources and services that best meet their unique needs and treatment goals.
This person-centered approach offers flexibility and independence for people to choose resources they feel will most benefit their lives.
Under the SDP, participants can:
Originally passed in 1969 and expanded in 1977, The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (the Lanterman Act) is a landmark California law that legally guarantees people with developmental disabilities have the same rights as all other citizens. This includes the right to:
These rights are the foundation of the Self-Determination Program, ensuring that people with developmental disabilities can choose the therapies and services they receive, especially when the services align with their treatment goals, may offer meaningful benefits, and can potentially improve their quality of life. This includes access to options like qEEG brain mapping and neurofeedback therapy.
Self-Determination Program eligibility requirements include:
Basic Eligibility Criteria:
Qualifying Developmental Disabilities:
These disabilities must have originated before age 18, be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a significant disability that is not solely psychiatric, solely a learning disability, or solely physical in nature.
Enrolling in the Self-Determination Program includes the following steps:
Reach out to your assigned Regional Center Service Coordinator and tell them about your interest in the Self-Determination Program. Your Service Coordinator will guide you through the process and can answer any questions you have about the program.
The mandatory orientation session explains important information about how the Self-Determination Program works, including your rights, responsibilities, and available resources. Regional Center orientations are available regularly, both in-person and online.
The collaborative person-centered planning process includes you and any family members or representatives that you choose to be involved as your support system. This is where you identify your unique strengths, challenges, preferences, goals, and needs.
Develop an Individual Program Plan (IPP) with the help of your team to outline your goals and the specific services and supports you want or need. If you’re seeking neurofeedback therapy as a treatment option, include it as part of your plan in this step, explaining how it will help address your needs and goals.
As a participant in the Self-Determination Program, you’ll be required to work with a Financial Management Service (FMS) provider to manage the financial aspects of your individual budget, processes payments to service providers like the Drake Institute, handle tax issues, and ensure compliance with program regulations. Your Regional Center can provide a list of approved FMS providers.
Yes — If It's in Your IPP
One of the major advantages of the Self-Determination Program is the flexibility it gives people in choosing their own treatments and services. SDP funds can be used for qEEG brain mapping and neurofeedback therapy but they must first be included in your Individual Program Plan (IPP), as mentioned above.
To include neurofeedback therapy in your IPP:
In your IPP meeting, frame neurofeedback therapy as a necessary treatment to further address your challenges. Talk about how this approach targets underlying neurological patterns that may be contributing to symptoms of your disability and could greatly improve your quality of life.
Neurofeedback therapy and qEEG brain mapping meet the Self-Determination Program's objectives of supporting independence and improving quality of life by directly addressing the core symptoms of autism and related disorders that many patients suffer from. These therapies help by improving and supporting:
As you can see, by targeting these areas of functioning, brain map-guided neurofeedback therapy supports the goals of the Self-Determination Program: increasing independence, improving quality of life, and promoting community integration.
The Drake Institute has clinically pioneered the use of advanced treatment technologies to treat a variety of brain-based medical disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Using a combination of brain map-guided neurofeedback and sometimes neurostimulation, our Medical Director creates customized treatment protocols to address each patient's needs.
Brain Mapping
To develop our individualized treatment plans, we first complete a qEEG brain map analysis for each patient. Brain mapping helps us identify which specific regions or networks of the brain are dysregulated and linked to symptoms.
To collect this data, 19 sensors are placed around the scalp in areas of the brain responsible for language, focus, memory, executive functioning, social/emotional understanding, and behavioral/emotional regulation. The 19 sensors measure and record brainwave activity that is processed through a normative database of neurotypical individuals.
When we compare the patient's results with those of neurotypical individuals, we can identify regions or networks of the brain that are dysregulated and causing symptoms. This information also allows us to determine how these areas are dysregulated so that we can develop specific treatment protocols that help improve brain functioning and reduce symptoms.
Neurofeedback
During neurofeedback training/treatment, sensors are again placed on the scalp. The sensors record and display instantaneous brainwave activity visually in real-time on a computer screen with simultaneous auditory feedback as well.
During neurofeedback sessions, the patient is seeing the results of how their brain is working and with this information, they learn to improve their brainwave activity by guiding it toward healthier, more appropriate functional brainwave patterns.
We do not administer any drugs or perform invasive procedures during this process. Instead, the patient is improving their own brain functioning naturally, guided only by visual and auditory feedback.
Neurostimulation
As an adjunct to neurofeedback, we may also use neurostimulation guided by qEEG brain map findings to gently stimulate the brain into healthier functional patterns. In our experience, some patients may benefit even more from neurofeedback if we also use neurostimulation. We have found this particularly helpful for lower-functioning children on the Autism Spectrum.
Patients seeking treatment via the Self-Determination Program must officially request assistance from their Regional Center Case Worker, who will provide them with instructions on how to access the funds for treatment. There may be variations in the procedure depending on different Regional Centers, so it's important to work with your Case Worker to get the proper paperwork in order.
The Drake Institute can provide guidance on how to effectively communicate the benefits of brain map-guided neurofeedback therapy for your specific situation.
Once you've included neurofeedback therapy in your IPP and selected the Drake Institute as your provider, your Financial Management Service (FMS) will handle the payment process. The FMS acts as an intermediary that:
Your FMS provider will guide you through the specific documentation necessary for payment authorization and help ensure a smooth financial process so you can focus on treatment rather than administrative details.
The Drake Institute works closely with California Regional Centers to accept funding and provide treatment to patients through the Self-Determination Program. Our experience with developmental disabilities and non-drug treatments positions us as an ideal provider for people seeking an effective approach to treating autism and related conditions.
In the last thirty years, Drake has helped thousands of patients with developmental disabilities such as autism reduce or resolve their symptoms and thereby achieve a better quality of life. Call us at 1-800-700-4233 or fill out the free consultation form to get started.
If you or a family member need help, please fill out our confidential online form
Interview with Dr. David Velkoff
Seth's Story
Interview with Dr. David Velkoff
Spanish News Feature
“David F. Velkoff, M.D., our Medical Director and co-founder, supervises all evaluation procedures and treatment programs. He is recognized as a physician pioneer in using biofeedback, qEEG brain mapping, neurofeedback, and neuromodulation in the treatment of ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and stress related illnesses including anxiety, depression, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Dr. David Velkoff earned his Master’s degree in Psychology from the California State University at Los Angeles in 1975, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta in 1976. This was followed by Dr. Velkoff completing his internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology with an elective in Neurology at the University of California Medical Center in Irvine. He then shifted his specialty to Neurophysical Medicine and received his initial training in biofeedback/neurofeedback in Neurophysical Medicine from the leading doctors in the world in biofeedback at the renown Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. In 1980, he co-founded the Drake Institute of Neurophysical Medicine. Seeking to better understand the link between illness and the mind, Dr. Velkoff served as the clinical director of an international research study on psychoneuroimmunology with the UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. This was a follow-up study to an earlier clinical collaborative effort with UCLA School of Medicine demonstrating how the Drake Institute's stress treatment resulted in improved immune functioning of natural killer cell activity. Dr. Velkoff served as one of the founding associate editors of the scientific publication, Journal of Neurotherapy. He has been an invited guest lecturer at Los Angeles Children's Hospital, UCLA, Cedars Sinai Medical Center-Thalians Mental Health Center, St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, and CHADD. He has been a medical consultant in Neurophysical Medicine to CNN, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Univision, and PBS.”
