Mightier Review

A little background before I get into this Mightier review. As a parent of three autistic kids, I know firsthand how challenging life can be, especially for our kiddos on the autism spectrum. I know how difficult it can be to as a parent, to navigate everyday life, especially with the added challenges that autism can bring to the table. Sometimes just making it through the day is a victory for me.

As a dad, I know I can’t fix everything, but I try to level the playing field wherever I can. I’m always looking for things that can help improve our quality of life as a family. I’m very careful about what I bring into our home because money is almost always tight and I’m admittedly skeptical, especially about anything that claims to help kids on the autism spectrum.

What is Mightier?

I was approached by a company called Neuromotion Labs, to review a program called Mightier. Until then, I’d never heard of them before.

They explained to me that Mightier was a video game-based program that teaches kids to recognize and manage their emotions. In other words, Mightier helps to reduce meltdowns and emotional outbursts. I was highly skeptical because I couldn’t fathom how more screen-time would help reduce meltdowns in my house. Screen-time is the one of causes of meltdowns in my house. It seemed counter-intuitive to me.

They caught my attention when I learned that Mightier was developed and tested by Harvard Medical and Boston Children’s Hospital. They explained that after 10 weeks of use, parents see 60%+ reduction in meltdowns, 40% decrease in oppositional behavior, and 19% reduction in parental stress. Over 70% of parents across the board report positive change. That’s a really big deal and warrants serious consideration.

How Does Mightier Work?

Mightier is based on biofeedback, a long-standing, proven science. If you’re not familiar with biofeedback, get ready for some sciency stuff. Biofeedback is a technique that uses electrical sensors to help you learn to control some of your body’s functions, such as your heart rate.

I decided to try this with Emmett, my youngest. Emmett has always struggled with meltdowns and it’s been very difficult to manage. I thought this would be a good test to see if Mightier can deliver on its promise.

Basically, Emmett wears a heart rate monitor on his arm that’s paired to the Mightier tablet and integrated into their extensive library of games.

When Emmett plays a game, he can see his heart rate in real-time on the screen. If he gets too worked up, his heart rate rises into the red, and the game becomes harder/less fun to play.

Do you remember playing Mario Kart as a kid? Do you remember when you’d hit an oil slick, stuff spattered on the screen, and obscured your view in the game, making it harder to play? That’s basically what happens. The difference is, for Emmett to restore the game to a more playable state, he has to get his heart rate back down into the blue. He accomplishes this by calming himself.

Calming

Mightier teaches calming techniques that Emmett can use to bring his heart rate back down into the blue, allowing him to continue playing.

He plays tons of different games and has a blast doing so. Mightier recommends about 45 minutes of use a week. As time goes on, Emmett is applying these skills in real-life situations, outside of the video games. Witnessing that is freaking awesome.

This is so empowering for him because he’s learning to control his emotions so they don’t control him. Meltdowns are an awful experience, especially for the person actually having one. Mightier is helping Emmett to sort of defuse meltdowns before they happen. Not only does this improve his life but it helps reduces the overall stress in the house. I mean, fewer meltdowns are good for everyone.

What Does it Cost?

The cost is $40/month with a 30 day no questions asked return policy.

There are significant discounts for prepaid six-month and twelve-month subscriptions as well.

• $204 for 6 months (one-time fee – no monthly payments)
• $336 for 12 months (one-time fee – no monthly payments) 

One subscription works for the whole family and includes:

• 1 Mighty Band heart rate monitor
• A dedicated tablet
• Mightier app and library of games (iOS and Android)
• An online hub to track your child’s process
• Access to a private community of Mightier parents.

Final Thoughts

We’ve tried for years to help Emmett use some of these same calming techniques and it just never seemed to click. Mightier made all the difference in the world and helped Emmett gain more control over his emotions. There’s not really a learning curve to this but I chose to sit down with Emmet and work on this together at first. It helped me to better understand the process and I was there to help if needed. He quickly became comfortable on his own. It is an amazing program that does what it claims to do. It teaches skills that Emmett will use for the rest of his life. He absolutely loves Mightier. I was very skeptical at first but I’m so grateful I gave it a try.

I highly recommend that you do as well.

Additional Resources:

• My longer more detailed Mightier Review: Click Here
• Find out what other parents are saying about Mightier: Click Here
• The Science and Research behind Mightier: Click Here
• Reach out to me with any questions you may have via the form below.

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