Frequently Asked Questions

Gemm Learning FAQ printable version

How can I fit this 30 minute program in?
Most Fast ForWord students are working 30 minutes a day, five days a week. You can use both weekend days if the week is busy. Also, you can split a session into two parts doing 1-2 exercises before school, 1-2 after school. We believe every schedule has 30 minutes to spare for a program like this that can change a life. 50 and 90 minute protocols are also available.

How long will it take to see results?
The minimum period required for results is 20 hours, or about two months. Elementary age students and children needing help with dyslexia or who have central auditory processing disorders tend to take longer. Older students and those looking for a test-taking or study skills boost take less time. Our period of service ranges from 2-12 months, with most children spending 4-6 month with us.

How much does it cost?
We offer service packages and payment plans that can fit into almost any budget, with payments as low as $110 a month.

This is an investment, a one-time program that has learning independence as its primary goal. In most cases it will end up saving thousands of dollars in future tutoring costs. So in a financial sense our program is an easy winner if compared to a tutoring option.

Gemm Learning is the low cost provider in the USA and Canada, in most cases by a wide margin. We are also the most sophisticated provide in terms of support resources and incentive programs, because this is all we do.

What happens if my child won't do it? Our Test Drive Policy.
We also offer a two-week test drive option to all new clients, a two-week period within which a new client can cancel for any reason at all for a full refund except for the modest registration fee. We also allow refunds deeper into the program if your schedule changes or your child starts to give you a problem.

How is Gemm different from tutoring?
We treat the underlying causes of reading and learning difficulty. By making reading easier -- less frustrating and less exhausting -- we enable participation in the learning to read process. Tutoring does not deal with the underlying issues, but rather tries to work around them, leaving them untouched and likely to re-emerge as problems after tutoring stops.

How does your service work?
Students work on their home computer 4-5 five days for 30 minutes or more. We monitor progress remotely via Internet upload. Each client is assigned a dedicated Gemm professional who is there to answer questions and guide you through the program. If you happen to live near our centers in Westchester, NY or Fairfield County, CT you can choose to come into a center each day.

How do you compare to a clinician?
The most important difference is that providing Fast ForWord to families for home use is all we do. We have put a great deal of thought and effort into the whole family experience - we have a website for the students at www.gemmcity.com with all kinds of prizes and rewards. For parents, we provide a sophisticated level of support including how-to videos and our My Gemm parent resources website and regular email updates. Other differences from clinicians include our service responsiveness, our Guarantee and our flexibility in payment and service options.
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How does Fast ForWord compare to Earobics and the Listening Program?
Think of Fast ForWord as industrial strength. Earobics is a simple, shrink-wrapped software that copies the idea behind Fast ForWord. Because of its basic architecture, it is not adaptive, meaning that is incapable of providing the intensity required to make the kinds of changes Fast ForWord is able to achieve. Having said that, it is a good on-ramp for Fast ForWord in 3 and 4 years olds, helping them develop sufficient auditory processing skills to be able to start on our program. A recent study of many reading programs, that included Earobics and Fast ForWord had Fast ForWord come out first (rated "High Gain") while Earobics came in last (rated "No Gain"). Request a copy here.

The Listening Program is a passive listening program that also can be a set up program for Fast ForWord. Its goals are somewhat different, more general learning related as opposed to reading-focused and its success is less consistent and less documented. Gemm Learning will recommend and offer TLP in a few limited cases for local families as a way of preparing a 3-5 year old for Fast ForWord.

How do I follow my child's progress?
You will receive a weekly email summarizing progress for the week and since inception. In addition, at the outset Gemm develops a Gemm Plan for Achievement for your child which will be sent to you, with updates of that plan being sent out at each milestone.

We track errors made, rate of progress, work-rate and many other items, using data uploads that occur automatically via the Internet after every session. We will be in constant contact, reacting to progress and making changes to the work assignments in accordance with that student's individualized plan.

How does your guarantee work?
We are going with the science on this one! Namely, that in every case the brain will benefit from the kind of exercise Fast ForWord provides. And so we guarantee that you will see cognitive changes.

Here's how the guarantee works: if you work on Fast ForWord consistently for four months, and do not observe changes -- most people start relating changes in a month or so! -- or changes are not picked up in our pre and post Behavioral Rating survey or in our pre and post testing, we will provide BrainWare Safari (with the same professional oversight) for the three months.

It is rare that we do not see changes, but if Fast ForWord does not help, BrainWare is a great next choice. It takes an integrative approach working on focus and sensory integration. This very different approach provides a new opportunity for the cognitive changes that brought you to us in the first place.

How does your program help reading?
The bottom line is we make reading easier by removing the cognitive impediments to success. We use the Fast ForWord family of products for reading with a step by step process. The first section of the program builds the cognitive foundation required for reading. By improving processing speed, Fast ForWord improves your child's ability to hear the phonemes needed for sounding out when reading -- this directly impacts reading comfort, fluency and comprehension. We then move onto Reading Fluency, then Reading Comprehension and finally -- for middle and high school only -- Critical Reading.

Does Fast ForWord help other learning issues?
Yes, it can help with listening in class and general learning efficiency. By speeding up the ability to process sound and language, i.e., auditory processing, Fast ForWord essentially slows the world down for a child and makes it less exhausting. This improves the ability to follow multi-step directions, to attend in class, and to participate more in class and in conversation, amongst other things.

How is BrainWare Safari different from Fast ForWord?
BrainWare Safari is a broad-based program that addresses almost all of the cognitive issues not addressed by Fast ForWord. This includes sensory integration -- so important in focus, longer term and visual memory, selective and divided attention and visual processing skills. For distractibility, slow work rates and retention issues, we suggest BrainWare Safari.

When do I start seeing results?
After about three weeks most parents start to notice signs of change. We most often hear about language gains and better confidence in younger children, and less reading reluctance in older students. Everyone is different though, and for some children the gains come more slowly. While most children experience significant gains while doing the program, the majority of gains occur in the year or two after the program as the improved cognitive ability translates into academic achievement.

How do you get started?
We first need a phone consult to be sure your child is a candidate for our program. Most of the time this is a 15 minute call. If we can help, and you decide you would like to use us, we can take payment details over the phone and send you a download link for the software. We will do a remote setup for you, give you a personal tour of the program and provide the materials you need to get started.

If you live near a center you can come in for a screening or for a demo. Then, if you like, you can choose to work in center daily although most local students choose to work at home.

How do you know your programs really work?
Gemm staff members know because we see what one staff calls her "little miracles" every day. But new clients need to rely on testimonials -- call and we can provide references -- or research studies. In this regard Fast ForWord is the senior statesman of cognitive research, in fact of all reading software. There have been over 700 white papers written, 90 school based research studies tracking 40,000 students. In addition, independent research conducted by Stanford University has imaged the brain before and after the use Fast ForWord to show that areas of the brain are activated after product use. BrainWare Safari is a much newer program, launched first in 2005 and so has far fewer studies to back it up. But there are studies that show impressive results and more are coming.

Is this one of those products that you have to do forever?
No. Because the brain is strengthening underlying cognitive skills that are then used every day, these benefits last a lifetime. In fact, many of the latest Fast ForWord trials (and our own experience) are focusing on the acceleration of gains as the years go by -- removing a small but fundamental glitch (learning impediment) can unleash a tidal wave of gains.