Gemm provides Fast ForWord and other research-based software to children in center or at home in the US and Canada. These advances in cognitive research and neuroscience help children make the most of their natural smarts. Our approach is research based, clinically proven and road tested. It works because the brain will adapt and change if exercised appropriately, and our programs do just that.
Rewiring The Brain
We primary program, Fast ForWord, works at a fundamental cognitive level, training the brain to process language more accurately and efficiently -- this directly impacts learning and reading. We take advantage of the brain's ability to adapt and change when exercised appropriately, called brain plasticity.
Fast ForWord uses the neuroscience principles of frequency, intensity and shaping -- improvements in tiny, incremental steps -- to activate new regions of the brain, encouraging new neural connections. Every Gemm student experiences some version of the "activation" shown in the fMRI picture.
The brain is a self-organizing organ that constantly adapts to changes in sensory input. And so improved auditory input is quickly integrated into the brain's workings, as seen in the activations of new pathways. These activations translate directly into a more comfortable and effective learning style.
Because the Fast ForWord program works on underlying issues it is able to help a wide variety of children and adults. While we focus on providing local CT or NY dyslexia help, we also help at or above grade level students with our Fast Track course.
Better Processing Helps Reading
Most reading problems boil down to a difficulty processing language -- an inaccurate word memory, called phonological vocabulary. For automaticity (and lfuency) the reading brain is a computer that requires exact matches, text to word memory. When we see a word such as "sleeker" we call on our phonological memory for a match. If we have always heard that word as "leega" because we did not hear the "s" in the "sl" blend and heard the "k" and a "g", then we have little hope of making an automatic match when we come across " sleeker" when reading.
For children with accurate phonological vocabularies, reading is simply transposing a known language to another format. But for the child who heard "leega" reading amounts to learning a whole new language. If phonological memory is compromised in any way, perhaps even due to an ear infection that may have interrupted development for a month or two, phonological vocabulary will be compromised. By improving processing speed, Fast ForWord can "clean up" this word memory, leading many more automatic matches and easier reading. We've witnessed great gains using Fast ForWord for Westchester and Greenwich dyslexia help with a remote tutor or in center.
Better Processing Helps Learning
Accurate listening is a critical and under-appreciated skill. And it is much more pervasive than widely recognized, which is no surprise -- processing language is among the fastest of brain functions. For many young children and adolescents efficient auditory processing is an ongoing challenge. At an early age, parents and teachers work hard on speech and language, and most often they are successful. However, often the learned listening style is inefficient, i.e., it draws an inordinate amount of conscious brain power that makes it exhausting and it drains capacity needed for the development of higher learning functions.
By increasing language processing speed Fast ForWord software effectively slows the world down for children. It helps with attention deficit problems by making it is easier stay engaged -- focus is more comfortable if you can follow more of what is being said in class and at home. It also helps working memory problems by making retention easier if information is coming at you more slowly. Fast ForWord not only increases processing speed, it also increases processing efficiency, making it more subconscious, freeing up an over-taxed conscious brain capacity for thinking and reasoning. All this is possible because of brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to adapt and change when exercised appropriately.
Better Processing Helps Confidence
Many children with learning issues feel overwhelmed by daily life. Everything is happening too fast and they are constantly missing vital chunks of information. By speeding up processing we slow the world down, by making processing more efficient we make the learning day less exhausting. This directly boosts confidence in a way that contributes to further gains for the Fast ForWord student. Improved confidence is a major theme in our parent feedback.
Learn more
The Connecticut reading help we offer at our Fairfield County center and the New York service at our Westchester learning center benefits from improved confidence in our students. If you live outside our region, no problem! We offer our Fast ForWord based program with remote tutoring service support nationwide.
Learn more
We are an alternative to New York or Connecticut tutoring. We provide local Fairfield County and Westchester dyslexia help at our center or at home, with or without a coach. From our first Westchester learning center in Pelham we have grown, opening in Scarsdale, NY and a Fairfield County learning center in Old Greenwich, CT.
