Gemm Learning received this letter just this week:

Dear Geoff,
It has taken me awhile to write to you because it has been really hard to find the right words that express my gratitude. I have decided to share my story of the struggles I have encountered due to my son’s speech/language impairment.

David has a speech and language disability, and struggles very hard to keep up with his peers. He attends public school and the district provides services for him. The Committee of Special Education wanted my child to switch to another school where they felt they had a more “appropriate” setting for his impairment. The setting was a smaller classroom with children that had all types of different needs. It was not an “appropriate” setting it was a place that my son didn’t belong. I refused and David remained in the “mainstream” school setting. David is a bright, caring, lovable boy and is respectful to all around him. The school has been providing support for his needs, but after four years and no improvements I sought outside help.

After research and being turned away by many renowned facilities I became discouraged. Then I met my son’s future Gemm Learning. At one time I was told that my son was not reading at age level, and may not ever get to the same level as the rest of his class because of dyslexia. The Fast ForWord program proved otherwise and more. David is almost at age level reading. It took time and a lot of effort in the beginning of his protocol for him to adjust and get a sense of the program. Since that happened he has not stopped trying to achieve more than he already has. This is a true blessing for a boy that could hardly sound out the word toast and is now reading chapter books on his own.

I will always be in depth to the caring and patient staff at Gemm. In fact using the word staff is not the right word because they are more than that they are goodhearted friends. I believe with my whole heart that David strived with their positive guidance.

This story of a 28 year old dyslexic just came in:

Annemarie, 28, has had dyslexia her entire life. Her self confidence and overall school performance caused her to give up on her dreams of college. Upon leaving high school she has worked in retail without expecting to advance.

Before coming to Gemm Learning, Annemarie was having difficulties at work. She needed to listen to voice mail messages several times to hear the phone number or understand the person's name. Her spelling was atrocious and her co-workers could not read or understand the messages.

Three weeks into her Fast ForWord program with Gemm Learning Annemarie reported that she was no longer having trouble writing phone messages. In addition, she was better able to recognize her spelling errors.

When recently discussing her progress, Annemarie told us, “I feel like I am finally out of the dark.” She now feels when she has her own children she will be able to help them learn to read.
Annemarie is now an avid reader, her reading comprehension is much improved. She has more confidence and is thinking about college. She hopes to work in the education field, either as a teacher or as an advocate for children with special needs.

This story just came in. Mayra has been working at Gemm for about four months.
Recovering from a coma
Mayra was once a student who excelled in almost everything she did. She was at the top of her class in college and played violin for the philharmonic. Mayra was an active volunteer, dedicated to her own education and to helping others.

But then her world fell apart. Mayra earned the opportunity to study in Spain, where she contracted Pneumococcal Meningitis - an infection that often leads to severe brain damage causing the loss of use of entire regions of the body. Mayra's case was no different. The doctors treating Mayra told her parents that she was clinically brain dead. Mayra lost all ability to see, speak and move and her parents had to re-teach her how to chew food, stand and walk. Every aspect of her life needed to be relearned. After a year in the hospital, Mayra recovered some of her normal functions but her cognitive and auditory processing were still severely impaired. Her neurosurgeon told Mrs. Rodriguez the synaptic pathways in her brain had been severed. Basically, the information was still in Mayra's head but she could not access it.

About this time she found Gemm Learning. Medical bills were consuming the family and so Gemm offered to provide Mayra a scholarship for Fast ForWord.

Several months later, after participating in Fast ForWord software, as well as continuing her regular therapies, Mayra has made an astounding recovery. She is able to participate in conversation and has started reading again. Her mother is ecstatic about her recovery and is thrilled with how Gemm Learning and Fast ForWord has helped her daughter.

Incredibly, we are happy to report that Mayra now has a goal of returning to SUNY Binghamton to become a lawyer. It's a stretch goal, but given her recent progress we think she will get there and we are proud to be part of her journey.

Here's a new Fast ForWord software success story that just came in. Gemm has been working with this student for about three months.

A 7 year old battles back from high dose chemo.
Stephen, now in 3rd grade, missed all of 1st grade receiving high dose chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, bone cancer. He has a titanium rod in his leg that requires three surgeries per year to adjust to his body growth. But don’t expect Stephen to complain about the surgeries, the medications, any of it. He just wants to be a kid with time each day to play.

After chemo, Stephen’s mom noticed what medical professionals call chemo brain – a decline in cognitive skills brought on by the toxic effects of chemo. Stephen, previously a good student, was now spending hours on homework, his confidence was down and his teachers recommended a Special Education classroom.

Stephen’s mom felt otherwise. That’s when she came to us. She wanted to know if Fast ForWord could reverse the poisonous effects of chemotherapy. Our center director, Tina Liberatore, was unsure at first. She had seen Fast ForWord work in a wide variety of cases and she was aware that it is being used with stroke patients and she was anxious to help.

Stephen is remarkable young man who had already survived so much. Her advice was to not only to try it, but given the family's medical bills, we offered a scholarship.

Three months later, Stephen is thriving. According to his mother, “Stephen is doing everything faster. His writing has picked up a lot. He has learned to love reading and his reading comprehension is much improved. His hearing teacher has noticed an “amazing” improvement. He is not quite as fast as his classmates, but is working five times faster than last year.” His teachers have also noticed a positive shift in his confidence. By all accounts he is now “singing down the hallway on his way to class.”

“By speeding up his auditory processing, Fast ForWord has effectively slowed the world down for Stephen, making his day much more manageable” said Michelle Reynard, Stephen’s Program Director. “We are exceedingly proud of the phenomenal progress he has made in just a few short months.”

With less time needed for homework, Stephen now has more time to just play. There can be no greater cause for giving thanks this holiday season.

An interesting article came out in ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2008) where functionalMRI studies have detected a consistent delay in language processing in an autistic children. This may explain why software like Fast ForWord which aims to speed up auditory processing to resolve language issues in children at all ability levels. While it is mainly used as a reading software (faster processing of sound creates listening clarity, essential for sounding out words effortlessly) private providers are finding that it is providing autism help. Here is a little of the article.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2008)
— Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. Identifying and classifying these brain response patterns may allow researchers to more accurately diagnose autism and possibly aid in developing more effective treatments for the developmental disorder.

Timing appears to be crucial. "Children with autism respond a fraction of a second more slowly than healthy children to vowel sounds and tones," said study leader Timothy Roberts, Ph.D., vice chair of radiology research and holder of the Oberkircher Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Radiology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Roberts used a technology called magnetoencephalography (MEG), which detects magnetic fields in the brain, just as electroencephalography (EEG) detects electrical fields.