4 questions to see if Gemm is a fit
READING. FOCUS. APD. DYSLEXIA. LEARNING.
Target the source, not the struggle.
Stop managing symptoms. Our at-home neuroscience programs permanently change how the brain learns. Students average 2+ years of reading gain in ~6 months.
4 quick questions to see if Gemm is right for your family
“I have seen a big improvement in all aspects of learning. Most of all her reading and understanding has been awesome. My daughter has had a great time with all the games and the rewards. You have given “hope” to my child.”
Help for Struggling Readers and Learners
Reading software or apps at home almost always fail because there is no accountability, and parents are never quite sure what their child should be working on or what success looks like.
Live 1-on-1 tutoring can help, but it’s expensive, and it’s a temporary fix. It does not address your child’s underlying delays.
Gemm Learning is both. We provide powerful, evidence-based software that uses intensive, quick-fire exercises to target the root causes of learning delays, with caring daily oversight and coaching from educators to keep your child on track and motivated.
Our primary intervention, Fast ForWord, aims to be a one-time program to make reading easier and to accelerate learning – once and for all, in just a few months. We have been providing at-home interventions with remote oversight since 2006.
- Evidence-Based Software: 300+ studies, 3+ million students helped.
- Neuroscience-Based: Adaptive cognitive software that changes how the brain learns.
- Professional Oversight: We monitor, check in, and report regularly.
“I have seen a big improvement in all aspects of learning. Most of all her reading and understanding has been awesome. My daughter has had a great time with all the games and the rewards. You have given “hope” to my child.”
Reading
Smart, but struggling to read? Most often, a language processing delay is holding back fluency or comprehension. Gemm Learning targets the core skills needed for reading proficiency.
Dyslexia
When the brain struggles to map sounds to letters, reading is exhausting. We activate new neural pathways to make listening more accurate and reading more fluent and natural.
Attention & Focus
Attention requires efficient processing. If listening or reading is exhausting, drifting off and distractions are inevitable. We strengthen core cognitive skills to make focus natural rather than forced.
Learning
Smart, but the grades don’t match? Working harder than peers, but still falling behind? Extra effort isn’t the answer. We strengthen core skills to help learning click.
Auditory Processing
Language is the brain’s operating system. Even a minor glitch in auditory processing undermines that system – affecting listening, reading, memory, focus, and thinking. Processing can be strengthened.
Executive Function
Executive function is the brain’s command center. Gemm Learning strengthens the cognitive skills needed for executive function, improving organization, planning, and self-regulation.
Behavior
Homework battles and defiance over reading are often defensive reactions to frustration. The behavior is the symptom, not the problem. We strengthen learning to reduce that frustration, allowing a genuine desire to learn to drive behavior rather than emotions.
Autism
Autistic children make the same errors in language and reading as higher-functioning children; they just make more of them. Most learning and reading delays experienced by children with ASD can be improved.
How The Program Works
Evidence-Based Software With Proactive Professional Oversight
Fast ForWord is an adaptive cognitive training program that uses acoustically modified speech and sound sequences, slowed at first, then adding speed and complexity at the student’s pace to build the language and cognitive skills needed for reading and learning.
Once cognitive and language processing foundations are solidified, the software transitions to reading modules, systematically moving from phonics and decoding to fluency, vocabulary, and deep reading comprehension.
Engaging Exercises
Students log in each day and work on the assignment provided. The program uses neuroscience-based gamified mechanics – like interactive animations and scoring – to encourage the intensity needed to activate new neural pathways and lock in learning.
Professional Service & Support
From the welcome call on day one to your last session, we are with you every step of the way.
Our professionals monitor daily, check in regularly, send weekly reports, and intervene with live virtual sessions as needed. We send certificates at milestones and provide score sheets, videos, and background info to keep you and your child informed and on course.
Brain change requires aerobic effort, and that’s what we get from our students. We are proud of our 90-95% student participation rate (~4.5 days a week) and, of course, the reading and learning gains that result from that effort.
Science Based on 2 Breakthroughs
Fast ForWord was developed by 4 world-renowned neuroscientists around two main ideas:
- Language Processing Drives Reading Skills: Co-founder Dr. Paula Tallal’s pioneering research linked reading to auditory sequencing (and processing) delays, creating a new way to remediate reading difficulties: by strengthening language processing.
- Learning Can Change: Fast ForWord draws on co-founder Dr. Michael Merzenich’s groundbreaking brain plasticity research that shows that the brain (and learning) is not fixed. Significant change is possible. Our programs use these neuroscience principles to lead the brain to higher functioning in each session.
BRAIN PLASTICITY 101
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt. Just as the body self-heals, the brain self-organizes. It constantly prunes cells and connections for skills we no longer use. And adds cells for new needs, e.g., for the playing hand of a guitarist.
Experiments on how the brain self-heals after strokes and brain injury, including those by Fast ForWord founder Dr. Michael Merzenich, made brain plasticity accepted science in the 1990s.
This discovery upends conventional approaches to teaching. It means learning is not fixed. Instead of teaching around disabilities, a quicker solution is to tap into neuroplasticity to change how the brain learns.
“I had her re-evaluated and her IEP updated and I can’t wait to scan and send the results to you!!!!! So exciting! She gained like 20 to 30 points in each category. I can’t thank this program enough for giving my girl confidence and helping her! It means so much to my mama heart! Thank you!”
What Your Child Will Work On
We create a personalized sequence of exercises based on age, needs, and goals.
🧠 Core Cognitive Skills
📘 Reading Automaticity
🔍 Reading Comprehension
🧩 Math (Optional)
How It Works
1-on-1 Call
Step 1
We pinpoint possible causes and determine if we can help.
The Start
Step 2
An assessment and behavioral survey – to create a personalized plan.
Cognitive Training
Step 3
Your child logs in and starts. We are in touch constantly.
Published Research & Certifications
Level One Research
Foundational Research & Efficacy Studies
386 papers published, including in these peer-reviewed journals
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
- Journal of Neuroscience
- Brain Research (Elsevier)
- Journal of Neurophysiology
Level Three Research
Expert Panel and Independent Peer-Reviewed Studies
29 independent studies and research submissions to government agencies, including:
- What Works Clearinghouse
- National Center on Intensive Intervention
- US and Canadian school districts
- Tallal et al., Science journal
Case Studies
Gemm Learning’s online cognitive training and reading interventions have helped 9,000+ students of all ages (5 to 75) with a variety of concerns. Many come to us undiagnosed but struggling; others have a formal diagnosis such as dyslexia, APD, ADHD, or executive dysfunction.
These case studies cover the full range of students.
We interviewed dozens of families and students and used our internal tracking data, including pre- and post-reading assessments, to compile case studies documenting our students’ success.
If any of the children in these case studies sound like your child, we may be able to help.
ADHDDyslexia
Caroline
Age: 12
Location: AL
Diagnosis: ADHD, Dyslexia
Results
The school gave up on Caroline and said she had reached her ceiling. Her mom disagreed. Post Gemm Learning, Caroline is thriving at grade level.
APDLimited Vocabulary
Levi
Age: 7
Location: Mississippi
Diagnosis: APD
Results
Levi has gone from an extremely limited vocabulary to verging on age-appropriate in just 6 months. His ability to follow instructions has also improved greatly.
We are proud of the difference our online cognitive training has made to the lives of thousands of children and their families.
Why Gemm Learning?
- One-time: The fastest way to resolve a problem is to address root causes, once and for all.
- Life-changing: Removing impediments to learning can accelerate and catch up development to age-appropriate levels.
- Evidence-based: Proven, neuroscience-based program with caring oversight.
- At-home: No commuting, no scheduling battles.
- Since 2006: We have deep experience running home-based learning interventions.
Gemm Learning has hundreds of client stories and a high success rate.
“We talked a lot before I signed her up with Gemm Learning in 5th grade. Now, in 8th grade she is reading at a 10th grade level and her dyslexia continues to get better! Gemm Learning changed her life!”
“The company was amazing with their customer service. They called us every couple of days the first week, then every two or three weeks. It helped my daughter tremendously,.”
“All of a sudden things are clicking for him. His reading has taken off and there’s no more homework stress.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the service work and what's my involvement as the parent?
Your child logs in and works on assignments we manage remotely. Your role is to create a good routine; we do the rest. The software is adaptive, so your child will not get stuck. We will call and/or adjust the protocol if we see your child needs a change,
What's the research behind Fast ForWord?
Fast ForWord software is the most researched reading software in the world. This is due to its founders being world-renowned neuroscientists (attracting scrutiny from peers) and to its claims, i.e., that it changes the way the brain reads and learns. It has been reviewed by several of the world’s most respected institutions – including Stanford and Cornell – with 300+ studies in all. More on the research here.
What equipment do I need?
Fast ForWord programs are compatible with Windows and Mac computers, as well as iPads. Ear-covering headphones ($10-20) are also required. Parents can use a headphone splitter to listen in.
Why will the gains be lasting?
The skills developed by our rprograms integrate into your childs listening, learning and reading skills. They use them every day, so they endure.
The science predicts, and clients report, continuing gains after program completion. This is because the strong foundation built by our cognitive training creates a platform for higher-level skills, like executive function, to develop, creating continued learning acceleration.
What makes this different to tutoring?
What makes Fast ForWord different is that it’s built around the science of learning:
- Identifying the skill gaps that need to be improved, and
- Exercises with the intensity needed to stimulate the brain.
Most tutoring and reading software is instruction that does not address underlying delays. Whereas Fast ForWord goes after the causes of difficulty, aiming to resolve them once and for all.
When will I start seeing changes?
Most parents notice “soft” changes—like better focus or more willingness to read—within 4-8 weeks. Significant reading gains typically start around the 4-6 month mark.
My child doesn't have a formal diagnosis. Can you still help?
Yes. In most cases, a diagnosis is just a level on a continuum of difficulty. Many children either are not evaluated or don’t quite meet the threshold of difficulty required for an APD or dyslexia diagnosis. However, all of these children have some measure of underlying cognitive difficulty—like weak memory or slow processing—that our cognitive training for kids can help. It’s not just the label. If they are struggling to keep up, we can likely help.
How do I enroll?
We always start with a 1-on-1 consultation to make sure your child is a candidate for our program and to answer your questions. From there, you can choose an enrollment period (typically 4 or 6 months) that fits your child’s need. Note, many of our clients now take advantage of funding available in state scholarship programs.
* We will not sell, rent or give your information to anyone. Check out our privacy policy here.

