Frequently Asked Questions
“I have heard that I need a clinician for Fast ForWord. If I work with Gemm, who will monitor my son’s program?”
Many clinicians utilize Fast ForWord within their practices because it is an extremely effective learning intervention. For many years, Fast ForWord was primarily used by clinicians and it became the first choice for many Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) as an auditory processing disorder treatment. The process was intense — first the SLP conducted a detailed evaluation of the student, and then the student participated in 90-minute clinic sessions 3-4 days a week for 8 weeks.
Fast ForWord was soon adopted by public and private educators within a traditional computer classroom environment. In schools, however, there is no up-front evaluation to determine if a student is a candidate for Fast ForWord. And the protocol time was dropped to 50 minutes to fit into a school period.
Now, in the last 5 years, Gemm Learning has pioneered a virtual learning center model that extends beyond the clinic and classroom to the home using an affordable, convenient hybrid. Our method reconciles the two extremes of the clinic and the classroom — expensive upfront testing versus no testing at all, one-on-one attention in a center versus almost no oversight in a computer lab at school, etc.
At Gemm Learning, we use a consultation, behavioral questionnaire, and Reading Progress Indicator assessment to determine whether a student is a candidate for Fast ForWord. Our program managers are certified Fast ForWord professionals and experienced classroom educators. Once the sessions start, these instructors monitor daily data reports on every aspect of a child’s progress — time, errors, difficulties, etc. The instructors’ knowledge of the program as well as their collective backgrounds in various classroom settings allow them to provide exceptional support to our diverse student body.
Gemm Learning staff essentially run the program for you remotely. Your role as parent is that of mentor or cheerleader, making sure your child is ready to make a good effort each day. Our role is to help make that happen with our student rewards site, support materials, and more.
If a child does not do well at home, however, then seeking out a local clinician may indeed be a good idea.
Note: Fast ForWord online makes Fast ForWord viable for even more families who find it difficult to do the program from the same computer every time.
Learn more about the difference between using Fast ForWord at home or at a clinic. Contact us to find out whether your child could benefit from using Fast ForWord software.