Learning Is Not Fixed – Brain Plasticity is a Game-Changer

Why Cope (Tutor) When Remediation is Possible?

Conventional thinking is that learning is fixed, and learning ability – defined as thinking and reasoning, not rote learning – is largely formed in the first three years of life. After that, educators and parents tend to believe that nothing can be done about underlying learning, so the focus is on “workarounds,” mainly extra teaching and accommodations.

If you are told your child is a visual learner and that you need to provide visual cues to help “that kind of learner,” you are basically being told that your child is a visual learner, and that’s that.

But think about it.

What a devastating diagnosis.

Most learning is spoken. Reading is a language skill—it’s spoken language in a visual format. Decoding requires language dexterity, an understanding of language structures and vocabulary, and the ability to extract meaning. Furthermore, for the first ten-plus years of life, the vast majority of learning is oral—listening to the world around you as a baby and then taking in verbal instructions from parents and educators.

A self-organizing, self-improving brain would not choose to be a “visual” learner in a spoken language-filled world where listening is a crucial skill. A right-thinking brain would always choose to be a “language” learner. But with a “learning is fixed” mindset, being a so-called Visual Learner sounds OK and nothing for parents to worry about since nothing can be done (they say) anyway.

What if, instead of creating an environment to help a visual learner, the effort was spent on turning that visual learner into a language learner? Enter the idea of changing how a brain learns.

Learning Is Not Fixed. Exhibit A: Stroke Victims

Changing how the brain learns requires accepting the idea that learning and brain function are not fixed.

This should not be a big leap.

Early on, neuroscientists honed in on stroke victims. In a stroke, brain cells die. If learning were fixed, the functions that are lost on the day of a stroke would be permanently lost.

But that’s not what happens. Stroke recovery is not uncommon; it’s a real thing. The brain can repurpose healthy cells to replace the lost function.

In fact, an overwhelming and rapidly expanding body of evidence shows that brains need not be trapped in faulty learning mechanisms. Brains are capable of change. This is brain plasticity, one of the great scientific discoveries of the last two decades. Yet, despite its great message of hope for all children with any kind of learning glitch, educators and parents still largely ignore it as a response to children with learning delays.

It’s a missed opportunity.

While the proven applications that take advantage of brain plasticity – like Fast ForWord software and Interactive Metronome – still relatively few, this is an emerging area. Of course, these interventions are not effective in every case. The challenge is to isolate the cognitive function driving an individual’s delay and then exercise those skills.

Language-related programs, like Fast ForWord, have been the most successful so far because sound-based exercises interact directly with the brain’s language centers. Fast ForWord helps learners of all types become language learners, accelerating learning and reading growth.

There is a common misconception here. Many think waiting until adulthood to diagnose or address a learning issue means it’s too late. Nothing will help. This thinking prevents many from seeking a solution, even when there is help available. Science tells us, and studies show, that the brain can change itself at any age. There is ample reason for hope.

Dr. Michael Merzenich

Dr. Michael Merzenich, one of the founding scientists behind Fast ForWord, was among the first to discover neuroplasticity. It is impossible to have a discussion on brain plasticity without acknowledging his extensive research in this area. His work on the subject and its relationship to software development is described in Chapter 3 of The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D.

The ultimate goal of Merzenich and his colleagues was to use “neuroplastic research to help people rewire their brains”. This included the famous blind ferret experiment, where brain cells that processed sound were able to start visual processing. With this in mind, they developed a training program to exercise “every basic brain function involved in language.” The result was Fast ForWord.

Acknowledging a learning disorder or challenge, such as brain injury, language difficulty, ADD, or environmental factors, should be the conversation’s beginning, not the end. Targeting the underlying processes associated with essential skills can profoundly impact an individual’s abilities as the brain reorganizes itself and forms new connections.

Dr. Merzenich’s program, Fast ForWord, specifically targets memory, attention, processing, and sequencing. These are the MAPS: the skills that determine our skills in all languages, including listening, reading, and oral communication.

Potential for Growth

While the causes and severity of learning challenges vary greatly, the potential for growth and change is ever-present. Knowledge of brain plasticity has grown substantially over the last decade. While several brain training programs are available, no single program helps every learning struggle because there is no single cause of all learning difficulties.

Research will help you decide what is best for your child. However, remember that not all brain programs are the same. Furthermore, the individual’s specific needs, experiences, participation, and effort will always impact the degree of growth.

Like most worthwhile endeavors, it is not an overnight fix. Change requires a commitment to repetitive activities that adapt to the individual. In other words, there are no shortcuts.

Recently, a parent of a struggling student shared with us, “After reading The Brain That Changes Itself, I have hope for the first time in years.” Brain plasticity offers families hope for what’s possible, providing a means to meet the potential we all possess.

About Gemm Learning

Gemm Learning provides reading and learning interventions at home that tap into the opportunity for brain plasticity. It has literally hundreds of success stories that prove that learning is not fixed and that brain plasticity offers the potential for transformational change.