Fast ForWord For Autism

Neuroscience-based autism software for language and learning

Children with autism make the same errors in language and reading as neurotypical children, except that children with autism spectrum disorder make more of them.  Therefore, language and reading software that helps struggling readers can also be effective autism software.

We provide an online learning program, Fast ForWord software for autism.  This language and reading program can resolve these errors for struggling readers and we are now having success with students with autism.

Fast ForWord & Neuroplasticity

Your child’s brain can rewire, it can change in response to new challenges, new experiences. This ability is called neuroplasticity. It was discovered only in the last 20 years and it applies to all academic levels and all ages.

The Focus with Autism is on Processing

Why Processing?

One of the most pervasive cognitive weaknesses in children with autism is their auditory processing. A recent study in investigating the idea of using processing delays as a bio-marker, an indicator of autism spectrum disorders. These delays exist whether or not the children exhibit speech and language issues.

Processing delays create muddiness in how children hear sounds. This impacts listening and phonological awareness for reading. The resulting listening and reading inefficiency is exhausting for children with autism and distracts from thinking and learning while reading or listening.

How Fast ForWord Strengthens Processing

Fast ForWord software uses established neuroscience principles to rewire processing.

Efficient processing makes listening more accurate and less exhausting, and it makes reading decoding more natural and less distracting for reading comprehension.

Gemm Learning will develop a protocol customized to your child’s needs. The autism software is adaptive — in tiny increments, at the student’s own pace, the software pulls processing speed and accuracy up to natural language speed.

This is an ideal approach for students with autism who prefer self-paced learning. There are two segments:

• Cognitive development.  Children start with Foundations I  or Literacy (if older) to strengthen core skills — working memory, attention, processing and sequencing.
• Reading. Autistic children with reading issues would then move to our reading series to work on fluency, comprehension, spelling, grammar and language structure.

Most children on the spectrum have been able to successfully interact with the software at its base or training access level. If a child can start with the help of our remote oversight, support and rewards gains are indeed possible.
Gemm Learning’s autism treatment

Fast ForWord Trial Results

Scientific Evidence Of Efficacy For Autism and Asperger Syndrome
While there have been hundreds of Fast ForWord software studies, so far, only a few test efficacy for autism.  Anecdotal reports of success of Fast ForWord in the autism population though are quite common.

There are quite a range of unique behaviors exhibited by individuals with autism — impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication delays, repetitive behavior — as well as language, reading and learning delays, not unique to autism, but common in the autism population.

An eradication of all autism symptoms is not realistic and that is not the target outcome or goal of our autism software protocols.  Our software aims more narrowly on making significant improvements in language, reading and learning.  This is  no easy undertaking given the co-morbidity, the existence of multiple issues that impede learning progress.

Please note, our autism software program designs require more time than struggling readers need.  This is because many children on the autism spectrum have difficulty accessing the entry point level of the exercises.  Once your child is interacting successfully with the software though, he will make gains at his own pace. The exercises adapt, adding speed and complexity in tiny increments, pulling your forward to ever higher functioning.

The study shown in this chart used multiple sites. Children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD-NOS) made significant gains in their oral language skills after using the Fast ForWord Language v2 or Foundations I program.

One-third of the children were pervasive developmental disorder autism and two-thirds were pervasive developmental disorder- not otherwise specified. (PDD-NOS)  Both diagnoses experienced significant improvements from Fast ForWord.
Request Study Details

Our Results From Fast ForWord

Our individualized program plans go step by step.  Cognitive and language fundamentals first, reading fluency and vocabulary next, then reading comprehension. Therefore, it can take a few months for improvements to show up in pre- and post-testing.

While our student outcomes tend to be much more variable with our students who are diagnosed with autism than in children who are not on the autism spectrum, we have had some wonderful client feedback from the parents of children and teenagers.