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Online APD Treatment
Stop Coping with APD. Remediate.
Gemm Learning uses neuroscience-based Fast ForWord auditory training software to boost listening accuracy, language comprehension, reading efficiency, focus, and learning confidence.
Online with professional coaching.
Help for Auditory Processing Delays
If your child has an auditory processing delay, it’s not only reading and learning that is impacted. Inaccurate or effortful listening creates difficulties for your child all day long. This difficulty may not resolve on its own without auditory processing delay treatment.
Auditory processing disorder treatments can be effective because auditory skills can be strengthened through sound sequencing and speech discrimination tasks, and the brain can change with the right exercises.
Coaxing the brain to rewire requires a sophisticated understanding of neural circuitry and precise algorithms – precision that teachers and speech therapists can’t replicate.
Our primary intervention, Fast ForWord, developed by four world-renowned neuroscientists over many years, has this precision and a track record to match, which is why it’s the most popular APD treatment in the world.
How Fast ForWord Addresses APD
Fast ForWord uses acoustically modified speech and stretched sound waves that add speed and complexity at the student’s pace, improving listening, learning, and reading efficiency.
- Comprehensive approach: It assumes (and addresses) weakness in processing and related skills – including working memory and attention – and in language understanding – vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and syntax.
- Lasting gains: Fast ForWord’s adaptive algorithms keep pushing students ahead, adding new abilities in every session that students then use in daily learning, so the gains last.
Our students achieve an average reading gain of 2+ years in 6 months. Parents also report improvements in language, focus, grades, and homework efficiency. Gemm Learning has been providing at-home programs for APD with oversight since 2006.
“I have spent many thousands of dollars trying to get help. Gemm Learning is the first to succeed, and it is making a world of difference. My son’s confidence has grown so much; he’s making more friends. He’s willing to tackle challenging things and is better behaved at home and at school. My husband asks if this is the same kid or if someone switched him! His teacher asked what extra stuff he is doing because “there are some huge changes taking place.”
The Science
Fast ForWord was engineered over 15+ years based on two major breakthroughs:
Reading is a language skill.
- Dr. Paula Tallal’s research connected an inability to sequence sounds (auditory processing) to reading delays. This has now become conventional wisdom due to renewed focus on phonics and the Science of Reading
The brain is plastic.
- Dr. Michael Merzenich’s research proves that the brain can be reshaped and that auditory training for APD can boost performance at any age.
The software is protected by 80 patents, primarily focused on using stretched (slowed) sound waves to create a starting point for auditory training for students with underdeveloped auditory processing.
30+ Years of Peer-Reviewed Validation
Researchers at Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, UCSF, Johns Hopkins, and many other universities and school districts worldwide have rigorously scrutinized this software.
Independent pre- and post-fMRI scans conducted at Stanford University showed changes in brain activity after completing Fast ForWord for every participant. Previously inactive neural pathways associated with efficient auditory processing lit up.
We’re happy to share peer‑reviewed research summaries of our auditory processing delay treatment upon request and the results we’ve seen firsthand.
“We were at our wits’ end trying to help her. Since the program, it’s as if a switch in her brain went on. She is finally making connections between letters, sounds, and words.”
“Her first trimester report was almost perfect. Plus her Diebels reading scores were OFF THE CHARTS! Rachel no longer needs any special intervention for her auditory processing issues as she is now advancing at a higher level than her peer group.”
Gemm Learning Case Studies
Real stories, compelling results. Read more case studies here
APDDyslexia
Bridgette
Age: 16
Location: New Jersey
Diagnosis: Dysphonetic dyslexia and APD
Results
Our auditory training for APD unlocked Bridgette’s smarts. Her grades went from nowhere to a 4.0, and her social life has blossomed.
APDReading
Georgia
Age: 11
Location: California
Diagnosis: APD
Results
Georgia’s reading progressed significantly, from leveled readers to chapter books. She now participates comfortably in conversations with adults and her friends.
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.
“Her first period report card was excellent for the first time ever! She is so proud of herself. We had the first good parent/teacher conference ever as well. Her teachers believe that she is finally on the path to success! We continue to be thankful for stumbling upon Gemm.”
Our 3-Step Auditory Training For Kids
Our online APD therapy for kids builds from fundamental letter-sound discrimination up to advanced comprehension. Note that the times in each phase vary by individual.
Strengthen Language Processing
Hundreds of quick-fire sequencing, discrimination, and other exercises - targeting processing, working memory and focus.
Reading Fluency
Progress to more complex core skill exercises, adding text to strengthen reading automaticity, and language familiarity for comprehension.
Reading Comprehension
Targets are executive function, reading comprehension and critcal thinking while reading - higher level skills held back by APD.
Auditory Training for APD: Skills Targeted
Language – Receptive and Expressive
Auditory processing disorder makes it hard to learn by listening; it’s like hearing through water. Words are misunderstood, noisy environments make listening difficult, and long conversations are hard to keep up with. Better processing improves receptive and expressive language in just a few months.
Reading Fluency and Comprehension
If phonemic awareness, picking out the sounds inside words, is weak, phonics and decoding are a challenge, slowing down reading and undermining reading comprehension. Better processing makes phonics easier, and reading proficiency flows from there.
Attention
APD makes listening and reading exhausting, leading to zoning out and/or avoidance behaviors and an ADHD diagnosis. Our treatment builds processing efficiency to reduce exhaustion and includes exercises that target distraction resistance.
Working Memory
Children with central auditory system delays struggle to keep up with spoken language. The consequence is that the working memory muscles are not exercised. Every program in the Fast ForWord series includes working memory exercises that slowly build this crucial skill.
“He has made a remarkable transformation in just a few months of your online APD therapy for kids. First, he noticed he was following instructions at a summer sports camp far more easily. He said that he wished he had done the program years ago! Now at school, he is much happier and has more confidence. His school day is so much more productive. No more calling friends for the homework assignment. He catches everything the teacher says.”
“First, we noticed that he was participating in family conversations when he used to tune out because it was too hard to follow. Now, after your Summer Intensive (for two months), he has made stronger gains than in three years of special ed classes. Special ed was just not equipped to address an auditory processing disorder, and your APD treatment has done this. Thank you again for being accessible. This is a dream come true for us.”
Online Software with Remote Professional Coaching
Gemm Learning has developed an at-home auditory processing delay treatment with a virtual center approach to help overcome issues that often trip up home-based programs, including low compliance and incorrect protocols.
It’s a proactive service approach to help you make the most of this amazing software.
- Children Work Independently: The auditory training for kids is fully adaptive. Your child logs in, and the program meets them where they are. If they make errors, it slows down, so they never get stuck.
- Remote Management: Our clinical team monitors your child’s software data daily, subtly tweaking protocols and parameters behind the scenes to bypass roadblocks.
- Constant Support: Our coaches check in regularly, send achievement certificates, and run virtual joint sessions with your child as needed.
- Weekly Reports: We create a treatment plan for your child, then send weekly reports so you can understand your child’s difficulties and see progress. The reports create a good discussion point with your Gemm Learning program manager.
- Minimal Setup: All you need is a computer or iPad, high-speed internet, and a pair of over-ear headphones.
- Timeline: Most students spend 6-8 months, sometimes more for younger ones. The protocol is 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
Why Parents Choose Gemm Learning
- A Lasting Solution: Once new neural connections form, they stay active with daily use.
- At-Home Convenience: No driving to clinics or scheduling issues. Fits seamlessly into your family’s routine.
- 96% Recommend: We are proud of our track record. Nearly every family we serve recommends us to others.
Is Gemm Learning the Right Choice for Your Child?
Find out in a free 1-on-1 consultation where we determine if your child is a candidate for our program and answer your questions.
Call us directly at 877.914.4366 or schedule a call.
Unsure if your child’s challenges are tied to APD? Try our free screening for APD symptoms and risk factors.
How Improved Processing Changes Lives
APD impacts your child’s life all day long. Successful auditory processing disorder treatments have a profound impact:
- Slowing the world down. When a child processes faster, listening is easier, conversations are slower and more comfortable, and the classroom is less intimidating.
- Less static from background noise. Being able to tune out background noise makes it easier to hear friends in the playground and the teacher in class.
- Reading is easier. Better phonemic awareness makes phonics easier, the key to decoding automaticity.
- More understanding. Improved listening helps vocabulary and comprehension.
To see if Gemm Learning can help you or your child, request a demo or call us at 1-877-914-4366 anytime.
APD Treatment FAQ
How is Gemm Learning different from speech therapy or tutoring?
Speech therapy helps break sounds down into components to improve listening, but it amounts to extra practice. Similarly, tutoring mainly repeats the school’s reading instruction. Both are workarounds that do not address the underlying cause of the speech and language delays. By contrast, our home-based auditory processing disorder treatments address the language processing and related skill gaps that are the source of difficulty, aiming to improve auditory processing efficiency permanently.
My child has ADHD as well as an APD diagnosis. Can this program help?
Yes. If your child has APD symptoms and either ADHD symptoms or an ADHD diagnosis, then yes, it’s very likely, because the cause-and-effect connection between APD and ADHD (auditory processing delays cause inattentiveness), our at-home auditory processing disorder treatments will reduce ADHD symptoms in addition to boosting language, learning and reading efficiency. In fact, “better focus” is the most common improvement reported by parents, whether or not their child has ADHD.
My child gets frustrated easily. Will they be able to work independently?
Home-based auditory processing training can be challenging for the child and for the parents. This is true for any home-based activity that is not 100% fun! However, that’s our primary value add and area of expertise.
We are proud to say that our participation rate consistently falls within the 90-95% range, meaning that, on average, students complete more than 4.5 sessions per week out of the 5-session protocol we set.
That success is based on:
- The software itself: It’s engaging, particularly in the first 3-4 weeks, with animations, sounds, and score counters. And it’s adaptive so that your child is challenged, but not frustrated or bored, and they will not get stuck.
- Advice and resources on how to get your child into a routine at home, incentive ideas, etc. – from our professionals in the regular calls and on a dedicated client help site. We have been doing this for 20+ years and so we know what works.
- Virtual sessions when the going gets tough. Most children have a flat period when they are not making progress or are tiring of the routine. We use those sessions to get your child over the hump and motivated to get back at it.
We are not saying it’s easy. But the vast majority of our families manage well, despite having doubts about getting their kid to do it, going in. And it is a leap of faith to start – all work, no gain. But once you and/or your child start to see changes, the motivation to continue is so much easier to find.
How long does the online therapy take, and are the results permanent?
Our average client spends 7-8 months. This varies a little by age and goal, though. Young children (5- to 8-year-olds) tend to take longer, as the program needs to bring auditory processing up to natural-language speed and fill in the vocabulary and language syntax that younger children will likely have missed. Older children are typically further along in their processing skills and have picked up more vocabulary and language knowledge, so the distance to proficiency is shorter.
Once students transition into the reading aspects of our service, time also varies. The Fast ForWord early reading programs are interventions that address poor reading habits, automaticity, and other fundamental skills. However, many stay for ClearFluency or Reading Plus, our guided reading programs that aim to cement those reading gains and build reading fluency and speed.
What kind of support do parents receive during the program?
The short answer is as much as you need. It’s a proactive service, and it needs to be, as changing the brain requires frequency and intensity. There’s a momentum that must be maintained, just like learning a physical skill.
We monitor activity every day, and will be in touch at the first sign of trouble – or if there’s no activity! Beyond that, we check in regularly and send weekly reports. Plus we have a dedicated client help site which is full of advice on how to manage home routines, built from our 20 years of service.
Finally, please know that this is not a “buy the software and then you are on your own” service. We will be with you every step of the way.
Can Auditory Processing Disorder be cured or corrected?
Yes. Auditory processing is a cognitive skill that can be exercised and improved, which is why online APD therapy for kids, like Fast ForWord, has been successful. Auditory processing skills mature naturally with daily language interaction and stimulation. Children with APD need more stimulation than their environments provides. APD treatments like ours essentially provide added language stimulation with the adaptivity and intensity needed to rewire how the brain processes and learns.
Disclaimer. Gemm Learning is an educational program, not a medical intervention. Each individual is unique, we are not effective in every case.
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