Rewiring The Brain
Our programs train the brain to process language more accurately and efficiently -- this directly impacts learning and reading. We take advantage of the brain's ability to adapt and change when exercised appropriately, called brain plasticity.
We primarily use Fast ForWord software. It activates new regions of the brain by encouraging new neural connections. This activation translates into a more comfortable and effective learning style. Every Gemm student experiences some version of the "activation" shown in the fMRI picture.
Because the Fast ForWord program works on underlying issues it is able to help a wide variety of children and adults. While we focus on providing local CT or NY dyslexia help, we also help a number of students who are reading at or above grade level, but do not enjoy it.
How Better Processing Helps Reading
For most children, a reading problem boils down to a difficulty processing language and the accuracy of word memory, called phonological vocabulary. When we see a word such as "sleeker" we call on our phonological memory for a match. If we have always heard that word as "leega" because we did not hear the "s" in the "sl" blend and heard the "k" and a "g", then we have little hope of making an automatic match when we come across " sleeker" when reading.
For children with accurate phonological vocabularies, reading is simply transposing a known language to another format. But for the child who heard "leega" reading amounts to learning a whole new language. If phonological memory is compromised in any way, perhaps even due to an ear infection that may have interrupted development for a month or two, phonological vocabulary will be compromised. By improving processing speed, Fast ForWord can "clean up" this word memory, leading many more automatic matches and easier reading. We've witnessed great gains using Fast ForWord for Westchester and Greenwich dyslexia help.
How Better Processing Helps Learning
Accurate listening is a critical and under-appreciated skill. And it is much more pervasive than widely recognized, which is no surprise -- processing language is among the fastest of brain functions. For many young children and adolescents efficient auditory processing is an ongoing challenge. At an early age, parents and teachers work hard on speech and language, and most often they are successful. However, often the learned listening style is inefficient, i.e., it draws an inordinate amount of conscious brain power that makes it exhausting and it drains capacity needed for the development of higher learning functions.
By increasing language processing speed Fast ForWord software effectively slows the world down for children. It is easier to stay engaged if you can follow more of what is being said in class and at home. It also makes retention easier if information is coming at you more slowly. Fast ForWord not only increases processing speed, it also increases processing efficiency, making it more subconscious, freeing up an over-taxed conscious brain capacity for thinking and reasoning.
How Better Processing Helps Confidence
Many children with learning issues feel overwhelmed by daily life. Everything is happening too fast and they are constantly missing vital chunks of information. By speeding up processing we slow the world down, by making processing more efficient we make the learning day less exhausting. This directly boosts confidence in a way that contributes to further gains for the Fast ForWord student.
The Connecticut reading help we offer at our Fairfield County center and the New York service at our Westchester learning center benefits from improved confidence in our students.
We are an alternative to New York or Connecticut tutoring. We provide local Fairfield County and Westchester dyslexia help at our center or at home, with or without a coach. From our first Westchester learning center in Pelham we have grown, opening in Scarsdale, NY and a Fairfield County learning center in Old Greenwich, CT.
