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School Year & Summer Programs
Serving California & the U.S.
CALL US: 925-359-9110
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THE BRIGHTER BRAIN
Education & Brain Help Services
**Not Accepting New Students at this Time**
for Reading & Language Intervention Programs
Building Pathways to a Better Future®
Language and Reading Intervention Personalized to Each Learner, Education Related Consultations & Services
WHO WE SERVE
WITH OUR PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Our Reading and Language Interventions Develop
Better Thinkers, Readers, Speakers and Learners.
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Struggling Readers
No More Band-Aids on
Reading Struggles!
Did you know that struggling readers need 10x-30x more practice to catch up to grade-level peers?
Unlike other approaches, Fast ForWord is a reading intervention program that is uniquely designed to help pre-readers and struggling readers by directly and intensively targeting what’s holding them back.
The program begins by improving the underlying cognitive skills associated with reading struggle and then delivers personalized, intensive practice across a wide range of language and reading tasks to help students make rapid improvement that continues long after they are finished with the program.
Intensively Targeting the Skills Struggling Readers Need to Catch Up
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Phonological processing
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Working memory and sustained attention
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Phonemic awareness and phonics
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Sequencing
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Academic vocabulary and complex grammar
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Guided oral reading support
Featured Resources
Webinar: How to Rewire the Brains of Your Struggling Readers
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Case Study: K-10 Struggling Readers Achieve 1 Year, 9 Months Gain in Only 85 Days
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In the News: 5 ways teachers can improve student learning based on current brain research
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Learning Disabilities
Improving Learners’ Auditory Processing Rate
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Did you know that processing speech sounds is the single fastest thing your brain does?
Auditory processing is the ability to decipher small changes in sound — not by your ear, but by your brain.
When a brain doesn’t process sound quickly enough, a variety of language and reading difficulties can arise.
This seemingly simple, yet foundational ability is a significant predictor of language and reading difficulty, as early as 6 months of age.
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Dyslexia
Improving Learners’ Auditory
Processing Rate
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Dyslexia is now recognized as a primarily auditory disorder, with weaknesses appearing specifically in phonological processing.
Many reading intervention programs help learners compensate for these difficulties by working around the issues.
Fast ForWord takes a different approach — it aims to “rewire” the brain for reading, targeting the issue directly, and starting with the brain’s most foundational abilities.
MRI data from Stanford shows how Fast ForWord helps learners with dyslexia improve a range of language, cognitive, and reading skills.
Addressing Foundational Language Skills & Processing Rate for Learners with Dyslexia
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Exercises to improve phonological processing
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Individualized work to build phonemic awareness, phonics, and targeted decoding
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Sight word recognition, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension
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Guided oral reading support to build fluency (great for even the most reluctant readers!)
Featured Resources
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Research: Undoing Dyslexia via Video Games.
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Auditory Processing
Disorder
Improving Learners’ Auditory Processing Rate
Did you know that processing speech sounds is the single fastest thing your brain does? Auditory processing is the ability to decipher small changes in sound — not by your ear, but by your brain. When a brain doesn’t process sound quickly enough, a variety of language and reading difficulties can arise. This seemingly simple, yet foundational ability is a significant predictor of language and reading difficulty, as early as 6 months of age.
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Autism Spectrum Disorder
Unlock Language and Reading Skills for Learners with Autism
The latest evidence shows that learners with autism have hyper-connected brains: imagine millions of surface streets that are hyperactive, and consequently, incredibly inefficient when it comes to paying attention, learning to read, and more. We now know that an overactive brain is partially at fault for the learning challenges faced by students on the autism spectrum. Fast ForWord provides intensive training to create "super-highways” in the brain for language and reading, while also addressing processing rate and attention. As a result, learners with autism often improve social, language and academic skills simultaneously.
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Video-How Fast ForWord Can Help People on the Autism Spectrum
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Providing Intensive, Adaptive Training on Missing Language and Reading Skills for Students with Autism
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Listening comprehension, including multi-step directions
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Intensive grammar and vocabulary practice
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Expressive language and prosody: like a “guided reading coach”, learners hear a modeled reading, then get real-time feedback as they read aloud
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Strengthens auditory attention skills, helping learners tune in to what’s important, and tune out the rest
Featured Resources
Video: Not every identical twin develops autism. Why not?
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In the News: New views into the science of educating children with autism [PDF]
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User Blog: Rethinking Learning
Hearing Loss/ Deafness
Whether a person was born hard of hearing or acquired deafness, we can help people them learn to process speech and language to the best of their ability. Our programs are compatible with most Hearing Aides and Cochlear Implants. People with hearing loss or deafness who complete the program are able to interpret the speech sounds they are able to hear more effectively and usually transfer those skills to their spoken language abilities.
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Featured Resources
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Schopmeyer, B., Mellon, N., Dobaj, H., Grant, G., & Niparko, J. K. (2000). Use of Fast ForWord to enhance language development in children with cochlear implants. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol Suppl, 185, 95-8.
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Fast ForWord Language for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals using Amplification or Cochlear Implants Donna A. Morere, Ph.D. Gallaudet University Department of Psychology
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Schopmeyer, B., Mellon, N., Dobaj, H., Grant, G., & Niparko, J. K. (2000). Use of Fast ForWord to enhance language development in children with cochlear implants. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol Suppl, 185, 95-8.
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Fast ForWord Language Intervention Program: Four Case Studies Tejas -- Texas Journal of Audiology and Speech Pathology Shannon Turner and Donise W. Pearson Spring/Summer 1999, Vol 13
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ADD/ADHD
If you feel like you're constantly repeating information for your child (they aren't attending), if your child can be described as "spacey" or unfocused, if your child has trouble sitting still in school - These are just a few of the common descriptors we hear from parents of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Your child may be at-risk of falling behind in school, if they haven't already.
According to Scientific Learning, many children who have trouble with focus and attention don't process information efficiently, which is an impediment to accurate listening and reading. Fast ForWord’s reading intervention program builds processing skills, which in turn improves attention.
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After using Fast ForWord, parents report their children can:
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Pay attention longer. Children can complete homework with less help.
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Follow multi-step directions. Can follow along if you ask them, "Pick up your shoes, grab your jacket, and meet me in the car."
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Read better and understand more. This helps your child not only in reading, but can give your child the tools to succeed in all subjects at school.
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English Language Learners (ELL)
Helping ELLs Quickly Develop Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
Ranked the top English language development program on What Works Clearinghouse™, Fast ForWord® is uniquely designed to build the listening, speaking and reading skills for beginning to advanced language learners. The program provides the English phonics training, intensive grammar and vocabulary practice, and oral speaking and reading reinforcement necessary to build both basic and academic English proficiency.New research studying Individuals using Fast ForWord® to learn English in China are finding that "accent reduction" or even complete accent elimination is happening for many who use the Fast ForWord® programs.
Providing Adaptive, Personalized Exercises to Build English Fast
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English phonemic training
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Extensive academic vocabulary support, in Spanish and English
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English morphology, grammar, listening, and reading comprehension
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Patented speech verification technology that listens as students read aloud and provides corrective feedback when words are mispronounced
Featured Resources
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Brochure: Build English Fast Solution
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Research Brief: Fast ForWord® Tops List of Nine Interventions for Improved English Language Development by What Works Clearinghouse
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In the News: Taking a Three-Pronged Approach to Help ELLs Excel
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Brain Injuries
We help learners struggling with Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI's), memory and other brain related difficulties such as meningitis and "chemo-brain." Fast ForWord relies on neuroplasticity AKA brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to change at any age – for better or worse. With Fast ForWord®, people are able to retrain their brains by reconnecting neurons and developing new neurons and pathways. The symptoms of TBI are varied, but in many cases cognitive and physical function can be restored using the Fast ForWord® family of programs.
Featured Resources
Burns, M.S. (2008). Application of Neuroscience to Technology in Stroke Rehabilitation. Stroke Rehabilitation 1074-9357: Volume 15, Number 6.
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Research and Hope for Stroke Foundation’s review of Fast ForWord programs
Want to Learn More About Fast ForWord?
If you’re interested in learning more about Fast ForWord and how it helps students with autism improve their reading and language skills, let us know! We’re happy to send you more information or schedule a personal demonstration.
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Contact Us Today
Can ADHD be "cured"?
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