Gaab’s study used FFW and included brain scans of children taken before and after they underwent the FFW training. Results showed that these sound-training exercises not only improved reading, they could literally rewire the brain—and researchers have the scanned brain images to prove it. Preceding Gaab’s just-published work were numerous studies both in this country and around the world that compiled before-and-after data showing that all kinds of students, not just those with learning disorders, could improve their language skills through FFW training. The FFW Web site (www.scilearn.com) lists 22 special education programs in the United States that report improved student language performance through FFW training, with educators citing improvements in phonological awareness, oral-language skills, cognitive test scores as well as reading advances. In fact, educators are using FFW software for a whole range of students—from at-risk children, to gifted and talented students, to underserved groups such as American Indians, to children learning English as a second language—and FFW reports positive results for all of them. In addition, FFW brain-training programs are now in use in about 40 countries. Cheryl Chia, director of Brain Revolution Pte Ltd., based in Singapore, oversees FFW programs at six Brain Revolution centers in Malaysia, Jakarta and China. In an e-mail to The Washington Diplomat, she said that Brain Revolution students typically work on FFW programs 50 minutes to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for six to eight weeks. “We usually see improvements … in the areas of listening, attention, language, reading and comprehension,” Chia noted. A study at a Singapore public school that examined children with auditory processing disorder (APD) before and after they went through Brain Revolution’s FFW programs confirmed that the children achieved “significant gains” in reading and phonemic-decoding ability according to standard test measures. Other international FFW advocates report similar positive results. Catherine Ruckert, head of the Assisted Learning Center in Starnberg, Germany, is an FFW representative serving Germany and Austria. “I have been using the program for the last six years with students with learning disabilities and those with English as a second language—in total with more than 150 students in seven countries,” she told The Diplomat by e-mail. “Research has shown that 90 percent of all learning disabilities are language based and have an auditory component. The original research conducted by professors Tallal and [Michael] Merznich showed that specific, repetitive, systematic training in the form of computer games could … rewire the language centers in the left cerebral cortex,” Ruckert explained. “FFW is actually a series of 11 interactive computer programs based on that research.” Noting that Tallal’s early research showed 12 to 18 months’ worth of gains in language skills in a span of eight weeks, she added: “My own research … showed similar responses. Our learning-impaired [students] showed improvement in attention, processing speed, auditory memory, understanding instructions, and use of logic and reasoning. They also showed huge gains in reading comprehension and spelling.” Ruckert has used the program to raise achievement levels among her under-performing students, “improving their quality of life,” and delighting their parents in the process. “The games are fun,” she concluded, “but make no mistake—they provide a real cerebral workout.” FFW is not the only brain-training program that’s being scrupulously researched. A Canadian group at the University of Alberta has developed card and board games called “Prep,” which are designed to improve information processing in children with dyslexia, as well as a similar cognitive rehabilitation program called “Cogent,” which is helping young indigenous preschool students in Canada with their reading, memory and organizational skills. The programs are currently being tested in other countries, including China, Spain, Japan and India. In fact, at India’s Allahabad University, students and faculty affiliated with a neuroscience lab are working on a computer-based cognitive retraining program called Brain Function Therapy and combining it with Prep games. Allahabad scientists intend to look at the effects of the package on both brain and behavior to help children with dyslexia. Learning disabilities have attracted new government attention on both sides of the Atlantic. Back in Washington, on Nov. 9, Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a nonprofit that advises the U.S. government, recommended that the country create a “comprehensive disability monitoring system” that could inform policymakers. He also recommended better enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with a focus on insurance coverage for assistive technologies and services. A number of schools in the Washington metropolitan area already provide special services for children with learning disorders and developmental dyslexia. First among equals is the much-honored Lab School of Washington, where board members, students and staff are grieving the recent passing of the school’s leader, Sally Smith, who founded the prestigious school in 1967. Lab, which serves students ages 5 to 19, has been internationally recognized for its innovative programs for children and adults with learning disabilities. In fact, over 90 percent of Lab School students go on to college. In Maryland, there is the Chelsea School for children with learning disabilities, located in Silver Spring, as well as the Siena School, also in Silver Spring, which was profiled in the November 2006 Education Section of The Washington Diplomat. In Virginia, meanwhile, the Commonwealth Academy serves 61 children with learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder in grades six through 12. Specialized schools such as these, improvements in the overall education system, and groundbreaking research are clearly changing the face of dyslexia as we know it. In fact, a recent report compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that a high proportion of dyslexics in the United States successfully run their own businesses. According to a December article in the New York Times, Logan reported that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she had surveyed identified themselves as dyslexic—concluding that dyslexics were more likely than non-dyslexics to delegate authority, excel in oral communication and problem-solving, and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses. She attributed this to earlier and more effective intervention by American schools, as well as to the natural strategies dyslexics develop to offset their weaknesses in written communication and organizational ability—strategies particularly well suited to small businesses. “The willingness to delegate authority gives them a significant advantage over non-dyslexic entrepreneurs,” Logan said, “who tend to view their business as their baby and like to be in total control.” Carolyn Cosmos is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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