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Software for children with learning disabilities

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

R Jai Krishna

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CHENNAI: US-based Scientific Learning Corp. has introduced a software, which

would help children with learning disabilities.

The software — Fast ForWord is to be introduced by Scientific Learning's

partner Singapore-based company — Perform @International, which has launched

its Indian operations for this purpose recently.

However, the software in its present form is targeted at school children to

help them improve their skills.

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Using prescribed protocols, children could achieve a 1 to 2-year gain in

reading skills in eight to twelve weeks.

Speaking to Cyber Media News, Peter Carabi, director, International Market

Development, Scientific Learning, said that the product based on 30-year

research, would be an innovative learning tool that has produced spectacular

results in the US, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“Through the development of improved Neuro-cognitive skills, Fast ForWord

creates fast, effective and enduring results that improve the user's reading and

learning abilities,” he said.

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Peter said that product evolved from the work of noted research scientists

Drs. Michael Merzenich and Bill Jenkins at the University of California, San

Francisco, and Drs. Paula Tallal and Steven Miller at Rutgers University.

“Their research collaboration resulted in several key findings. First, they

established that the core cognitive and linguistic attributes (Memory,

Attention, Processing and Sequencing) that define a student's ability to

benefit from classroom instruction can be successfully improved through

intensive intervention using advanced technologies.

With the help of computers, the complex speech sounds in sentences -- such as

phonemes -- could be slowed down and digitally enhanced so that they could be

easily differentiated.

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The scientists discovered that by using this acoustically modified speech

technology in an intensive, adaptive product, students could build a wide range

of critical language and reading skills such as phonological awareness, phonemic

awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, decoding, syntax, grammar, and

other skills that had previously been inaccessible to them,” he said further

Dr. Merzenich, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is

also the chief scientific officer for Posit Science, and Dr. Jenkins (currently

Senior Vice President of Product Development at Scientific Learning), are

internationally known for their research in the science of brain plasticity,

which is the concept that the brain changes as we learn new skills.

Drs. Tallal and Miller are experts in research on the neurological basis of

language and reading development.

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Dr. Tallal is currently co-director of the Center for Molecular and

Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers and an active participant on many scientific

advisory boards and government committees. She has published over 150 papers on

the topic of language and learning and is the recipient of national and

international honors. Dr. Miller, currently senior vice president of Research at

Scientific Learning, has extensive experience in organizing clinical research

studies and conducting longitudinal studies of children who have language and

reading problems.






More than 571,000 students have been enriched substantially in the most crucial
areas of their learning process - Concentration, Memory, Attention, Processing,

Sequencing and other allied cognitive skills.

Perform@ International will introduce Fast ForWord and its family of products

that build learning capacity by applying neuroscience principles to strengthen

cognitive skills.

The company would organize concept-clarification sessions in various parts of

the country, mainly in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata. The

session will also focus on the benefits of this software and its impact on

learning and reading skills of children.

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Though initially the product would be launched for normal kids through the

schools, Peter added that R & D on the product to be used for children with

learning disabilities was being conducted with some local partners in Delhi and

Kolkata. The company is also in the process of opening up a lab in Delhi for

this purpose.

Prehalath V Cleetus, CEO Perform@ International added that Fast ForWord would

revolutionize the learning process among children in Indian schools and will

pursue its mission -'To Reach Out and Impact Lives'.

The company claims that 'Fast ForWord' is different from other learning

intervention Softwares as it is a product that is based on a solid foundation of

neuroscience research by neuroscientists.

© CyberMedia News

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