No More Long-Sleeves for Julia!

I just got off the phone with the teacher of one of my Cogmed students enrolled in a in-school pilot program using Cogmed Working Memory Training in Northern California.  This student, I will call  her 'Julia,' was recommended for the training due to her low academic performance and emotional issues.  

With 5 more training sessions remaining, I noticed a positive shift in Julia's demeanor and a difference in her choice of clothing.  Until my conversation with Julia's teacher today, I had no idea of the extent of the positive changes for Julia. 

Apparently, Julia had been cutting herself at home and only wore long-sleeved shirts to school.  Since the participation in the Cogmed training, Julia has stopped cutting herself and is wearing short-sleeves shirts to school. I had noticed that she was wearing different clothes, but I had no idea why!

I have not assessed Julia's academic performance to determine if there is a positive change in her learning skills, but I am elated that the Cogmed training has already helped her emotionally!!

Can Brain Training Help Struggling Students?

This morning I read another blog post attempting to debunk the efficacy of brain training.  Although some of the author's points were valid, the article's main mission was to criticize all brain training methods and label them as a fallacy.

I am passionate about the effectiveness of brain training for struggling students, as I have personally coached over 130 students using Cogmed Working Memory Training. Still to my amazement, the Cogmed training has radically changed student's abilities to focus, self-regulate and connect-the-dots for improved learning.  

One of the opposing points in the article stated that brain training doesn't work because the effects of the training don't stand the test of time.

My response to this claim can be answered in an analogy:

If a person were to train for a marathon and compete in marathon shortly after the training - the person would do well in the race. If that same person were to stop training for multiple months...he/she would not be in physical shape to run another marathon.

It is the same type of  training situation with brain training.  After the initial brain training has been completed, maintenance training is needed to keep keep the skills gained.  Just like the runner needs to continue to train for the next marathon, so our brains need to continual training for optimal results. 

Cogmed Working Memory Training offers 100 additional training sessions after the completion of the original 25 training sessions to maintain those new neural pathways.   

I am excited to say that "Yes! Brain training can assist struggling readers and learners."

Learn more today. 

http://www.cogmed.com/carleen-paul