From Alexa's Mother, Denise Manuel
“When my daughter Alexa was 3 years old she suffered a traumatic brain injury from a fall, but was told by doctors that she was fine. At age four I was told that she was severely intellectually impaired and would, in all likelihood, never graduate from high school.
This diagnosis marked the beginning of a search to find a solution and prove all the experts wrong. After years of testing and a plethora of appointments with “experts” who tried, but could offer no help, I was introduced to the Fast ForWord program.
Fast ForWord is a software program that accelerates learning by developing the student brain to process more efficiently through computer-delivered, intensive exercises that build the cognitive skills required to read and learn effectively.
Alexa started the program at age 13.1 years, but with a “learned” age of only 10.3 years. She had been in Special Education classes since 5thgrade. Alexa finished the program nine months later and then consistently tested above her eighth grade level.
Later that fall she started high school with no Special Education diagnostics, graduated from Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota, and is now a freshman at California State University, Long Beach, majoring in Elementary Special Education.
Alexa chose the “beach” because she stands 6’ 5” and loves to play volleyball. She has represented Team USA, playing on the A2 National team the past two years, and dreams of playing Olympic volleyball.
To say that Fast ForWord changed Alexa's life is an understatement. Both Alexa and I are incapable of putting into words our gratitude to the team of scientists, researchers, and developers who work each day to improve the lives of people with brain functioning challenges.
Imagine Alexa’s world after finishing Fast ForWord; she was tutoring daily in math and English because her brain could now learn and she was now capable of retaining knowledge. She was entering Eden Prairie High School, which has 3500 students—bigger than many community colleges—without the Special Education safety net. And Alexa excelled at volleyball, which I observed showed she was capable of learning outside a structured classroom.
We have been blessed to have found the Fast ForWord program and recognize that we now have the responsibility of helping others with these challenges, just as we were helped by Scientific Learning.”
