Our History

In 1985, a group of professionals in Appleton, Wisconsin got together to talk about learning. They wanted to re-evaluate educational ideas in the light of new research, and to discuss the possibility of effecting a change in the way the world looks at learning difficulties.

Over the ensuing months and years, professionals in the fields of special education, clinical and cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, occupational therapy, visual and central auditory processing, learning disabilities, and memory began to join with them, identifying the beginnings of a vision. Led by Dr. Ken Gibson, a specialist in visual processing, and his brother Dr. Keith Gibson,  a clinical psychologist, the group asked one main, important question: “How can we best help individuals experiencing learning difficulties to learn easier and faster?”

Since the early 70’s, the two brothers had been gathering clinical experience, with both children and adults, in their respective fields. They observed patients in their clinical practices and founded preschools and learning centers. The more they observed, the more they discovered an interesting pattern: students seemed to attend better and recall important facts more easily when they were given short but intense periods of training. To test the validity of their theory, the Gibson brothers developed a series of short, intense training exercises meant to rapidly improve concentration and recall abilities. Soon the exercises were ready for their first trial run.

It was important to thoroughly assess each student before and after the training to see how effective the procedures were. The initial results were outstanding! Not only did the initial 35 cases register almost three years improvement (in only three months of training), but the improvements “stuck”. When re-tested a year later, 98.7% of their test results were still at or above the post-program level.

As with learning to ride a bicycle or play the piano, these students’ abilities had been embedded with use, through brain training, and had become an active part of their mental tool kit. Once the fundamental principles had been established, the program underwent 10 years of trials, review and enhancement. Other educational, psychological, and medical specialists were brought in and modifications were made as new research became available. Students with attention problems (e.g. ADHD or ADD), dyslexia, memory deficits, and other learning disabilities continued to make dramatic gains.

Unlike other learning programs that focus on behavior management or specific academic content matter, the LearningRx programs were able to actually improve the brain’s ability to process information. For the first time in educational history, a complete program had been developed that would do for mental abilities what exercise does for the body.

We started franchising our programs as “LearningRx Brain Training Centers”. We felt it was the best way to deliver our programs in the most cost-effective way to local communities on a larger scale. For more information on why we chose the franchising model, click here.