Not awareness, not acceptance, just real help with the hard stuff
Autism Support
Ireland is filled with government-funded charities​, social supports, and awareness and acceptance-based programming for autism. We support all of these efforts and know that each family has unique needs.
But we get asked constantly: where is the real help to support those with autism beyond awareness and government policy? Where is the real help with cognitive deficits that are present in autism and difficulties they present in classrooms and at home and in every day life? Social supports and awareness campaigns don't address that very personal and individual aspect -- but cognitive training can.
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That's why we take a different approach -- and we helped our family first before we ever started offering help to anyone else. What do we do different? We look at the underlying cognitive differences present in each autism case and we assess exactly what kind of help can build more strengths where there are weaknesses - and we use a play-based approach to get results.
The results? Astounding. What does that mean for Dublin families?
More good days.
Maybe you just started summer holidays when you read this and the transition away from the normal daily structure is overwhelming your student with autism. (Read about the concept of the Summer Slide here!). Maybe you are just returning from a holiday break and having encountered new behavioral issues that are creating obstacles to learning. Maybe you're just after a round of illness and experiencing serious regression in skills. Regardless of how or when you found us, we want you to read "more good days" as something that is attainable and achievable for you or your student. We can help.
Let's start with the basics in case you are new to the lingo...
​​What is the Autism Spectrum?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to "a range of conditions characterised by varying degrees of impaired social behaviour, communication and language, and a narrow range of interests and activities that are both unique to the individual and carried out repetitively."
The term Autism Spectrum reflects the broad variety of strengths, abilities, and challenges experienced by individuals living with autism. Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination surrounding neurological differences continue to create barriers to proper diagnosis, treatment, and support.
Autism is commonly associated with the following characteristics:
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Avoiding eye contact.
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Preferring solitude over social interaction.
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Difficulty understanding the emotions of others.
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Limited verbal communication or delayed speech development.
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Echolalia (repeating words or phrases frequently).
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Distress caused by small changes in routine or environment.
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Strongly focused or restrictive interests.
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Repetitive movements or behaviours such as rocking, spinning, or hand flapping.
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Heightened or unusual responses to sounds, smells, textures, lights, tastes, or colours.
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Because autism exists on a broad spectrum, every individual's experience is unique. Some people may display only a few of these characteristics, while others may experience many. The intensity and impact of these traits can also vary significantly from person to person.​
Cognitive Training and Autism
Cognitive training can make a meaningful difference for individuals living with autism. By strengthening core cognitive skills, children and adults with autism can improve the way they think, learn, process information, and perform in school, work, and daily life. While we do not diagnose or treat autism, our programs have helped enhance cognitive performance for customers with a variety of diagnoses, including individuals across the autism spectrum and with many other different and overlapping kinds of neurodiversity.
Whether you are an adult living with autism or a parent seeking support for your child, the professionals at Thinkable Learning Centre are here to help. We provide personalized, brain-based training programs for individuals from ages 5 through adulthood, including into the elderly years. We provide a number of evidence-based, high quality, gold-standard cognitive tools and program offerings to help with the large variety of cognitive issues we encounter, but.... we are the ONLY fully trained, certified, officially licensed provider of BrainRX® in Dublin AND the only provider of the innovative ReadRX® program in all of Ireland!
BrainRX® is a customized cognitive training program designed to address the root causes of learning and cognitive difficulties by promoting neurological growth and stronger brain performance. As one of the world's leading one-on-one brain training programs, BrainRX® is specifically designed to support individuals with autism. Participants benefit from a highly individualized "personal trainer" approach that delivers exceptional results.​
What's the Evidence for BrainRX® to Support Autism?
Over a six-year period, 857 children and adults on the autism spectrum participated in a cognitive learning study. Cognitive abilities were assessed before and after brain training, and the results were remarkable.
Among participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, significant improvements were recorded in areas including "IQ, long-term memory, broad attention, and auditory processing." In addition, long-term memory scores increased by an average of 20 percentile points after completing cognitive brain training. Participants also experienced an average improvement of 3.1 years in age-equivalent cognitive performance.
Additional cognitive improvements included:
IQ - 3.8% increase
Working Memory - 3.6% increase
Learning & Reasoning - 3.2% increase
Processing Speed - 2.0% increase
Auditory Processing - 5.5% increase
Visual Processing - 4.5% increase
Long-Term Memory - 4.1% increase
Broad Attention - 3.2% increase
And while these outcomes are phenomenal, it's our experience that many of our students EXCEED these gains and also have additional, secondary improvements in emotional regulation and nervous system function as well.
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Let's look beyond the initial study and look at program outcomes for what Thinkable Learning Centre offers for Autism Support. Please note that these two graphs indicate pre- and post- program assessment scores for students that came with a formal diagnosis already. Program outcomes for other populations would be different for other student populations and other diagnoses.
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What brain training offers is a structured way to actively work on building these essential skills.
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Your brain learned its core cognitive skills in a specific way the first time - through play. There's an incredibly intelligent reason for that! The brain is wired to learn through play very effectively. It's one of the reasons why our programs are successful at the level of skill acquisition that we help people achieve. By focusing on strengthening areas like attention and working memory through targeted mental exercises (and in a playful manner), we are able to re-wire the brain and get a neuroplastic effect that aids in further recovery from brain injuries. This approach helps individuals gradually improve their cognitive performance over time.
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When you read "play" and "playful" - don't misunderstand us. It's still hard work. And the intensity is where the effect comes from. We have learned that playfulness in learning decreases the amount of repetition needed to get the same effect that is desired from repetition alone -- and we monopolize on that in exactly the ways that the clinical research has shown us we can get a neuroplastic effect.
A Personalized Approach
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A key component of effective brain training is customization and variability. At Thinkable Learning Centre, each client begins with a detailed assessment to measure their current cognitive abilities. Trainers also take into account the individual's history and personal goals. Using all of this information, an individually tailored training plan is created to target the specific skills that YOU need the most improvement on, whether that's memory, focus, or processing speed.
This individualized approach ensures that each person receives support suited to their unique challenges. There are no cookie cutter approaches here! ​​
Research Shows Us The Way...
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There are several different cognitive skills that are often problematic/weak in those on the autism spectrum. The most common cognitive skills that are weak are language, working memory, logic & reasoning, and processing speed. You may also have additional deficits, like difficulties with sustained attention, the ability to speak, and a variety of visual processing and reasoning issues.
Regardless of which unique set of deficits/ cognitive weaknesses, it's our experience that standard autism programs often do not focus on gaining function - they are instead focused on accommodation. Many people are told they must live with diminished capacity in ways that are catastrophic to the way they wish to live their life - their words, not ours.
We think choice is important. If people with autism want to gain cognitive skills -- let's help them. Does it impact their ability to cope and live independently? Absolutely yes. And that's worth advocacy every day of the week.
Let parents and students choose the intervention most appropriate. Let cognitive improvements be another option that we can work towards. If that sounds like the kind of help you are looking for, consider us up to the task of helping. We are always happy to walk you through our cognitive assessment results and make suggestions based on our experience, regardless of whether it points to something we offer at our learning centre. If it can help and we don't offer it, we will refer you in the right direction. Thankfully, our Centre is home to a variety of neurodiversity friendly private supports including individual psychotherapy, family therapy, music therapy, speech and language therapy (SLT) - so help might not even be farther than next door to our suite.
No Two Brains Are The Same!
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Because no two brains are the same (not even in identical twins!), no two programs will be either!
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Thinkable specializes in creating bespoke programs that address this reality. Our brain training focuses on using evidence-based interventions backed by years of robust neurocognitive research. One of our favorite program offerings, BrainRx cognitive skills training, has become quite popular among survivors of brain injuries in Dublin. Thinkable is the only fully-licensed and expertly-trained BrainRx provider in Dublin. Accept no substitutes!
In addition to BrainRx programs, Thinkable also offers a special auxiliary reading program (ReadRx) to assist with reading challenges that are commonly associated with autism spectrum and neurodiversity. The program literally codes the entire English language from start to finish. Thinkable is the only provider of ReadRx in Ireland - there are no direct comparisons to it on the island! Parents and teachers in particular may be familiar with Orton-Gillingham methods, which are foundational, teacher-led, and take a multisensory approach to teaching reading and spelling (and they would be delighted to learn that ReadRx combines these structured literacy principles with simultaneous cognitive skills training for better outcomes than either intervention alone can provide.) The result of the cognitive brain training toolls we us is clear: confident and capable readers who can communicate better, think faster, and perform well.
Primary & Secondary Benefits of Brain Training
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Attention or memory gains may be the primary benefit you are looking to achieve with a brain training program, but their are a myriad of secondary benefits -- from increases in IQ (Thinkable exceeds the average IQ increases!), to significant improvements in emotional regulation and/or impulse control.
None of these may seem secondary for the students (or parents) currently navigating these struggles, but they are just a few of the additional perks you are likely to experience from completing one of our brain training programs. We mask challenging with fun, repetition with play, and we keep students engaged with interesting tasks that they look forward to in their sessions. Don't get us wrong -- our programs are hard work and our students earn every single success that they achieve. We celebrate those successes with them every step of the way. Of course individual results may vary. We’d love the opportunity to work with you and your student see what successes lie ahead.
TLC for Autism
At Thinkable Learning Centre (intentially named "TLC"!), we are committed to promoting autism awareness within our community. But we spend every hour we are open actually addressing the underlying causes of deficits in autism. We honor the gifts in twice exceptional students AND we offer them assistance with any difficulties they are encountering that impact their access to learning, thinking, or performing tasks critical to their goals and success.
And we know that approach is different. If you would like to learn more about how BrainRX® cognitive training may support you or a loved one living with autism, our team is here to help.
Our programs are designed specifically with you in mind. And when we promised "more good days" at the beginning of this post -- we wrote this on a day that a family got to hear the voice of their child for the first time after years of being completely non-verbal. Some days are more amazing than others. Come find a few of them in our Learning Centre. We're here and we're ready to help.
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The first step is always to see exactly what help is needed and we use an easy, affordable, (fun and engaging!) assessment process, never any wait list involved, making sure you get help fast.
How does it work? Three Steps. That's All It Takes. Our expert team guides every student (and their parents/partners!) through a three-step process: Assessment, engagement about the Results, and then Training for Strength. Each step is entirely personalized and crafted to the student's specific learning needs as identified by our world-class assessment. This process allows us cater to individual cognitive skill combinations that are unique to each individual. The outcomes our students enjoy as a result of completing our brain training programs include: increased processing speed, memory, attention, and all aspects of the cognitive learning process -- benefits that group work and private tuition can never meaningfully offer. Most students also get the secondary advantage of a measurable increase in reading proficiency!
We Do Things Differently At Thinkable!
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Step One
Assessment is key. We evaluate every student's auditory, visual, memory, attention, language, & critical thinking skills. The cognitive skills results will outline their core strengths and areas for improvement (qualitatively & quantitatively), often validating concerns in specific & measurable ways.
Step Two
Programs are personalized. What you need -- nothing less, nothing more. Once skill differences are identified, we customize the brain training program that can target learning challenges. Interactive sessions keep students motivated and engaged, slowly building confidence in their new abilities.
Step Three
Train the brain! Repetition and intensity are the key to achieving a neuroplastic effect from brain training. Our trainers work with a singular focus of creating lasting outcomes by using the best neurocognitive methods available in our programs. Our activities are fun, engaging, and challenging.
