NOW! Programs are being implemented in schools in Trinidad and Tobago. Click to Download an article (PDF) from the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian about the success of the NOW! programs.
Who We Are
The Neuro-development of Words – NOW!® Company provides research-based programs that prevent or improve learning difficulties and enrich language skills for children and adults.
The methods in the NOW! Programs have been in development for decades. The current versions of the NOW! Programs are designed for easy implementation in classrooms, small-groups or one-on-one settings. These research-based methods effectively improve the skills of students with learning disabilities or learning difficulties. The NOW! Programs are uniquely designed to improve the most likely causes of learning difficulties, such as weaknesses in specific thinking or processing skills in the areas of:
- Phonological processing
- Visual working memory
- Auditory working memory
- Sequencing numbers, letters and/or ideas
- Verbal memory
- Mental imagery
These weaknesses in foundation skills will likely cause struggles with fully developing more advanced academic skills, including reading, spelling, writing, comprehension/memory, arithmetic, reasoning and problem-solving. Just like building a house, if there are deficits or deficiencies in the foundation of a house, then the upper levels of the house are likely to always have problems. When students struggle to develop their academic skills, then they do not perform them independently or accurately, and they are not functioning at age or grade appropriate levels. Commonly, the majority of their classmates continue to keep up with the grade-level assignments, but these students with weak foundational skills and academic skills continue to fall further and further behind. Mistakenly, parents are told myths like "wait and see", "boys learn language later than girls", "reading just has not clicked for him yet", "he needs more time to mature" and "you can’t assess reading skills until 3rd grade." These myths are not supported by scientific research and despite being well-intentioned pieces of advice, they cause more harm than good for children who are struggling. This is particularly the case when research shows that these academic skills can be greatly improved by using the NOW! Programs.
What We Do
For many years, NOW! Programs have helped private medical clinics that specialize in improving reading, spelling, writing, comprehension, memory, reasoning/problem-solving, language, and speech difficulties in children and adults. Dr. Conway and the NOW company’s dissemination of research-based methods to help children and adults with learning difficulties is not new – his companies' partnerships with local, national and international schools, non-profits, families and organizations are decades long and still growing and helping thousands of children and adults reach their true learning potential. No more strategies, no more years of tutoring, no more being held back in school and repeating a grade, Instead NOW! Programs help students of all ages excel and show long-lasting improvements in their learning and academic skills. Don't take our word for it, let our students tell you themselves.
Benefits of NOW! programs
Universities, colleges, private schools, public schools, faith-based schools, library literacy programs' tutors, and international schools in the USA and third-world countries like Trinidad and Tobago have had the remarkable experience of seeing children and adults literally make years of gain in their skills after only a few months of NOW! Programs™.
In contrast, the most popular educational programs for children and adults with learning difficulties commonly require several years of instruction. However, even after years of instruction, these programs rarely help students reach their true potential. Typically, these educational programs have weak or no scientific evidence that they will be effective for a majority of students with difficulties. Also, these programs commonly have limited outcomes and only teach students and adults "strategies" to work around or learn to compensate for their learning difficulties. Typically, these programs teach students and adults "strategies" to work around or learn to compensate for students’ learning difficulties. Teaching strategies or work-arounds is an out of service or outdated approach. Science from the 21st century shows that children and adults with learning difficulties deserve much more than a "work-around" or a crutch to try and get by or cope with their learning difficulties.
Research-based and Evidence-based
The new, real science of how to promote neural plasticity or efficient and long-lasting learning is in the methods in the NOW! Programs. Also, the NOW! Programs are based on neuro-developmental research models of how these academic and language skills typically develop for children or adults who do NOT have learning difficulties. These models identify foundational abilities (thinking or processing skills) that are required for these academic skills to fully develop. This is a second key part of the methods in the NOW! Programs, as knowing these foundational skills means we don’t have to "wait and see" or "wait and hope" that these skills will somehow at some unknown time "click" and lead to better academic abilities. Instead, with 21st Century science, NOW! Programs can efficiently and effectively improve these academic abilities, with long-lasting results. No more guessing. No more randomly trying different strategies, programs, tutors and teachers, or blindly hoping that something might "work" this year to make learning easier. The NOW! Programs are designed to build a solid foundation in sensory processing and thinking skills, from which the more advanced academic abilities will be developed too. And research, not just our own, but of other professionals in our field, has shown these programs to be effective.
Therefore, the NOW! Programs can help students of all ages, including children, adolescents, college students and adults to improve the most likely cause of their learning difficulties and to be more likely to achieve their full academic and life potential.
Are the NOW! Programs right for me?
Do you or your child struggle with reading accuracy, reading rate, reading comprehension? Then the NOW! Foundations for Speech, Language, Reading and Spelling program is designed specifically for you to help you improve these skills. This NOW! Foundations can help children and adults with learning disabilities or difficulties (e.g. slow reading, poor comprehension due to reading errors, poor spelling skills) too. NOW! Programs can be provided online through live, fun, engagingly interactive eTutoring sessions, with highly trained teachers, either in one-on-one sessions or in small/large group formats.
Designed for everyone from educators and SLP's to parents of children with learning difficulties, our trainings will educate, inspire, and empower you to teach the skills targeted by each of our NOW!® programs. We will be offering these trainings throughout the year. NOW! offers training for teachers to support students with language difficulties and provide resources online to assist in implementation of programs.
Proven track record
NOW! programs make use of scientific principles developed at professional clinical and educational organizations for over 27 years with regard to the neuro-development of speech, language, reading and spelling skills. Dr. Conway and colleagues have conducted extensive research designed to analyze and augment methodology and implementation of practices developed in each program. Very few tutoring programs have research-based models, and even fewer have results that are repeatedly proven like the NOW! Company does.
Listen to the testimonials from other families. The results will speak for themselves. NOW! Company has also partnered with local schools, most recently The Villages Charter School, The Einstein School, and Ambleside School of Ocala. More are on the way. NOW! Programs believes that the better educated and equipped schools are, the more children they can reach.
Professional Development
Professional Development courses in the NOW! Programs™ are designed for everyone from educators and SLPs to parents of children with learning difficulties and tutors. These professional trainings will educate, inspire, and empower you to teach the skills targeted by each of the four NOW! Programs. We offer these trainings throughout the year and provide resources online to assist in implementation of programs.