Neuralign: Empowering Children to Overcome the Challenges of Learning with Dyslexia
Over the past decade, discoveries in neurodivergence and the way our brains operate have led to a major paradigm shift in how education and learning professionals support the success of all students. Educators have long been aware of the unique challenges facing their learners with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia, and while these afflictions are not indicative of intelligence, they can have a major detriment to overall grades and learning progression. Dyslexia, affecting 10-20% of all children (Dyslexia Canada), is the most common cause of difficulties in learning to read, write, and spell, and as reading becomes exponentially harder, progression across all subjects begins to suffer.
Currently, school boards that identify students with dyslexia provide support through accommodations, including things like text-to-speech aids, extended testing times, learning support workers, or removing students from class for supplemental reading instruction. Although this may support progression in school, it does not address the neurological causes that prevent them from becoming strong readers. Neuralign, an Ontario company specializing in solutions for dyslexic learners, is leading the charge in cognitive therapy to go past accommodation support and develop reading skills through brain development.
Neuralign – Cognitive Therapy that Builds the Reading Capabilities of the Brain
Neuralign is a software program that rewires the brain to use the same pathways that strong readers do. This approach acknowledges that various brain types work differently and no matter how much traditional instruction or practice they receive, a dyslexic learner will still be using different brain pathways than those who are predisposed for strong reading.
Through Neuralign’s program, a learner receives 15 one-hour sessions of cognitive therapy in the form of computer games that stimulate the reading pathways through a combination of auditory processing, visual processing, and vestibular stimulation cues. This is followed by reading exercises that prove the immediate effect of the training. The whole program is designed to be fun for the learner while using proven science on brain plasticity to improve reading skills.
Proven through Field Research
Over the past few years, Neuralign has been gaining a lot of traction through research studies on its effectiveness. In a 2022 report by the Center for Applied Cognitive Research and the Department of Psychology at Carleton University, data from 116 students between the ages of 6-18 showed they read an average of 50% faster after 10 weeks of using Neuralign. These results reinforced Neuralign’s potential to support learners worldwide (Carleton University, Centre for Applied Cognitive Research).
“Each study proving the positive impact of our program on the learning progression of those with dyslexia confirms the importance of the work we are doing,” explained Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Erika Poupart. “We believe in the science behind our program, but our bottom line will always be the level of support we provide for students who may be struggling.”
Struggling with Neurodivergence - An All Too Common Story
Neuralign was first created under the name ReadLS in 2015 by Erika’s mother and company CEO, Ingrid Poupart, but the journey to developing the software learning tool was a personal one that started long before that.
“As someone who went through school with dyslexia and then raised a dyslexic child, the goal to support students struggling to learn was a driving factor throughout my Mother’s career,” recalled Erika.
Ingrid dedicated her work to specialized education, accumulating over 30 years of experience in the field of education and founding two successful learning centres that target overcoming barriers to learning. She implemented school-wide reading programs designed to accommodate the needs of dyslexic students, while at the same time, looked for more direct ways to improve dyslexic learning.
“While running the learning centres, she was inspired to become certified in multiple research-based learning interventions,” said Erika. “My Mother knew firsthand that dyslexia was not indicative of intelligence, but instead a divergence in the use of brain pathways. There needed to be a way to aid in reading skill acquisition, as opposed to reliance on accommodation and harder work.”
Ingrid, while remaining the Director of the Stepping Stone Learning Centre in Ontario, founded ReadLS with the goal of creating an accessible technology solution that could use cognitive therapy to develop the foundations for reading skill progression.
Commercial Growth and a Rebrand
The team’s first customer fit was occupational therapists looking to support children with learning challenges related to autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. These early adopters saw the fast improvements in their clients and quickly spread word of the program’s effectiveness. With coinciding validation campaigns running at the Stepping Stone Learning Centre and in Philadelphia, the product was ready for major distribution in 2022.
“Before our launch, we decided to switch our brand from ReadLS,” Erika reflected. “We had received feedback that our name did not capture the science behind our solution, and we wanted to make sure the program wasn’t seen as another reading accommodation tool. So we rebranded as Neuralign, a name representing the cognitive science behind the program.”
The Growing Impact of Neuralign
Today, Neuralign is gaining traction across school boards, learning centres, and therapists in over a dozen countries worldwide, including Canada, the US, the UK, and Brazil. In fact, through Carleton University’s Centre for Applied Cognitive Research, Neuralign has earned a Level 1 status under America’s ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).
According to Erika, “ESSA is a US federal education law that promotes the use of evidence-based interventions. By having the top tier level of certification under ESSA, we have independent validation of our product’s effectiveness.”
ESSA certification has opened many doors in the American market, including Neuralign’s qualification for eligibility with Education Savings Accounts, a US program allowing families to save for educational expenses.
In Canada, Neuralign is running more proof-of-concept studies, pairing up with school boards to understand how they can optimize the effectiveness of their program.
“Our most recent trials included a full Grade 1 class, where a number of students were not meeting their benchmarks in reading. This is unfortunately very common in classrooms across Canada, so we are glad to bring a solution that is fun and lessens the load on human resources to support the kids,” said Erika. “We heard back from teachers that kids would enter the classroom asking if it is a Neuralign day, excited to take a break from regular studies and jump into another one of their cognitive therapy sessions.”
The team is also partnering with CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) to dig into the science behind the exceptional results of their program. CHEO will be working with Neuralign to measure brain activity impacts from the program through MRIs and EEG scans. The hope is to see what is most effective in the program and continue to improve upon Neuralign’s effectiveness.
This, paired with the ongoing development of a VR/AI version of the program, could enable Neuralign to better support different forms of neurodivergence.
“Though Neuralign currently specializes in dyslexia, we have seen evidence of the program leading to benefits for those with other forms of neurodivergence like ADHD and autism,” Erika explains. “By continuing to build on our understanding of neuroplasticity and how the brain functions, we can continue to develop our innovative approach to supporting learners.”
Neuralign is also gaining traction worldwide, gaining distribution partners in the UK and Brazil and aiming to reach new global markets in the coming years. In fact, the company has already expanded the program to function in six languages.
Working with Launch Lab
Headquartered in the small village of Martintown, Eastern Ontario, with a small international team spanning much further, Neuralign is the poster child for the SaaS innovation that can take place anywhere in our fully virtual workforce. Launch Lab was a key partner throughout the company’s journey, supporting the team’s brand development and market penetration.
“We have been connected to Launch Lab over the past five years, gaining advisory support and introductions to organizations to help us on our innovation and business goals. Most recently, we have made great use of their Digital Lead Generation (DLG) team, who provide cost-effective marketing services for startups, including email and social media campaigns, as well as website development. Launch Lab’s DLG team immersed themselves in our company goals and built a strategy specific to our needs.”
-Erika Poupart, Chief Creation Officer
Fighting the Stigma of Dyslexia
In the end, the Poupart family’s personal history with dyslexia shines through when looking at the ceaseless drive both Ingrid and Erika have for helping those with the same neurodivergence overcome their learning challenges.
“Neuralign allows dyslexic people to read at the same level as strong readers. We are not looking to “cure” or try to rid the world of dyslexia, as neurodivergence should be seen as a strength, tied to different ways of thinking and creativity,” explains Erika. “If we can both help children learn, while at the same time remove the stigma of being neurodivergent, then we know we are doing a great job.”
