INTRODUCTION

The Arrowsmith Program of cognitive exercises was first offered to students with learning disabilities in 1978 and Arrowsmith School was established in 1980.

Arrowsmith School has operated continuously in Toronto since then and now occupies the two buildings which it owns on St. Clair Avenue West in mid-town Toronto. Arrowsmith School Peterborough located about 2 hours east of Toronto was established as a wholly owned affiliate in 2005.

In 1997, the Toronto Catholic District School Board began to offer the Arrowsmith Program which is now available in seven elementary schools in the TCDSB across Toronto. Several independent schools in Ontario and British Columbia began to offer the Arrowsmith Program beginning in 2002.

In 2005, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach became the first school in the United States to offer the Arrowsmith Program. Also in 2005, Howard Eaton established Eaton Arrowsmith School in Vancouver which has expanded to over 120 students with a new school in Victoria opening in September, 2009. In 2008, the Eaton Brain Improvement Centre became the first site to offer the Arrowsmith Program exclusively to adults.

Three more U.S. schools began to offer the Arrowsmith Program starting in September, 2007 and another four U.S. schools will be starting in September, 2008. The Learning Disabilities Association of Saskatchewan will become the first learning disabilities association to offer the Arrowsmith Program at a centre in Saskatoon in September, 2008.

A list of all the schools that offer the Arrowsmith Program may be found by clicking here.

The Arrowsmith Program is founded on two lines of research, one of which established that different areas of the brain working together are responsible for complex mental activities, such as reading or writing, and that a weakness in one area can affect a number of different learning processes.

The other line of research investigated the principle of neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to physically change in response to stimulus and activity, to develop new neuronal/synaptic interconnections and thereby develop and adapt new functions and roles believed to be the physical mechanism of learning. Neuroplasticity refers to structural and functional changes in the brain that are brought about by training and experience.

Research in neuroscience is leading to new insights into the ways in which the brain changes in response to experience and points to the conclusion that the brain is not static but rather is dynamically changing and undergoes such changes throughout one's entire life.

Students with learning disabilities have traditionally been treated with programs designed to compensate for their difficulties - students who have difficulty with handwriting, for example, would be taught to use a keyboard or accommodated with more time to write exams.

The goal of the Arrowsmith Program, by contrast, is to help students strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions. The Arrowsmith Program deals with the root causes of the learning disability rather than managing its symptoms.

The Arrowsmith Program is capacity based in that it changes the capacity of the individual to learn, rather than compensatory which tries to work around the problem. Strengthening these weaker capacities increases the overall functioning of these specific cognitive areas allowing them to be used effectively for learning.

The Arrowsmith Program has proven successful with students in elementary and secondary school through to post-secondary school and with adults. Elementary and secondary school students return to a full academic curriculum at their appropriate grade level following the completion of a three or four year program.

Our goal is for our students to become effective, confident and self-directed learners for life and to enable them to achieve their goals of academic and career success.

Students return to a full academic curriculum at their appropriate grade level following completion of a three or four year program.

You may read more about the development of the Arrowsmith methodology in an article written by Dr. Norman Doidge titled Building a Better Brain that appeared as a cover story in Saturday Night Magazine. “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Dr. Doidge appeared in 2007 to widespread critical acclaim and is now available in paperback. Chapter 2 of his book is devoted to the work of Arrowsmith School.

A number of television programs and interviews have been devoted to the work at Arrowsmith School. A compilation of these programs describing the methodology of the program is available on our Video link.

Neuroscience and articles about the functioning of the human brain did not attract the same level of public interest that they do now when Arrowsmith School opened in 1980 but the same exercise methodology that began to be developed in the 1970s is in use at Arrowsmith School today.

CDs and MP3 players have replaced audiotapes, and computerized exercises, developed and programmed at Arrowsmith School, have replaced some pencil and paper exercises. Additional exercises have been developed and the methodology has been constantly refined, but the underlying philosophy has remained the same.

The Arrowsmith Program identifies areas of learning strength and weakness through careful assessment and then designs a program of individualized exercises for each student to target their precise areas of weakness.

You may read more about the learning dysfunctions that this program addresses and their symptoms by visiting the Description of Learning Dysfunctions on our web site and learn more about our methodology in the Methodology section.

In 1990, President George H. Bush, observing that "a new era of discovery is dawning in brain research" proclaimed the decade beginning January 1, 1990 as the Decade of the Brain. This observation sparked a new level of public interest in cognitive functions that until then had been a subject largely restricted to academics and researchers.

The Scientific American now has a quarterly publication called Scientific American Mind focusing on the workings of the mind and brain and articles on cognitive functioning regularly appear in popular magazines.

Reflecting this growth in public awareness, the Arrowsmith Program is now also attracting academic interest and you may read the Outcome Evaluation of the Arrowsmith Program by Dr. William J. Lancee that followed 79 students at Arrowsmith School over a three year period as well as an earlier Report on a Study of the Arrowsmith Program for Learning Disabilities also by Dr. Lancee.

The most recent study referred to above concluded:

“The study, combined with previous research of the program, strongly supports the effectiveness of the Arrowsmith Program for a wide spectrum of learning problems. These results provide hope for parents and teachers, and open up opportunities for children struggling with learning difficulties.”

Thank-you for visiting our web site and we hope that you find it informative and helpful.