"What...Are you crazy????  NOTHING in this business costs that much!"

"So $7500 for only the first 6 days of training? , and there are 2 more weeks which presumably will increase the total cost to over $22k? "

"Why are you charging so much?"

We are providing a more complete solution to learning problems than anyone in the market.  There are plenty of people offering programs.  The problem is that those programs all focus on only one part of the learning skills continuum.  We are able to cover the entire continuum by integrating a vast array of programs and techniques.  It is THE most comprehensive service available anywhere to the general public.

At the same time, we are NOT franchising.  You will continue to have the freedom to do whatever else you wish. As a comparison, a Learning Rx franchise (which is primarily a processing skills program), will cost you between $50,000 and $150,000 just to get started.  And you will pay them 10% of every dollar you take in.  Plus you still have all your other costs.

 In terms of programming, you will be able to offer far more than the expensive franchise.

We have carefully considered all that we are getting ourselves into.  Our goal is for this to succeed on a large scale.  Our ability to support you on a weekly basis is essential both for programs and business. Our biggest fear is that we have under priced what we are offering.  Only time will tell,  but after months of "working the numbers," this seems like the very best direction.

Will the Feb. presentation/workshop give me all of the info. I need since I am trained with all of the mentioned programs.    

You may come to the 2nd workshop, but it will not cover what we did in the 1st workshop.  It will be different programs.    

If you look carefully, notice that there are 2 new programs that you don't have...Auditory Stimulation and Training-Reading and Core Learning Skills.  You may have your own version of the programs that we are teaching in September, but you won't have the systematic, easy-to-train-others organization that you will be getting here.  

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION -  When we teach PACE, we are teaching what Learning Rx wants taught in their workshop.  When we teach Samonas, we are teaching what Ingo wants covered.    

What we DON'T do in those workshops is give you the specific "here's how to integrate this program with the other things you are doing."  This September's workshop will be, not just WHAT you do, but HOW you "put it all together," as well as how to do it in a way that you can get others who work for you to do it.  

We have NEVER opened up to others exactly how we fit all the pieces together.  We have talked about it, but never in a sequential, step-by-step format.   We have spent years putting these programs together, and the last several months getting it in a format that can be used by anyone.  Certainly we are all able to build sequenced programming options.  It's just that most people don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Yup, I'm one of those, and may even be the one who asked this.  However, I like to offer solutions, which would be an online course.  Have you ever done one of those; webinar or simply online?  Are you considering such? I live very far out of state, in New Jersey.

New Jersey is not too far to travel if you really want the training. We regularly have people who travel that far or further.

We have done a number of tele-seminars and a couple of webinars.  As Jill wrote in the last set of Q&A, this material, at this point, does not lend itself well to that kind of format. Can you imagine sitting at your computer screen for 8-10 hours a day for 5 or 6 days?

Right now, costs prevent us from doing this workshop 10 times in 10 different regions.  We realize that not everyone can or will travel.  We are sorry if that is a problem.  The best we can do is give you plenty of time to prepare for coming here if you really want to attend.      

"I have 2 questions (though I'm sure more will come up...).

First, will there be a section on testing and evaluation?  As you know, one of the most important pieces is diagnosis and while I already do a lot of testing, it would be good to have a whole evaluation package (or at the least the names of the relevant tests) that would let us know which programs to use for students.  

Second, while I've never been one to care much about AET certification, etc., it does seem a little unfair to me that some of us do so much professional development but never get any "official" credit for it.  Parents do care sometimes about what follows after your name so I'm wondering if there is any way to get the AET people to recognize the work we do with you..."

Yes, Jill will cover testing and evaluation.   What Jill will do is suggest to people certain standardized tests that will provide them with the information they need in various areas.   Then, we are working on a way for people to quickly enter their diagnostic impressions of what they have learned about the child through testing and will then be able to print out a report that is easy to consult from and that educates parents about processing skills, visually shows parents the areas of strength and need, tells how the challenges will affect the child in the classroom and real life, and makes recommendations for correcting the challenges.

Test scores can be entered and reported for any of the tests that we have recommended.

We will also give out certificates after the training is over, giving the number of hours taken, etc.  I appreciate AET and the work that they have done.  But ultimately, their approval is less important to all of us than whether or not parents will "buy into" what we are telling them.  We have NEVER had someone say they wouldn't work with us because of anything AET ever did or said.

"In your seminars, are you going to go into the 'joys' of finding (and maintaining) a place to work, getting all of the necessary licenses, finding the money to support such an undertaking and fun stuff like that?"

We will cover very quickly what may or may not be required to do business in your community. We will also give you some ideas as to where to find space to meet with students. We can brainstorm money, but you do need some cash to get a business "off the ground."

The most important thing is to look at your business differently. Most people who start their own business have much to offer to people, but there are some common paths they tend to choose that limit how great the business can become. We are going to offer you some different ways to look at what you do and how you go about doing it.

"What kind of facility would be needed to accommodate 100 hours of therapy a week. What type of set up is workable, optimal...does each clinician have private office space?"

I have realized that this 100 hour thing has not been very clear. Let me see if I can make it clearer.

100 client hours per week is a number that means the director simply can't be teaching and still run a clinic. It is one of the first "milestones" that takes a "practice" to a "business." Our intention after the September workshop is to target people that want to have at least 100 client hours per week. There are many people that we have worked with in the past that either aren't really interested in having that large a business or are not willing to do what it takes to get to 100 or more hours per week.

Honestly, the major thing it takes is a shift in how you think about your business. Once you have done it, it isn't really that much more work than trying to teach a bunch of hours AND supervise. For many people, it seems like an overwhelming task. Others can't wait to get there. But you can't get there without shifting how you think about your business.

100 client hours per week is 4 clinicians working Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 7 pm. Or it is 5 clinicians working 4 days a week...or various combinations that get you to 100 hours. It could be done with 20 students doing 5 hours per week, 33 students doing 3 hours a week, etc.

We have visited a number of successful clinics across the country and the physical layout is as different as the number of clinics. Some are completely open. Others have closed door offices. Others have dividers. We have had closed doors for most of our 25 years (although some of our clinicians share an office). In our new facility, we have some enclosed offices and we have "built" other stations using 6 1/2 foot tall book shelves to divide the space.

You will need workspace for 4 to 5 students simultaneously. What they look like, the way you divide the space is up to you.

The bottom line here is that you can make just about anything work. It mostly depends on what kind of affordable space you can find.

"What about equipment needed for Samonas and computers needed for Brainware Safari?"

At the workshop, we give you all the equipment you need to get started except a computer. That's one of the reasons the workshop is so expensive! You can choose to use PACE instead of Brainware if you don't have a computer available. You may always order more equipment as your business grows.

The reality is that you must have some money to get started. At some point I will outline the ideal amount, but I believe it can be started with much less than most people think.

"How is it used by multiple clinicians?"

Brainware is most often done at home. If you have kids doing it at the clinic, you must have multiple computers, although you could have one clinician for every 3 or 4 kids while they are on the computer.

"Are you still seeing each client 3 times a week for an hour like PACE?"

Most of the programs that Jill developed are 3 times per week, although she can show you how to do more or less.

"Do you have suggestions for program fees you charge the clients?"

Fees are always a local matter. We charge less than people on the west side of LA. We will discuss it at the workshop.

"I'm not clear on the assessments - would you still recommend doing Gibson Battery as well, how do you assess for Core Learning Skills Training verses executive function? How long does an assessment take?"

We use the Gibson and like it. But in this workshop we will make other suggestions because not everyone is a PACE provider. You may still want to use the Gibson...we just won't be discussing it at the workshop.

"How do you determine if the student should be in PACE or any of these programs? Do you for see one continuing with PACE/MTC?"

Our obligation is to provide training that can be used anywhere. That means we will not be training PACE as a part of these workshops because of the restrictions PACE has placed on it's products. However, we still use PACE, and you may decide that you will still use it. It is a great tool.

But remember, PACE is a very good processing skills program, but doesn't strongly address neuro-developmental skills. It isn't the ideal program for auditory processing. It has a specific place on the learning skills continuum.

Here is part of a longer answer Jill gave to someone who wrote about both the Lindamood programs and our September workshop -

 Here's a little history to help you understand our direction now.  I have been in this business for 25 years and have constantly searched for the most effective and efficient ways to help students overcome, not just get around, their learning problems and become the learners they should be.  In this process, I have had many incredible mentors and learned a lot, which I think has put me ahead of where many people are in their understanding of learning challenges.  

We have trained many types of workshops over the years (including Visualizing and Verbalizing) that we felt were excellent tools for solving learning challenges.  What we found was that some people were able to take all of that varied information and put it together into a really effective practice, but many others struggled to organize, sequence, and use the information easily.  

Most have had struggles with marketing, management of staff, and having enough clients.  

So after all these years, we are moving in the direction of offering a comprehensive and cohesive method for starting and growing a really successful and highly effective practice solving learning problems.  

It is almost like the idea of a franchise but with more more freedom.  

We want to give people the key understandings and programs that will allow them to cover the continuum of challenges that students have in a well-sequenced, user-friendly way so that most of the guesswork is taken out.  And we want to give people the tremendous amount of support that new business owners and practitioners learning new things need to become highly effective rapidly.  In other words, we're trying to put our 25 years of experience into about 18 months.  

The seminars are expensive, but the value of the very organized and comprehensive programs, instructional materials, business and marketing development and materials, and ongoing support is well beyond the cost.  Each seminar will be $7500 and will include new programs and materials.  

There are a lot of people that have been associated with us for many, many years.  We are beginning to seek out new people who are wanting to start a learning center and need all that we have to offer in order to do it well, quickly, and easily.  

But we didn't want to turn our back on the people we have worked with before.  What we are really offering to you and to them is the opportunity to take one or more of the week long seminars, with all of the programs and support they include, without having to commit to all three.  

New people will have to commit to the whole process.

We do have a lot on our plate right now, but we have already done the first seminar in full with a developmental pediatrician who came over from Kuwait, and our two test centers.  It went really well, but since it was a test run, there will be some changes and additions for the September seminar.  

We are absolutely committed to this seminar being outstanding.  (Remember, I have been developing and training these programs for years with my own staff).

The September seminar will not not have a strong comprehension component, though comprehension is integrated with AST-Reading.  The 2nd seminar (probably February) will include AST-Comprehension which will provide both the active auditory stimulation and a well-sequenced comprehensive approach to developing comprehension and reasoning.  It will incorporate the key understandings from VV as well as much more.  Having a background in VV will make a person even more effective with it.  

The other key program in the 2nd seminar will be Brain Spark, a processing skills program similar to PACE. Apparently, there is a new program on the market called Brain Spark. This is NOT that program. The name may have to be changed.  

BS actually has many more procedures than PACE and has a neurodevelopmental component that PACE does not have.  We use both programs as well as Brainware Safari, the computer-based processing skills program that will be presented in Seminar 1.  

Having the 3 programs allows us to match the program very specifically to the student.  But here's the main reason we're not teaching PACE in the second seminar...it's not available to everyone because of the franchises and it's not real practical for learning centers because you can only have three licenses (3 people) providing it.  We want learning center directors to be able to train their own staff, however many there are, to provide the programs so we had to find an alternative to PACE.  As a PACE provider, you do not need both, but if you had both, as we do, you would find that you could utilize both.

We will absolutely continue to support you in the programs you have already taken with us.  We only train programs we believe in and we want them to work!  You are very important to us whether you take this next step with us or not, and I really mean that.  

We just find that too many people with lots of great information and wonderful hearts for struggling kids don't make it or end up serving only a few students.  There are millions of kids and adults out there who need this.  We feel like we have been blessed to find real answers and we want to get the word and the means out there to help.

July 15 is the deadline for the $500 early registration discount. Pay in full by July 15 and save $500 off the cost of the workshop.

More questions? Email us.

Ready to sign up? Go to learning100.com and reserve your place today.