Long before LearningRx existed, Dr. Ken Gibson was asking a simple but persistent question: Why do some children continue to struggle with reading even after receiving vision therapy?

As a pediatric vision specialist and optometrist, Dr. Gibson saw firsthand that clear eyesight alone wasn’t always enough. In the late 1970s and 1980s, his curiosity led him beyond vision and into the world of how the brain processes information – how we see, hear, remember, focus, reason, and make sense of what we learn.

That exploration became the foundation of everything that followed.

During the 1980s, Dr. Gibson developed a visual processing program called Visual Information Processing (VIP) designed to strengthen how the brain interprets visual information. As results improved, it became clear that visual processing was only one piece of a much bigger picture.

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Gibson partnered closely with his brother, clinical psychologist Dr. Keith Gibson, to expand this work into a broader, more comprehensive approach. Together, they developed a cognitive skills training program that addressed not just visual processing, but also auditory processing, attention, memory, processing speed, and reasoning. This program was called Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE).

This work was shared widely. Over the years, hundreds of educators, clinicians, psychologists, and medical professionals were trained to use these programs in schools and private practices. Alongside the cognitive training, the Gibsons also developed a structured reading program called Master the Code that later became the foundation of LearningRx’s reading curriculum.

While the programs were producing strong outcomes in clinical settings, Dr. Gibson recognized a limitation: many families simply didn’t have access to trained clinicians. He believed brain training shouldn’t be reserved for a select few—it should be practical, personal, and accessible to as many people as possible.

In August 2002, that belief became reality with the opening of the first LearningRx Brain Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The original clinical programs were carefully adapted for a learning-center environment, leading to the development of proprietary cognitive, reading, and math curricula designed for one-on-one delivery. In this one-on-one brain training center, Ken and his team were able to help more students in one month than licensed professionals could help in a year or more!

Just a year later, LearningRx began franchising, bringing this approach to communities across the United States and beyond.

As LearningRx expanded, so did its programs. A reading comprehension program was introduced in 2014, followed by a study skills program in 2016 – both designed to meet learners where they are and support real-world academic demands. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced brain training sessions to close for extended periods of time, virtual training became introduced widely throughout the US. A study comparing our in-person and virtual training programs produced similar results, creating an opportunity to train more and more students around the country.

Today, LearningRx operates nearly 50 franchise locations across the United States and Canada. The training methodology is also licensed internationally under the name BrainRx and is used in dozens of countries around the world.

What hasn’t changed since the beginning is the heart behind the work: a belief that cognitive skills can be strengthened, that every brain has potential, and that individualized training can open doors to confidence, clarity, and lifelong learning.

Over the decades, LearningRx programs have been used with more than 134,000 individuals in learning centers and private practices worldwide. Clients range from young children to older adults, including those with dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, speech and language delays, learning disabilities, and age-related cognitive decline.

December 17, 2025 – Written by Katie Kemp