A Conversation with Barbara Arrowsmith-Young

Sometimes life surprises you in the most unexpected ways. I had been recording episodes for my podcast, mostly interviewing people I reached out to, when suddenly an email landed in my inbox. It was from Barbara Arrowsmith-Young’s team. At first, I thought it might be spam. After all, Barbara is a world-renowned figure in the field of cognitive education, famous for her TEDx talk in Toronto and her groundbreaking work on brain plasticity. Why would someone like her want to speak with me?

But after a little research—and some cautious double-checking—I realized it was real. Barbara herself wanted to be a guest on my podcast. I was both thrilled and nervous. Here was a woman who had not only transformed her own life through perseverance and innovation but also created a program that now helps students around the world rewire their brains for better learning.

Before I dive into our conversation, let me give you a bit of Barbara’s background.

Barbara’s Story

The genesis of the Arrowsmith Program comes directly from Barbara’s own struggles with severe learning disabilities. As a child, she read and wrote everything backward, struggled to process language and concepts, and constantly got lost. Diagnosed in grade one with what was then called a “mental block,” she would today have been identified with multiple learning disabilities.

Through sheer effort, she managed to learn to read and write from left to right, masking some of her difficulties. But school was always a challenge. It wasn’t until adulthood that Barbara began piecing together a different way forward. Her story is told in The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge, but hearing it in her own words during our interview was even more powerful.

Meeting Barbara

When Barbara joined me for the interview, she immediately came across as deeply passionate, humble, and visionary. “I find it a little hard to describe what I do,” she told me. “But at the heart of it, I’m passionate about the human brain. Yes, our brains shape who we are—but what excites me most is that we can also shape our brains.”

Growing up in the 1950s, Barbara explained, there was no belief in neuroplasticity. The brain was considered fixed, unchangeable. If you had a learning disability, you simply had to learn to live with it. But Barbara refused to accept that answer. Inspired partly by her father’s wisdom—“If there’s a problem and no solution, it’s your responsibility to try to find one”—she began experimenting with ways to strengthen the underperforming parts of her brain.

Her very first exercise involved reading clocks. She didn’t just want to tell time; she wanted to train her brain to understand relationships—cause and effect, insight, and patterns she had never grasped before. Slowly, things began to change. Conversations that once left her feeling lost and hours behind others began to make sense in real time. She described it as “the fog lifting.” For the first time, she wasn’t living in lag time; she could connect with people in the moment.

That discovery set her on the path to creating a whole series of cognitive exercises, targeting specific brain functions the same way a physiotherapist would target a specific muscle or tendon. Over time, she built what would become the Arrowsmith Program—a collection of brain-based exercises designed to improve learning and emotional well-being.

The Arrowsmith Program in Action

Barbara shared with me how her program works in schools today. In one model, students spend thirty minutes a day on a single cognitive exercise, integrated into their school schedule alongside reading and math. In grade one, for instance, students focus on motor planning for writing and eye tracking for reading. In grade two, they move into visual memory exercises for symbol patterns, strengthening the brain’s ability to recognize and hold words, formulas, or equations.

What makes this unique is that students aren’t just learning skills; they’re training the underlying brain functions that make learning possible. By targeting these core processes, they strengthen their capacity for reading, writing, math, reasoning, and more. And because every child in the class participates, there’s no stigma attached—it’s simply part of learning.

For students with more significant needs, Barbara has designed “cognitive classrooms,” where children from different grades work on individualized programs throughout the day. Over time, as their brains strengthen, they reintegrate fully into their regular classes.

Even during COVID, when schools shut down, the program adapted. Within three weeks, Barbara’s team had developed an online version. Data showed that students continued making the same progress virtually as they did in person. This innovation has since made the program more widely accessible, reaching children who don’t live near a participating school.

Why It Matters

What struck me most during our conversation was how Barbara connected brain training not only to academics but also to emotional and social well-being. As someone with Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD), I related deeply to her descriptions of loneliness, frustration, and confusion in school. Like Barbara, I cried often, wondering why learning seemed so much harder for me than for others.

Her story gave me hope—not just for myself, but for others who might be struggling today. Neuroplasticity is real, and programs like hers prove that our brains are not fixed. They can grow, adapt, and change in profound ways.

Closing Thoughts

Interviewing Barbara Arrowsmith-Young was an honor I never expected but will always cherish. Her work challenges old assumptions and opens the door to new possibilities for learners everywhere.

As I wrapped up that podcast episode, I also wanted to remind my audience—just as I’ll remind you here—that your story matters too. If you or someone you know is living with NLD and would like to share your experiences, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at livingwithNLD@gmail.com.

In the meantime, try journaling about your gifts and your challenges. See if there’s one area where you can make things easier than they were before. Change may take time, but as Barbara’s journey shows, it is always possible.