Brain Training Unlocks Hidden Genius in San Antonio Teen
Six months ago Cruz Kirwan was like a lot of high school seniors. He played football and basketball, had a solid social circle, and performed above average in school. Today, he’s about to head off to college a genius. Literally. The 18-year-old scored a 133 on the IQ portion of a nationally recognized cognitive test recently, following an intensive brain training program at LearningRx, Northeast in San Antonio, Texas.
Before brain training Cruz’s IQ was a 109 – average.
The 24-point increase in IQ is significant because Cruz has his eyes fixed on becoming a surgeon one day. Problem is, Cruz has often questioned whether he was smart enough to do so.
Until now.
Cruz’s mom will never forget how the LearningRx team broke the news. “The phone rang and Cruz’s trainer who worked with him throughout brain training said hello and asked me how it feels to have a genius son,” remembers Erin Kirwan. “I have always thought Cruz was pretty bright but I’m not sure I saw this coming.”
As a part of the LearningRx Program, students take a cognitive assessment prior to enrolling in brain training as well as after the program concludes. It is the same test. The nationally-recognized assessment scores the client in several cognitive areas such as working memory, long-term memory, auditory processing, visual processing, processing speed, and logic and reasoning. All together, the cognitive areas help a person to learn more easily, think faster, remember material, read more effectively, and even read better. These cognitive skills also determine an intelligence quota a.k.a. IQ. Anything over 132 is considered among the top 99 percentile of people who take the test, or, so-called genius.
How did Cruz unlock this genius potential in just six months? He gave his brain a workout with one-on-one brain training at LearningRx, a program backed by over 13 years of clinical studies, research, and active participation.
Brain Training.
As Cruz discovered, the LearningRx brain training program is anything but easy.
It is rigorous.
It takes discipline.
Cruz began his brain training mid-summer 2021 to get a jump on the upcoming school year. Once he returned to a typical school year schedule, however, things got hectic. Cruz quickly learned he had to prioritize brain training right up there with his school work, football training, weekend job, and college visits and preparation.
“I noticed improvements in my memory and ability to process information more quickly almost right away, especially on the football field,” Cruz said. “That made it easier to be all-in.”
All-in because Cruz recognized that he needed help if he were to seriously pursue pre-med in college.
Cruz had come to brain training following his junior year. He had A-D-D, or attention deficit disorder, and for the majority of his school career had been able to get by making A’s and B’s without medication. Junior year brought changes. Cruz’s AP-level academic course load began to take its toll. He fell behind with his work. His grades slipped. Even worse, he was losing confidence in his academic ability. “I felt overwhelmed and the information just wasn’t sticking like I needed,” Cruz explained.
In addition, the athlete was competing to be his high school’s starting quarterback, a lifelong dream.
LearningRx studies have shown that clients who achieve gains in their cognitive skills, such as processing speed as a result of brain training, saw improvements both in and outside of the classroom. As a quarterback, Cruz would be responsible for memorizing numerous plays, having a lightning-fast reaction time, and strong decision making skills – abilities that brain training has been shown to help with.
So, for six plus months Cruz and his trainer sat face to face across a small table grinding through mental exercises. Amber Ivey pushed Cruz, encouraged him, and set high expectations for him.
“I’ve worked with a lot of trainers through my sports training. My LearningRx trainer, Amber, may have been the toughest yet – in a good way,” said Cruz.
Towards the end of Cruz’s program Amber even threw in additional, more challenging work above and beyond what his program called for. What she saw intrigued her.
“Cruz could mentally compute and do some exercises that the majority of people cannot,” Amber recalled. “I could tell his brain worked a little differently.”
Amber says she was not completely surprised by Cruz’s post assessment scores. He scored in the top percentiles in nearly every cognitive category. Areas affected by A-D-D such as processing speed were among some of his greatest gains.
“I could feel myself thinking faster, especially computing math in my head faster,” Cruz shared.
“I was thrilled to see all the work Cruz had put in and everything I knew he was capable of captured on paper,” remarked Amber.
And while the test scores and IQ number are impressive it is not the be all end all to Cruz. It is what he decides to do with the increased IQ that will shape the student’s future.
This August, Cruz will head to Doane University in Crete, Nebraska, on an athletic and academic scholarship. He will play football and major in Biology/Health Sciences in preparation for medical school.
“I have to make my dreams happen,” said Cruz. “I am grateful for this opportunity brain training has provided me and now it’s up to me to get it done.”
