When Learning Struggles Don’t Match Effort

When learning feels harder than it should, it’s deeply frustrating—for learners and for the families supporting them.

You may see your child or teen working hard, spending long hours on homework, or receiving tutoring and school accommodations, yet still struggling to keep up. Tasks take longer than expected. Mental fatigue sets in quickly. Reading, writing, or math feel effortful even when motivation is high. Over time, confidence can begin to erode.

For many learners with ADHD, dyslexia, learning disabilities, or executive functioning challenges, the difficulty isn’t a lack of intelligence, effort, or support. It’s that the underlying cognitive skills that make learning efficient and sustainable haven’t developed strongly enough yet.

Skills like attention, working memory, processing speed, and auditory processing act as the brain’s learning infrastructure. When these systems are under strain, learning becomes exhausting—no matter how much practice, tutoring, or encouragement is provided.

At Eckert Centre, we often meet families who have “tried everything” and are looking for a deeper explanation that makes sense of what they’re seeing. PACE brain training is designed for learners whose effort is real, but whose cognitive capacity needs strengthening in order for learning to feel more manageable, reliable, and confident.

What PACE Brain Training Is

PACE (Processing and Cognitive Enhancement) is a structured, psychologist-led brain training program designed to strengthen the core cognitive skills that make learning possible.

Rather than teaching school subjects or practicing assignments, PACE focuses on building the brain’s capacity to take in information, work with it efficiently, and respond with confidence. These cognitive skills form the foundation for reading, writing, math, organization, and sustained attention across settings.

PACE training targets key areas such as:

  • attention and focus

  • working and long-term memory

  • processing speed and efficiency

  • auditory and visual processing

  • reasoning, problem-solving, and planning

These skills are often invisible, but they play a powerful role in how easily a learner can keep up, stay engaged, and apply what they know. When cognitive capacity is strengthened, learning tends to feel less effortful, more reliable, and more sustainable over time.

At Eckert Centre, PACE is delivered one-on-one by clinicians who understand learning differences and neurodevelopment. This allows training to be carefully paced, individualized, and responsive to each learner’s profile—so gains are meaningful and transferable beyond the training room.

How PACE Supports Learning Disabilities and ADHD

PACE brain training is particularly effective for learners with ADHD, dyslexia, learning disabilities, and executive functioning challenges because it addresses the root cognitive factors that often underlie academic struggles.

Rather than working around difficulties, PACE strengthens the mental skills that support learning across subjects and settings.

Key cognitive areas targeted in PACE include:

  • Attention and focus
    Improving the ability to stay engaged, shift attention appropriately, and filter distractions—skills often impacted in ADHD.

  • Working and long-term memory
    Strengthening the brain’s “mental workspace” so learners can hold information in mind, follow multi-step instructions, and recall what they’ve learned.

  • Processing speed
    Increasing how efficiently the brain takes in and responds to information, which can reduce fatigue, homework time, and overwhelm.

  • Auditory processing
    Supporting the ability to hear, discriminate, and manipulate sounds—critical for reading, spelling, and language-based learning, especially in dyslexia.

  • Visual processing
    Enhancing the ability to interpret and organize visual information, supporting reading accuracy, math reasoning, and written output.

  • Logic, reasoning, and planning
    Building independent problem-solving skills and the capacity to think through multi-step tasks with greater confidence.

For many learners, challenges at school are not due to lack of effort or motivation, but to the strain placed on these underlying systems. By strengthening cognitive capacity directly, PACE helps learning feel less exhausting, more efficient, and more attainable.

PACE is also commonly used as a foundational program before or alongside targeted academic interventions, such as structured reading programs, to ensure the brain is ready to benefit fully from instruction.

How Brain Training Differs from Tutoring and Academic Support

Many families turn to tutoring or academic strategies when learning struggles persist—and those supports can be helpful for managing assignments, filling content gaps, or staying organized.

Brain training serves a different purpose.

  • Tutoring focuses on what a learner needs to complete or understand

  • Academic coaching supports strategies, planning, and study habits

  • Brain training (PACE) strengthens the cognitive capacity that makes learning easier across subjects

PACE does not reteach school material or drill curriculum. Instead, it builds the underlying mental skills—such as attention, memory, processing speed, and reasoning—that allow learners to absorb instruction, work more efficiently, and apply what they know with greater confidence.

For learners with ADHD, dyslexia, or learning disabilities, academic difficulties are often not about effort or exposure alone. They reflect how the brain processes and integrates information. PACE addresses this foundational level directly, so tutoring, accommodations, and instruction can become more effective over time.

This is why families often pursue PACE after tutoring—or alongside it—when they realize that practice alone hasn’t been enough to make learning feel sustainable.

What to Expect in PACE Brain Training

PACE is a structured, sequenced brain training program delivered one-on-one by clinicians trained in assessing and strengthening cognitive skills.

Sessions involve engaging, adaptive exercises that are designed to challenge the brain just enough to promote growth—while remaining supportive and encouraging. Learners receive immediate feedback and guidance so effort stays focused and productive.

Like physical training, brain training requires consistency and sufficient intensity to create lasting change. Cognitive skills strengthen through repeated, well-paced challenge over time—not occasional exposure. For this reason, PACE is typically delivered through regular weekly sessions across multiple weeks.

During training, learners work toward:

  • improved attention and sustained effort

  • stronger working memory and recall

  • faster, more efficient processing

  • increased confidence in tackling demanding tasks

Families often notice changes beyond academics as well, such as greater frustration tolerance, improved task initiation, and a growing sense of capability—sometimes even before changes appear on report cards.

Because learning and development are complex, pacing is individualized and adjusted as strengths grow and needs evolve. The goal is not quick fixes, but durable cognitive gains that support learning and daily functioning over time.

Research and Why It Matters

Research on structured, clinician-delivered cognitive training programs—including approaches like PACE—indicates that targeted, intensive brain training can lead to measurable improvements in core cognitive skills such as attention, working memory, processing speed, and reasoning.

Large-scale and peer-reviewed studies of sequenced, one-on-one cognitive training have shown gains across areas that directly support learning—often including improvements in phonological processing, decoding readiness, fluency, and academic engagement when training is completed with adequate intensity and duration.

At the same time, it’s important to approach cognitive training with realistic expectations. Brain training is not a quick fix, and outcomes are not instantaneous. Meaningful change—like growth in physical strength or endurance—develops over time through consistent, well-matched effort.

At Eckert Centre, we view evidence as a guide, not a promise. Our focus is on strengthening capacity, so learners are better equipped to engage with instruction, apply strategies, and build confidence in real-world learning environments.

This perspective aligns with our developmental approach: supporting progress through thoughtful structure, consistency, and clinically informed guidance—rather than relying on shortcuts or surface-level solutions.

Is PACE Right for Your Learner?

PACE brain training works best for families who understand that learning challenges are often rooted in how the brain processes information, not simply in motivation, instruction, or exposure.

This program is typically a good fit for learners who:

  • show persistent difficulty despite effort, tutoring, or school accommodations

  • experience fatigue, frustration, or slow progress when learning demands increase

  • benefit from structure and consistency

  • are supported by families who can commit to regular sessions and practice

Because PACE is intensive by design, it is not appropriate for every learner at every moment. At Eckert Centre, we take time to understand each learner’s cognitive profile, developmental stage, and current demands before recommending brain training.

The first step is often a learning or cognitive screening, which helps clarify strengths, areas of strain, and whether cognitive training is likely to provide meaningful benefit. Some learners begin with PACE alone, while others start with PACE and add or structured reading support program (MTC) once foundational skills are ready.

Our goal is not to offer a program, but to offer the right next step—so families can invest their time, energy, and resources with clarity and confidence.

What to Do Next

If you’re ready to explore PACE brain training, the next step depends on where you are in your decision-making.

  • Ready to begin?
    You may book New Client: PACE Brain Training directly.

  • Still have questions or want guidance?

We recommend booking a Free Consultation Call to talk through your learner’s history, goals, and whether PACE is the right fit at this time.

In some cases, learners begin with PACE first and add MTC Reading once foundational phonological skills are in place. We’ll help you determine the most appropriate sequence so training is effective and well-timed.

Our offices are located in Calgary, with convenient access for families in Airdrie, Cochrane, and Okotoks.
In-person and virtual options are available across Alberta.

If you’re unsure where to start, we’re here to help you think it through.

Book A New Client: PACE/Brain Training Session Book A Free Consultation Call Here

Questions for our team?

We'd love to hear form you.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.