At Gemiini, we are taking meaningful steps to impact lives with special needs; Engaging special needs members at every age and stage of life to increase speech, language, reading, life, and social skills so they can live a better life; Also working with our partners and communities in a shared mission to improve outcomes and reduce costs; Empowering learners to live life understood.
Our History
The Story of the Kasbar Twins
Laura and Max with Gemiini (2015)
On March 3, 2000, Laura and Brian Kasbar's twins were diagnosed with autism at age 3 and began receiving intensive early therapy. Both were minimally verbal. The girl, Ana, was diagnosed with moderate autism. The boy, Max, was diagnosed with severe autism.
The family was told he would not ever speak and probably live in an institution.
Over the next 6 months, Ana gained several words of vocabulary through therapy, but Max was not responsive.
After speaking with adults on the spectrum about how to best reach her children, Laura designed a way to present video therapy to Max and Ana in a very straightforward and sensory-managed way. A variety of therapy techniques were added to the video presentation—This became the foundation of the Gemiini Discrete Video Modeling or DVM approach.
Within one day of seeing his first video, Max said his first word. Within 6 months, he and his sister were gaining language at almost neurotypical rates.
Within three years, both twins were speaking and had a neurotypical vocabulary.
The Story of Gemiini
What We Do
We Empower Learners to Live Life Understood
Gemiini is a clinically proven program with on-demand video therapy and teaching tools to teach new information and train (or retrain) the brain how to think. To do this, Gemiini breaks down information into understandable and digestible bites to teach speech, language, reading, social skills, and life skills. Gemiini does this by using a clinically proven approach called discrete video modeling, which focuses on one concept at a time and presents that information in a video session-based format that fits easily within our modern lifestyles. This makes Gemiini an ideal solution for people with special needs like Autism, Down syndrome, Speech Delay, Stroke, and others.
And unlike other solutions, our service is online and has a huge library of content easily tailored to suit everyone’s unique needs. To make sure the learning never has to stop, our on-staff videographers and editors are always hard at work to make new videos available to you daily. And with the ability to create and upload your own video clips, the learning possibilities are endless!
Gemiini is completely non-threatening and learners can watch the video assignments while they are engaged in other activities like at mealtime, riding in the car, or grocery shopping.
How It Works
Our Therapeutic Approach
The Gemiini Program uses an evidence-based, on-demand therapy through video modeling to teach speech and language skills, as well as cognitive and academic skills, social and emotional skills, motor skills, activities of daily living, and more. Gemiini automates behavioral and speech protocol selection and development for professionals, reducing the need for administrative work. Video treatment is individualized based on standardized and non-standardized assessments. Treatment can be overseen by a qualified professional or parent-mediated.
Early Intervention Supports Speech and Language Learning: Research shows that Gemiini’s therapeutic approach for learners with special needs fosters significant language acquisition. Gemiini is often begun before a school-age diagnosis to give the learner a critical multi-year head-start building language skills through therapy.
Gemiini’s flexible, adaptive approach allows parents and therapists to deliver lessons in formal instructional settings (individual and group) or in the home during playtime, lesson time, or in schools, centers, rural communities, and even during transportation. Gemiini’s high level of consistency, predictability, and repetition works well for children with speech delays, autism, and Down syndrome.
DISCRETE VIDEO MODELING (DVM) breaks words and ideas into short, understandable bites by eliminating distractions. Repetition, Audio-Visual pairing, and context increase retention. DVM supports the way our brains work. DVM presents each concept as a discrete learning bite – without unnecessary information or distractions. Using a multi-view approach, the learner is exposed repeatedly to a word or concept in three contexts:
Name Card
The actor pronounces the word in front of a simple title card: Word Name + Picture
Mouth View
The camera focuses only on the mouth as the actor speaks the word. Learners feel their own mouth wanting to move with the actor.
Action Scene (Generalization)
Using actor vignettes, animations, and conceptual groupings, the word or skill is presented in daily life.
The Benefits of Gemiini:
Research-Based: An evidence-based practice since 1990, video modeling is a demonstration of the targeted behavior or skill shown to the learner to assist learning in or engaging in a desired behavior or skill. Research shows that Gemiini fosters significant language acquisition. Because Gemiini can start before a school-age diagnosis, children receive a multi-year head-start building their critical language skills.
Efficiency: Learning targets are quickly identified through assessment tools and professional support.
Real-Time Collaboration: Team members can review and adjust the learner's curriculum, targets, and progress—all in real-time.
Enduring: The Discrete video model reinforces skills to be applied in clinics, at school, and at home. It promotes generalization and maintenance of skills.
Flexible: Anywhere/anytime approach works at home, school, road trips, and more.
Access: Promotes early therapy unencumbered by wait times, waitlists, or age limits. Gemiini allows for immediate access to care.
Economical: Gemiini provides access to therapy services that traditional face-to-face therapies can’t keep up with the demand, nor the costs.
Gemiini has removed unnecessary stimuli, allowed individualization for each child, and added elements of generalization. After reviewing the published research, it makes perfect sense to me as a clinician that Gemiini patients have seen significant gains.
– Dr. Heather O’Shea BCBA-D, Chief Clinical Officer ACES (CA-OR-WA-HI-CO-TX-UT)
Gemiini is one of the first tools we have seen that could legitimately be called a breakthrough... Our staff believes that Gemiini will revolutionize the way we teach language to children with language delays.
– Keri Jones CCC-SLP, Pullman Regional Hospital (WA)
Let's Find A Way To Improve Your Learner's Life with Gemiini's On-Demand Therapy
