Our History
In June 2010, Kate Ortman was staring anxiously at her son Daniel, tubes and wires all around, his head heavily bandaged. He was in the intensive care unit of a Long Island, NY hospital, having just endured a nine-hour brain surgery to repair a Chiari I Malformation. While she hoped the procedure would help solve some of the array of challenges Daniel had dealt with for 20 years, she also knew his recovery might be the biggest challenge of his life.
As a Certified ADHD Life Coach, she’d already begun researching how the brain works and what programs were out there. How could she help Daniel recover? She’d learned more could be done than just passing the time in a quiet, dark room. She’d learned of the brain’s remarkable ability to re-wire itself, heal, and get stronger – neuroplasticity.
PIONEERS -- Kate Ortman (second from right), Founder, Brain Train America, with the four co-founders of Scientific Learning (left to right): Dr. Steven Miller, Dr. Paula Tallal, Dr. Bill Jenkins and Dr. Michael Merzenich. To learn more about these living legends of brain science and recovery, click here.
Trailblazers- Kate Ortman with the late Dr. Ron Minson, whose groundbreaking work combining sound with visual, vestibular, and movement launched Integrated Listening Systems, now Unyte-iLs.
Later that year, Kate became certified in using the Interactive Metronome and purchased her first IM unit to help Daniel. The results were so impressive she invited others with learning differences to invest time in her budding program. Right there on her dining room table, what would become Brain Train America was born.
This life-long learner expanded her expertise in new cutting-edge tools that could help improve brain function. Kate realized she could produce even better results by using two or more tools simultaneously. She read countless reports on dozens of programs, studied the research, and learned the science. Over the years, she thoughtfully expanded the tools in her tool kit and added well-trained staff. Individuals and families first came to Brain Training of Maryland from the Mid-Atlantic United States. As her reputation grew, so too did the company’s reach. People traveled from all over, searching for results. In 2018, she introduced virtual training and support and renamed the company to more accurately reflect its client base -- Brain Train America.
Her work earned Kate a reputation as one of the world’s most respected providers of multi-modality brain training programs. As her company’s portfolio of tools and programs expanded, so too did the accolades:
2013
Interactive Metronome July Provider of the Month
2015
Scientific Learning Fast ForWord Rookie of the Year
2017
SciLearn’s International Provider of the Year
2018
Kate, her son Greg and the company are featured in the internationally-respected Popular Science magazine. This 12-page debate about concussion recovery signaled that BTA was on to something big! It was the most widespread recognition of Kate’s work to date, which had already been showcased on numerous TV, radio, print, and digital media outlets locally, nationally, and worldwide.
Kate has presented at international conferences for Integrated Listening Systems and Scientific Learning. Many companies (including IM and ils) have asked Kate and her team to pilot multiple new tools, giving BTA a head start on the next generation of brain training innovation.
2020
The medical and scientific communities also were taking note of “that mom from Maryland,” who was tearing down traditional approaches to brain health, recovery, and auditory processing. Psychiatrists from the well-known Amen Clinic, top audiologists, and others started referring some of their toughest patients. Well-known audiologist Jay R. Lucker, EdD, CCC-A/SLP, FAAA, partnered with Kate on a three-year study about auditory processing disorders in adopted children. Their findings strongly supported the profound benefits of brain training in significantly improving auditory processing factors, including attention, listening, learning, and understanding. They were published in the July 2020 issue of The Hearing Journal, the most respected publication in hearing health care.
When the Coronavirus pandemic rocked the world in 2020, BTA was already well-positioned to adapt to its clients’ needs. As people became rapidly more comfortable with online learning and training, BTA expanded on the home-based programs and support it launched in 2018. By 2022, BTA was a 100% virtual training experience with clients from all over the world.