Earobics for Adolescents and Adults

I bought the Earobics software and went through about 10 lessons of it myself to try to assess whether it would help my son (then 11 years old) with his phonemic awareness issues. It seemed very suitable for this purpose but it was just a little too juvenile (at least through the first 10 lessons!). My son seems to think that I am imagining that he has these problems and wants nothing to do with “kiddie-software”).

Through lesson 10 it was still dealing with “c - short a - t” level words. If I had a compliant child who needed this type of phonemic training, I would definitely squeeze the time in to work with him on this software. Unfortunately, compliant isn’t a word that applies to anyone in my house!

BTW, I’m reading a book now called “When the Brain Can’t Hear” and it recommends Fast Forward ($$$$) and Earobics ($60?) as the two top programs for [distinguishing sounds in words - sorry, don’t remember the exact context].

Sorry I can’t tell you more about it. I can’t figure out why they think and”adolescent and adult” wants to start out with “c - short a - t.”

like the other poster commented, but I hated to speak up because we quit pretty quickly and I thought maybe it got more challenging past where we quit

I was told my 11 yr old was too old for Fast Forward(depressing)

His reading tutor is big on the lexia software mentionned on these boards and the one day I saw him use it, there were some similarities.

I think the adolescent rating refers to graphics. I used the younger version and it had lots of cute ducks.

I deliver Fast ForWord in a public school setting. There is a middle and high school version of Fast ForWord 1 and I have students all the way through high school. Most adults who try the demos will tell you some games are hard for them. We also offer the program free of charge, so check to see if your district is a provider. Your child could be evaluated for appropriateness and go through the program at no cost to you.

Angela, if you deliver FFW for middle schoolers do they really benefit from it (for example in improving their receptive language skills)? (vide Marycas’ post)

Students come to me just for FFW, so I do not always get to see the results. All students are in special ed with auditory processing delays which are affecting a variety of areas. Some students have had pretty good decoding skills, but needed the language exercises the most. Several games work specifically on language and teachers report that students seem to follow along in class better and participate more. All of my middle and high school students try the demonstrations of the Red (animated cartoons) and the Blue (sports) games to see which they like the most. (The skills are the same, it is just the visual presentation that is different). Then they pick which program they want to do. Which presentation will hold their interest and keep them motivated. It has been running about 50/50 which program they choose. I am a parent too and I know that we all have to look at what is out there and try to match programs to our child, our time and our budget. If FFW is available from your school district at no cost to you I would definitely do it. If it will be a huge battle or private expense you may want to look at it more and talk to other professionals about whether FFW will help enough to make it worth it. Some districts have FFW contract that they aren’t really using because no one has asked. Hope this helps.

Angela,
thanks for your answer.

I would need to pay for it, (which would be fine with me if it will help him, considering that the school district pays for his private school at the moment). The school district has however a licenced provider, so at least I am hoping she would help me to set this up for my son and help monitoring/encouriging him (it always works better when I am just a “supporter” and not the “administrator”).

I would need to wait for summer- so I have time to explore…

Ewa

Perhaps the district and provider could look at your son’s testing, needs etc and tell you from their experience if they think FFW would benefit him. Summer is a good plan because it is time consuming and can be exhausting.

Thank you for your reply. It was just what I was looking for…aj wrote: