Auditory Processing

My son has CAPD and was helped by Fast Forward but not cured. His auditory memory improved and most noteably his receptive language skills are normal now. He is just 10 and has been spending hours listening on tape to Harry Potter. He still does not read on grade level so FFW is no magic cure to everything nor is a reading program. Still, FFW did give us the receptive language piece in months after years of speech therapy.

Beth

My son is only 7 but has used Away We Go - the precursor to FastForword. It has been helpful for him in teaching him to listen and hear sounds as well as assist in his memory skills. In addition to this, he is on the Samonas Sound Therapy which has helped his handwriting, his memory, and his overall retention of information. He has auditory processing deficits as well as a cognitive impairment and a variety of other issues that interfere with his ability to learn.

I deliver Fast ForWord in my public school program. I think that it is a strong intensive skill builder for auditory processing. I also put my verbal but non-reading son through both 1 and 2. As the others have said, it is not a reading program, but I felt if it improved the auditory processing delays that underlie the reading difficulty than it was worth it. BUT, before you pay for this expensive program yourself see if your public school district has it to offer to you. Many districts have varying types of contracts with Scientific Learning and may be waiting for someone to ask.

Hi Wanda,
I am far from an expert on APD’s but I do have seven years experience with CAPD in association w/DAS. Our son on I refer to as Beamer on other boards is now ten, we first realized he had a serious problem when he was around 3 1/2. Today he is placed with fourth grade students for social infusion & to see what he will / can absorb. He reads on a primary level, struggles with second grade math. his language skills are a constant battle to understand what it is his wants to say. Most days it’s not too bad, bad days are painful.

Here’s my advice, as the other reader suggested try and see if your school district has it available. There’s also one that is highly recommended and we used called Earobics. (Not cheap) Have you had him tested for for this disabilty? I will be glad to discuss with you my experiences. I am now working with a specialist in CAPD at a local teaching University.

You might want to consider doing The Listening Program at home before starting FFW. It can make FFW easier for children with severe problems. See http://www.advancedbrain.com.

Also, if you can’t get FFW through the school district and you have a four-year degree, you can become a FFW provider yourself. The company’s self-training tutorial (CrossTrain) can be purchased from the website. Essentially, then, you would be paying only for the software program(s) and not for the provider’s time.

Nancy

We didn’t do The Listening Program before FFW. In hindsight, I wish we had. Fast forward took us four months to get through instead of the usual 6-8 weeks. Several years later we did TLP. It would have been much easier to have done it first.

Beth

I have received word from the school’s speech therapist that she has been approved to use earobics with my son. To bad it is now 1/2 way thru the 4th grade. Has anyone used earobics and does it help. Our family is a part of Kaiser and my pediatrician approved my request yesterday for a referral to a speech therapist. I did this request after speaking to the school’s speech therapist and she stated she had never really dealt with the processing issue before.

If your child can do Earobics, it will help. What some of us with children with severe auditory processing problems have found is that our children were incapable of doing Earobics without other intervention first. We did Fast Forward. Others have used sound therapy. We eventually, as I said, did sound therapy as well. Personally, I would start there, if Earobics is too difficult. You can purchase Earobics for home use too—it is inexpensive about 50 to 60 dollars.

Beth