A question about Fast Forward

Which fast forward program are you talking about? There is a FFW reading program, which someone asked about below, which I am not familiar with. My son went through the original FFW program last summer and we saw improvement in receptive language and memory. It is not a reading program and thus would not be confusing to a child.

It is actually Fast ForWord. I too saw the news cast about the system.It is a reading system, and their web site talks about the results, which seem dramatic. I have a 5th grade daughter who is bright, IQ in the 115-120 range, but is only reading at a 3rd grade level. I am very interested in this program if anyone has information.

FastForWord is *not* a reading system! It trains the auditory system to process the sounds of speech more efficiently. It produces significant improvement in children who are having problems learning to read because of specific types of auditory processing problem. In these children, training of the auditory system produces dramatic improvement in the ability to read.

The same company that produces FFW has recently come out with a computerized reading program. This program is very new, and very few children have been through it.

If your daughter has the decoding subtype of CAPD, then FFW is likely to help her reading. However, many children who are not reading well have visual processing problems, not auditory processing problems. This was the case with my daughter.

A speech and language eval usually includes a screening instrument for auditory processing problems (the SCAN is one). If your child passes this screening, chances are there is no auditory processing problem and your child will get little or no benefit from FFW. You can request a complete speech and language eval from your school at no cost.

It’s a good idea to also get a developmental vision evaluation. The best way to do this is to find a certified developmental optometrist in your area (http://www.covd.org has a search engine). Developmental vision is a specialty area. Unfortunately, regular optometrists and opthalmologists have *no* training in this area and barely know it exists.

A child with developmental vision delays will probably benefit most from some combination of vision therapy and PACE (http://www.learninginfo.com).

A child with auditory processing problems needs an evaluation by an audiologist who specializes in CAPD (again, regular audiologists do not have the necessary training) to determine if FFW is likely to be helpful, or if other sound therapies are indicated. PACE can be helpful also, but any sound therapies such as FFW should be done first.

A much less complicated and less expensive route to better reading is Phono-Graphix (http://www.readamerica.net), which successfully teaches decoding skills even in the presence of visual or auditory processing issues. This is all some children need.

If you do searches on the Reading and Parenting bb’s, you will likely find a number of posts about FFW, PACE, Phono-Graphix and vision therapy.

Mary (certified in FFW, PACE and Phono-Graphix)

My son took the Fast ForWord program. He is now on Step 4Word, which works on a higher level of language and reading skills. Each program needs to be done 5 days a week, for about 1 1/2 hours each day. Each program takes an average of 6 weeks to complete, some will finish sooner, others may take longer if there is a specific problem. The skill games are played on a computer. I don’t live near a provider so my son does the program at home. Each day after he finishes, the results of his work are sent to Scientific Learning in CA. and also to our program provider over the internet.
You can find out more about the programs, etc. at: http://www.scilearn.com. If you “click” on PRODUCTS, you can find info about all the programs.
My son was tested many, many times and none of the tests showed an auditory problem. From working on spelling lists with him, I knew he wasn’t
hearing some sounds correctly. He also has a problem when two consonants are together. If I said stand, he’d spell stad. If I said bog, he’d spell dog. Some of the FFW games work on that problem.
I hope this answers some questions.

Debbie,

My son went through FF1 and FF2. He made great gains with auditory retraining but it did little to help him with his reading. Is Step 4word helping your son to read?

Donna

I think FF2 was renamed Step4Word and they are the same program.

The newest program out is the reading program — can’t remember the name offhand — and I haven’t seen any posts yet from parents who have put a child through it.

Mary

My sons biggest problems are decoding, “mis”hearing letter sounds, and confusing the sounds of silent vowels, plus problems with memory and sequencing. I chose the FFW programs because I had heard they help to improve the kinds of skills my son needs help with. He ended the FFW program in February and has just started the Step 4Word program. Most of the improvements have been things I’ve seen recently. I ‘ve noticed that he now pays more attention to details in the information he gets. When I asked him if he has noticed anything different, he said he hears what people say more clearly. His memory has improve…he memorized all of the answers for a test that he needed to make up, then when there was a delay for the make up test, he still knew the answers 5 days later. The Step 4Word program challenges him more…he loves beating his old scores. The ‘sound’ games are the hardest for him, but he keeps making progress. As his different skills improve, I’ll be watching to see how they affect his reading. Later on, he might also need the new program Fast ForWord Reader that works on reading fluency.