Dyslexia and the Fast Forword Program

There is a thread about this on the Teaching Students with LD board right now.

Thank You

I have a 11 year old in the fifth grade with dyslexia. She did fast forword in school this past year. I can honestly say I could not see that it help her one bit. I had high hopes for this program I had hoped it would help. Your child might be helped but as for as I can say I can’t see any difference and either could her teachers. DJB

I am just finishing up this pgm. with my son. I would not have done it without first taking him to an audiologist qualified to identify CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder), specifically the decoding type of CAPD, which is the profile best helped by FFWD. Also, I had tried Earobics first (less expensive) but found that he did not progress well on it (very slowly on most games, not at all on the auditory memory game). I think Earobics is a good starting point. If your child has minimal problems with Earobics, FFWD is likely not needed; you could go with it, but be consistent in using it to get max. benefit.

Also note that FFWD trains the skills that underly reading—it is not a reading pgm. per se.

Positive benefits have included increased ability to filter out background noise (Earobics trains this directly; FFWD doesn’t!); vocalization during play with action figures (previously nonexistent); a greater desire to work independently; and increased confidence generally. The last 2 changes may or may not be attributed to FFWD. In July, I am taking him to be post-tested by the audiologist to get the hard-core data on what improvement has taken place and to what extent.

There has been little research to support this program. The research that the group selling the product presents to potential clients is their own research. Buyer beware!