has anyone been successful with fastforward program?

amother ↓

Tue, Jul 23 2013, 8:34 pm

I want to know its money spent well

my son has auditory processing disorder and adhd.

thanks

↑ amother

Tue, Jul 23 2013, 10:23 pm

My daughter had auditory processing too-?not ADHD though.
We did the fast forward program. I will be very honest and say that I need to see results fast in order to "believe" in something and intellectually I know that's not usually the case, but this was so expensive and I didn't see any results after we finished the first session that I didn't continue...
The evaluater that we saw that recommended it told me she was happy with my daughters progress and explained that I was laying out the tracks and only then can the train run.
So if you have the patience and money maybe it does work, but it's definitely not gonna be cheap or fast.
Even though regular therapy isn't either I felt more comfortable with that then the ff program.
I'd live to hear if anyone used it successfully how long it took to see results-even baby step results.

amother

Floralwhite ↓

Mon, Jun 18 2018, 11:48 pm

I’m bumping this up. Please share your experience with this program. I’m specifically interested in results for children with slow processing.

Thank you

seeker ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 12:05 am

I highly recommend it for kids who have reading/spelling/language issues and auditory processing diagnosis. ADHD is a lot more complicated, though. Does your child have any language or literacy issues along with their slow processing? It definitely has a lot to offer for processing speed as well, I just find that because it's very strongly auditory based, it's more motivating for kids with phonics issues to see their progress. It's a strong program with a great success rate, but it very much depends on sticking with the schedule and working hard. If a person won't be able to commit to it, and it's not a small commitment, then don't bother.

I'm curious what the amother above means by "first session." Because it doesn't really go in sessions. It's true that a lot of this type of intervention (by which I mean things that work on processing rather than on direct academic skills like reading/math) is about "laying down the tracks" but in FFW it is fairly simple to demonstrate progress - you can easily see how a child who was able to respond at a certain speed a month ago is now able to respond at a quicker speed. That's within the program, and may not immediately translate into doing much better in school, but it does give a good demonstration of progress.

*disclaimer: I'm a Fast ForWord provider Smile

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 7:38 am

Thank you Seeker! My child does not have adhd. I was told that he has normal comprehension and overall age-appropriate skills. However, his processing is slow and if he has a teacher who speaks quickly and doesn’t repeat his lessons, my child has trouble keeping up.
English is not his first language so he would benefit from the literacy piece. However, I would not commit to the program for that.
I specifically want to know if it helps speed up processing skills and how the carryover is once off the program.

Thank you

justcallmeima

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 7:48 am

Poke around online a little bit. Look at what the empirical research says about the program. You will understand why people are reluctant to shell out thousands of dollars for it.

bestme ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 7:58 am

I don't know anything about the ffp. For auditory processing I have a CD that is called "hear builder" from super duper publications. I could see on the computer the progress.

amother

Gray

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 8:54 am

Seeker - does it help for dyslexia and dysgraphia? How? DD is 13 and finishing 7th grade. Has P3 daily, did vision therapy and we private pay tutors.

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 11:59 am

I saw negative reviews online however it was only from schools that used the program to improve reading scores. Very little info on processing.

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 12:00 pm

bestme wrote:

I don't know anything about the ffp. For auditory processing I have a CD that is called "hear builder" from super duper publications. I could see on the computer the progress.

Did the progress carryover to improved school work?

amother

Saddlebrown

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 12:08 pm

We used FFW more than a decade ago with a child with APD and other deficits. The child claims it did nothing. But we think it was hugely helpful. At this point, the child is at a competitive college, majoring in communications; we could never have dreamed that would happen.

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 12:31 pm

Thank you Saddlebrown! Continued nachas from your child.

Anyone else? Can I do it independently with my child?

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 3:28 pm

Bumping for afternoon crowd

↑ seeker ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 3:58 pm

Just following up on my new message notifications; I'm on a packed schedule today but will try to answer any questions that come up later tonight.

amother

Seashell ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 4:01 pm

I did lots of research on this program last year (I think I posted on here as well)

My child has mild dyslexia and very strong dysgraphia

I was told by someone whose child did this program how amazing it is and how much her child improved

When I called the person who she did the program with a few years ago I was quite disappointed

First of all he asked my dd to complete some tasks on the computer... it took her about 15-20 minutes and of course he told me how obvious it was to him that she will benefit from the program
Then he asked me for my credit card # even though I said I wanted to think about it.. he said it’s an evaluation fee which he had never mentioned before. It’s not like he even met her!!!
In addition he explained that she would have to work on her own every day for 1/2 hour or we won’t see progress.., she was 8 years old and had loads of other homework too. My friend who recommended this told me that when her child did this program a few years ago, she was assigned a mentor who would check up on her, encourage her, give lots of incentives.,., the guy I spoke to said he doesn’t do that anymore, it’s too costly for him. Too costly??!? When I was willing to spend over $5000 ???? Something wasn’t right.., while I’m sure there are great benefits to a child doing this program, I think for that price it would have to be a much older child who is self motivated. There are so many other computer games or online programs that cost much less..,
If you’re using it for dysgraphia, you will probably see very little results

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 7:11 pm

Thanks seashell. So my child’s school offered to subsidize the program and I would pay “only” several hundred dollars. In addition, since I am a special educator, I would be in charge of the program at least over the summer and then someone at the school would take over in September.

Does such a plan make sense or will I be wasting my time and my child’s?
Still wondering if it’s all worthwhile for processing delays.

↑ bestme

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 7:45 pm

I got the "hearbuilder" for my son however my son does not like to do anything on the computer. My daughter used the program and she liked doing it very much. I think that it helped her to concentrate to spoken language but I don't really know since she does not have processing issues. This summer I plan to try to encourage my son to use it. The 4 pack CD costs $300. Sorry that I can't be really that helpful.

amother

↑ Floralwhite ↓

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 11:01 pm

Bestme, thanks so much for your input!

amother

↑ Seashell

Tue, Jun 19 2018, 11:06 pm

bestme wrote:

$300 is normal... the other program is a few thousand dollars!!
Perhaps some programs are available through the public library
I tried to get the fast forward program through the board of education but was not successful.., they did say that they paid for some teachers to take a course to be fast forward instructors and the method is implemented at times in school

↑ seeker ↓

Wed, Jun 20 2018, 12:54 am

OK I'm still short on time but hope to help, if there's a question I missed then let me know!

Cost:
- Some depts of ed pay for FFW, but not many, and I have not heard of any funding source in NY or NJ.
- OP's school offering to subsidize is about as good as it gets and may make it worth a try (how much are they asking?)
- Some SLPs use it in their practice, and while many bill the parents separately, you may be able to find one who includes it and is covered by insurance. You'd want to look up the provider directory on FFW website and look for someone with SLP in their title, and then you can ask them if their services are covered.
- $5000 is obscene; I have seen a range of pricing but that's way out. It does sound like you got set up with the wrong kind of provider... and the fee is not even the biggest issue with that exchange. Ugh. Anyway, a more typical price range would be somewhere around $1500, and it can vary depending what you want to get out of it (there are different program components...)

Doing it at home:
- Yes, you can do it at home yourself, but you WILL need access to a provider to coach you through any questions. You can't help your kid properly when you don't know the ins and outs of the program and software. It's not usually complicated for the user but people do tend to need support at various times and it would not make sense to start on the program without being able to reach out for help.
- Yes, an optimal schedule would be at least 30 minutes x 5 days a week. Yes, that's a lot. That's why you only do this program if you are dead serious about the issues you want to work on. It's not the kind of thing you can dabble in just in case it makes you a little better.
- No, she wouldn't need to do it completely independently for all that time, but if she can't do it independently then you would have to do some of it with her, and I doubt you would prefer that Twisted Evil

HearBuilder:
I have heard great things about this program too, though I haven't used it personally (you might also look into Earobics, I don't know if it's still around but back in the day I really liked it). FFW takes a different approach, though. FFW is the *only* program that uses technology to manipulate the speech sounds in a way that trains the brain to literally hear them differently. It also includes exercises that are more similar to regular programs, so you get the full package, but the other programs do not have those modified sound components that make FFW so powerful. No time to go into detail right now but if you want to call or skype me sometime I can try to explain better.

Research:
I read about a bajillion pages of studies from various sources before becoming a provider. I found that aggregate data saying that FFW is ineffective is itself flawed. They combine data from different studies on different populations with different goals... kind of silly. Then there was the study that said "Students using FFW did not make any more gains than the control group of students receiving 2 hours of speech-language therapy weekly" - OK then, good luck getting your kid 2 hours of SLP weekly. And the study that took results after 6 weeks - did you even read the directions, FFW is not a 6-week program! Most providers won't even take a student for less than a 3-month commitment.

Dyslexia/dysgraphia:
Thank you, you have just motivated me to do some research on dysgraphia. I actually do not know if there is any relationship here.
For dyslexia - DEFINITELY, this is the #1 population that FFW helps. It provides a triple-whammy of the auditory processing, phonetic awareness and phonics, and language skills.

Hope that helped. I seriously need to get some laundry out of the dryer and get to bed.