Re: Fast ForWord program? Anyone experience with it?

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Yes, we have used Fast Forword twice. The first experience is with my 10 yo ds, who has dyslexia. He was doing about 3 different therapies at the same time, starting in 1st grade - Fast Forword for 1 hour per day, school remedial reading tutoring - 1 hour per day, reading at home on a daily basis with me (2 books per night). But, I really felt that the Fast Forword helped him so much. The school only provided it up to the 3rd grade level so when he got to that point, that was it. I'm sorry they don't continue it for kids with major ongoing reading problems. I would have continued to take him for it. He caught up to his reading level over the course of the first year with all three of those activities at once. Then he tested out of remedial reading and it was just reading to me and Fast Forword, then just Fast Forword. He went ever day for an hour, 5 days a week and also went over the summer. It is intensive but it was important.

We did it also for my ds who has HFA and he is hyperlexic and gifted as well. He was already in grade 3 when the school brought the program in. He was reading at well past the high school level but his comprehension was poor. His reading skill was so advanced, however, that it took him a matter of a few weeks to go through their entire program. They were astounded. I was so disappointed because it meant that his reading skill once again would over shadow his need to learn comprehension skills. So we have had to work on comprehension the old fashioned ways, lol. Mostly this fell on the ST to work on comprehension strategies with him and also his sped teacher had to work on it at school.

I don't know if it would have been helpful if the school had had higher levels of the program. He may have finally hit a ceiling and gotten some benefit from it at that point. Also, if we had started it at age 4, it may have been different and helpful for him. I don't know. One good thing is that this program generates data all the time. You will see fairly soon if he is improving or not. They also have different kinds of programs, if I remember correctly. So talk to them about your specific concerns and see if they have something that targets that. If you do it, let us know how it worked out for you!

Roxanna

"I

predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Jefferson

( ) Fast ForWord program? Anyone experience with it?

Hi: Anyone have experience with FastForWord program? What areas has it helped your child with, aside from being a better reader? I heard good things about it, but would it still be useful for a 4yo that can already read?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

HI ,

I've heard really positive things about the program - it has a growing evidence base

too. Quite a while ago I phoned and chatted to them - they are REALLY great at

giving advice...

Tam

From: melody_autumn06 <melodyh2006@...>Subject: ( ) Fast ForWord program? Anyone experience with it? Received: Friday, 17 December, 2010, 6:15 AM

Has anyone doe the Fast ForWord program? How useful is it? Does it help increase processing speed and reading comprehension? Thanks,

[Guest guest]

I've heard mixed reviews of the program. I belong to another listserv where the

child's main disability is a language disorder. Here's a site that lists various

programs and what their focus is. I think that you may find it helpful.

http://www.concordspedpac.org/Reading.html

>

> Hi: Anyone have experience with FastForWord program? What areas has it

helped your child with, aside from being a better reader? I heard good things

about it, but would it still be useful for a 4yo that can already read?

>

> Thanks,

>

>