Re: Re: Earobics vs. FastForward

[Guest guest]

Kristy,

We used both programs. FastForward in my opinion is better, but also more

expensive and intense. My son had fun with the earobics too though (and maybe

that's a good place to start since it's more economical). Neither one is a

miracle cure, but we did see some mild improvements, particularly with the

Fast Forward. Anything computer based my son usually does very well with

because it holds his interest more than some other methods.

It's been several years since we did these programs but I do remember

thinking how weird Fast Forward sounded at first. To me it sounded very

distorted,

but Connor could usually understand it better than I could. Some of the

games are better than others (it may be better now). It did seem to help him

to slow his listening down because I think a lot of the time he was " missing "

words and just didn't hear them, which can certainly change the meaning of a

sentence.

Just some thoughts,

Sharon

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Does anyone know the pros & cons of Earobics vs. FastForward (other than

time & money commitment - is FastForward *much* better than Earobics)?

Kristy

Re: Re: Earobics

My son has used Step 2 Earobics and Earobics 1 for Adolescents. Both have

seemed to be helpful. You can order it through _www.earobics.com_

(http://www.earobics.com) or check e-bay since people sell it fairly often

there a bit

cheaper.

Gaylen

************************************** See what's free at

http://www.aol.com.

[Guest guest]

We did both as well, but didn't see any marked

improvement from either. My son enjoyed Earobics.

FastForward gets boring, but it's more intense.

--- Aut2BMiracles@... wrote:

> Kristy,

>

> We used both programs. FastForward in my opinion is

> better, but also more

> expensive and intense. My son had fun with the

> earobics too though (and maybe

> that's a good place to start since it's more

> economical). Neither one is a

> miracle cure, but we did see some mild improvements,

> particularly with the

> Fast Forward. Anything computer based my son

> usually does very well with

> because it holds his interest more than some other

> methods.

>

> It's been several years since we did these programs

> but I do remember

> thinking how weird Fast Forward sounded at first.

> To me it sounded very distorted,

> but Connor could usually understand it better than I

> could. Some of the

> games are better than others (it may be better

> now). It did seem to help him

> to slow his listening down because I think a lot of

> the time he was " missing "

> words and just didn't hear them, which can

> certainly change the meaning of a

> sentence.

>

> Just some thoughts,

>

> Sharon

>

>

>

>

>

> ************************************** See what's

> free at http://www.aol.com.

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

[Guest guest]

HI Kristy,

I have been a Fast ForWord provider since the field study in 1996--so, I am

a little biased. It is based on neuroscientific research that identified

auditory problems in people (kids and adults) who had specific language

impairments (SLI)--this is a little different than autism. However, there

are many kids who fall on the autism spectrum who have benefited from Fast

ForWord training-especially if appropriate adaptations have been used. It

was also developed based on principles of neuroplasticity--efficient ways to

rewire the brain to process information more effectively and rapidly.

Sharon mentioned it sounded " weird " --that's because it uses acoustically

modified speech that has been modified so that the brain can recognize the

individual sounds and " hold on " to them. As the child is able to do this,

the program adapts the training to more and more natural speech.

Fast ForWord-Language is a training program-you need to do it for 50 minutes

a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks or longer to get results. Specific

exercises are presented on differerent days, for specified periods of time.

It trains auditory attention, auditory working memory (short term memory),

awareness and discrimination of individual sounds/phonemes, rate of

processing, following directions, etc. It does not use any letters or

words---just auditory training (which has a huge impact on language and

reading skills). It is providing the foundational skills-as well as higher

level skills.

I have also used Earobics. It is more of a software program where you can

pick and choose which games you want to do, for how long, etc. It is much

more of a phonemic awareness, letter-sound type of program.

Both should improve auditory skills-but are very different.

For more information on FAst ForWord, check out the website:

www.ScientificLearning.com

or feel free to email me privately (aosterling@...)

good luck

ann

On 7/9/07, Aut2BMiracles@... <Aut2BMiracles@...> wrote:

>

> Kristy,

>

> We used both programs. FastForward in my opinion is better, but also more

> expensive and intense. My son had fun with the earobics too though (and

> maybe

> that's a good place to start since it's more economical). Neither one is a

>

> miracle cure, but we did see some mild improvements, particularly with the

>

> Fast Forward. Anything computer based my son usually does very well with

> because it holds his interest more than some other methods.

>

> It's been several years since we did these programs but I do remember

> thinking how weird Fast Forward sounded at first. To me it sounded very

> distorted,

> but Connor could usually understand it better than I could. Some of the

> games are better than others (it may be better now). It did seem to help

> him

> to slow his listening down because I think a lot of the time he was

> " missing "

> words and just didn't hear them, which can certainly change the meaning of

> a

> sentence.

>

> Just some thoughts,

>

> Sharon

>

>

>

> ************************************** See what's free at

> http://www.aol.com.

>

>