Explaining Fast ForWord software
Fast ForWord software directly targets several primary causes of reading and learning issues. Weaknesses in:
- Working memory -- the need to keep re-reading text
- Attention stamina -- inability to stay with it, while reading (and in class)
- Auditory Processing -- inaccurate processing impacts sounding out with younger ones and automatic, fluent decoding later on.
- Sequencing -- of consonants, sentences and expressive thought.
Fast ForWord helps automate decoding, making it subconscious like riding a bike. This frees up conscious brain space leading directly to improved reading comprehension.
Fast ForWord exercises each of these skills in several ways. It is adaptive, allowing children work at their own pace on the specific skills that they need help in.
Background
Fast ForWord was developed by four of the world’s
best-known neuroscientists, led by Paula Tallal, a recognized authority in
language-learning disabilities and the only neuroscientist invited to a White House symposium on education, and Mike
Merzenich, one of the world's leading
experts in brain plasticity. For more about the 30-year development path of Fast ForWord click here.
The software was launched in 1997 an initially was used by speech pathologists and neurologists for children with speech delays and dyslexia. More recently, it has made inroads into schools with large populations of struggling readers and English as Second Language (ESL) learners -- where learning to read in English is particularly challenging. After seeing gains in at-risk readers, some schools are now putting all students through the program. Recent studies have also shown success with Aspergers Disorder and autism. Growing evidence that it can boost SAT scores has sparked interest in this application also.
There are 70,000 children around the country working on the software right now, and > one million who have already completed it. Over 40,000 of these students have been part of highly scrutinized scientific studies, and over 700 scientific articles have been written on the subject. The trials and studies confirm that the software is indeed able to boost learning and reading skills for the vast majority of students who follow the protocol.
Gemm provides this software in a convenient, affordable and parent/student-friendly service format. While the software is critical, our service culture is an integral part of the Westchester dyslexia help and Connecticut reading help that Gemm is known for. For a Fast ForWord brochure, click here.
A Fast ForWord Primer
The software uses an aerobic methodology to improve auditory processing and
make reading more natural and less of a chore. The main ingredients are Frequency and Intensity. Together they can help the brain learn to work more efficiently and effectively in less than three months. Once mastered, these new processing skills are used everyday and so they endure, making this one-time course a compelling alternative to tutoring.
The Problem. Good reading
requires accurate listening. For children who hear every sound in
every word, reading is simply a matter of transposing language to a new
format using their ABC's. But, for those with a limited or muddy speech
vocabulary, reading is like being confronted with a whole new language.
Scientific Learning's idea. The most common
cause of poor listening accuracy is that the brain does not process
fast
enough to discriminate between sounds. To improve reading,
Scientific Learning came up with a simple idea: when you teach a
child to hit a baseball you start slow then speed-up - why not do the
same with the brain?
Their solution. They
created Fast ForWord, a slow
pitch machine for the brain. This software is the first and so
far only program based on neuro-scientific principles. At regular intervals students receive unexpected surprises in the form of fun activity on the screen or sounds. These
surprises are designed to produce a spike in norepinephrine, activity
that promotes brain change. Many of the exercises focus on memory
in conjunction with other skills. Fast
ForWord does this to encourage the brain as a system to
reorganize. Every minute of computer time is productive,
every minute working toward improved learning.
How It Works
Fast ForWord automates and strengthens. It automates in the same way a golfer builds muscle
memory, through repetition. It builds other skills much like a
weight-lifter builds muscle strength through repetition at successively
heavier weights.
Each day the student is prompted to make hundreds of decisions in quick succession, each one exercising a specific learning skill, such as processing speed,
working memory, sequencing and sound discrimination. All
exercises use the idea of "shaping" -- starting at the participant's level using slowed speech or sound combinations, then speeding up in tiny incremental steps.
Once the program is complete, there are three forces at work:
- The student listens more
accurately and reading is more intuitive.
- Basic learning skills are more automatic,
freeing up brain capacity for higher thinking and learning.
- Children feel more confident about their
language and reading skills, leading to a healthier less risk-averse
attitude to learning.
These skills are used everyday. And
so, like riding a bike, they endure.
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