Fast ForWord Basics develops basic learning skills for 4-7 year olds, including:

• Color, shape and size identification
• Letter-name and letter-sound association
• Phonological awareness

Fast ForWord Language uses patented technology to clarify sounds and rapidly develop the oral language skills that provide the foundation for reading, for 5-7 year olds, including:

• Phonological awareness
• Working memory
• Listening accuracy
• Language structures

Fast ForWord Language to Reading targets the skills that help students ages 5-12 years old make the link between spoken and written language including:

• Organization and focus
• Listening comprehension
• Word analysis
• English language conventions

Fast ForWord Reading rapidly and systematically builds reading skills that correlate to school curriculum standards, including:

• Word recognition and decoding
• Spelling and phonology
• Passage comprehension
• Sentence comprehension

Fast ForWord Middle and High School rapidly reinforces the skills critical for fluent reading and communication for adolescents and adults including:

• Phonological awareness
• Working memory
• Language structures
• Listening accuracy

There are no known side effects to the treatment.  Each child may react differently.  Some irritability may occur as improvement is taking place but this is not the norm.

Most children naturally acquire language during the first few years of life but research has demonstrated that a significant number of children fail to develop these skills on their own.  About 10 percent of children have a specific difficulty making reliable distinctions among elements of speech.  Every child needs to acquire the ability elements of speech.  Fast ForWord is the first proven method to teach this skill to children who do not learn it naturally.

No. Because it is designed by targeting what the brain needs in order to change. When using the recommended schedule (protocol), you will see positive results in 6-8 weeks.  Because the brain is strengthening the cognitive skills, these benefits continue to last a lifetime.

At present, the majority of children benefiting from Fast ForWord are children ages 5 to adult.  Other programs are being formulated which will help the older and younger populations.  Children must be able to sit in a chair and attend to the computer for various lengths of time.

The child with language concerns will benefit from training, especially if the problem areas are receptive phonology, listening comprehension and complex grammar and syntax.

The child with central auditory processing weakness will benefit from training, especially if the problem areas are phonemic synthesis, listening in the presence of background noise, auditory sequencing, slow processing of auditory information, attending and focusing.

Continuous research.  Since its origins in university labs, scientists have continuously tracked the gains resulting from students using Fast ForWord.  To date there are over 90 school based research studies tracking over 40,000 students. In addition, independent research conducted by Stanford University has imaged the brain before and after the use Fast ForWord to show that areas of the brain are activated after product use.

After about three weeks most parents start to notice signs of change.  Language gains and better confidence in younger children, more confidence in reading in older students.  Everyone is different though, and for some children the gains come more slowly.

Fast ForWord is a learning-intervention program. It is going after the glitch that is causing the learning difficulties. Tutoring is more about providing content, providing more of the same material your child is already seeing at school.  Tutoring is useful to meet short term goals, preparing for the next test, etc. but most often it's a band aid and an expense that does not bear long term fruit.  Fast ForWord programs are more profound and far-reaching than that.  They are an investment in the future, laying a foundation that will lead to higher achievement in all future years.  And in the end, it is a much better use of financial resources.

After every session the student's data is uploaded through the Internet to our server.  We track errors, rate of progress, work-rate and many other items.  We are in constant contact by phone and email, reacting to progress and making changes to the work assignments in accordance with that student's individualized plan.

By speeding up the ability to process sound and language, i.e., auditory processing, Fast ForWord essentially slows the world down for a child.  This improves the ability to follow multi-step directions, to attend in class, and to participate more in class and in conversation, amongst other things.

By improving processing speed, Fast ForWord improves your child’s ability to hear the phonemes needed for sounding out when reading – this directly impacts reading fluency and comprehension.  Fast ForWord also exercises working memory, attention stamina and sequencing, essential cognitive skills for successful reading.  The Reading series builds on these skills with comprehensive instruction ranging from spelling and syntax to reading accuracy and higher level comprehension and thinking.

Your child works on a computer five days a week at a center or at home.