Hi I’ve never posted here before but I’ve been searching the archives and reading for a couple of weeks.
My son has receptive and expressive language difficulties as well as poor fine motor skills (trying not to give you a book here which of course I could!). He is 7 and in first grade.
I discovered Fast Forward last year and we did it (the 50 min. a day version) through a speech path for about 8 weeks. The last four weeks school had started and he really hit the wall with doing that and school too so we plan to finish it up at the end of this school year and summer. I thought it did help him to hear and understand us better (oh another detail — he has a moderate, high frequency hearing loss; a ‘cookie bite’ which means he has normal hearing above and below certain frequencies — uncorrectable by hearing aide. Must say we don’t really notice hearing problems just understanding fast language problems). We did try an FM system for a bit but the teacher didn’t notice a difference with it. He’s in a private school with a small class.
The other thing I’m doing that is working great is we have a Wilson tutor five days a week for 50 minutes. She does a bit of Great Leaps with him too and he is reading on grade level (very choppy though). He definitely seems to have both a motor component and a language component to his expressive problems (can’t find the right word).
I’m trying to decide how to make best use of our summer. I know I want to finish FF and maybe do the second one. In a couple of weeks I’m having him tested at a LMB center three hours away. It would be a big deal for us to live away from home for weeks at a time but I’d do it if it was my magic bullet! The big thing that I would like to improve is his ability to understand easily what other people are saying and to be able to express himself better. He has some trouble with multi-step directions and following a conversation unless it is one on one. He says “what” a lot and it doesn’t seem to be because he didn’t hear it; just doesn’t seem to get it (altho is is sooooo hard to tell!).
Anyway does anyone have any advice? Does V/V help with expressive language? That’s the program that seems to fit his description although I’m sure they’ll say he’s not the strongest reader (I KNOW he wouldn’t be where he is reading-wise if it wasn’t for the intensive Wilson that we’ve been doing for almost a year). I just want to do the most tolerable intense best use of time thing for the summer.
Thanks for any help!
Mary
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
I’m not sure about V/V which is more a cognitive skills approach than a language approach. Lips from LMB is more allied to speech and hearing.
As a person with a subclinical hearing problem myself, I can suggest a few things that have helped me a lot:
— aggressive treatment of sinus and ear infections. No wait and see when there is already a history of trouble.
— complete removal of all allergens and irritants of the mucous membranes, particularly cigarette smoke, all perfumes, dust, possibly animals etc.
— listening to music in depth. I understand there some programs (I think The Listening Program is one) that do this in a formal program. Music lessons, if not high-pressure, can be a wonderful thing.
— Formal teaching of a second language. (not random immersion, which can cause more confusion). The concentrated effort of listening to new sounds and imitating them can strengthen the learning pathways.
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
I think the Listening Program would be a good idea. It works on conditioning the entire auditory system (and, indirectly, the entire nervous system). Website is http://www.advancedbrain.com . If you don’t want to use a local provider, you can purchase it online at http://www.rmlearning.com/auditoryprocessing.htm
It might be worthwhile researching Interactive Metronome. Although it does not work on speech and language at all, it does work on motor planning.
If you are not using the Sound Reading CD from http://www.soundreading.com , I would strongly recommend getting that. It is an excellent supplement to any reading program. It starts at a pre-K level and works up to about a mid-third grade decoding level. Cost is about $60, and you would want your son to spend 15 to 20 minutes per day on it.
Nancy
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
Thanks so much for the input. We used The Listening Program 5 days a week from age 4 to 5 1/2. Maybe he was too young but I didn’t see any benefit from it (course how do you know maybe we wouldn’t be where we are!). I’ve still got it so I could try again I guess.
Sound Reading looked very attractive…I couldn’t tell if it’s something I’d have to teach for 20 min. a day or if I could just let him play on the computer with it ?(THAT REALLY SOUNDS GOOD!). Have you had good results with it?
My real goal for the summer would be to help him understand speech better and to help him organize his own thoughts to talk/write better himself. He doesn’t get things the first time especially if you talk too fast and his speech his scattered, often off topic and can take a long time to get the whole thought out. That’s why I’m thinking he needs V/V. As far as reading, Wilson is really working and I’m pleased with where he is (not that I wouldn’t love to advance him).
thanks again.
mary
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
If TLP didn’t help the first time around, I don’t think I’d spend time doing it again unless it is very easy for you to incorporate into your routine. My theory is that, if you don’t see something in the first go-around with it, it’s probably not addressing the underlying issue.
A child can work on the Sound Reading CD independently once he/she understands how it works. It takes some trial-and-error to learn how to “drag and drop” but, once that’s learned, he can be on his own. I have seen really good results from using this program as a supplement to direct reading instruction. They say average time to complete the CD is 14 hours, but it can take considerably longer. The CD does not allow the child to progress until an exercise is mastered, but it rewards mastery with some cute graphics. Most children do not object to working on the CD, although towards the end it can require some parental encouragement to keep plugging away at it.
Nancy
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
V/V is excellent for language comprehension, oral or written. My only concern is that I think your son would get more from V/V a little older and reading a little better. I’m sure they’d take him now, but they won’t get very far with the reading comprehension part. If I were you, I’d get the decoding and fluency improved this summer (and finish Fast ForWord Language) and next school year and have them evaluate him for V/V for the next summer.
Janis
Re: Making the best use of summer; need advice
Thanks everybody for your input. I’ve spent nearly the whole day reading the archives of this website — I’ve learned a lot!
Victoria, it’s so interesting that learning a foreign language helped you. My son does get 30 min. of Spanish twice a week (guess that qualifies as random!) but I just figured it was a waste of time. In fact I had considered using that as a good time for pulling him out if I needed to for handwriting help or something like that. He has his Wilson tutor every day after school. We do have those air filter things in every room and I try to jump on every ear infection — one of his tubes is out so he’s had a couple iin that ear over that last year.
Now I’ve got to decide — should I cancel his LMB evaluation? Don’t know that I need it for the information necessarily. My primary interest in LMB has been the hope that V/V could improve his verbalizing. He has such a hard time getting his thoughts together and speaking in an organized succinct way. This is the area that I feel like I’m not doing anything about right now and it is a pretty significant area of weakness.
Any other ideas? Is the prevailing opinion still that I should wait until after second grade to pursue LMB?
thanks for any opinions or experiences. I wish someone had experience with the intensive LMB summer program of V/V with a 7 year old! The people at LMB said that 7 is definitely not too young and the younger the better blah blah but of course they would say that wouldn’t they :)
Mary
I’m not sure about V/V which is more a cognitive skills approach than a language approach. Lips from LMB is more allied to speech and hearing.
As a person with a subclinical hearing problem myself, I can suggest a few things that have helped me a lot:
— aggressive treatment of sinus and ear infections. No wait and see when there is already a history of trouble.
— complete removal of all allergens and irritants of the mucous membranes, particularly cigarette smoke, all perfumes, dust, possibly animals etc.
— listening to music in depth. I understand there some programs (I think The Listening Program is one) that do this in a formal program. Music lessons, if not high-pressure, can be a wonderful thing.
— Formal teaching of a second language. (not random immersion, which can cause more confusion). The concentrated effort of listening to new sounds and imitating them can strengthen the learning pathways.