2 Revised 1/24/01 The Problems Children Face We all know children who are bright and motivated to learn, but hit some kind of a wall when they go to school They don’t seem to make progress, they don’t listen well, and they have trouble learning to read So much potential, but how to unlock it?

3 Revised 1/24/01 Does Your Child... Misunderstand what you say? Request that information be repeated? Give slow or delayed responses? Use only a few descriptive words when speaking? Seem reluctant to engage in conversations? Have difficulty reconstructing a story in its appropriate order?

4 Revised 1/24/01 In School, Does Your Child... Have difficulty remembering/following oral instructions? Not remember the question when called upon in class? Have difficulty with ambiguous language or idioms? Have difficulty with phonics, reading or spelling? Have unexplained behavior problems?

5 Revised 1/24/01 Slow Language Development For a variety of reasons, some children don’t process the sounds of language well They don’t register the difference between “bah” and “dah” Their abilities to understand directions and sustain attention are weak They lack the foundation to link sounds to letters

6 Revised 1/24/01 How Early Language Problems Occur Hearing problems or ear infections (otitis media) Genetic inheritance Insufficient stimulation Many other unknown causes Due to: A child may begin to “process” sounds ineffectively. Through repetition, the brain “practices” these ineffective patterns, and they can become ingrained.

7 Revised 1/24/01 Processing Sound Is a Challenge for the Brain

8 Revised 1/24/01 Processing Sound Is a Challenge for the Brain

9 Revised 1/24/01 When the acoustic differences of these two consonants are stretched to 80 msec., children with language problems begin to perceive the difference. How New Technology Helps Frequency (Hz) Time (milliseconds) /b a / 80 /d a / 250

10 Revised 1/24/01 da Acoustically Modifying a Sound Creates a “Pure” Signal da

11 Revised 1/24/01 Progress Towards Natural Speech

12 Revised 1/24/01 A “Missing Link” No One Understood The reality is, children can’t build their reading skills until they have strong oral language skills

13 Revised 1/24/01 Language Problems Often Become Reading Problems Children with reading problems in first grade tend to fall further and further behind Reading problems often persist into adulthood - Joseph Torgesen and Patricia Mathes Florida State University Research for the Florida Department of Education

14 Revised 1/24/01 A Weak Foundation Children often manage to work around their problems for a while By the time a reading problem has been diagnosed, teachers and parents are trying to fix reading instead of language issues No matter what programs and interventions they use, they have limited results because they are building on a weak foundation of oral language skills

15 Revised 1/24/01 How Fast ForWord Helps Fast ForWord computer-based programs train students’ brains to process better and faster Beginning with oral language processing, the Fast ForWord family of programs build a strong foundation for reading and learning

16 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Language Works by slowing down the sounds to give the brain more time to discriminate between them Uses modified speech sounds give children a “clearer signal” to use Is an intensive program that provides thousands of precise repetitions Trains the brain to process at faster rates until it has created the neural pathways necessary to process the natural, rapid sounds of speech

17 Revised 1/24/01 TOLD & CELF Language Quotients

18 Revised 1/24/01 # of children Z-score

19 Revised 1/24/01 See More Results Learn more about the results achieved by a variety of people with the Fast ForWord family of programs. Visit ScientificLearning.com/results

20 Revised 1/24/01 Game-Like Exercises… Train the brain through Frequency (every day for 6-8 weeks) Intensity ( minutes a day) Adaptivity (adjusting to every key stroke) Motivation (a token economy)

21 Revised 1/24/01 After 6-8 Weeks of Training… Children can discriminate among subtle sound differences and can process information faster This leads to better listening, understanding, ability to sustain attention, and organizational skills In turn, this leads to better self-esteem and motivation to learn

22 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Language (formerly Fast ForWord) Uses patented technology to clarify sounds and rapidly develop oral language skills that provide the foundation for reading, including: Phonological awareness Listening comprehension Sustained focus and attention Language structures

23 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Language to Reading (formerly Step 4word) Targets the skills that help students make the critical link between spoken and written language, including: Sound-letter recognition Decoding Vocabulary, grammar and syntax Listening comprehension Beginning word recognition

24 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Reading Rapidly and systematically builds reading skills, focusing on the skills that correlate directly to school curriculum, including: Word recognition and fluency Advanced decoding Spelling and vocabulary Passage comprehension

25 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Middle & High School (formerly 4wd) Rapidly reinforces the skills critical for fluent reading and communication for older students, including: Sustained and focused attention Listening comprehension Sequencing and organization

26 Revised 1/24/01 Fast ForWord Family of Programs Has produced substantial gains fast with over 50,000 students throughout the country 1-3 year gains in language and reading in 6-8 weeks Is based on over 25 years of research on how the brain learns Trains the brain to process better and faster

27 Revised 1/24/01 What Educators and Parents Are Saying about Fast ForWord “One mother called me and said that she couldn’t believe the change in her daughter. Before training with Fast ForWord, the girl never read books and was resistant to the very idea of reading. Now the mother says she can’t get her daughter to put the books down! She is reading under the covers with a flashlight!” — Rhelda Ball, Principal, Houston, TX “The results are everything I could have imagined they would be and more! Fast ForWord did for my daughter what nothing else has done for her, and her confidence is at an all-time high.” — Mary Chamberlain, parent

28 Revised 1/24/01 What Children Are Saying about Fast ForWord “Mom, this is the first time I have really read a social studies chapter with my brain and not just my eyes!” — Colin “Fast ForWord makes me feel like I am brand new.” — Coby “It was like my brain was a seed somebody poured water on, and it bloomed.” — Ashley

29 Revised 1/24/01 For More Information Visit Scientific Learning’s Web site ScientificLearning.com Or, call toll-free