Homeschool On the Range: Forbrain for Speech Therapy {Review}

Monday, October 1

Forbrain for Speech Therapy {Review}

This review was originally published November 2017 on our Gypsy Road site.

Our son struggles with the basic skills of speech, memory, and concentration. We’ve been through all kinds of therapy, with minimal improvement, but the struggles stubbornly remain. Forbrain (Sound for Life, LTD) developed the bone conduction headset to help with speech and language difficulties, brain stimulation, auditory processing disorder, reading issues, add, and ADHD. Given the opportunity to try it out, we lunged!

About the Headset

The headset consists of a microphone, two bone conduction transducers (the part that goes next to the ear) and the dynamic filter. (The dynamic filter is the box that has the on/off button, volume control, and a light.) It also comes with a quick-start guide, which is handy. It’s very easy to charge up – we plugged in the USB cable to the computer and let it sit for a few hours. There’s a red ‘charging’ light that turns off once it’s fully charged ; that light becomes blue when the device is in use. One of my favorite parts about the kit, however, is the hard-shelled, zippered carrying case that makes it easy for us to take it with us everywhere (all of the pieces and the guide fit into it).

The headset can be used for exercises such as:

Reading aloud
Dictation
Narration
Recitation (especially fun reciting poems)
Memorization
Singing
Dialog (role playing with toys, mine did this with their dragons and legos)
Story telling

What is Bone Conduction?

Bone conduction is the conveyance of sound though bones in the skull to the inner ear. When you speak while wearing the device, you are hearing yourself loudly in your head. It gives excellent auditory feedback to the user, and is particularly useful for those with speech issues who may struggle to hear how they sound.

One thing I liked about the headset was that, while he was getting a boosted auditory signal of his own voice, it wasn’t blocking out or muffling the sounds of those around him. He was still able to carry on a conversation with others.

Forbrain is recommended for use as a daily tool for reading, speaking, attending in class or for general use for six to ten weeks.

10 minutes a day for little ones
15 minutes a day for ages 5-15
20 minutes a day for teens and adults
30 minutes a day for seniors

Our Use & Thoughts

He used it for the recommended amount – a mere fifteen minutes a day! I know, you’re thinking that this isn’t enough time and it should be worn for longer, but in this case, more isn’t better. Wearing it too long can lead to headaches and fatigue. Results really do appear with just a few short minutes each day – consistency is really the key.

He has struggled with speech issues since he began to talk at age three….yes, age three…a bit late to the game. We’ve seen several different speech therapists, and each has worked hard to help improve his speech, but his issues are not your ‘classic’ ones. He has apraxia of speech, and really struggles with certain sounds…such as the short /A/ in his name…which makes it very difficult for others to have a conversation with him. We have tried all sorts of techniques, but he doesn’t seem to be able to hear how he is pronouncing that sound. This device really opened his eyes to how he is saying that /A/, and while it did not “cure” the issue during the review period, he did make great strides just by the fact that he is now recognizing how his version of that sound differs. I consider that progress.

Additional Points

The headset retails for $299. That’s a steep price, but if you’re paying out of pocket for speech therapy (like we were before it became too expensive), and you see results from it, then that’s really not much. Auditory processing issues are difficult to tackle, and this looks like it will get us over a crucial ‘hump’ so that we can progress with his therapy.
Some sort of pre / post-test from the company would be a nice addition. To be honest, I’m not sure how they’d do that from afar, but it’d be nice to have some concrete results that your money had been well-spent.