Dyslexia and Fast For Word - Our New Clinical Tool

As someone with whom I have had many conversations regarding dyslexia, my respected colleague and friend, David Newman, recently lent me a book that is likely to change the way I run my clinic, especially for my students with dyslexia.

The book is called "The Brain That Changes Itself", by neuroscience researcher Norman Doidge. Though in my experience, the idea of brain plasticity is nothing new, the book itself is a fascinating study of the kind of successes people can have, even with very injured brains.

Glenn Doman and Temple Fay, the founders of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Pennsylvania, were among the first to put forward the idea that human brains are changeable. Indeed, it is their research and methods that allowed me to have such success in teaching my eldest daughter how to crawl, walk and myriad other skills she may never have developed by herself.

How my clinic was affected by Doidge's book, is a story that is still unfolding.

One of the chapters that was particularly interesting to me, since I am currently researching dyslexia, deals with a computer-based program called "Fast For Word". I had heard of the program, but have always avoided computer-based learning as I don't believe that a set of algorithms can replace a human when intensive literacy and language therapy is required.

I'm glad I looked further into Fast For Word, however, because it shows all the signs of actual merit that the research and marketing indicates.

I recently did my Fast For Word training in Sydney and have just made it available to my students. My children are also using the program.

Until I see it working for my own students and children, I won't comment much further, but what I will say is that it has already impressed me greatly for the following reasons:

The program actually responds to students, so that it never goes too fast or slow for the individual.
The games are varied and interesting.
The people who trained me are highly qualified, dedicated individuals whose primary goal is to help people, not to make money.
My children love it.

I have become one of a handful of providers in Australia and am very proud to be so. My hope is to make Fast For Word widely available in my area at the lowest cost possible.

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