Although dyslexia is not considered to be a profound learning difficulty it has had a deeply profound effect on my family. Two of my three children are quite dyslexic (I remain unconvinced still about the third despite assessments) and as a family unit dealing with this learning difficulty has at times been fraught with frustration, helplessness and disproportionate difficulty.
My eldest daughter progressed from the 5th percentile to the 86th percentile thanks to an 18 month investment in FastForWord. My 8 year old son has just completed the first four modules in 83 days and his Reading Age has increased by a gain of 6 years. What do these numbers really mean? No more tears going or coming from school, no more facial twitching due to stress, improved participation in class and in exams, lots and lots more smiles, songs with lyrics, voluntarily reading until lights out, interest in and fun with words and language, lots and lots of chat with words that reveal a cleverness I instinctively knew existed, more confidence socialising, voluntarily trying to improve writing skills - mechanical and creative, in short a whole new world. What has it meant for me as Mom - a wholesale career change and a deeper understanding of learning styles.
The key to this is without doubt FastForWord, intent on obsessively alleviating my kids’ difficulties I researched in depth (in and out of formal training) and I have not found anything to compare in terms of speed and transparency of progress that lasts.
Lisa Connolly, Mom of three and now a practicing post primary teacher.