“Forbrain has been a very successful tool and consider it such a blessing to our family!”

My son thinks a bit differently; in fact, how he processes information leaves me baffled at times. While we are not certain that is an auditory processing issue, nonetheless, I was so excited when Forbrain – Sound For Life LTD gave me the opportunity to review their bone conduction headset!

If you aren’t familiar with an auditory processing disorder, basically it affects how the central nervous system communicates with the auditory/hearing system.  This can, of course, make it quite difficult to learn and to gain an appreciation for learning too. This can cause some struggles for our children in making it difficult to pay attention and really hear differences in words, follow directions, and really communicate their thoughts and needs to others. For my son, who is 10, we are often struggling with following verbal instructions.  We can say one thing and hears another (completely different sometimes too)! We may spend hours on learning a simple concept only to find within hours he is struggling to understand it all over again. I want to learn to be fun and encouraging for my kids!

I had no idea what a Bone Conduction Headset was or even what it could do before this came along. Basically, this is a headset with a small microphone that is close to your mouth.  The ear piece goes in front of the ear, right on the bone.  Why do you ask? This is all related to lots of research that have been done regarding sensory integration, vibrations, and how the voice, brain, and ear all work together.  It is recommended that this be used for 15 – 20 minutes a day for five days a week (older kids may benefit from 20-minutes; younger children benefit more from smaller amounts of time).  This should be used for at least six weeks 6 weeks. and while they wear it they should be encouraged to talk, sing, read aloud.  So long as they are speaking out loud the product can work for them!

This was created specifically to aid in attention, auditory processing, sensory processing, short term memory.  This even assists with speech; fluency, sound discrimination, and pronunciation.  And is meant to increase memory, sensory processing, and attention.  That totally makes for a more confident and sure and intent learner~ Their website states: “Bone conduction transmits the sound of your own voice 10 times faster and with greater clarity than air conduction.”  Since you can hear your voice, you are able to more clearly produce sounds which in turns leads to greater articulation, reading and comprehension and even public speaking. These are all good things!

Now I tried this out myself because I admit it, I tend to lack focus myself – I’m a momma! It happens. And can I say I noticed a difference in my speech patterns almost immediately? I wore it while reading aloud to the kids – It was amazing how I could hear myself so clearly.  Well, maybe I wasn’t being clear – I could hear myself as I spoke and hear any lack of articulation. I managed to focus on the story more than I usually do (although I still had to stop a bunch to settle kids and get juice and all that stuff we mommas need to do). It’s amazing how the microphone picks up my words, filters out all the noises about and then plays it back using the bone conduction speakers.  Wow.  Really. Wow.  I am so much more aware of my pronunciation, fluency…It reminds me to slow down and speak clearly.

My oldest son was rather excited to use this! He was pretty good about waiting for it to charge when it arrived and then, as I said before, let me try it out a bit too. It was no trouble charging it; simply plug it into a USB with the cord included (we charged it via our iMac)  and when it was ready to go a blue light came on.

Anyway, I had my oldest son been using it for his reading. He also used it for his French which I think really helped him to be able to better his pronunciation. I think this helped him as time progressed, to slow down in general. Which is good since he likes to do everything fast.  For about 15 minutes every day, he would wear this. While he did I would encourage him to “listen to your voice” whether he was reading or doing his French or spelling. He also would wear it now and then just to sing around the house. He likes to sing and is teaching himself guitar. It was fun to see him disappear and then hear him singing worship songs in his room!

My younger son (who is six) really wanted to try this out and since he is learning to read I had him use this while was reading to me. He loved how funny his voice sounded while he was wearing it too! He wore it for maybe 10 minutes per day and it was always when we were reading together. My son called it his robot voice. He had a blast using it too – reading time became so much more enjoyable for him. I also think it helped him to better differentiate letter sounds as he read.

While it is hard to really determine the extent of growth in my boys since they began using this, I do think this has been a very successful tool and consider it such a blessing to our family! Whether we are singing or practicing our foreign languages, reading or spelling, this has made all of us so much more mindful of our own voice. We can truly say, we have all heard how we really sound (and what momma doesn’t say that to her kids now and then?). And I think the power in that is pretty huge. I truly had no idea, when I was chosen to review this, how great of an impact it would have. It has made us all mindful of our speech – when we tend to slow down and be more focused on what we are doing. And the way it helps you to focus on the task at hand – It’s incredible really. I cannot say enough how much we have enjoyed (and will continue to) Forbrain!

You can read the full review directly on Jennifer’s blog

The confidence with his reading that he has achieved in the past 6 weeks is amazing and he’s like a completely new kid! 

For the first 7 years of Garrett’s life, he was completely Nonverbal and it has only been through homeschooling and repetition that he’s finally able to hold a conversation with us. However, at 9 years old his verbal skills are on par with a 3-year-old (after all, he’s only been speaking for 2 years).   So when I got the opportunity to review the bone Conduction Headset from Forbrain – Sound For Life Ltd. I knew that it was something I wanted to try with my son. We have now been using Forbrain with Garrett for the past 6 weeks and the difference it has made in his confidence, his enunciation, and his reading skills have been amazing.

We LOVED Forbrain, but to really understand why we’re so impressed with it, I should go back and explain how we got to where we are with Garrett.

Garrett diagnosed with nonverbal autism when he was 5 years old. He did not speak at all for his first 7 years of life.   In those 7 years, we did early intervention speech therapy five days a week, we bought all the “speak and say” style toys we could find and exposed him to videos and tv shows designed to teach language arts.  Some people suggested to put his sippy cups of milk on the top of our entertainment center and not to give him until he said “milk”.

It didn’t work. Instead, I had an extremely frustrated little man who couldn’t communicate to say he wanted milk and would instead throw himself against the floor in explosive fits of rage and who was locked in his own silent world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKE7j5dhN08

The above video made when Garrett was 6 years old.  He was upset because I had put on the wrong Blue Clues video but I had no clue which one he wanted as he couldn’t speak.  Garrett’s only communication with us (if he tried to communicate at all) were grunts and whines and ear-piercing screams.

The whole reason I started homeschooling in the first place is that the public school system doesn’t help much to educate Garrett.  They felt he would never communicate,  he would never read, he would never be able to do the math and he would never be able to participate in a classroom setting.   Their suggestion was to ship him off to an outside district that had a “Skills for Life” program where he could at least learn to take care of himself.  I knew that there was more to Garrett than just hoping he could eat with a knife and fork properly and so we kept him home.

Today, Garret is no longer non-verbal.  It was a long road but eventually, he found his words. However, he is so far behind in both his reading and verbal skills because of the delay.

Prior to using Forbrain, Garrett had very little as far as pronunciation and enunciation skills.   Part of this is because he showed frustration when we tried to correct him. At the same time, at that time, we were afraid that he would regress and stop talking to us.  It was also in part that we felt thrilled that he was talking at all that we didn’t want to put any negativity on his speaking.

With the introduction of Forbrain to our learning, I started to change that.  As Garrett would pronounce words incorrectly (example – pronouncing “the” as “duh” instead of as “the-uh” ), I would gently correct him and have him repeat the word properly and have him listen to himself as he did so.

Because Garrett suffers from Sensory Overload issues, we started him very slowly by wearing the unit.  The first week of using it, I was lucky if I got him to wear it for 5 minutes total before he was ripping it off.  For those early sessions, I would just get him to converse with me.  As time went on, Garrett was able to wear the unit for longer periods of time.

I used Forbrain for various different lessons with Garrett.  First was with his poetry memorization.  I noticed that by wearing Forbrain while he recited his poetry, it made him slow down and actually think about the way he was saying things.  In the following video, you can even see as he looks down to listen to the feedback he’s receiving as he’s hearing himself.

The biggest difference I noticed is how he enunciates his words while using the Forbrain unit. Words are becoming understandable and do not all run together to make one large word.   In the video above, you’ll notice in the first reciting of “Oooey Gooey”, Garrett tends to run words together, most noticeably in the phrase “the train he did not see” – it comes out as “trainnotsee”.   In the second half, these words are properly broken up and pronounced correctly. Other noticeable differences are the pronunciation of the word “tracks” and “was” (in the first part he pronounces it like “wath”).  His enunciation has improved greatly and we are finding that he not only in his school work but also in his everyday communication, we can understand him so much easier that we could a month ago.

However, one of the biggest improvements I have noticed has been in his reading.   As mentioned, Garrett is behind in his reading skills compared to other 2nd Graders – it’s kind of hard to read aloud when you don’t speak.  Much of the last two years have been playing “catch up” with other children his own age (he will be 10 in October).  Forbrain helped him in reading aloud. It has really helped Garrett making a connection between how words flow and how various letters sound when placed together.  The confidence with his reading that he has achieved in the past 6 weeks is amazing and he’s like a completely new kid.

While the main focus of our review was working with Garrett, Ashleigh has also been using the Forbrain device while working on her Latin schoolwork to help with her memorization.  She has quickly been able to master the pronunciation as well as memorize the meaning of the various words she has been working on and I expect that the Forbrain will be a useful tool throughout the lessons.

I also expect my husband has plans on using it later as he starts working towards studying for his next Promotion Testing Cycle with the Air Force to see if it can help with his own memorization.

My family has been so blessed with the Forbrain unit and I am sure that at a later date, as Garrett has had even more time to use it with his reading and speaking, I will revisit this review and update on his progress.

Forbrain is an electronic headset that utilizes bone conduction to activate the auditory feedback loop in the brain.  It is thought that isolating and amplifying an individuals voice can significantly improve attention, concentration, memory and in small children their pronunciation.

We generally hear the sound as it enters the outer ear, travels through the middle ear and finally makes the tiny inner ear bones vibrate.  The vibrations are then translated to electrical impulses and sent to the brain.  Sometimes things can go wrong, causing individuals to have trouble hearing clearly or processing the information they receive from their ears.

Sound transmitted through the bones in our head.  When the bones vibrate, the sound sent directly to the vestibule nerve in the inner ear.  Because this kind of bone conduction is a different pathway for your brain to gather information, it can be utilized to help overcome hearing or processing issues. This is the basis of how the Forbrain works.

You can wear the Forbrain bone conduction headset like a typical most head, except the two speakers sit on your temples rather than in your ears.  The microphone is easily adjustable, allowing the headset to fit young kids as well as adults.

As you speak, the Forbrain uses a dynamic filter to isolate and amplify your voice.  It transmits the voice through bone conduction, leaving your ears free to continue to hear the sounds of your environment.  This combination helps you to have a clearer vocal quality, improved listening and greater focus.

My boys had the typical toddler speech issues and the idea of using Forbrain came into my mind to help them improve pronunciation.  I applied for this review with Magoo in mind because I was looking to see how much his speech could improve.

Each of the boys used the Forbrain for 10 to 15 minutes a day, each weekday. Occasionally we used it on the weekends, but it was easiest to track by including it in our school routine.  We do quite a bit of memory work around here, so especially for the two little boys, we practiced our oral memorization with the Forbrain headset.

With 3-year-old Doodad, it amazed me at how much clearer his speech was on the first use of the Forbrain.  He used the headset primarily to practice the poems I wanted him to memorize.  He quickly mastered them!  I did find that I had to put the microphone at least an inch or two away from his mouth or he would whisper.

For 5-year-old Magoo, I also noticed an immediate improvement in pronunciation.  As is typical for a 5-year-old, Magoo doesn’t like to sit still for very long.  While using the Forbrain, he would sit for up to 15 minutes at a time and work on oral memorization.  I really think our use of the Forebrain is why Magoo was able to earn the Timeline Master award this year.

In addition to just memory work, Bebop also used the Forbrain to read aloud with me.  I wanted to see how this helped his reading comprehension.  While I did see improvement in reading, it was not anywhere as dramatic as the difference I heard in the little boy’s speech.  Bebop enjoyed using the Forbrain the most, and I do think it helped him study for his end of the year Memory Master test.

Jared and I also both tried the Forbrain and its as very cool!  You hear yourself in a way that sounds like a cross between your ears plugged and listening to your voice on a recording.  We both noticed above all else, the Forbrain headset forced you to slow down and focus on proper pronunciation. Jared told me as someone who gives public presentations at least once a week, this is a great tool to prepare and practice speeches.  I plan to have the boys practice their presentation using the Forbrain in the future.

The Forbrain headset is a very impressive piece of technology.  It impressed with both the immediate and long term results we experienced.  While this is a big ticket purchase, I think for children struggling with speech or auditory processing issues, the Forbrain electronic heads can be a priceless resource.

My only criticism is I was not ready to use the Forbrain at first.  I read everything on their website but I didn’t believe it was as simple as putting on the headset and talking.  But really that’s all we did!  I would love to see demonstrations from speech therapists to get ideas to fully utilize the Forbrain headset.  I am also really looking forward to reading all the Crew Reviews to see the different ways other homeschoolers have incorporated the Forbrain into their lessons.

Kaylee Rodgers, a student at the Killard House School in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland used Forbrain, dazzled audiences during the Christmas choir by performing an alternative version of the song, written by Christian rock band Cloverton. Her performance has been shared around the world!

Colin Millar, principal of the school explained that Kaylee was very shy when she arrived at school. Therefore, seeing her standing in front of an audience and doing such a performance is proof that she has put a lot of effort into it to get to that point. (Use Forbrain)

Tracy Rodgers, Kaylee’s mother, told the BBC about her daughter’s incredible talent while emphasizing the fabulous work of her singing teacher who gave her confidence: “She always loved singing, but it was only when she entered the Killard House School that she really got into it. Her teacher loves her confidence, he was great with her. “

Read More:

Teachers and Parents review Forbrain for improving Attention and Memory

You might be interested in this blog.

There are so many children and adults these days with learning issues, whether they have delayed or unclear speech, or poor memory and focus skills. My Middlest has some focus issues, and my youngest has had some speech issues, so we were interested in being on the review for a new product by Forbrain that uses an auditory feedback loop to improve attention and speech. I was particularly interested as I know that there are a number of families in my local homeschool group who deal with a variety of disabilities and delays that might be helped by a product like this. Nothing beats having personal experience with a product in order to offer a beneficial recommendation.

The basic science (As I understand it~ please visit the website for the technical terms and more thorough and detailed descriptions) behind Forbrain: Forbrain uses a headset with a microphone that sends the soundwaves produced by the wearer through a high-frequency filter that then conducts the sound directly through the jaw bone to the brain.

To some degree, the effect is to have a clearer picture of what everyone else around them hears (my youngest said it was like listening to a recording of himself), and more rapid input to the brain (since the soundwaves don’t have to travel through the air and through the ear canal).

It also helps the wearer to focus on the words they are saying, which improves attention. Kind of reminds me of when I need to concentrate on what I’m thinking, reading,  or saying and there is excess noise around me. Sometimes I will plug my ears with my hands so I can focus~ Forbrain does something similar, without blocking out the surrounding sounds. Forbrain is not only to use with children~ it is appropriate for a number of situations, and all ages.

My Youngest has had some slight speech clarity issues. When he was really little he was sometimes referred to as the Hawaiian baby, because although he had the correct number of syllables, he used mostly vowels and very few consonants in his speech. That has changed, but he still has trouble speaking clearly at times (I have to work to have him use his lips to help form sounds~ he tends to speak like a ventriloquist whenever possible.. ACK!).

You may remember the poetry review we did a few weeks back? After that review was over, I had him use the Forbrain headset while he recited to me, and we also worked on a few things like “r.” After some weeks of use, there is definitely a difference in the clarity of his speech. Sometimes it is rather subtle, but it is there. Check out this compare/contrast video I made with snippets from some of the poems.

My fifteen year old found some benefit from Forbrain as well. He had been having difficulty paying attention to his science text. He would read and reread the text and still not take in what he was reading, because his mind would wander. I suggested that he wear the Forbrain headset and read the text aloud instead of silently. He found an increased ability to retain what he was reading, which was definitely a positive impact on his learning.

Because it was difficult to really quantify this effect, we did a little trial. I gave him 3 sections of Bible verses to memorize, and we timed how long it took him to learn them well enough to say them without looking.  The first he memorized strictly by reading silently, the second by reading out loud, and the final section reading out loud using the Forbrain headset.

Here are his results:

I would say that was a fairly significant increase in attention and memory!

Now, of course, results may vary, but I think this is a very interesting technology worth checking out, especially if your child struggles with speech and language difficulties, auditory processing disorders, reading difficulties, ADD or ADHD, or even minor attention issues that may be causing major disruptions in learning.

The Forbrain headset comes with a downloadable pdf file that includes a number of exercises. You use the first set to improve singing, rhythm, fluency, pronunciation, and diction. These were deemed a little cheesy by my kids, but they gave the idea of how to use the headset for more regular musical and speech improvement. The next section has exercises particularly geared towards teens, and specifically those with ADD/ADHD. Some include speaking positive phrases, and others include some techniques for focusing attention and dealing with other behaviors. Sort of “The Power of Positive Thinking” concept here. Take it or leave it, as you will. 😉

I realize that my boys don’t have the severe issues that others deal with (for which I am very grateful), and this tool was useful for them. I know that there are others on the TOS Review Crew who ARE dealing with more severe issues, so if this is something you are looking in, I highly recommended going through the link at the bottom of this post and reading more reviews.

The first thing we did after taking the bone conduction headset out of the box was to charge it. The charging cord plugged in just like I charge my cell phone, so that was easy. Next, everyone had to try it on – I have some big sci-fi fans in the house and this reminded them of something out of a futuristic television show or movie. They had a lot of fun messing around at the start, but I wanted to get down to business and see how we could use this to improve things like memory, speaking, reading.

The headset sits lightly over the ears. As a person speaks the microphone/filter pick up their voice which is amplified as a sound transmission through bone conduction. Rather than having the ear buds we are all so used to, this headset has little conductors that set on the bone just in front of the ear. The vibration made by the sound of your voice is converted to an electrical pulse which is directed to the brain – so, your voice stimulates your brain.

Your voice creates a loop through the bones of your skull to your brain. That’s my simple explanation – for a better understanding, you can watch this video:

Forbrain can be a helpful tool for both children and adults (ages 4 and up is recommended.) Anyone with attention difficulties, or those who have language and speech issues, or people who want to improve their short-term memory. The concept is that when you wear their headset you speak, your brain receives the impulses through the headset via bone conduction and your brain triggers nerve receptors directly, creating memory paths and allowing you immediate feedback.

Anyone needing help with fluency, attention span, concentration and comprehension could benefit from using Forbrain. This could be a helpful tool in the classroom, speech therapy sessions, occupational therapies, acting class and so much more.

I had a few different goals when we began this review:

1. improvement in fluency when reading out-loud.
2. improvement in musical tone when singing.
3. improvement in lazy, mumbled speech.
4. improvement in memory work.

I asked the children to wear the headset for at least 15 minutes once a day (not to exceed 20 or 30 minutes twice a day.) Each person has an area or two where they could use some improvement so we set about seeing if we could make a difference.

Forbrain is easy to use, but the hardest thing is to wait for results. While there may be some people who show significant improvements and changes immediately, most of us will need to be committed to be consistent and make comparisons over a longer period of time.

After using this for several weeks, I have seen:

Making a recording (video, audio or both) at the start, then periodically will be the best way to determine how beneficial Forbrain is for you. This is something I wish I would have done. I still might! If you have a beginning or struggling reader I highly recommend this.

My kids’ reactions were:

“It’s a little weird hearing yourself talk at first but then you get used to it.” ” It was fun hearing my own voice.” “It’s a helpful tool for music/singing training. It helps to hear how you sound.” “It was . . . interesting. My voice did not sound like I expected it to. I think it will help memorizing things.”

If you have a child with behavioural struggles, I suspect using this device regularly could be very helpful. Hearing one’s own voice can cause a person to stop and take notice.

I’m intrigued with the idea of using this headset for someone who has an auditory processing disorder or a child with ADD. I think this would be an excellent tool for someone learning English as a second language. See how my fellow Crew Mates are using Forbrain by clicking on the image below:

“Linda – Apron Strings & Other Things”