Be sure to read the third-party studies before paying for this expensive product. Fast ForWord is one of the numerous treatments I researched, and I was very disappointed with the results from the scientific studies. For example, read A systematic meta-analytic review of evidence for the effectiveness of the ‘Fast ForWord’ language intervention program:

I wished any of the four drugs DD had tried had worked as good as it seems to have for your DD. DD has just started on her fifth drug - Adderall XR 5mg.

Shouldn't it be each phoneme that is pronounced? I noticed in the video that the parent mispronounced a lot of the phonemes, more than the child. Without phonemic awareness, phonics makes little sense.

With the long holiday weekend, we finally had time to do the trial exercises. She kept saying, "I hate this" or "This is stupid" :rolleyes: as usual but at least she did them. Is the guy in the video the husband or relative of the Neuronet creator? I wished they used somebody who would appeal more to children to keep repeating the exercises with.

I've been trying this with my 11-year old - see http://forums.welltr...hl__+c8sciences. I entered a different code and got the free cognitive assessment.

For those that wanted to try the Interactive Metronome exercises for free, below is a link to an Android app. An Android developer was kind enough to create a metronome feedback app, but it was not complex enough to be put in the Android store and he does not do iOS apps. Obviously, the usual disclaimers apply to this FREE app, but when I tested it, it appears to work fine, including the following features: - 54 bpm, with feedback on how close you tap to the beat in milliseconds - feedback in different colours, sounds, left/right earphone - Session Summary includes: number of beats, % of Excellent/Good/Medium/Poor Accuracy https://www.dropbox.com/s/ipiuds7r6k3wepi/Tapper.apk (access from Android device, download & install) Link to list of IM exercises (libkuman2002 PDF file)

I've been taking that great course for two weeks. Highly recommended for anybody dealing with ADHD to become informed of the latest research even if you won't be able to complete all the certificate requirements.

Is the free version of iMindMap Basic still available anywhere? Is Inspiration considered the best mind mapping software for grade 6 children and higher?

Yes, DD did the TOVA for the first time when she was being assessed for a non-drug treatment. She surprisingly scored over the 100 average, and this was one of the factors that the psychologist thought that she may have Asperger's Syndrome instead of ADHD. The psychiatrist, paediatrician and two other clinical psychologists had already diagnosed DD with severe ADHD.

Dr. Russell Barkley describes ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3VuV5Jvazs DD's school uses a token reward system, where she earns points for three target behaviours; she gets a prize when she accumulates enough points. It's worth a try to see if your son's motivation deficit will improve with a reward system.

Strattera and Intuniv are a couple of non-stimulant drugs used for ADHD.

I was researching if all the "Right Brain" books were worth spending resources on, and found this so far. Brain Myth #2: A person's personality displays a right-brain or left-brain dominance. Fact: The two sides are intricately co-dependent. This myth holds that a right-brain person is generally creative, intuitive, artsy, while a left-brain person is more of a problem-solver, more linear, logical. The myth arose from genuine science, but new imaging technology has shown that the brain is more interdependent than once thought. The myth probably took root in the 1800s, when scientists discovered that an injury to one side of the brain often caused a loss of specific abilities. For example, spatial abilities seemed to reside in the right side of the brain, with language in the left. The myth gained ground in the 1960s, when scientists studied epilepsy patients who had surgery to sever the connection between the two hemispheres. These researchers showed that when they couldn't communicate, the two sides of the brain could be unaware of one another—and even respond differently to stimuli. For example, when one patient was asked what he wanted to do, his left brain responded with "draftsman" but his right brain with "automobile racer." But more recently, brain scan technology has revealed that the hemispheres' roles are not quite so cut-and-dried as once thought. The two hemispheres are in fact highly complementary. For example, language processing, once believed to be left- hemisphere-only, is now understood to take place in both hemispheres: the left side processes grammar and pronunciation while the right processes intonation. Similarly, experiments have shown that the right hemisphere does not work in isolation with regard to spatial ability: the right hemisphere seems to deal with a general sense of space, while the left hemisphere deals with objects in specific locations. What remains true is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. What this means is that an injury to the left side of the brain (such as a left-hemisphere stroke) can cause damage to the other side of the body (such as right-leg paralysis).

I took the quiz in the "Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World" book. I have only 8 'yes' responses so I am "somewhat left-brained." My 11-year old child got around the same. Does this mean that we should probably not bother with all these Right-Brain oriented books, including Upside-Down Brilliance?

The law partners hired her because she was wearing a "shirt" like that during the interview! :laugh: On a more depressing note, what is to happen to all our children with learning differences? Completing all the requirements for a high school diploma is hard enough, but paying for and completing a college degree is unlikely for children like mine. I had stopped contributing to my kid's registered education savings plan many years ago when I realized there is a high probability it won't be utilized for college (resulting in financial penalty).

So Dianne Craft's "Brain Integration Therapy Manual" did not prove to be worth it for most members who tried it? I was considering it out of desperation for my 11-year old, but when I read that its exercises were from the debunked "Brain Gym", :crying: my spidey senses went tingling.

What I have read others do is buy two sets of tiles for each new Level, so they can easily resell the Level. This is probably what your good seller has done to be incident-free.

Do you have a link to that psychology study? Since four prescribed drugs haven't worked, I'm trying to figure out which "FCU" (fringe/controversial/unproven) therapies are worth trying before giving up.

That's I what I read too (except for convergence insufficiency), but it seems to be the most successful therapy for a lot of members here. I haven't noticed any improvement yet from DD's VT, but I'm hoping that I will join the VT fan club.

Despite accommodations, modifications, two educational assistants, calculator, etc., she regressed from being one year behind last year to being three years behind in Math this year (using the KeyMath3 Diagnostic Assessment). :banghead: There seems to be a consistent developmental lag of at least three years or 30% behind, including in reading, handwriting, executive functions and visual motor integration. If she is only at Grade 6 level by the time she is scheduled to enter Grade 9 high school, I can think of the following choices: 1) Hire tutors, including a student tutor from Grade 11 to help her navigate the tough social landscape of high school. We will continue to assist her in high school until the maximum age of 21 when she will leave with at least a Certificate of Accomplishment. 2) If she gives up on high school by the legal age of 18, we will focus on teaching her life skills, including how to live off her inheritance once we are gone. 3) Would retaining her in Grade 8 have more disadvantages than advantages? Some ADHD children's brains catch up to normal by 16 years of age (Grade 11), but I don't know if this applies to her. 4) I don't feel qualified to homeschool her. She prefers the 7 hours of public school than the two hours of afterschooling/treatments that we give her at home!

The company HTS, Inc. only makes it available through eye doctors. According to the secret Doctor's Manual I read, it is sold to the doctors for less than $50 then recommends "a two-pronged rate structure. When HTS is being used as a standalone VT program, the customary fee is approximately $295 to $350. This includes the cost of the program plus two or possibly three progress evaluations. When HTS is used as an adjunct to in-office therapy or as maintenance therapy, the fee is typically $99 to $150." I paid less than the standalone price of $295.

So if my 11-year old DD in grade 6 is at least three grade levels behind in reading, math, visual motor integration, executive functions, writing, etc., is writing the lowest priority to remediate? I was planning to try Handwriting Without Tears (grade 2 cursive) this summer, but would our time be better spent on other things such as becoming proficient in touch typing?

The public school's special education resource teacher has warned us that DD is at risk of being put in the lowest pathway in high school if she is not able to catch up from being 3 grade levels behind her grade 6 all the way to getting at least 65% in her grade 8 classes 1 1/2 years from now. This is the future that I'm trying to avoid: Her IEP in high school would show that she is working towards a "Certificate of Accomplishment" only. "Students who leave school before fulfilling the requirements for the Secondary School Diploma or the Secondary School Certificate may be granted a Certificate of Accomplishment. The Certificate of Accomplishment may be a useful means of recognizing achievement for students who plan to take certain vocational programs or other kinds of further training, or who plan to find employment after leaving school." Instead of taking the core Math and English courses, she would be taking special "Locally Developed" replacements. Another of the mandatory subjects would be replaced with a Learning Strategies course.

Hopefully OhElizabeth and other VT graduates will have time to answer your VT questions. My VT experience seems to be atypical as the developmental optometrist only uses VT software and there is no charge for follow-up visits. DD is almost done with the HTS (Home Therapy System), so the optometrist sold us the computerized perceptual therapy (PTS II iNet). May I ask what the OT charged for doing the TVPS-3? I am wondering if it is worth doing it to see if DD has improved with VT software. At the next appointment, I plan to ask the optometrist to measure DD's near point of convergence (NPC), & positive fusional vergence at near (PFV) to see if the HTS improved her convergence insufficiency.

For the CTOPP, DD was well below average in the six subtests except for rapid letter naming (84 percentile). I don't know how much she has improved after finishing the Language Tool Kit At Home. I am currently trying Pearson Education's SuccessMaker, but it is nowhere as good as LTKAH at remediating reading. If you don't find any better software, one option for you is to try the LTKAH Demo CD for $5. Once we are done with SuccessMaker, we may try to review some of the LTKAH lessons, possibly adding more kinesthetic activities such as writing incorrect words in cursive on a notebook and skywriting.

See my review at http://forums.welltr...-up-kit-at-home.