Forbrain–Sound For Life Ltd, A Review

I am excited to share about Forbrain – Sound For Life LTD . We have been able to use their bone conduction headset, and today I get to share a review of I have learned and experienced.

The first step was training on their website. I learned about the The Auditory Process that happens both in the air conduction canal and the bone conduction canal. Sound travels through the air the structures within your ear, and then is translated for your brain to use.

One way to experience the difference between air and bone at home:

Say your name or a phrase out loud. Now, plug your ears and say it again.

One way – you are receiving the sound through the air, and the second through the bone. The Auditory Process link above describes the loop to the brain in simple detail.

I learned through their website that there are many reasons that the loop can be interrupted. What hit close to home for us was brain injuries. Jon has had several concussions this year. We started off the year with a bang, and then around December he lost all interest in reading and could not remember anything that he read. It was frustrating. I wasn’t sure if it was character or aptitude. The idea was that this bone conduction headset would be able to provide brain stimulation, sort out an auditory processing disorder, help with reading difficulties, improve speech and attention, and help sensory integration. Really?

I was seriously interested their 30 day money back guarantee promise that I’d see results optimizing the audio-vocal loop’s operating ability. Although we receive the product as a review – as a consumer – that’s a pretty big statement.

The promise was that I’d see results in

attention,
concentration,
verbal working memory, and
short-term memory.

Bring it on.

We received the bone conduction headset in early May.

The product comes in a very protected attractive case. The battery arrives drained, and you must charge it until the light indicates full charge. The charge lasts for 6 hours.

The instructions in the product are quite simple. While the headset is in place and turned on: (all activity is “out loud”)

Read out loud. Start with 5-15 minutes working up to 20
Sing with it on
Recite poetry
Practice memorizing

The goal is to use it 20 minutes per day. If you have been following the blog, you’ll know that it was perfect timing, as we were also using two products for reading comprehension and memory.

The FIRST DAY that my son used it, his comprehension score doubled.

By the THIRD DAY that he used it his poetry memorization became effortless. One poem per day.

He began to wear it and talk out loud while he walked around the house. He put it back on to work on his poems. The pamphlet says you could use it 3 times per day to help memorize longer portions or to help to study for a test. He began to always read with it on.

I saw his attention, speech and memory improve. As he read out loud – he realized he was mispronouncing words. He’d say a word, and realize he didn’t know the word he just said, then go back and figure out the phonics until he recognized the word. I think this was one step of his reading comprehension problems, making up words as he read, and not knowing it. He immediately had increased understanding of the vocabulary /words that he was reading.

He said that the main thing he liked about it was listening to the story. What? He explained that many times, especially for school reading, he’d just start the reading, and then look outside, and see a bird, and think about the bugs it was eating, and wonder if there were worms under the deck and try to remember to look, and then all of a sudden he was in his canoe fishing . . . and then he’d reach the end of the reading assignment. I’d ask him questions about what he just read, and he’d say he didn’t remember. He never quite shared that he was fishing in the lake while he was reading. Ha.

He said that when he has the headset on, he can hear the story that he is reading, and he likes the way he reads and he gets interested in what he is saying, so he pays attention to himself. I sort of giggled, as it sounded a bit self centered and prideful – in a 15 year old way – but hey! It made sense!

I can’t give scientific evidence of the device repairing his brain from the trauma this year – but I can see the results in how he is remembering things, even when the device isn’t on. I can see the increase in his memory. His short term memory was just about destroyed. There is quite a bit of information and PDF files on the website to browse to look up the ‘technical’ science behind why this isn’t just simply talking out loud. I’ve seen the results.

My hope was fulfilled. There is NOTHING more delightful that watching your child enjoy reading. At 3, 5, 10 or 15. Especially – having it restored at 15. He continues to use the headset, I see no reason to stop. I’ll give more updates as it goes as I see different – more expanded – results.

You can learn more about the company and their technology for speech and language difficulties online –