I am so excited to tell you all about Forbrain – an auditory feedback headset today on my website. Recently, I was contacted by Forbrain to ask if I would be interested in trying out one of their headsets. I checked out their website, found out information online and was blown away. This headset sounded too good to be true! But the reviews spoke for themselves, this headset sounded amazing. So, of course, I jumped at the opportunity to try it out!
When the headset arrived, I was so excited. All the pieces come in a super handy travel case to keep everything together, and in a Forbrain box. I knew it was going to be good quality, even before I’d opened the travel case. You know when you just have a good feeling about something? That’s definitely what I had with this.
I couldn’t wait to open it up and try it out. The headset is comprised of a high quality microphone, bone conduction transducers and a dynamic filter.
The headset comes with instructions on how to use it, along with suggestions to use! For both myself as an adult or for a child. The instructions are detailed and helpful. So when I first tried the headset on myself – and a child – I knew exactly what to do and what to expect.
Let’s face it, life is crazy. We all have huge to-do lists and we’re trying to do all the things in a short space of time. So when something comes that is easy to use, with visual instructions and means it saves me time. I know it’s going to work great for me and my students.
So, what exactly is Forbrain? Well, Forbrain improves the perception of the voice. It works on all aspects of the audio-vocal loop. And it gives the nervous system a solid sensory workout. Your voice is processed by an alternating filter and transmitted through bone conduction.
How Do I Use It?
Like I mentioned earlier on, the instructions make it super easy to use. First, you need to charge the headset. I plugged mine into my laptop to charge while I was working.
You turn the headset on, by simply pressing the ON/OFF button.
You place the earphones onto the bone in front of your ears, with the hoop behind your head ad above your neck.
Adjust the microphone to around 3cm from your mouth to the right.
And it is literally THAT easy!
Uses
The booklet comes with lots of ideas for how you can use this headset for both yourself and a child. It even includes a training suggestion for a session of 6 to 10 weeks. Honestly, these guys have made this headset so easy.
What Did I do?
I was itching to try this headset the whole time it was charging. Genuinely, I was so excited, I just wanted to get stuck in! I decided to start with the suggestions that Forbrain provide in their booklet first. And they are;
Musicality
For musicality, I had to sing aloud the text that I was reading. I decided to go with a nursery rhyme. So, I read the text off my laptop screen (singing it) and.. wow. So first, I have to say how comfy the headset is. You can barely feel it there. Which makes it perfect for my kids who have sensory needs especially around their head area. So this is going to be great for them to use.
But, while I sang the text – I used Miss Polly had a Dolly by the way – wow. It was amazing to hear my voice back to me through the headset. I can’t even explain it. But it was like I could hear more to my voice than ever before. It got me thinking about my pronunciation and even my accent.
As always, I was eager to try more..
Rhythm
For this, they say to read a poem while taking a breath at the end of each line. My poem was ‘Do You C What I C?’ and it’s a really lovely poem to read. Taking the breath at the end of each line really helped me think more carefully about my language and the way that I was talking.
Flow
Flow is to read a text while taking a breath every 3 or 4 words irrespective of meaning and punctuation. While doing this, it’s really making me think about the way I talk, my accent, how I say and pronounce certain words and I love being able to hear myself back to me.
Diction
For this, I’m to read a text while exaggerating sounds as if I was making a speech to a crowd. This is something that I do quite regular for my podcast. Granted, it’s me talking to my laptop. But, I’m talking to my entire audience on there too. So I’m always conscious about how I sound and the way that I pronounce words – especially with my strong Welsh accent! I loved hearing myself pronounce and exaggerating different sounds. And the way that I sounded talking.
Accentuation
Read a text while changing the volume of your voice every 5 seconds from very faint to very loud and vice versa. Here, I grabbed my Gruffalo book (aff link) and I read the characters in different volumes – the same tone of voice, just different volumes. I.e quieter for the mouse. Honestly, I can’t explain how amazing it is. I know I keep saying that it’s amazing to hear myself talking. And you probably think, well that’s possible without the headset. But, I’m hearing myself totally different than ever before. And it’s really getting me to think about my words, language and how I’m talking.
Memorization
I struggle with my memory. I’ve never really gotten to the bottom of why. I don’t know whether stress is a factor, whether it’s just me getting older, or also my struggles with sleep. Where I have always struggled to get a good nights sleep. With this, they say to read a text. Then repeat it immediately after without looking at the text. So, I pulled up an article on Google. Something I had never read before. And I did what it said.
Now, I was sceptical. Like I said, my memory is awful. And I’m not joking. I can literally forget something I’ve just read – and sometimes it can be a single word or even just two words. This is why I decided to record this section so you can see the results for yourselves.
Dialogue
This is to read a comic book or a dialogue and give each character a unique voice. This was crazy to hear back, and so much fun. This is something I definitely want to try out with some of my students to get them listening to the different tones of voices and listening to themselves too.
So, for me, I loved it. All those activities that I did, were amazing. And totally won me around. But, now I wanted to try it on a child. I wanted to see how they did with it. Again, I used the suggestions that they provide in the Forbrain leaflet.
Accompanying
This is where I read the text slowly at the same time as the child without pausing for their mistakes or hesitations. So, I chose a child that I know loves to read but does make a couple of mistakes or hesitates sometimes if he is unsure of the word.
He was a little confused when I first put the head set on. He wanted to treat them like headphones and put the ear bits into his ears. So, I read the story first with them on me to show him how they go, and then he done it. He accepted this much better and it helped him understand when I modelled them.
We completed the activity, and I could see his face lighting up and his eyes turning to the sides of the headset. He could hear himself. And he really seemed to enjoy the experience. He actually took them over to the library to continue reading and wouldn’t let me have them back for a short while! That’s a success for me.
Memorisation
So, this one I tried out with one of my girls. She has ok memory. It’s not the best but it’s not the worst either. So, I read a line of a poem. Then I asked her to repeat them. She got one word wrong out of 7. So, I tried giving her a shopping list of 3 items to repeat back to me. She got all of them correct. Then I read a shorter sentence “I want to play outside” – she repeated it perfectly back to me. She seemed to enjoy the experience. She kept taking off the headset to look at them. I think she was surprised at hearing herself.
She would say something without the headset and then she’d put them back on and say it again. It was interesting to watch her experiment. And she could clearly recognise the difference of wearing the headset.
Invention
I have a student who has the most amazing imagination. So, I gathered a few of his favourite toys and brought him into a quieter area to sit with me and make a story. I put the headset on him and got him to talk with me at first to get used to the headset. Then we came up with a story together. I would start with a prompt for the sentence and he would finish it to create the story. He loved the activity and again he loved using the headphones.
Final Thoughts
So, what are my final and overall thoughts on Forbrain? I think it’s a game changer. There are so many positives to have from this amazing headset. And not just for individuals on the autism spectrum. But for so many different people all around the world of different ages and abilities.
I’m going to be inviting a member of their team onto the podcast to discuss Forbrain in even more detail, find out more information about it and the benefits. So be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get first news when it’s released and I’ll link it here when it’s live.
Where to Buy?
Are you won over by this fantastic device? If so, you can buy it here (aff. link).
What are your thoughts on the Forbrain auditory feedback device? Do you have any questions? Have you tried it yet? Let me know in the comments below. I love to hear from you!
Disclaimer: Forbrain sent me a complimentary headset to receive my thoughts and opinions on the device. Forbrain have not paid me to write this blog post or to alter my opinions or views. All views and opinions are through my own personal experience trying this headset on myself and autistic children with families permission, who will not be named. The links included in this blog post are affiliate links. I will receive a small commission when you click through and purchase through those links, which helps to keep me and my small business going.
