Ramblings From the Crazy House 2: New Review! Forbrain!!!

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About the product/service:

As part of the Homeschool Review Crew, I received a free Forbrain headset from Sound for Life LTD so I could check it out and let you know my thoughts. This headset is not like other headphones where you put them over your ears to listen to someone or something. This product goes in front of your ears so that the sound goes directly into the microphone and back into your head. Yeah, kinda weird, I know!

The idea of this product is to help people of all ages (well, ages 4 and up) with a whole list of brain-related issues by using their own voice to boost their brain. Among the issues are:

auditory processing
sensory integration
pronunciation
rhythm
short-term memory
and many more

The idea is basically that we hear both through our ears and through the bones in our head. This device amplifies (and filters) the sounds we speak into the mic, and even though we actually still hear our voice in our ears, as usual, we hear them more loudly than normal through our bones. Apparently, this is called bone conduction. (If you are lost, don't feel badly, as I barely understand it myself!) Anyway, there is something called the audio-vocal or auditory feedback loop. This is the normal process our brains go through when we take in sound and process it. Supposedly, if we have some sort of "glitch" in this system (my word) it can keep us from having the proper attention, concentration, memory, etc. that we need to function at our best.

I totally don't get any of this, but there is a website that is loaded with scientific explanations of all of this. Please check that out and don't rely on my explanation, which I'm sure is not nearly as clear as it should be. :)

What are the pros of this product?

The headphones are lightweight, comfortable, and fit fine. I think just about anyone could comfortably wear them. I didn't notice any specific improvements, so I did something I don't normally do until my review is posted, and that is check other reviews. I wanted to know if anyone else claimed to benefit from this product. It does appear that they have, and so, of course, if it helps people, that is definitely a plus! I cannot make that claim personally, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work. I just didn't seem to work for me. (Please continue to read the rest of this review for a better explanation.)

What's not to like?

Before I even opened the box, I looked it over as I was very intrigued. I honestly could not tell what on earth the product was supposed to really do. All it really says is "use your voice to boost your brain." If I were in charge of packaging, I would definitely make sure it had more info on it.

As for the product itself, I feel like there is so much information and the claims are all over the map. I had a really hard time wrapping my head around what was supposed to be happening in my brain. LOL I mean, it makes total sense that if our brain was more in tune, a lot of things we do would be improved. I'm not saying it claims too much, I'm just saying, for me, it was a bit overwhelming. (I've heard a lot about brain wave optimization, but this seems completely different.)

I think I really would have liked a more specific program, one where the 15 to 20 minute time period was laid out for me with the option of tweaking it to fit my needs. It's hard to fill that much time just doing weird things like singing text or taking breaths at unnatural points. (Two of the exercises.) I have people around me almost always, so that was an issue for me. Maybe if you don't share a small house with eight other people, that wouldn't be a problem. In my opinion, though, because I am pretty ADD (self-diagnosed) and have a lot of memory issues, I think I would do much better to have it very structured. Being ADD and trying to focus on doing the 15 minutes made it hard. (I'm sure if I were a child or even an adult and had a parent or other adult guiding me, it would be much easier.)

It can be tricky knowing if you are getting any benefit from using this device. Improvement is subjective. I would have loved if it had some exercises to do that you could repeat at the end of six weeks to actually get an objective understanding of your improvement. For example, have a list of words to memorize and see how many you can recall after a certain amount of time. Then, have another very similar list at the end of the trial period to see if you can remember a longer list of words.

I honestly didn't notice any significant changes in my ability to pay attention, concentrate, or remember. This could be because I haven't used it enough to really tell, and because I had no way to objectively test my results. If I had speech issues, then it would be easier for someone else to notice results. (Weirdly enough, my son tried to tell me I actually sound like I have a lisp when I have the headphones on. I don't agree, so I'm not quite sure what to think about that!) One thing the product said it helped with was singing in tune. Now if that happens, I will be shouting from the rooftops because I do not sing well, at all.

The Crazy Mom take:

There are not enough works to express how badly I want this to work! I am not, in any way, saying it doesn't work. I simply didn't notice a difference in myself. I am going to keep trying this because I need everything this device has to offer! I am so uncoordinated, air-headed, unfocused, etc., it's not even funny. Also, as I mentioned above, I can't sing at all, and if I could learn to carry a tune, I'd really be excited! Haha!

I feel like I really need to keep using this and become more structured in what I do. I mostly played around with it doing something different each time. I also admit, I didn't remember to do it every single day. (I was not kidding about memory issues!) I want to make some "trials" for myself and test myself. I thought of this part way through, but knew I wouldn't have had enough time to do it justice at that point. There would not have been enough time to prove out anything, and I didn't want a "false negative." Now that I am on my own with it, I will pick one exercise and stick with it.