If you have a child or work with a child with a learning disability, then you know the challenges they face every day. Learning does not always come naturally to them, and they can fall behind in school. This frustration leads to a negative school experience. There are literally thousands of materials available nowadays to help children overcome their learning problems. How does one go about choosing the right one? The Audiblox program may be your answer. This comprehensive program covers seven different areas of learning disabilities: dyslexia, reversals, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, spelling, math, and school readiness. In addition, it can improve comprehension, listening skills, memory, logical thinking, concentration, and attention. The age range is preschool through adult, and the program can be used at home or in a school setting with a tutor.

Audiblox comes in a sturdy box that was surprisingly smaller than I expected, making it nice for storage. Everything you need to use the program is included, minus some scrap paper and a stopwatch. There is a manual that lays out the entire program. It's divided into six parts, making it easy to quickly read about the program, understand the principles behind it, and then skip around to the specific information and exercises you will need. The manual is quite thorough and explains each of the exercises very specifically; however, there is also a DVD included which shows how to do several of the exercises. Not all of them are included, but I was grateful for the ones that were. I like to see a demonstration of how something is done to make sure I am doing it correctly, and the DVD was very helpful. It definitely sped up the process of learning the exercises.

There is not a lot of preparation or training involved in using this program. A little reading and some practice of the individual exercises is all that's needed to begin. And you don't need to learn every exercise right away. You can start one and then over a period of a few days learn and introduce another. The instructions are very straightforward, and I had no problem understanding what was required to begin teaching my son. In order for this program to be effective, it must be used 3-5 times a week until the child is at least one year ahead of his grade level in the area where there is a learning disability. It is suggested this can take at least a year, perhaps two depending on the severity of the disability.

Many of the exercises almost seem like a game and were enjoyable to my son; however, the author notes in the manual that this program is not meant to be entertaining. I did find it nice, though, that my son didn't mind doing the exercises. The lessons can take up to 40-50 minutes a day, but because they are comprised of several short exercises, the time goes quickly and the child does not get bored. The lessons can be split into two different times during the day if necessary. The lessons are shorter for the preschool aged child.

Because my time to review this product was only three months, I can't tell you the full results my son has achieved. I can say, though, that I am impressed with the program and definitely can see how it is going to benefit him. I plan to continue to use it for the full year, more if necessary. I have done a lot of research over the last several years about dyslexia and other learning disabilities, and I think this program hits the mark. It almost seems too simple, but when you realize these little brain-training exercises add up over time to strengthen specific weaknesses, it makes perfect sense.

Because this program covers so many areas and for such a large age span, I definitely think it's worth the cost. There will be some effort required and an investment of your time, but to be able to help your child overcome a learning disability in your own home or classroom is worth it.

Product review by Heidi Miller-Ford, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC , January 2011