Success Stories

Rivky started first grade as a bright, charming, fun loving girl. Although she had learned the Aleph Beis for two consecutive years in Gan, it was still new to her when her teacher reviewed it in first grade. This didn’t concern us, since we assumed Rivky was too busy having fun, to buckle down and learn.

As the year progressed, Rivky did buckle down but was having real difficulty learning how to read and write. Rivky seemed to be exerting an enormous amount of energy to get through the first line in the page and refused to go further than that. Her penmanship too was illegible. As much as we encouraged her, she couldn’t manage to space her words, stay on the line, write evenly sized, neat letters, or copy accurately from the black board. Her notebooks were in big mumble jumble. Needless to say, every time we sat down to practice reading and writing with Rivky, it was a test on our patience and self-control. Mostly we were really frustrated. What’s wrong? Why can’t Rivky keep up with her class?

Rivky’s teacher shared our frustration. She agreed that Rivky is a bright, intelligent and curious child; why can’t she learn to read? She suggested that we check her out by the eye doctor. When I assured her that we have already tested her vision as well as her hearing and both results were perfect, Rivky’s teacher concluded that she was simply not trying hard enough!!!

Very quickly we watched our Rivky change from a sweet, lovable, happy child, to a high-strung angry little girl. All her self- confidence disappeared, and she was sure that she was stupid and ugly and that nobody liked her. Rivky, who always davened with so much fervor and enthusiasm refused to use her beautiful new Siddur she received from her teacher at her Siddur party. Anytime she came across something that had to be read, Rivky would try far fetched round about ways to do the activity; anything was better and easier than reading it. Rivky was definitely not lazy; something was getting in her way, and we decided to evaluate Rivky in a complete educational analysis. After hours of thorough testing, we were told that Rivky has moderate to severe learning disabilities, including ADD, speech/language deficiency, and poor visual perception. We were recommended to start Speech therapy, Occupational therapy, remedial tutoring, plus perhaps a change to a less scholastically demanding school.

And so we started an exhausting round of testing and evaluating, with the many new confusing contradictory theories and opinions.
When the occupational therapist completed her evaluation, she claimed that Rivky was up to par to above average in all her ratings, and there was nothing she could gain from O.T. She did notice uneven movement in the pupils and recommended LedermanVision.

After a thorough examination, Dr Lederman explained, to us in simple everyday language, that although Rivky does have perfect vision, she is not using her eyes in the proper way that could enable her to see and perceive what she is reading and learning. She is using an enormous amount of energy just focusing her eyes on the text, leaving her with depleted resources to grasp and develop reading and writing skills. “No wonder that she hates to read. Of course she’s angry and frustrated with low self-esteem. How can you expect her to write neatly, if the lines on the page are dancing around together with the word she is writing? Our daughter is not lazy! She is working much harder than you can possibly imagine.” Although, we were impressed with the logical, clear way Dr. Lederman explained Rivky’s low performance in school, it was the first time we have ever heard of Vision Therapy, and its high success rate and we weren’t convinced that this was really the answer. But since we were so desperate to get our daughter out of her miserable state, we decided it was worth the try.

Rivky started therapy by Devorah; the most wonderful therapist I ever met! In her soft gentle way she pushed Rivky to go for a little bit more, to try one more time and reach the next milestone. She cared so much! After about ten weekly sessions, including practice at home, Devorah started Rivky on the home therapy program. At that time we started seeing real jumps in Rivky’s performance. Her handwriting actually became beautiful! Rivky started to believe more in herself, and began to take an interest in reading. By the time she finished the twenty sessions of therapy, Rivky was a classic bookworm! She was gobbling up dozens of books, as if to make up for lost time Her teachers and therapists wanted to know the magic formula! Towards the middle of third grade, Rivky had completely caught up, and was on top of her class, All her learning disabilities simply disappeared once again she was our happy, confident, creative, little girl.

So, if there is a parent out there hesitating about starting vision therapy, my advice to you is: trust Dr Lederman! He will only recommend therapy if he feels it can help your child. And if he tells you he can help-go for it! Give your child the opportunity to function at his maximum. Vision therapy is an investment of time, money and effort, but it’s a gift of a lifetime!

No words can express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Lederman, and his wonderful, caring staff at LedermanVision. We wish you many, many more successes in the future.
Rivky’s parents, 6 years old

I apologize for being silent for so long and not writing. It took us time to settle in a new country, to look for rent and work and finally to buy a computer to be able to contact you by mail.

More than 5 months have passed since I finished my vision therapy at LedermanVision, but I want you to know that I did not forget all the assistance, guidance and support that I received from you and all other people of your remarkable staff-team, who helped me to improve my vision skills, to overcome my learning difficulties and get rid of my symptoms I was suffering from while reading!

Until the age of 34, I believed to have good vision and could not understand why reading was so difficult for me and why I was getting tired from it so fast? My school vision screening performance was always good, but I didn’t realize that school screenings check only visual acuity and do not check other important visual skills like, eye teaming, tracking, focus adjustment when looking from near to far, and other skills which are crucial for such close up activities like reading!

Having these undetected vision problems, I was suffering while learning, I hated reading, I felt nausea while reading on a bus, and I could not sit by the computer for long because it gave me a headache.

My university years were very hard for me; it was no fun at all since it required a lot of reading. I couldn’t go out and meet friends or participate in parties or any other outdoor activities. When preparing for exams I did not have enough time to read all the material since my reading was slow and tiring. I was spending more time and achieving much less then the other students, I started to believe that I was not intelligent enough to keep up with the others in the class.

One day I received a really bad result on an English test. Having an academic degree in English philology and been practicing English for 15 years, I could not understand why my results were so bad. I had a gut feeling that there must be some other reason for my failure!

I was advised to visit an optometrist and was recommended to Robert Lederman. He explained to me that I had 2 main visual problems, which made it very difficult to keep my eyes focused on something at close distance. It was suggested that I do 16 weeks of vision therapy.

I took it very seriously and did the exercises every day. With the help of my very patient instructor I began to feel an improvement in my vision skills. I could read for longer periods without so much effort.
At the end of my therapy, the results were amazing!

I was able to read and sit by the computer for hours without any headaches, tiredness, nausea, blurred vision or any other symptoms I was experiencing before therapy. I found that not only my reading became easier and faster, but also my understanding became better, which helped me to believe that I was cognitively normal, like anybody else.

Of course I would not have been able to achieve my goals without the close supervision of Robert Lederman, my instructor Devora and other staff members, who were guiding me, correcting me, following up closely and were constantly supporting me during my therapy progress. I was very lucky to be introduced to LedermanVision and its staff that helped me not only to find a true reason for my vision problem, but also correct it and make me feel like a normal person again!

Vladi Struchkov, 36yrs

When Zecharia started visual therapy he was only 4 1/2 years old. He had been having some behavior problems in school and at home, along with difficulty doing puzzles, coloring, playing matching games, and other types of play. He also seemed to be very clumsy and often bumped into things, including walls. During Zecharia’s initial evaluation by an occupational therapist, the OT noticed some issues that she couldn’t quite understand. After a conversation with Zehava Witkin, a friend of the family and an OT who was singing praises of visual therapy, we decided to have Zecharia evaluated in your office.

Even after hearing Zehava describe the amazing things some of her patients were accomplishing as a result of visual therapy, I have to admit that I was quite skeptical. Especially after seeing Zecharia’s evaluation and becoming more aware of his limitations, I tried to hope for the best but had my doubts.

Needless to say, we are still amazed today, almost a year later, at what Zecharia has accomplished as a result of visual therapy. Within six weeks of starting therapy, Zecharia balance and spatial awareness had improved so much that not only did he stop bumping into walls; he learned how to ride a bicycle (without training wheels), well before his 5th birthday! He can also do a 100-puece puzzle, follow instructions to build with K’nex, He can hit a baseball… And within a few months of completing therapy, Zecharia learned all his letters and started reading! Because visual therapy helped improve Zecharia’s skills in such a wide range of areas, his behavior in school improved as well.

Equally as important as your professional skills, we appreciated your unending patience in working with Zecharia, as much as Zecharia needed to improve his visual skills, he also needed confidence building. A 4 1/2 year old boy who is angry at a world in which everything seems to be upside down and out of place is not exactly the easiest person to motivate to do difficult exercises. And yet you were able to respond to Zecharia’s need to take things slowly, you were able to make him feel good enough about his accomplishments so that he was willing to continue to tackle the difficulties. If you only knew what an amazing feat that was! You were able to tailor therapy to Zecharia’s specific emotional needs and because of that he left your office each week with a little more self-confidence than the week before. Your seemingly endless amount of patience with Zecharia, explaining an exercise to him six or seven times, in different ways, is something that meant more to us than anything else. It’s for the care and support you showed him that we truly thank you!

Jenny and Elen Zivotofsky, Zecharia’s parents 4 1/2 years old

There are just no words that come to mind that come close to expressing my thanks to you for all that you have given me.

When people ask me exactly what I gained from visual therapy- or what you have done for me, I simply answer… “He saved my life!” In essence, that is exactly what you did-because now I am truly able to live every day to it’s fullest- in full color so to speak, not through a smoke screen.

Looking back to November 2004 when we first began, I see now that I had no reason to doubt you. I could and would succeed. Yet we both know that those beginning months were filled with many (many!) “I cant’s”. Success seemed far away- and very, very unattainable. Your creativity, patience, and constant encouragement allowed even me to believe that it could happen-that even, I dare say, would come the day that I would enjoy picking up a book to read.

Clarity is the one word that describes it all. Every aspect of my life has been affected overall by this ‘new me’. The me that can remember a phone number, the me that can change the radio station while in a car, dial from a cell phone. The me who can get up in the morning and work straight through without the need for a nap because my eyelids were closing from straining to keep my eyes on the page. Line, and so forth at the computer. The me who can multi task and organize.

The me that can (now) look you in the eye- literally- and say hello.

For all these reasons- and really many many more, I thank you for introducing me not only to the world around me- but also to myself… a very capable, smart, and intelligent women.

May heaven continue to bless you with talent and wisdom and may you be blessed in continuing to be the right address for so many.

Patient

This is a note of appreciation for the wonderful work we have seen in our children.
Three of our children have been at therapy sessions at your clinic. One child prior to attending therapy sessions had not been grasping his learning to the extent that his principal could not sleep at night!

We tried many different ways to advance his learning. Finally we came for an evaluation by Robert Lederman. After obtaining bifocals our son was able to see better, concentrate better, and even speak more coherently.

It was a long process to get him up to par but today he is above average in most visual tests. Which is quite amazing, as he started on the very bottom percentile. His reading, writing and quality of life have drastically improved. Thank you Robert Lederman and Ya’acov Meir and Devorah for being heaven-sent in helping give a child the gift of vision!

Avraham Juroff, Parent

Six months ago, when I walked across the threshold of your office, I had been suffering for quite some time from headaches and lack of concentration. At the time I had little hope of any major breakthrough for my situation. Little did I know that everything was about to change. After completing your therapy I am proud to say that my academic studies have greatly improved, and my headaches are no more. Thanks to you I am able to concentrate more and achieve greater goals. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ya’acov Meir for his patience and understanding during my visits.

Sholem Kushner, 19 years old

My nine year old arrived to LedermanVision three months ago with a dislike for writing. He refused to do his schoolwork, write his homework, or tests. He had the ability to do so, but it was torture for him.

He began weekly, which was fun for him. Now at the end of the series of treatments, this happy third grader is writing his schoolwork with ease and is able to write a whole page in neat, clear handwriting. He no longer has a tantrum when he needs to write and is a happy class participant.

Miriam Litwwack, Parent

My wife, a doctor, businesswoman and bookworm suffered a stroke four years ago that affected her in many different ways. Since that terrible night, nothing was the same and we would never be able to live the life we dreamed of. Our world collapsed before our very eyes. One of the big losses was a 50% reduction in focusing, balance and speech.

One year after my wife completed rehabilitation work, I went with her to a number of eye specialists in order to get help for her focusing difficulty. Her inability to read made each day drag on. Even watching television was impossible. The eye exams showed that she had good eyesight but that her two eyes did not work together. She was given strong prisms glasses that were very expensive. The glasses were a help for far but not for reading. Despite the help, she still kept bumping into things and tripping. The reading glasses helped somewhat but she still tired after a very short while. She used to love the Internet, but now just found it frustrating and depressing. The difficulties were too hard to describe.

Two and a half years after the stroke, I was recommended by a rehab center to contact you. I was furious! I felt so emotionally abused. Like the spouse of many stroke patients, I have received suggestion after suggestion. You feel like grabbing onto anything, any hope they can give you. We had already seen the top eye specialists. They had done what they could. Why was I being given yet another ray of false hope? Somehow, despite my great reservations and skepticism I made the appointment to come to your office.

At our telephone conversation after our visit you told me that after three or four visits of therapy you would be able to let me know whether you though you could help. After our second meeting it was clear to me how much you could offer my wife. It was also clear to me that by helping her restore her visual skills, you would affect her emotional state, and give her real hope. The exercises were simple! Soon my wife could walk without the prism glasses. It was a miracle for my wife, and a huge relief for me. When you suggested the need for a computerized home therapy program, I already trusted you and knew you were suggesting the best for my wife.

Three months after therapy commenced, my wife removed the prism glasses altogether. Her vision is great! She could now drive a motorized three-wheeler to get around town. Imagine what this did for here confidence! Internet became a pleasure and her enjoyment of reading returned.

A new beginning! A feeling of new purpose in life and an awareness that despite the many difficulties that remained, there was a great improvement in the quality of life for my wife, because of you. Because of your kindness. Because you are able to see what so many other eye specialists cannot.

I thank you for bringing back the light to my wife’s eyes.

Etan Yaron. Husband of patient

It is with much appreciation that we are sending this note. Coming from out of Jerusalem weekly, for a few months, was quite a schlep that proved to be well worth it!

The improvement and success we have seen since we went through your therapy is absolutely amazing. I feel overjoyed each time I see my daughter relaxing with a book. She comes home from school every now and then telling me that she was one of the first to complete the writing, which was a far dream at the beginning of the year.

We thank you for being such wonderful people in helping us out of a very stressful time. May G-d give you continued strength and resources to keep on helping His children “see” the light!

The Baders

When Chaim first came to you his minimal ability to concentrate only lasted until midday, after which he was too tired to study at all.

Now, after 12 sessions of vision therapy, his teachers have noticed a remarkable improvement in his ability to concentrate especially in the afternoons and Chaim himself admits that he is no longer sleepy or even tired in the afternoons.

Many thanks, and much success in the future.

Chaim’s Father

Before coming to LedermanVision, my ability to soak up information and then explain and remember complex ideas, especially in Talmud, was not particularly good, and I felt that however hard I concentrated it was to no avail. This was in spite of the fact that my eyesight was perfect for reading and distance and I’ve never needed glasses.

Over the forthcoming weeks of exercise my ability to understand and retain and explain information has dramatically improved, so much so that there is no other possible explanation other that it was with the help of LedermanVision. I only wish I’d known about this system before, because my grades at school and university would have been far better!

Gideon, 19 years old

Before starting vision therapy I had a number of problems reading Hebrew. I have found great progress in my reading I especially had trouble skipping words and losing my place. These problems have virtually disappeared.

Mark L, 15 years old

I was suffering from headaches stress and concentration problems when Reading or doing near work. Then I met a friend who told me about LedermanVision and a therapist named Ya’acov Meir who knows what he is doing and is a super nice guy. So I gave it a shot and now ten weeks later I must tell you all the problems that have been experiencing have disappeared.

Meir Kraus, 20 years old

I want to express my thanks to all of you at LedermanVision for your great service. I could really fell that you all care and want us (the patient) to succeed. We particularly enjoyed the friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Thank heaven, my son has undergone a major change, already after four weeks of therapy he started reading what is written on the back of cereal boxes!!! Before he had always tried to avoid reading whenever possible. I am wishing you lots of success and may you be able to continue helping people see well.

M. Klein

Our youngest child is just one of the people that you have improved theirs lives immensely. When he was almost five years old, our family doctor detected that his left eye was lazy eye. The eye doctor found that he had only 40% vision left in that eye and his glasses were -5. The other eye was fine. He was treated successfully with a patch and ended up having 100% vision again and -4 in his left glasses.

Before starting vision therapy his reading fluency seemed to be going downhill, despite having mastered the required reading skills, he seemed to be making the same mistakes. Also, despite having a natural thirst for knowledge, he despised reading – even light storybooks. However after therapy and plenty of perseverance with the homework his reading has undergone a complete transformation and he has turned into a bookworm. Not only that but on the whole he is a much happier child these days!

Parents