We brought our daughter to NACD after adopting her from another country at the age of 7 and trying for four years to homeschool her ourselves. While we were making progress developmentally and academically, progress was slow before we found NACD. Lyn helped us discover specific things about our daughter’s brain and the way it processed information that seemed to unlock her potential. We started doing the things on the program, which at first seemed sort of silly, like patching one eye and ear, massaging with special gloves, and just repeating numbers. All of this was specifically prescribed for our daughter’s specific needs and we trusted the process and followed the program. In the 2.5 years we spent meeting with Lyn every four months or so, our daughter went from having almost no ability to create or participate in conversation at the age of 12 to being a talkative, inquisitive, even clever young lady at 14 1/2. She went from throwing toddler tantrums to being able to control frustrations in a healthy manner and accept when she doesn’t get everything she wants. She went from retaining about 5% of what she read, to now being able to tell us about the things she just read because she found it interesting. She has now taken it upon herself to follow a 1-year bible reading plan, and is on track 8 months later! She went from needing to be told every single thing to do, to being a nearly self-sufficient girl who follows her list, cooks for herself, helps with many chores, and likes to do things with other family members. She is ready now to get plugged in to youth groups and classes, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the support we received from NACD. We will continue to follow their advice and the maintenance program, and we would recommend NACD strongly to any family who has children who struggle mentally. It is a game changer!

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 33 No. 9, 2020 ©NACD

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We love hearing from our past and present families. It’s always tough for us when we graduate a child, seeing them move on, full of expectation and hope, and hopefully armed with a solid foundation. We always appreciate hearing from the families and learning how they fared.

We just received this note from Charles Smith and Marilyng Perez Montero regarding their daughter Ilaria. I recall meeting Ilaria and her family for the first time. Ilaria was a very sweet, quiet, well-mannered 10-year-old who lacked confidence and who came to us with a combination of processing issues, academic problems, and physical strength and coordination challenges. She was very anxious to do what she needed to do to better herself, and her parents were obviously dedicated to doing all they could do to make it happen.

Ilaria’s family was very organized and hit her program running and started seeing changes almost immediately. The family kept in close contact with me through their coach, Marta Palmes, and worked not only hard, but smart. The plan from the beginning was to keep Ilaria home and do NACD homeschool, get her “pieces” put together, and then to have her go back to school. Ilaria was with us for less than 18 months, but we were delighted to see her transform into a confident and capable young lady in that relatively short period.

When Charles, Ilaria’s dad, asked me if I thought Ilaria was able to handle going back to school, I told him that I felt she was; but when he told me where he wanted her to go, I was a bit concerned. He wasn’t going to just send her to school, he wanted her to go to a very challenging, tough academic school. I should not have worried. I will let Dad’s words speak for how she has done.

Congratulations, Team Smith!

—Bob Doman

Dear Marta [at NACD],

I am writing to inform you of our daughter Ilaria’s achievement of a 4.0 GPS her first year in middle school and being recognized as a recipient of the President’s Education Awards Program—all this less than six months after graduating from the NACD program. It is a momentous achievement and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you and Bob Doman for all the efforts you have contributed on behalf of Marilyng, myself and Ilaria.

Your support during the design and implementation of Ilaria’s NACD program has been nothing short of overwhelming. Needless to say, without your and Bob’s expertise, input and encouragement, Marilyn and I would never have been able to achieve success in carrying out the program with Ilaria.

As you may recall, we were introduced to Bob Doman and NACD in the Summer of 2016. I was doing some research online for organizations that could assist our 10-year-old daughter, Ilaria, whom had been officially diagnosed as having a “learning disorder”. Ilaria was falling behind in mathematics as well as English and was lacking in physical strength and coordination.

We had tried a number of different private companies and public resources but did not feel any were right for Ilaria’s circumstances. Some were very expensive, and others did not provide the personalized attention we felt was necessary. Fortunately, I came across Bob’s name along with NACD when I was reading reviews by a client of one of the private companies we were meeting with. That day changed our lives!

After watching the online videos of Bob explaining how a child’s brain develops and why it is important to use teaching methods that take into account, we made contact with NACD. My wife and I were very excited to work with Bob and create a personalized development program for Ilaria.

We started implementation of the program in July 2016 and found that your input and weekly support was invaluable. In addition to your encouragement and support you greatly assisted us with the practical implementation of the program. I can distinctly remember your suggestion of creating an excel spreadsheet to keep track of and monitor the daily activities and progress of the program. This helped us tremendously.

Ilaria made steady progress throughout the remainder of 2016 and through the first half of 2017. In august of 2017, she started 6^th grade at a new middle school considered to be one of the most academically challenging schools in Florida. By the end of the first semester in December, she had achieved the honor roll during both quarters and finished with a 3.6 GPA. It was at that time, during her December evaluation with Bob, that he informed her she had successfully graduated from the NACD program.

The NACD program along with the support from yourself and Bob changed our lives and gave Ilaria the confidence to believe in herself and achieve her goals of making the honor roll in her first year of middle school. Thank you very much!

NACD Newsletter, October 2018 ©NACD

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Jake is the youngest of three children. He was first flagged as struggling academically in kindergarten and then again in grade one. Jake struggled with saying the alphabet, sounding out the alphabet, math, staying focused, sitting still and making/keeping friends. At home, he was busy physically with sports, but could not get along with siblings, couldn’t take a joke, had multiple meltdowns over silly things and spent a large part of everyday upset and crying. Our family spent the majority of our days walking on egg shells in hopes of not triggering Jake.

Jake’s grade one teacher convinced me to have a psychologist evaluation done in order to help get the support Jake needed in school. I ended up paying $1300 for a 3-hour evaluation where I was not allowed to be present. The psychologist diagnosed him with ADHD and said he was the most severe she had ever seen and that he would never be able to function without medication.

In the fall of grade two, I started Jake on the recommended stimulant drug and within a short amount of time he was a walking zombie, no spunk, no personality glossy eyed, no appetite but he was able to focus. At the 7-month mark, our family physician discontinued his medication due to a 10 lbs weight loss. Jake’s personality returned and so did his appetite and we were thrilled. We vowed never to medicate again.

In the fall of grade three, I was still very concerned with Jake’s academics. I expressed my concerns and our history to a doctor at work whom I had never met before. To me, this encounter was like divine intervention. He recommended a program called NACD. The doctor encouraged me not to wait but to act as he handed me a USB stick with an audio recording of child development. When I left work that day, I had a plan and I had hope for the first time.

We had our evaluation in December of grade three, near the end of 2014. I liked how Sara conducted Jake’s evaluation. I was allowed to be present for the whole evaluation which took maybe a total of 2 hours. Prior to the evaluation, I had filled out paper work on things, like what did Jake eat, how much screen time did he get, physical activity, team sports and how many hrs of sleep he was getting a night, were just a few of the questions. In my opinion, this was actually a head to toe assessment of what was going on in this child’s world. I was sold on NACD from just the evaluation alone.

Within a few days, Sara Erling our Developmentalist, emailed us a program that she’d developed specifically for Jake based on his needs. We started immediately. Within weeks, we started to see changes, but the greatest change happened at approximately the three-month mark. Jake, in a short amount of time, was no longer wiggling all over the place and was able to sit and focus for extended periods of time in class. I was now more determined than ever to continue this program. With the help of NACD and our Developmentalist, Sara, our goal was to get Jake to grade level and able to function without supports.

With our Developmentalist, Sara Erling, we have worked with Jake to meet his specific needs. Sara has done an amazing job supporting both Jake and the family. She has helped instill positive behaviours as well as delivering quarterly evaluations. She continues to set the bar higher and higher to ensure we continue to see the changes necessary to move Jake forward.

NACD isn’t about a band aid solution like stimulant drugs. They are helping parents help their children to get lasting results through brain development aka neuroplasticity. In a short 3.5 yrs, NACD has helped us develop Jake to the point where he can thrive on his own without supports or medication! Not bad for a child who according to one, would never function without medication (heavy sarcasm). We have a confident, happy, thriving child who knows that he can be successful in life with whatever he chooses.

Thank you, Sara Erling, for never using labels and always knowing that we would get Jake to the finish line. You have changed our lives for the better and we are so grateful for all you do!!

—Rachel Schappy (Mother)

NACD Newsletter, June 2018 ©NACD

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Isaac had been struggling with reading and expressing himself for so long, that by the time I heard about the NACD in May 2012, when he was 16, I knew that I was quickly running out of time to help him.

It’s not that I hadn’t done anything up to this point. His difficulties were obvious early on in elementary school; and by the 3rd grade an evaluation indicated that he had trouble processing verbal and written communication. As a public school teacher I was very familiar with the stigma that is associated with special education, so I elected to forego the label and work with Isaac at home.

What followed was year after year of consistently doing homework with him, reading with him and to him, making sure he understood what he was reading, summarizing for him, and having him write in a journal. Despite all of my efforts, Isaac still tested at a 4th grade level on the 7th grade state reading and writing assessment. Both Isaac and I were discouraged but did not give up.

During that summer and the following school year, I continued to consistently work with him on school assignments and also hired an experienced special education teacher to tutor him in reading and comprehension. In 10th grade Isaac transferred to a charter school with a good, positive environment and small class sizes. He still struggled. The work load was almost unbearable—having to read novels for both English and History was overwhelming and unmanageable. So I had him tested again. Had anything at all helped him? Was there anything else I could do, I wondered.

An April 2012 Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test administered by the school psychologist revealed that Isaac scored at 4.7 grade equivalent in Oral Language, 7.3 in Basic Reading Skills, 7.7 in Broad Reading, and 8.7 in Broad Math. No wonder he could not keep up with 10th grade reading and writing assignments—he was still stuck in 7th grade!

The lady who conducted the test knew of my diligent efforts to help Isaac academically and could see my frustration. Being familiar with NACD, she recommended it for Isaac, and I am so glad she did!

We started the NACD program in June 2012. The first six months were a huge struggle to get Isaac to cooperate, as well as to fit his customized program in with family life, siblings’ activities, and his regular schedule once school started. But we were consistent in following the program; and when there were not enough hours in the day, we creatively used homework to fulfill program activities. Eventually, Isaac realized that everything he did for fun was contingent upon completing his program assignments, and he began to take personal responsibility for his NACD activities.

Isaac’s NACD evaluator had been confident that he was making progress, but frankly I was skeptical. Of course she wanted me to see improvement in his scores, I thought. Here I was paying membership dues to an expensive “gym” and was intensely training my son’s brain. Surely, I needed to see results in order to justify my expenses and effort. Then, after almost a year on the program, Isaac took the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test again. The assessment, completed independently of NACD, confirmed that Isaac was indeed progressing quite well. This time he scored at 9.6 grade equivalent in Oral Language, 11.9 in Basic Reading Skills, 9.3 in Broad Reading, and 10.7 in Broad Math. In less than a year on program, Isaac had jumped more than 2 academic years in math and reading and five years in oral language! The results are more than satisfactory.

There are other changes in Isaac as well. He is more outgoing and confident, which was quite obvious when we visited several universities recently. As an award-winning origami artist, Isaac is excited about pursuing higher education, investigating art careers, and further developing his talents in three-dimensional relations. Most importantly, he doesn’t shut down under pressure as often anymore because he can express his thoughts better. His vocabulary is increasing, as is his endurance at doing difficult things. For instance, he just took the ACT, and although he did not do quite as well as he now knows he can, he surpassed my expectations. Certainly, the NACD program has helped Isaac tolerate a test of that length while sitting and focusing for hours.

We began the NACD program with the specific objective to help Isaac read and speak at grade level. I am pleased to say that we have almost reached this goal. For years we couldn’t accomplish this using other methods, and I’m glad that we discovered NACD. I only wish we had found it sooner.

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This began a learning process, not for the children but for us as parents. Some of the things we learned were that as well meaning as the school system and most of it’s teachers are, they can only remediate a childs’ education if they are not working up to their capabilities. They can not fix the developmental steps a child may have missed. They don’t have the knowledge to help move a child along the developmental path that would lead to more organized learning patterns and more success. We learned they can’t even point us in the right direction for help because of financial liability.

We learned what prejudice is! We learned that the world would give up on our kids and pigeon hole them into vocational careers at the age of 7, 8 or 9. We learned that the label caused more problems that it solved; social problems, self image problems. We learned sadly that the first priority of the school was not our children’s best interest but the interest of bureaucracy, money, numbers and standardized tests. We were very fortunate to find NACD. Instead of remediating the education, Bob challenged the children, while bridging those developmental gaps they seemed to have missed. We crept and crawled and patched and plugged and sometimes wondered if this all was going to make a difference. It did! It built their self esteem and their confidence as well as their developmental stages and in time they began to succeed. Success builds success and today they are all pursuing careers in fields they are interested in. John works for Bob Doman evaluating children like himself and has gotten his Masters Degree in Special Education from Lehigh University. Jenny is a counselor in a home for boys that have substance abuse problems and is working on her Masters degree in social work at NYU (as well as our first grandchild) and Julie is getting her Bachelors degree this spring and will become an Occupational Therapist.

I thank God every day that we had the help of NACD.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 16, 1996 ©NACD

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As a result of Mr. Doman’s evaluation we found that Chris’ memory was operating as would a four year old (digit span of 4 at age 8). Also, although he should have had a dominant right ear (in order to coordinate with his dominant hand, eye and leg), his left ear was dominant. This was probably a result of ear infections he experienced when he was younger. This “mixed dominance” would certainly have affected his ability to process information since data was being deposited in both sides of his brain without a dominant organizer. It also became apparent that Chris’ cross patterning was incomplete.

Bob designed a program of physical activities including cross patterning exercises as well as academic therapy in order to continue his schooling. We taught to his strengths while developing strength in his weaknesses. We saw no results for the first month but continued the daily therapy. After that time however, there was apparent progress. By the end of the first three months Chris’ reading ability had improved by more than a grade level. The progress with the cross patterning as well as the success of switching to the dominant ear was encouraging as well. Chris “graduated” from the program in April 1991 after having completed all the therapy to correct the neurological deficiencies. All his cross patterning is now complete, dominance is consistent and his reading ability has improved by two grade levels. We are very grateful for this progress!

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 16, 1996 ©NACD

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