Success Stories - In Appreciation of Martin Birnbaum, OD

Edited by Patricia S. Lemer, M.Ed., NCC

Sean was non-reader before vision therapy; now he is one of the better readers in his class. His self esteem has dramatically improved and he loves school. His report cards are great, and he can do his schoolwork and homework quicker. Life is much better!

Before vision therapy, Allison reversed letters, lost her place often, and couldn’t remember frequently repeated words. Now she sometimes reads a whole book in one sitting and always volunteers to read in school.

When Christopher started vision therapy he was withdrawn, seeing blurry, skipping words, reversing letters, unable to concentrate or follow directions, and sad that he could never make the soccer team. After one wonderful year every symptom has disappeared! He reads fluently and is a confident and happy A student. "Thank you for giving my son’s childhood back to him to enjoy," said his mom, who enclosed a picture of a smiling Christopher in his school soccer uniform.

Above are three of hundreds of Success Stories from the practice of Martin H. Birnbaum, O.D., who passed away in June. DDR honors this well loved and respected Behavioral Optometrist with this adaptation of his presentation at the 1998 Skeffington Symposium:

• Success Stories have contributed significantly to my practice and my professional growth. Early in my training I learned about Dr. Bob Kraskin’s progress forms, which he asked patients to write in order to facilitate monthly evaluations.
• Twenty-five years later, on a visit to another Bob’s office, Dr. Robert Sanet in Lemon Grove, CA, I saw bulletin boards in his reception room filled with reports of changes patients attributed to vision therapy. These Success Stories were similar to Dr. Kraskin‘s monthly progress reports, but written only at the end of therapy. They were enthusiastic and exciting. I saw their potential value and resolved to use them in my own practice.
• The Success Stories we receive typically describe elimination of the patient’s presenting symptoms and improvement in school achievement, ability to sustain attention, sports performance, and interpersonal relations. Most significantly, parents commonly report heightened self-esteem as patients experience success in all aspects of life. Children whose vision problems are at the root of their school difficulty often come to believe that they are indeed stupid or lazy. Their self-esteem shoots up when vision therapy leads to higher overall achievement. These reports have raised my awareness of the relationship between vision dysfunction and psychological problems attendant to low self-esteem.
• Patient’s Benefit - The stories enable the parent, patient and doctor to measure improvement in relationship to everyday activities rather than optometric findings. Parents note changes in visual behavior, general behavior, personality, and sports performance; greatly increasing their awareness and appreciation of what is taking place.
• Educating Prospective Patients - We display some Success Stories on the bulletin board in our reception room. Others go nearby in a loose leaf binder. Patients and parents read these while waiting for their appointments. Further, we specifically point them out to parents of candidates for vision therapy. When we discuss the likely results of vision therapy we cite benefits other patients with similar issues have reported in their Success Stories.
• Professional Relationships - When a patient referred by another professional completes vision therapy, we send a report to the referring practitioner describing the results of treatment and enclosing a copy of the patient’s Success Story. This provides dramatic evidence of the value of vision therapy. When I lecture to optometric groups, educators and optometry students; reading a few Success Stories creates an awareness of how "real people" benefit from vision therapy.
• Professional growth - Ultimately the most important benefit has been what Success Stories have taught me about my own field of behavioral optometry. Before I started using them I did not realize the full extent to which vision disorders affect patient‘s lives, and the degree to which vision therapy to remediate these disorders enhances quality of life.
• Many years ago Bob Kraskin wrote that his patient progress reports " provide the optometrist with a living proof of his value to society." As a result of our patient’s Success Stories, I am experiencing, after thirty-five years in practice, more excitement, enthusiasm and professional satisfaction than ever before.

Editor’s note: Success Stories are adaptable to all discipline. Raising our awareness of success and achievement can create a happy buzz in any home, school or professional setting. Keep track of your own good work, try out your own version of Success Stories! Croisant Transcripts of the annual Skeffington Symposium are available from OEP: call 800-424-8070 or visit www.oepf.org.