The Secrets in Their Eyes: Transforming the Lives of People with Cognitive, Emotional, Learning, or Movement Disorders or Autism by Changing the Visual Software of the Brain

Dr. Melvin Kaplan is brilliant. He took my son from a functionally blind world to one in which he could understand and process his sight and other senses and lead a meaningful life. Dr. Kaplan founded The Center for Visusl Management still located in Tarrytown, NY.

I have the other Kaplan book too and purchased this one. It picks up where the other leaves off. I think it is a very good read with some good ideas. I do recommend. My son has visual perception and tracking issues so this book does help.

As a vision therapist, I found this to be a good, concise read

Thank you for this book.

My intent was to leave a review of Dr. Kaplan’s recent book “The Secret in their Eyes,” but then I read a somewhat scathing review by “A Parent First” and I felt the need to respond to it. Perhaps the best way for me to address a review aimed to impugn with subterfuge the life-altering efficacy of Dr. Kaplan’s work is to provide a brief explanation of my experience. Because the fact of the matter is, if it weren’t for Dr. Kaplan, his prisms and his practice, I would not be able to read the comments by “A Parent First”. I would not be able to perceive the skepticism buttressed by the benevolent sounding nom de plume. Fortunately for me, mine, really were parents first and never advertised their altruism with false names to conceal their true identity. My parents took me to Dr. Kaplan in 1973. I was 10 years old and somehow managed to make it to 5th grade as a complete illiterate. I could not read or write. Whatever was going on inside my head was not easily communicated. In 1973 learning disabilities were not necessarily a prioritized consideration for a child who seemed to display some level of intellect but otherwise remained learning impaired. My mother pressed the educators to find answers. Her persistence brought us to Dr. Kaplan. We started his therapy. I wore prisms. I did eye exercises every day for a year and my life changed. Before Kaplan no one (but perhaps my mother) would have guessed that buried beneath the weight of ambient disruptions and perceptual complexities was a child with the capacity to read, interpret and comprehend not just the written word but imagery composed in art. Before Kaplan, I rocked back and fourth. I was an obsessive head banger. I could do very little other than worry and build anxieties. After that year with Kaplan not only was I reading and writing but my entire perception of life had changed. At 13 I started making sculptures. By 16 I was painting. Today I am an artist and the executive director for an artists’ foundation. Without listing my entire resume, suffice it to say that my working life has included a succession of notable accomplishments. Unabashedly I confess that my colleagues typically regard me as a person of intellect and integrity. With this in mind I ask the "parent(s) first" of this world to remember that wool can only be pulled over the eyes of those who choose not to see. We (my parents and I) saw how much things cost. We saw it even more clearly after the wool of disability was pulled off my eyes by Dr. Kaplan. With such clarity, I can honestly say, that the cost of that de-wooling has done nothing to affect my success but the wool left unattended would have cost me everything I have today. I recommend this book. I recommend the Center for Visual Management for anyone who has learning difficulties.

Dr. Kaplan changed my daughter's life. He is truly a brilliant doctor. For the people that write negative comments regarding him, it is probably because they didn't do the eye exercises as recommended. You can't just expect to put on a pair of glasses without doing the therapy that goes along with the process. It is the easy way out. Do the work and results will be there. Thank you Dr. Kaplan for leading a pathway for the future!

Printing is very bad with smears on every other page like the photo. Makes reading harder. Can’t comment on content yet but that may be good. Would expect better print for price.