Leo Ice Skating (Microcephaly)

Leo was born nearly 4 months prematurely, and had a birth weight of only .7kg (1.7 pounds).  He needed to be incubated, administered oxygen and carefully monitored. He needed respiratory support in the hospital for the first 3 months of his life. At 2 months of age, he needed heart surgery. He was unable to feed on his own, and was fed via a nasal gastric tube for the first year of life. He was then converted to be fed via a G tube. An MRI led to a diagnosis of microcephaly.

His parents learned about the Doman Method® when he was 2.5 years old. At this time, Leo was developmentally delayed in various areas - he did not have any words of speech. He was not yet running, and he did not yet have a pincer grasp in both hands.

When his parents started a Doman Method® program with Leo, the first thing they observed was his amazing response to his Reading Program. Not only did he learn to read the words he was taught, but he started to say many of the words as well. Mom commented, “The Reading Program gave my son his voice.” Leo easily started reading, despite being less than 3 years old! His comprehension and speech quickly improved. He learned to run for the first time as part of his Running Program, and started to have excellent stamina, running kilometers nonstop. 

Leo started brachiation, a Doman Method program to help develop manual  and fine motor skills. He developed manual skills like opening and closing a bottle, pouring, and eventually he learned to button and unbutton. As Leo’s reading got better and better, he learned to write independently as well. Leo is also getting quite strong in his mathematics as he attends daily classes in sophisticated math. He can do mental calculations of the 4 basic operations in his head (even tough equations like multiplying 2 digit numbers!)

Last year, Leo was able to be completely weaned off the G tube and now eats all his food via mouth!

Leo is now 8 years old. He is able to understand, speak,  read and write in English and Spanish, and is learning Japanese and Hebrew. Leo now enjoys playing ice hockey, skating (he can skate forward and backwards!) and karate. When he grows up, he says he wants to be a professional ice hockey player.

Leo’s story is inspirational and we applaud him and his parents for all their hard work. Keep up the amazing work!