John M. Abbondanza, OD

I had been having issues with my vision for almost 2 years after having brain surgery with what seemed to be no end in sight (pun intended). My optometrist suggested Dr. John Abbodanza so I made an appointment and I am so happy I did. Dr John's team was fantastic. Sean took me in and was very patient when going over my history, asking questions and administering the first set of tests. I met with Dr John and he went over my records, talked about his experience and proceeded to run various tests while explaining in detail what was happening. I was in his office for over an hour - his caring demeanor meant so much. His goal as he explained was to ease my suffering and by the end of my appointment, he had confirmed my diagnosis, fixed my prism glasses in such a way to help me see better by blocking off a portion of the vision near my nose so my eyes would not be overwhelmed, and set up a consultation for later that evening to go over the next steps. He did more for me in two hours than all doctors put together in almost two years. I cannot say enough about how great he is. He is a vision care specialist who truly cares about his patients.

Dr. Abbondanza has changed my son's life. Before the vision therapy my son needed to put in an oversized amount of effort into reading, just to keep up with the other kids. He would only read for 4-5 minutes before a headache or stomach ache or some other real or imagined reason stopped him. He was anxious about his performance. Dr Abbondanza had diagnosed my son's issue as tracking difficulty and prescribed vision therapy. The doctor made sure that my son understood that it's only his eyes that were holding him back from reaching his full potential. After vision therapy his endurance at reading grew. He can now read for 20-25 minutes without complaining. His handwriting has markedly improved. He has gained confidence both in classroom and in the gym. I feel that, for my family, this investment will have the largest impact on my son's life. This experience has convinced me that Vision Therapy works and provides significant, permanent changes for anyone who puts in the effort.

The work done at Dr. Abbondanza's office is life changing! My son struggled to read and write. He was not completing assignments in school or at home. Lots of headaches and stomach aches. My son was at the nurse a lot. All the adults in his life were overwhelmed with trying to get him to get work done, and stay in school. Dr. Abbondanza found that my son had eye issues and that he needed eye therapy. He let my son know that he was smart and it was just his eyes holding him back. I saw an immediate change in my son. He started feeling encouraged that maybe his struggle was not because he was dumb, but has eye issues. We are still going through the therapy process. I can' t believe the results! My son no longer needs glasses to read. He is completing assignments independently, and now says he loves reading. This from a kid whom at one time I spent 3 hours trying to get him to write 4 sentences. This is a place that cares about kids!!!!!

Dr. Abbondanza has been providing care for my family for many years. He is knowledgeable, a great listener, and looks to help best resolve eye care/needs. He has gone above and beyond to check in and accommodate the needs of my children when they are out of the area and checks back in with them. Even though we have moved out of the area we will continue to be his patients.

Dr. John Abbondanza and his team have a dedication and sincere drive to help their patients, a quality that is rare in today's healthcare climate. I had eye surgery when I was four to correct a lazy eye condition. At that time vision therapy was not even mentioned. Over time my brain adapted to how my eyes worked so that I did not struggle in school or work, but when I reached my mid-30s something changed, my eyes appeared to look forward but my vision was far from working properly. Other doctors did not appreciate the problems I was having including double vision, headaches, limited 3D vision and suppression of my right eye that was causing me difficulty with everyday tasks like reading and driving. I think it is very hard for others to understand how people with these challenges see and how it impacts your day-to-day life. After finding out that there was such a thing as vision therapy from a family member, I found the Dr. John's website and promptly made an appointment. His evaluation was thorough and focused on my issues. He took the time to explain what was happening with my sight and gave me hope that these were treatable conditions even for a person in her 30s, as long as I was willing to commit the time needed. Once a week sessions and daily at home therapy for 20 to 40 weeks may sound like a big commitment to some, but to me, correcting my eyesight was worth a relatively short-lived inconvenience and financial cost when compared with the prospect of losing sight in one eye. Within weeks of starting vision therapy I saw improvement in my eyesight and I looked forward to my daily exercises. My right eye was participating more and my double vision was not as pronounced. At first the eye therapy was challenging...it does make your eye muscles sore and can cause some minor headaches, but by the time I finished the first 20 weeks of therapy, it was like I had a new pair of eyes! My double vision and headaches were gone and my 3D vision was much improved. I elected to continue therapy for another 20 weeks to make sure that the corrections were locked in. Shortly into that time, I was actually able to feel were my eyes where looking and direct them to certain positions. It may sound strange but I was never able to look cross-eyed at will. My eyes would cross to look at something close, but I could not cross them without looking at an object close up. This may not sound like a big deal but being able to deliberately place your eyes in a certain spot is crucial. I was so excited when I had a breakthrough and was able to cross my eyes at will. At that point my 3D vision improved even more! After completing eye therapy, my vision is greatly improved and I met my goals to regain full sight in my right eye and eliminate the double vision. I even see better in 3D which is a side benefit I had not thought would be possible. I will continue at home therapy which only needs to take 15 minutes and for me feels like stretching or exercising my eyes which has become a pleasant feeling. Plus I want to make sure all the hard work sticks! I enthusiastically recommend Dr. John and his team for your vision needs. They take the time to develop customized approaches to resolving vision issues. They truly listen, adapt as needed and make it clear that they care about your needs. I am so fortunate to have found Vision Therapy Specialists and will continue to go to them for all of my vision needs.

John Abbodanza has taken care of my vision care for at least 20 years. I have always found him to be fully professional and fully informed on the latest advances. He practices only within the scope of his training, which is not always the case. He is very focused (excuse the pun) when working and maybe someone felt slighted by that but as a psychologist and business consultant I am very aware and even demanding of top notch customer service. I have referred clients to him with full confidence that those individuals will be appreciative I did so once they met him. I especially appreciate that he is always clear when saving a few dollars by staying with an existing prescription is a viable alternative even though a new one might bring a slight improvement. I totally recommend him.

I am 47 years old and have had difficulty reading for my entire life. I had always found reading to be exhausting - if I tried to force myself to read something it would literally put me to sleep every time, within a very short period of time. In 1991 I graduated from high school without having read a single book. Being that reading was extraordinarily difficult for me past a few sentences, I was always highly motivated to find alternatives to it. After high school, thinking that scholastics were not for me, I went directly into the work field. I did this for 4 years, but was intellectually unstimulated and unfulfilled. I decided to enroll at a University but quickly noticed that my struggles with reading were still very much present. I had myself tested for learning disabilities, and while not a clear fit, was diagnosed with dyslexia as it seemed to be the diagnosis (available at that time in the 1990's ) that most closely matched my presentation. The solution was that I was put on a prescription drug. I was told that I would need to take something of that nature for the rest of my life. The medication essentially sped me up and, when mixed with an exhausting reading workload, it evened out. This seemed to work like magic. I thought this was incredible when compared with what I had struggled with up to that point in my life. Overall I took these stimulants for 10 years, but began taking less after I graduated from college. I got to the point where I decided I no longer wanted to take a chemical band-aid. I again relied on alternative methods and used apps that read to me (ex: Voice Dream App) as my challenges with reading were still very much present. I had accepted that this was simply part of who I was. However, years later my wife stumbled upon vision therapy and suggested that I look into it, as it seemed like something that could help me. I committed to trying it and am so glad I did. I learned so much in those 19 weeks. Dr. Abbondanza (his patients call him Dr. John) has an excellent, well deserved, reputation and is clearly passionate about helping people with their vision challenges. He is very simply a great person who is a master in his field. He truly cares about helping patients to understand and overcome their challenges. I like to think of him as my eye/brain communication training coach. He tested different ways to exercise my eyes in our sessions, looking for areas where I needed work. I then made sure to do my homework: 4 independent 5 minutes exercises daily. What I learned * The relationship between the eyes and brain is complicated * Eye muscle fitness (control movement and focus) matters * There are eye exercises that can be done to improve eye fitness * The eye fitness exercises that are most beneficial are often hard and not much fun at the start I have heard it said that vision therapy cannot help with reading problems; This is not only dishonest, it's disingenuous. Vision therapy for the therapist is about locating the underdeveloped areas in a person's vision and finding the right exercises to strengthen those areas. Vision therapy for the patient is following through on doing the exercises throughout the therapy, taking notes during these homework sessions and providing feedback to the therapist to refocus future training sessions. I have greatly benefited from vision therapy, most specifically in my reading focus and stamina as I can now read without becoming exhausted and better understand subject content. I only wish that I had had this opportunity earlier. Dr. John's vision therapy has been invaluable and is something that I will continue to benefit from for the rest of my life.

Would not recommend. Would have dealt with the terrible bedside manner but was especially disappointed in his lack of knowledge. He didn't seem to know what he was doing especially with one of the tests that I had done previously with another doctor. It changed the outcome and hence his lack of quality and thoroughness of treatment. What a waste of time and a lot of money. Won't go back.