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My Stories

We want you feel the impact that our program has with most patients and most importantly their families. In many ways it’s the whole family, especially the parents, who will benefit most significantly from successful care. Not every patient is as successful as these examples, some are even more satisfied, however most experience what you are about to read.

Dear Dr. Velkoff,

I don’t think you exist. No single person could be so great, and help so many people. I think you are actually a team of very smart people, and that they chose the handsome one to appear in videos. This is also my theory for Einstein, Stephen Hawkins, Jesus and possibly my parents. Seriously though. Thank you. You helped our family a lot and helped my parents understand me. My mother has always been very kind and caring but could never stand the things that I did. Thanks to you and your organization, now she understands and is much more tolerant and I am getting better.

Thank you so much, Dr. Velkoff!

S. G., Irvine

My mom is working on introducing your program to our friends with similar problems.
P.S. Why is it called “Drake” if your name is David Velkoff?

First of all, we would like to thank all of the staff and management who run Drake Institute. With more than 6 months of continuous attendance with Drake, we feel at home and our son was treated with the best care.

The program design for our son was really helpful and gave our son a confident feeling like other normal kids have. At the beginning we had so many issues listed that we wanted Drake to deal with e.g. hyperactivity, focus, following instructions ns, eye to eye contact to name a few.

With the following program offered by Drake (Neuro Feedback, Fast forward, and Captain’s Log) our son developed tremendous improvement as he moves forward in his daily life. Imagine you’re watching the TV series (Flip your Habits!). Everything changes as time goes by.

There is no amount of words/money that can explain the feeling that we feel as a parent as we walk out towards the close out of our son’s program at Drake.

Again, we recommend Drake Institute to everybody who has a similar struggle that we [have] undergone with our son. Try it and it really works.

Ed P., Father

My son is a much happier, more confident easier going child. His repetitive behavior is non -existent, his conversations are no longer one way and he doesn’t fall apart when things don’t go his way. He is more interested in playing with friends. I can tell other kids enjoy playing with him. He has had great success with school this year both academically and socially. We are very pleased with our results (at the Drake Institute).

Mindy P., Mother of autistic son

Thomas has achieved vast improvement in communications and social interactions. He is so much more aware of what goes on around him. His mind is clearer. My son likes going to The Drake Institute. The staff has kept me informed of program changes and progress being made. I am very satisfied with the services provided by the Drake institute.

Father of autistic son

Before treatment, Timmy was very difficult and hard to control as far as outbursts and hyperactivity. He had no sense of personal space which always made people very uncomfortable. He would react before he thought. Since April, I’ve seen small improvement here and there, but within this past month, I’ve noticed how mature he has become; more patient and gentle with his little brother when they play together. I very rarely notice any outbursts and his tempers have improved greatly. If he wasn’t my child, I would not know he has ADHD. Thank you very much for helping his improvement and ours.

Amy, Mother of ADHD son

I would gladly recommend the Drake Institute and its wonderful programs. Not only is my daughter completely off of her ADHD medication, but she is able to do so much more on her own. She has improved self-esteem.

I was also very impressed with the professional staff. Their promptness in meeting our needs and thoroughness were greatly appreciated.

Jill B., mother

My daughter has improved mostly in areas of social skill since coming to Drake. She has improved confidence: her language skills have improved, and she is doing better in school. She likes coming to Drake. The Drake staff has kept me informed of program changes and progress being made. Overall I am very satisfied with the Drake Institute.

M.F., mother

This program was the breakthrough treatment we arelooking for. The overall “game plan”for Momoko’s treatment was outstanding, and executedflawlessly. There has clearly been more focus and concentration at school resulting in useful and logical processing of absorbed information. Momoko is a shining example of the treatment’s potential for hope andoptimism in the fight against Autism. We thanks Drake forbringing Momoko a bright outlook for the future.

Wayne Y., Father of Momoko

Rachael is the type of child with ADHD that did very well academically, but suffered socially and behaviorally. When we came to the Drake Institute, we came out of total desperation. We had tried and researched everything we could get our hands on – food allergies, chiropractic, parenting classes (behavior modification). Homeopathic treatments, medications – you name it we tried it!

Rachael, our only child, was being told by her private school that if her behavior didn’t improve before the end of the year, she would be asked to not return to the school the next year. Because Rachael was an excellent student, learned very quickly, and h ad a very charming, outgoing personality, she managed to make it through 2nd grade before it came to this, but there were problems with her behavior (she had been kicked out of two preschools).

We were very surprised after being evaluated at The Drake Institute to find that Rachael had ALL the symptoms of ADHD and was considered a “severe” case. I began to realize that I was not a “bad mother” after all and all the years of struggle with her were because of something beyond any of our controls. I was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and knew for the first time that it was not a train. This was permanently fixable and would change our lives forever. We were all very excited to start treatment. We have two treatments left, and I can honestly tell the parents out there wondering if the money spent and thousands of miles on our car (we live in Victorville and drove to Irvine) and stress created by the coordination of two working parent’s schedules were worth it to “GO FOR IT – YOU WON’T BE SORRY!”.

We have a happy, controllable, socially accepted child now, and her parents have managed to fall back in love with each other because they now can spend some time together without wanting to scream. I think our hair is starting to grow back in now also… (smiling with tears in my eyes)…Thank you Drake Institute!

I am thrilled to share our story with others interested in The Drake Institute. We have had a very successful experience in accomplishing our goals for our son through the neurofeedback offered at The Drake Institute. Our son was diagnosed with ADHD, and began taking Ritalin just after his 5th birthday. The decision to have our son take Ritalin was very difficult for us, but we just kept focusing on what would be best for our son.

For the same reason, we came to The Drake Institute – trying to find what would be best for our son. We attended the three-hour seminar given by Dr. Velkoff and proceeded to the evaluation process at the Drake Institute within days. Our goals were to have him off the medication completely, improve on his attention skills and to reduce his hyperactivity. I am happy to say that we accomplished all three of our goals. Even more astounding of us was to see the dramatic results of the TOVA test he took at the Mid-Case Review, as compared to the TOVA test taken at his initial evaluation.

As I told another parent just days ago, we have seen our son transform before our eyes. Some people might consider neurofeedback an alternative form of treatment – we consider it cutting edge treatment. If you are reading this, you should take the next step and attend Dr. Velkoff’s seminar.

With The Drake Institute’s help, we have a whole different child!

From the parents of Travis, a 7 year old ADHD patient

…when I first went to your seminar in April 1994 I was worried, skeptical and a bit mixed up about my condition and what I should do about it. As a 24-year-old I consider myself very well educated and successful and nothing wrong with me. However, my liver tests were high and I was dependent on Cylert since I was about 14 (after Ritalin and Desoxyn stopped working for me).

I worked really hard in the sessions and visualized being off the medication. It worked. Let me tell you what I’ve accomplished since being off the medication and finishing my 40 sessions; I earned a large raise at my company, my sphere of friends has grown tremendously, I have much higher self-esteem, and I’ve been able to start a very successful part-time business. I no longer look at myself as different from other people. I can accomplish anything and everything they can. I feel great about me. You helped me attain what I’ve always dreamed about but never thought possible. Thanks so much.

From a 24 year old male patient

Until my son Joshua attended the Drake Institute he was a wonderful little boy locked inside the confines of ADHD. He wanted to pay attention and learn at school, but he couldn’t. Negative feedback and the principal’s office were the major part of his school life. At home he wanted to be a good boy and do the things he was asked to do, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t hold his attention long enough to dress himself and asking him to clean up his room was an impossible task. I could never take him shopping with me because he would run all over the place. Joshua was born a happy child full of love, life, and joy. When ADHD became evident, Joshua became a changed person. He became shy and withdrawn with the fear no one would like him, so he had no friends. The wild and uncontrollable actions that accompany this malfunction of the brain took Joshua to a world of isolation and unbearable loneliness.

To put Joshua on a lifetime of drug dependence was a last resort for my husband and me. And then the Drake Institute became a part of Joshua’s life. I honestly noticed a difference in Joshua after the first treatment. As the treatments went on, Joshua just got better and better. When he started at a new school in September, his teacher saw no evidence of ADHD. Joshua tells us that he is the third best worker in the class. He has gained the respect of many of his classmates and has new friends. It is now a joy to take Joshua anywhere.

Thank you for helping our son Joshua out of the confines of ADHD and thereby letting the world see another beautiful human being.

I want to express our thanks and gratitude for what you and your program has done for Zachary and our family. I do not exaggerate when I say that you have given him a whole new start for his life.

Zach came to you as a child who couldn’t focus, stay on task, couldn’t complete an assignment, was constantly and easily distracted, talked incessantly, fantasized constantly and even filled his “quiet times” with monotonous, repetitive noises and songs. He and I fought over everything – but homework was the worst. Homework was a three-hour nightly battle that left both of us feeling bruised, exhausted and unhappy with each other. Weekends continued the battle because they were set aside for completing the unfinished homework. He had no “free time” and neither did I.

We couldn’t figure out what we were doing wrong. We tried all the parenting skills we learned from various groups and friends. He wasn’t a bad kid, in fact he was quite charming, creative, affectionate and even funny. It was clear he that he was bright, all anyone had to do was talk with him for a few minutes and his intelligence was obvious. His teachers told us from the time he was in second grade that he had great comprehension but somehow he was unable to translate his work to paper – and he disrupted the other students’ ability to complete their own work. We felt that he just wasn’t trying hard enough. So we pushed harder.

With each battle, his self-esteem visibly sank. He became clingy but his hugs and affection were more of the “Do you love me?” type than the “I love you” type. He seemed attracted to kids we would classify as being “on the edge” – an element that concerned us greatly. He seemed sad most of the time.

A teacher suggested that we have him tested for ADD, so we consulted our pediatrician and a neurologist. Both our pediatrician and a psychologist suggested the Drake Institute.

We were skeptical. Brain wave biofeedback seemed like voodoo to us. We were more familiar with the standard treatment of Ritalin. However, we felt that the medication would always be there and we wanted to give this non-invasive, non-drug-oriented treatment a chance. If it didn’t work, we could always go back to medication.

The first thing to disappear was the monotonous, repetitive noises that Zach made in his “quiet times”. He began to spend more time in “reality” and we noticed that some of the parenting tools that we had abandoned were now working. His schoolwork began to improve. I set a limit of 1-˝ hours for homework. What he had finished in that time, he finished – no matter what. He began to complete his assignments in less time than that and without an argument.

Now that we are at the end of treatment, it is clear that we have a new child. It is dramatic improvement that can’t be explained away as simply as “maturing”. No one matures this much in eight months.

His grades are improving. Zach recently got the highest grade in his class on a Social Science test. Before, he never had “time” to even finish a test. He completed a nine page book report in two weeks – including reading time – and received a 10, plus four bonus points for turning it in three weeks early. He is getting perfect scores on his spelling. His last report card has his first “A” ever. Best of all, the other night he told me “You know Mom, I’m one of the smartest kids in my class”. We always knew he was smart, now he knows it too.

We don’t fight over homework anymore. He organizes his time and sets his agenda and completes the work. He isn’t a perfect kid. We still fight but now our arguments are well within the normal range of parent/child conflicts. We also cuddle more and he freely expresses his pleasure with himself and me.

Zach is involved in organized sports for the first time. Before, he said he couldn’t “focus” enough to follow a game while it was in process. As a result, he played solitary games or simple games that were easy to follow. With his new skills becoming evident, he was invited to play basketball to emphasize it.

Your program has, quite simply, changed our lives. We are pleased that he accomplished this without medication. He owns the changes in his life and doesn’t have to depend on a cycle of medication kicking in and wearing off. We are enormously grateful.

From the mother of Zachary, an 11 year old ADHD patient

From Zach himself, an 11 year old ADHD patient

Thank you for helping me minimize my problems with ADD. You made it much easier for me to study for tests, and I aced one of them. I finally got some A’s on my report card and it felt great! One of my friends even told his mother about the changes he saw go on in me.

Last year it would have taken me two weeks to finish six questions in class. I couldn’t remember what I read and I often had to re-read the chapters. The parent-teacher conferences were not always positive, and I was often “down in the dumps” when one happened (which was quite often). In class, any noise near me could and would distract me. I wasn’t mentally “there” in class, and when the teacher said my name I went “huh, what?”

At home I had constant arguments with my mother over everything except dinnertime. Mostly we fought over homework, or any other demand made of me. I just couldn’t concentrate. I didn’t even have the weekends free. To make a long story short, I was miserable. Now, I barely ever fight with my mother, when my teachers say my name, it’s because I know the answer, and I feel “GRRREAT!” I’m making new friends, and my taste in friends is dramatically changing. I was miserable, now I love my life. What your program has done for me is indescribable. But in a word “Thanks.”