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Dr. Orna Ariel Lenchner
"...I had the great honor of meeting Mr. Michael Zarchin through an introduction by Professor Reuven Feuerstein. As a diagnostician and learning disabilities practitioner for the last two decades I found Mr. Zarchin to be a unique phenomenon. His early history of severe delayed speech and motor development and the inability of educators to teach him to read until he was a 16-year-old put him at great risk.... He should have been doomed to an illiterate destiny, depressed self-esteem and menial employment...When I was first introduced to Michael he had been working as a Dyslexia specialist for seven years and was rapidly gaining national and international recognition. After reading his book I was determined to see how he works. What does he do that I did not learn in my 9 years of graduate school, and 20 years of work in the field? I invited him to come work with me during my summer program for graduating kindergarteners,... How would Michael's techniques complement my intervention strategies with these students? Will he identify other missing skills in these students?...What I saw in Michael's work, is a "family doctor" who looks at the whole picture of a child's functioning. He worked with a dozen of my students and explained to me how visual tracking, coordination and phonemic awareness are all linked together. He was remarkably able to engage my most attention deficit and shy students and within a few sessions develop a trusting relationship...he was getting to the root of the problem, and not just treating the symptoms...After a whirlwind of two intensive weeks working with Michael I strongly felt that it is time to reintegrate what we have learned in the last four decades about learning...Michael's success story and that of his numerous students are the testimonies." (The complete letter in Hebrew).
Dr. Orna Ariel Lenchner is an early literacy specialist with unique skills that blend academic insight and practical application. For the last two decades she has worked extensively with children with reading difficulties as an evaluator and remedial instructor, as a teacher trainer at colleges in California and Vermont and for local school districts. She began developing innovative curriculum materials to promote phonological awareness a decade before it became a buzzword in education. Dr. Lenchner has also made unique contributions in the field of Hebrew reading with publications that revolutionized how this distinctive alphabetic system is taught. Dr. Lenchner maintains a private practice where she conducts assessments and provide individualized remedial reading, spelling, and writing instruction to children in the lower elementary grades. In conjunction with her literacy work she uses a wide array of creative techniques and materials to promote phonological awareness. During the summer months she directs and teaches the summer program, Bridging the Gap, for graduating kindergarteners. Dr. Lenchner also specializes in working with reading disabled children learning Hebrew. Dr. Lenchner has publicized many professional articles and is a wanted speaker at professional forums. (www.earlyliteracywizard.com).
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