Our Philosophy
While Dr. Schneider is a conventional ‘M.D.’ with a wide range of medical expertise, he has learned alternative medicine at Columbia University and remains open and eager to explore with each patient how best to combine conventional and alternative medicine in his or her treatment – always a personal choice. He believes that a patient must be his/her own advocate in becoming well and staying healthy.
When new patients call and ask what he can do for them, he explains how patients can expect to be treated: they can expect to stay and chat for a while in consultation with him until all problems are discussed to everyone’s satisfaction. In return, Dr. Schneider suggests to patients what they can do for him: “Google” along with him about their concerns and read current medical articles about their condition at home, which he will make available. You can always be assured of making prompt contact with him: the dreaded answering service, contacting his wife, Debra, commander-in-chief of the office, on her cell phone and utilizing Dr. Schneider’s email further questions. An informed patient makes a doctor informed and creates a powerful health-care team, a patient and physician that will be successful.
When looking for Dr. Schneider in his medical office, one might have to look toward the floor. Often, he can be found rolling, playing and childishly interacting with a young patient. But don’t be fooled, this is not your average playtime. His purpose is twofold. Dr. Schneider is carefully observing the child’s responses to specific stimuli while inviting or increasing an essential bond of trust.
Through playing games with a child, Dr. Schneider can decipher not only where the deficits lie but whether a true deficit exists. Dr. Schneider knows that there are children who “won’t” and those who “can’t” do things and inviting a child to enjoy a relaxed play, will often serve to identify this. Whether the child loves playing Martians or ninjas or a simple game, Dr. Schneider researches their preference and becomes their willing playmate. With an intense focus on pinpointing a child’s weakness, it is most often, during this playtime that the holes in the language are revealed.
Dr. Schneider works with the whole family in an effort to restore whatever linguistic feature of language their child needs. During a lengthy consultation, he is often able to extract the entire of the child’s history in an informal manner. He will find out the likes and dislikes of the child, and whether he/she is compromised in any other areas. He will begin to challenge the child with a focus on “discovering the thought processes in him/her”. In this initial step toward unlocking language, Dr. Schneider collects information through linguistic, psychological, and behavioral observations of the patient, family members, and through his in-depth ability to interpret the workings of the relationships that comprise the daily life of the child.