 | What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child By Glenn Doman
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Product Description
Glenn Doman—pioneer in the treatment of the brain-injured children and founder of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential—brings hope to thousands of children who have been sentenced to a life of institutional confinement.
In What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child, Doman recounts the story of The Institutes' tireless effort to refine treatment of the brain injured. He shares the staff's
lifesaving techniques and the tools used to measure—and ultimately improve—visual, auditory, tactile, mobile, and manual development. Doman explains the unique methods of treatment, and then describes the program with which parents can work with their own children at home in a familiar and loving environment. Included throughout are case histories, drawings, and helpful charts and diagrams.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #251199 in Books
- Published on: 2005-03
- Format: Deluxe Edition
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .77" h x 6.01" w x 8.94" l, 1.07 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 318 pages
About the Author
Glenn Doman received his degree in physical therapy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940. From that point on, he began pioneering the field of child brain development. In 1955, he founded The Institutes' world-renowned work with brain-injured children had led to vital discoveries regarding the growth and development of well children. The author has lived with, studied, and worked with children in more than one hundred nations, ranging from the most civilized to the most primitive. Doman is also the international best-selling author of six books, all part of the Gentle Revolution Series, including How To Teach Yor Baby To Read, How To Teach Your Baby Math, and How To Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge.
Most helpful customer reviews
105 of 112 people found the following review helpful.
OK, Tongue-out-of-cheek
By Blake Watson
All right, my satirical review of this book and the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential was not widely appreciated, so I offer this straightforward look at things.
Our family has been doing this program for two years, and we've been able to see its effects on three children: A 12-year-old diagnosed Severely Mentally Retarded with Angelman's syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, etc., a mildly brain-injured six-year-old who has symptoms fitting several forms of dyslexia, and a six-month-old, who actually started the program several months earlier, since it's so easy to do with babies. (Actually, we've seen it work on many children, including those with Down's, but I'll reserve my comments for these three.)
The baby, now 2 1/2, is reading, has an encyclopedic knowledge of birds, primates, U.S. Presidents, and a few other things, and has a way better grasp of geography than most high schoolers (she can point out Madagascar, Sumatra, Borneo and other exotic locales out on a world map). She's physically superb: she can run a mile and climb, well, anything.
The middle child, now 8, has stopped reversing his Ds and Bs, can read and write and =enjoy= reading and writing, and has evolved more drawing and artistic abilities.
The 14-year-old, formerly speechless, now says about 2-3 sentences a day. She used to be on the ketogenic diet to control her seizures, now she's on a normal diet. She used to lurch and stumble as she walked, and now she can run, if only for half a block. I won't discuss her mental achievements here because, frankly, they have to be seen to be believed (cf. Savant Syndrome). And the program didn't make her that way, it "only" allowed us to see and appreciate what was there.
The Institutes have nailed their success rates down to very specific numbers, but out of ten kids, roughly, two won't be materially helped by the program (and their concept of "not materially helped" includes things considered as relatively large gains by every other professional who has ever seen this girl), six will be materially helped, one child will be improved enough in his parents' eyes to graduate from the program, and one will meet the Institutes standards for "superb".
The Institutes publish their results quarterly. They have for 30 years. They've offered, for 30 years, to publish anyone else's results. They actively, aggressively seek others who are successful in their field. They put together money to fund a study to compare their results with those of a local university's. (The university took the money and spent it on remodeling.) It's easy to cast stones, and it's probably comforting to many to believe that "nothing can be done".
Now, let's talk Jell-O. This program is not for everyone. If Jell-O figures prominently into your view of what childhood should be, this program is not for you. Wider: If junk food, junk entertainment, institutionalized education or even "me-time" are your priorities, just keep moving, there's nothing here for you to see. This isn't to say that you or your child won't or can't have these things while on the program, simply that they can't come first.
I'll take it even a step further: If you view a program of dedicated physical and intellectual excellence as a sacrifice, you probably ought to just give this a miss.
The hurt kids have the least slack in life. Every day they're not growing faster than average--every day they're not catching up, that is--they're falling behind. And the social stigma gets worse, too. As a 2-3 year old, my daughter used to love going to the mall. Even though she was different, at that age people commented on her beauty and charm and disregarded (or more likely did not perceive) her injuries. As she's gotten older, people are less and less able to deal with her, and when she recognized that (probably around 7 years old or so), she stopped wanting to do those things. As she recently wrote "People are polite to you in direct proportion to your ability to speak". As a result, the program for hurt kids is the most intense.
Well. Duh.
More to the point, those of us with hurt kids wrestle with guilt, regret, shame, accusatory looks, superstition, moralizing and caveman-grade ignorance, and this program--any program, effective or not--can focus that all in one laser-like beam. If you read this book, and you "get it", you begin to see brain injury on the one hand as a spectrum, something we all have to one degree or another, and on the other, akin to a broken leg or bruised arm. If you don't "get it", you may come away feeling guilty, inadequate or bitter.
There's considerable effort on the part of the Institutes to avoid that; They never ask you do more than you can, or to do something you're not comfortable with. You're the parent. You are the expert on your own child. There are many stories related in this book and others from the Insitutes that detail the contributions of parents.
I'll be honest. I would like to be able to say that, after two years, our oldest was completely well, indistinguishable from "normal" kids except for her towering intellect. But it wouldn't be true. I would guess she has another two years to go. At least. I've watched much younger kids at the institutes make much faster progress with a certain degree of envy. (I wish we hadn't discovered this when she was twelve, rather than when she was two.)
But that's okay. She's measurably better. She's clearly happier. And her siblings have been hugely benefitted as well.
And, for that matter, so have her parents.
I will, in the future, write another review and report honestly on how all the children are.
But as a father who has been told by doctors, therapists and "conventional wisdom" that his child would never crawl, walk, live, stop having seizures, comprehend anything or amount to anything before he ever heard of this book, forgive me if I regard the naysayers with bemusement.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful.very helpful
By N
I have a Down's child. I found this book to be very helpful. There was a bit of weeding of the history of the Institute to be done. But, by following the information I was able to create a program to fit our lifestyle. (It helped to read the other books by the author on Reading, Math, Physical Activity and Knowledge.) I read the author's other books first, and I felt that this book was the missing link I needed to create a program for my child.
If you are looking for a Step A, Step B... it is not quite that clear. This is a guideline...not child specific. But, frankly if it was specific I would be very skeptical. How could one program be good for the wide variety of "brain injured" children that exist?
If you want to help your child, it will take effort on your part. And, it can be time consuming, depending on how far/fast you want your child to advance. But, after only a couple of months mild/moderate effort, I have seen significant progress...and my son amazes his therapists.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful."Do You Want To Make Your Child Whole?"
By A Customer
Before you do anything else; read this book! You will not find another like it on the face of the earth; unless it is linked to The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. I'll wager that none of your child's doctors or disability representatives told you anything about The Institutes. I found out about them purely by divine accident. At age 2 1/2, I began some of their "Multiplying Your Baby's Intelligence," methods at home, and my son was reading by age 3 1/2; and his memory and focus have improved dramatically. We will be going to The Institutes later this year, and applying all of their suggested methods for our brain-injured son upon returning home. I will update this review in the future, to tell you how the methods worked out. I believe Glenn Doman and Temple Fay were inspired men who began their years of research with nothing more than a sincere desire to help hurt children become well. What they discovered is you CAN increase brain cell growth; and you CAN create new pathways around the injured area(s) of the brain. Come on, 100,000 hurt children can't be wrong! Yes, it requires a leap of faith; but I already endorse this book and all of their programs. Perhaps that's the first step to making our hurt kids well---by first believing that anything is possible!
http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/0757001866
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