The Doman Method
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Glenn
Doman who is now famous for the
"Gentle Revolution Series", is a physical therapist, he worked with Carl Delacato
(an educational psychologist) and developed an approach to treating children with
brain injury.
They
founded the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) in 1955,
originally targeted at the brain-injured children. The method was published
later in 1960 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Their
work drew heavily on the ideas of a neurophysiologist, Dr. Temple Fay who
believed that the infant brain evolves (as with evolution of the species)
through stages of development similar to a fish, a reptile, a mammal and
finally a human.
The
IAHP program with the "brain-injured" children includes, as recorded
in Understaning Mental Retardation, page 185-186, patterning, crawling,
creeping, recptive stimulation, expressive activities, masking, brachiation and
gravity/antigravity activities.
There
were a lot of successful cases at the time, and the program was hit and soon
got thousands of parent fans. However,
criticism of the Doman-Delacato method is widespread in the medical
establishment, some of whom regard it as quackery.
One
of the most vocal critics is the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Their
Committee on Children With Disabilities has issued warnings regarding
patterning as early as 1968. And their Policy statement in 1999, 2002 and 2005
still stated that the treatment is based on an outmoded and oversimplified
theory of brain development. Current information does not support the claims of
proponents that this treatment is efficacious, and its use continues to be
unwarranted.
Martin
Robards also cites criticism in his book Running a Team for Disabled
Children and Their Families but concedes that Doman and Delacato caused
paediatricians and therapists to recognise that early intervention programs are
needed.
Steven
Novella, MD is a neurologist who has criticized the technique in an article
called Psychomotor Patterning: An Expose of a Cruel Pseudoscience drew the
conclusion that “The Doman-Delacato patterning technique is premised on a
bankrupt and discarded theory and has failed when tested under controlled
conditions. Its promotion with unsubstantiated claims can cause significant
financial and emotional damage.”
For normal children, Janet Doman, the
daughter of Glenn Doman, founded the Evan Thomas Institute for Early
Development (ETI) on the Philadelphia campus of the IAHP in 1975, which is a school
for well children. Further in 1979, the International School of the Evan Thomas
Institute was founded to provide continuous programs for graduates of the
IAHP's "Early Development" program.
Just before the these programs launched,
they published a line of books for parents of normal children, the "Gentle
Revolution Series"
1.
How to Teach Your Baby to Read (1964)
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