Glenn Doman: He never left the wounded behind
In order to talk to you about what I learned from my grandfather, Glenn Doman, I have to tell you about my parents first. I was born in Bryn Mawr, in the month of September to Rosalind and Douglas Doman. When I was only three months old, I was vaccinated after which there were complications. I got severely ill with pertussis and had to be put on antibiotics.
This caused a brain injury.
What were the consequences for my life? As I grew older, serious learning problems, poor memory and inability to read. If I had been born into a family with conventional parents and if they had put me in a conventional school, I would have failed miserably at life.
Fortunately, I had parents by my side who knew what to do about brain injury. After all, I have the luck of being Glenn Doman's granddaughter. So they started an intense Doman Method™ home treatment program and did not give up.
I followed the Doman Method™ Program for years. Daily aerobic runs, the Doman Method™ reading program, crawling and creeping, etc. I followed the Doman Method™ Program every day of the week. It took years of commitment from my parents to see me improve. There was no magic pill. My mother worked hard every day to help me learn, and my father did everything possible to support it.
“My favorite part of the program was the time my father spent in the morning reading me books before going to work. ”
He read me 5 of the Harry Potter books, which still love reading because I hear his voice in my head. Every day, before going to work, we did this part of the program together. Not many children are lucky enough to have a dad who spends time with them that way. My father also stayed at home on Thursday to be able to do the program with me and my brothers. We called our Father's Day on Thursday.
My mother did almost all of the rest of the program with me. It wasn't always easy for her because I was stubborn, but she never gave up and always kept going. Even when I had some incredible tantrums and made her life difficult, she always believed in me. Every day she taught me to read and write, and she sacrificed every day to let me write this article on the blog for you today.
You see, my grandfather's motto has always been:
“Never leave the wounded behind.”
But it was my parents who taught me the true meaning of this statement. They sacrificed themselves, fought, and never gave up so that I could live my life.
Glenn Doman created the Doman Method™ and my parents learned techniques directly from him. They know what it means to get up every day and commit to working hard to live it.
This year is my grandfather's centennial celebration and the world will celebrate a great man and his successes. The world has changed thanks to him, he certainly left it in better condition than when he arrived. That said, I think he would agree with me when I say that the heart of the Doman Method is the parents.
They are the ones who apply it, who live it and breathe it. It is the parents who are showing the world that children who are blind and deaf due to brain injuries can learn to see and hear. It is the parents who are revealing to the world that even children who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy can walk. And it is the parents who change the world every time they save a child's life.
My parents could have left me behind. I would still be alive, but unable to read, write and therefore be not able to live my life. I would not have been able to obtain a master's degree in Management of Non-Profit Organizations. I would not have been able to become a certified Life-coach. I would not have become COO of Doman International. I would have had little chance.