Special Needs Parents Get the Help They Need Online
Sitting in the auditorium with Glenn Doman was truly a life-changing moment for me. Sitting with eighty parents of kids with special needs, over forty-five years ago, that was the first time I met Glenn Doman and I still remember that moment.
These parents came from different countries and backgrounds, and had traveled from all over the world to learn about the Doman Method™. The only common factor was their strong belief - there was an answer for their child with special needs. Their children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism, learning problems, genetic issues, and traumatic brain injuries. Despite these children being blind, deaf, immobile, or having some learning or speech difficulty, none of these children were hopeless.
Glenn Doman would spend 10 hours a day teaching the parents of these children. He trusted these parents and knew they were the only answer to their child’s problem. Parents trusted Glenn. It was this mutual admiration and respect that actually became the foundation and mission of our organization, Doman International.
Glenn’s goal was to teach parents about the brain; to teach parents how to focus on fixing the brain rather than the symptoms and to make parents realize that no one knew their child better than they themselves did. Glenn’s ultimate goal was to empower parents to be the best therapists for their kids.
The Staff of Doman International is guided by these goals in their work, especially when presenting the Doman Method™ Course, created for parents of children with special needs. The course, “The Doman Method™Course: From Special Needs To Wellness” has been presented in many countries around the world.
As successful as the Doman Method™ Courses had proved to be, parents found that traveling for the course was stressful. From the cost of airplane tickets and hotels, parents having to take time off from work , visa processing times and costs, logistics regarding leaving their other children at home, are just some of the things to consider when our parents have to travel to our courses. What could the staff do to fix these problems?
After much discussion, the solution was very clear. Our families needed the course brought to them, not the other way around. This was imperative - we had to give this to our families of children with special needs as an overdue gift.
The staff worked round the clock to put the Doman Method™Course online. To ensure that each part of the course was seamlessly organized and accessible, we had expert help creating a course curriculum as well as quizzes based on each topic covered in the course. Every part of the process underwent strict quality control and followed the exact same format as the live course. Parents were assigned a Doman Method™ staff coach who ensured the parents had no gaps in what they learned. The staff coach reviewed the developmental profile and program that the parents made for their child.
The Online Doman Method™ Course teaches that the injury lies in the brain, and how to provide the best possible program to help the brain develop and heal. It teaches families how to create a mobility program, sensory program, cognitive program, and nutrition program for their child. Families are assigned a staff coach to help answer any questions, that the parents have.
“What always pleases me is when a parent, at the end of the online course, says the best thing is they now feel empowered to be the very best therapist for their child. These are the same words I heard parents say to Glenn over forty years ago.”
In our current online course, we have had a family from Mongolia and another family from Syria. Both these families love their child and want a better life for them, but these families would have had a great challenge attending our live course in another country.