Steps to Take to Bring Doman International to Your Country
In the introductory lectures about the Doman Method that I have had the pleasure of presenting to tens of thousands of parents around the world, I have heard over and over again that parents would like to have a Doman International Institute in their own backyard.
Many parents are interested in how they can get the team at Doman International to their country. If you are interested in bringing Doman International to your home country, these are the three steps that can help make it a success.
Step #1: Find an excellent local non-profit organization, company, or philanthropist to support our work in a given location.
Our introduction to the Balkans began in an extraordinary way. Jelena and Novak Djokovic are two exceptionally bright and fine individuals. The Novak Djokovic Foundation, headed by the Djokovics, sponsored introductory lectures for the parents of children with special needs and well babies in Belgrade, Serbia in 2015. The attendance of the lectures was extraordinary. Spencer and I had interviews with ten television shows, ten radio shows, and a host of magazines and newspapers. Within twenty-four hours, the parents in Serbia knew about the Doman Method. About three hundred and fifty parents of children with special needs attended the lectures. An equal amount attended the lectures for well babies.
The introductory lectures we had in Belgrade spread the word about our work. This was the spark needed to get started in the region.
Step #2: Foundational Families are the key to getting more help for families on the Doman Program. They are the key that leads to founding a Doman International Institute in their area.
One family from Serbia who did not attend the lectures, but heard about them through word of mouth, contacted us. This family attended the Doman Method Course at the Institutes in Italy. Their child was severely brain injured and they started a fine Advanced Doman Program. Perhaps as a result of help from the Good Lord this family turned out to be, for lack of a better term, what I will call a Foundational Family.
I have seen these families appear over many decades. First they have an unconditional love for their child with special needs. Like all of our Advanced Doman families they are very determined that their child should have the best opportunity to succeed in life. In addition to all of that, they have a huge empathy for all the parents of children facing similar challenges. They are experts at passing their experiences and wins by word of mouth to other parents.
As a result of their help spreading the word, we began to hear from new families who have been referred by the Foundational Family. Before we knew it we have five excellent families all from the same location, in this case Belgrade. I first observed this phenomenon in the 1970’s with a Foundational Family from Forli, Italy. Forli is a small city and we grew to having twenty-five to thirty families from there. These families were very strong and began the battle to receive reimbursement for our program from their regional government. Shortly thereafter a Foundational Family from Bologna did that same thing. I remember Foundational Families from France, Texas, California, Spain and Russia. And there have been more.
Foundational Families create a snowballing effect of excellent families working very hard and achieving the best results. Their determination is so great that they become National Ambassadors for our work. They are not afraid to twist arms for donations or get local opinion leaders and the media to support our work. Foundational Families work hand in glove with the Directors of Doman International to maximize the local situation.
Step #3: The introductory lectures grow the number of local parents to a tipping point. The tipping point creates media, philanthropic, and governmental support.
In February, I had the pleasure of lecturing to more than one hundred parents of children with special needs in Belgrade, Serbia. These lectures were sponsored by the local university and our Foundational Family in Serbia. The next day I had the opportunity to lecture to more than one hundred and fifty parents in Zagreb, Croatia. I had never been to Croatia and Croatian parents who attend the Doman Method Course: From Special Needs to Wellness in Belgrade in September of last year helped to sponsor the lectures at a local university. These lectures add to the snowballing effect of informing more and more parents about the potential of their children with special needs. This permits them to start a program using books like What To Do About Your Brain Injured Child, How To Teach Your Baby To Read, and Fit Baby. Smart Baby. Your Baby.
Step #4: Find an excellent publisher capable of distributing the books throughout the nation or region.
It is important to add at this point that the Novak Djokovic Foundation had kindly has translated What To Do About Your Brain Injured Child and How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence into Serbian. It is our hope that our publisher, Laguna, in Belgrade will now translate How To Teach Your Baby To Read and Fit Baby. Smart Baby. Your Baby. Part of achieving a tipping point is to have the books available to parents in their country. The books are inexpensive and can start the parents to realizing the potential of their children, intellectually, physically and physiologically.
Step #5: Get government support or local opinion leaders, companies, and philanthropists to lay the foundation for a local Doman International Institute.
As a result of our Foundational Family I had the opportunity to meet with the Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs of Serbia in February. We were incredibly well received. Socially-minded officials see the benefits of empowering parents to provide for the wellbeing of their children with brain injury. The parents deserve the support and they are the most highly motivated people on the planet to give their child a fighting chance of becoming well.
The fact of the matter is the Doman Method has saved, and continues to save governments around the world billions of dollars. Children with neurological conditions who see, hear, move, communicate, use their hands, and are healthy require a fraction of the social support of children who are chronically sick, on anticonvulsant medications, and are blind and immobile. Children who become well do not require extraordinary social services, and contribute to society instead of requiring services.
Doman International has the makings of an infrastructure for an institute for the Balkans. It was never our plan, but it happened. Through determination and positive energy the parents of the Balkans are making this possible. It gives us all reason for great hope. For a region that suffered a catastrophic war only about eighteen years ago to band together to save their children with special needs is incredibly heartwarming. Our parents come from all the nations of the Balkans and all religions and ethnicities. Where on this planet do such parents unite to help make an institute for their children?
The steps taken in the Balkans is an excellent example for all world regions to take, if the parents would like to bring the Doman International team to their region to help families in need.