The Innate Brilliance of Children with Cerebral Palsy

The following blog post is an excerpt adapted from the book: “The Doman Method: From Special Needs to Wellness”.

If I asked you, what is the thing that Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Julius Caesar, Socrates, and Thomas Edison had in common, you would most likely answer that all of them were brilliant minds who changed humankind's history.

What might surprise you is that each of these individuals had symptoms of neurodevelopmental conditions. Cerebral palsy is a neurodevelopmental condition which can affect the ability of a child to move their body, coordinate movements, speak, and perform other motor activities. However, children with cerebral palsy are highly intelligent and have great capabilities to learn. In this essay, we will explore the great innate intelligence of children with cerebral palsy.

Returning to the famous people I mentioned above, many historians now believe that Albert Einstein would have been diagnosed with autism if he were born today. He had delayed speech development and did not speak his first words until 3. He faced great difficulty early on in school and was very rigid in his schedule and need for routine.

Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, was essentially unable to read and most likely would have been diagnosed with dyslexia today. Thomas Edison was sent home from school by a teacher who claimed he had “scrambled brains” due to his learning difficulties. Both Julius Caesar and Socrates had epilepsy and had severe seizures. When these brilliant thinkers lived, there were no formal diagnoses given. While we will never know for sure, it is highly likely many great minds throughout history had neurodevelopmental disabilities. But that did not stop any of them from being highly intelligent and capable.

Glenn Doman observed early on that children with special needs and cerebral palsy could also be brilliant. He realized the societal assumption that these children were stupid was wrong. Often in the 1950s, doctors were diagnosing these children as “idiots,” “imbeciles,” and “morons.” He knew this was disgustingly unscientific, as many of the children he observed were smart. Some were even smarter than average children. That led him to say, “There is no correlation between cerebral palsy and intelligence. However, there is a huge correlation between cerebral palsy and the ability to express intelligence.” Most kids with cerebral palsy and other special needs are genuinely smart. However, they have difficulty expressing how smart they are because of difficulties with speech, mobility, or poor use of their hands.

There is a significant difference between being unintelligent and being intelligent, but not being able to express it. The brilliant astrophysicist Stephen Hawking was completely well until he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, a degenerative disorder that destroys the function of the brain's motor areas. Hawking lost the ability to speak and nearly all ability to move, placing him in a condition where most children with cerebral palsy find themselves. Fortunately, he was provided cutting-edge software to communicate his needs by twitching his cheek to form letters and words. His neurodegenerative condition did not impact his intelligence, but his ability to express himself was impacted.

No one questions whether Stephen Hawking was brilliant — but he was fortunate enough to have sophisticated software made for him to communicate his needs. Imagine if this software did not exist? Perhaps people would have assumed he had lost all his intelligence with his motor ability!

Consider this - if Stephen Hawking had been born with cerebral palsy – immobile, unable to speak or use his hands (the way he became later in life), would anyone have ever thought he was intelligent? Or would the world have assumed he was stupid? Sadly, we all know the answer. Because he would have been born unable to express himself, doctors and professionals would likely have told his parents he was unintelligent and incapable of understanding. The horrible reality - this happens EVERY DAY with kids with cerebral palsy and other special needs.

Our sensory abilities determine our intelligence. Everything we learn, we learn from the world through our five senses — we can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. Everything you have learned or your child learns is through those five pathways. We can call these our “intelligence” pathways.

However, we express our intelligence through our motor abilities. Our motor abilities include our speech, our ability to use our hands and move our bodies. If I asked you to answer a question but told you that you could not answer the question by speaking, using your hands, or moving your body, you’d most likely experience great difficulty doing so. Then, it would not be fair for me to assume you were stupid. Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities often have problems with motor abilities — let’s call them our “expression” pathways. It’s hard to express intelligence if you cannot speak well, move well, or use your hands well. That is why Glenn Doman made it clear that it cannot be assumed a person with cerebral palsy is unintelligent, just because their brain makes it difficult for them to express that intelligence.

For this reason, at Doman International, we assume all children are highly intelligent. We stimulate them, engage them, respect them, and set high goals for them. We use sophisticated language when speaking to them. We also explain things to them throughout the day, read to them, and educate them. Assuming a child is unintelligent is dangerous because it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we think a child lacks intelligent because they are diagnosed with cerebral palsy or another special need, we will speak to them and interact with them differently. By treating them as unintelligent and immature, they become more unintelligent and immature. 

Kids with cerebral palsy are not stupid, despite what many professionals say. Children with other neurodevelopmental conditions like autism, ADD, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties, developmental delay, epilepsy, Down syndrome, and the many other diagnoses for special needs are also NOT stupid. Don’t allow anyone to convince you they are. If anyone tells you that a child with these conditions is hopeless, all it tells you is that they are outdated in their thinking, and it's time for you to find the right professional you can trust with your child's future.

Doman International teaches parents of children with cerebral palsy and other special needs how to help discover the innate intelligence of children and help kids reach their fullest potential. The Doman Method® has helped thousands of children with cerebral palsy to learn to walk, learn to talk and succeed in school and university. If you are a parent looking for answers, we recommend the course “The Doman Method: From Special Needs to Wellness”. It might be the greatest gift you will ever give your child.