Why Does Doman International Exist?
By Spencer Doman, M.Ed.
As a co-founder and CEO of Doman International, I am obviously very passionate about my organization and the amazing team I have the honor of working with each and every day.
Sometimes I ponder, “Why does Doman International exist? Why do we do what we do? What makes us special?”
To answer this question I need to tell a story, and it goes like this:
A mom walks into the pediatrician’s office with her young child, and she’s worried. She tells the doctor, “Doctor, I’m concerned about my child. He isn’t as interactive as the other babies, he’s not as responsive and he’s not moving very much.” The doctor tells her she has nothing to worry about and that “all kids develop differently.” He tells her to go home and return for a check up in 6 months.
She returns six months later, and now she knows something is wrong. She tells him, “Doctor, I know there’s something wrong. My kid isn’t developing like the other kids are.” The doctor rolls his eyes and says, “Oh, all mothers think that.” Mom knows intuitively that this is an insult, what he means is “moms think that because it’s nonsense.” The doctor tells her to bring the child home and return in 6 months.
Mom comes back six months later, but this time, she’s angry. Dad comes with her, because he’s upset too. They say to the pediatrician, “Doctor, we know there’s something wrong with our child’s development, and if you won’t figure out what it is, we’ll find a doctor who can.” That’s the day that the doctor takes the parents seriously, and diagnoses the child with a special need. It might be autism, or cerebral palsy, or developmental delay, ADD/ADHD, Down Syndrome or one of the many other diagnoses given to kids with special needs and neurodevelopmental conditions.
Parents leave the office devastated and crushed. However, they’ve learned two important things. First, that their intuition was right all along - even though they had been told they were wrong, they had realized before anyone else that there was a problem. The second thing they learned is that everything their child will need in this life, they will have to fight for. That it’s their warrior spirit that will help the child survive and reach his or her fullest potential.
Returning to the original question now: “Why does Doman International exist?” We exist for that mom and dad. The warrior parents who refuse to give up. We call these warrior parents “our parents”. These fighters have been finding their way to the Doman Method® for 60 years and they keep coming. They find Doman International because we’ve got that same fighting spirit.
Why does the Doman International team have that warrior spirit? It all started with the creator of the Doman Method®, my grandfather, Glenn Doman. He learned on the battlefields of Europe during World War II, as an officer who led hundreds of men, that “You never leave the wounded behind.” When he came home from war, he applied that same philosophy for kids with special needs. He taught every parent he ever worked with, and to those of us who learned directly from him, that “You never leave the wounded behind.” He taught us to never, ever give up on a child.
There are three things that make Doman International different from the many other organizations, therapists and doctors that work with kids with special needs:
We know that each special needs child has great potential and an innate intelligence -- no matter what anyone says. Our decades of experience has taught us that these children are capable of amazing things and that no matter what the world says, they are smart! Parents just need to know how to teach them in the best way possible so that their child can thrive.
We work hand-in-hand with parents to find solutions for their children, and to achieve the results they’ve been looking for. Our team has a lot of knowledge and tools to help these children, that we have discovered over the past 60 years. We are also innovative when we need to find new solutions for a child. Combining our knowledge and experience, with our innovative, pioneering spirit, we keep finding new solutions and ways to help special needs kids.
Last, but not least, we never, never give up on a child. Glenn Doman taught us to never give up -- it’s a part of our DNA. We refuse to give up on any child because we’ve learned in the past that even when we have doubts, the kids can surprise us with amazing developmental wins and gains. We never give up on a kid because it would be wrong to do so.
That’s why warrior parents love us, and we love warrior parents. Because when we look at each other, we know deep down, we’re the same. The same things drive us each and every day, and we’ll never give up. If you’re looking for a team to fight with you every step of the way, we looking forward to meeting you too.