Your Plan for Success with Your Child with Special Needs
By Douglas Doman
Sometimes, a parent of a child with special needs will ask me, “Douglas, with your experience teaching families with kids with special needs for decades, what recommendations could you give to my family in order to have success with the program? For more than forty-five years, I have had the opportunity to work with thousands of families from more than fifty countries from around the world. For a long time, the team at Doman International and I have considered the ideal plan for our families of special needs children or adults. This ideal scene starts from the time a family learns about the Doman Method™ and continues after a family has completed years of our Advanced Program.
What is the best way to achieve maximum results and wellness using the Doman Method? The best and toughest families will do the program as long as the results are worth the effort. There have been times I have seen immobile children start our program and begin crawling within a few days or weeks. There are times that the progress can be spectacular with very little effort. However, these are the exceptions and not the rule. Most parents need to work for longer periods to achieve big wins. Sometimes, a family will get started and give up after a few months. “After a few months” is not enough time to make a significant difference in an injured brain for some children.
It greatly saddens me when I see this happen -- the family did not really give the program a chance. This is heartbreaking, a child who could have received many significant wins such as the ability to read, talk or walk, never got the chance. For the special needs child this may mean she or he will never get the chance in their entire lifetime.
With decades of experience with our families, what is the ideal plan? What is the best way to get the best results? This is the question. All of our experience indicates that our families need to make at least a two year commitment of doing the Advanced Doman Program. The Advanced Doman Program is our state of the art, top of the line program. This is the program with by far the best results.
Tia Learned how to Walk on the Advanced Doman Program
Usually, we find a family will get their first significant wins in the first 6 to 12 months of the program. These are significant changes that will change the child's life forever, such as being able to read, understand, for the immobile child to creep on their hands and knees, and have fine health. We find that these big wins usually continue to come in the second year of the program. Children may learn how to speak, learn to walk, have the medications that suppress them eliminated, and learn to write. These two years usually have gigantic wins -- I never hear a family make it to the end of 2 years and say they regretted the time they spent doing the program.
In short, the ideal program comprises doing at least twenty-four months of a very fine Advanced Doman Program. We strongly recommend that whenever a family decides to do the Advanced Doman Program that they hold an ALL FAMILY meeting. Then, mother and father discuss the responsibilities with the child’s brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and anyone who loves the brain-injured child, so that everyone knows the family has a 2 year plan.
If other members of the family decide not to help and commit themselves to the effort, that is fine. Only parents can decide what is best for their brain-injured child. We wouldn’t want it to be any other way. If the family decides to help, then parents need to keep the entire team accountable and make sure everyone is completing their roles.
Once you begin, it is the parents job to make sure to keep the positive spirit of the program. That is the loving and enthusiastic environment that is created by the family at home for the brain-injured child. The attitude is that the child wins. Every change, whether small or large, is enthusiastically recognized by every member of the family. Everyone is behind the brain-injured child and this is the winning spirit.
What are the results of this commitment? For some children it means being well and going to school with other “average” children of the same age. For most it will mean results far greater than the parents have ever dreamed. Such as being able to walk, talk, or have excellent health. For a few, it may mean less.
The entire staff knows well that the two year commitment is essential to giving the child the very best chance to achieve their potential. Should you have any questions about any aspect of this commitment please do not hesitate to contact your Doman International Institute Staff Coach.
Steps For Success on the Doman Method Program
Step 1: Attend and complete the Online Doman Method Course: From Special Needs to Wellness. This course will provide you with all the information you need to start a complete Advanced Doman Program. You will meet your Staff Coach. As long as you are on our program, you will have your Staff Coach. They will be with you every step of the way. The Staff Coach will know you and your child better than anyone else on the staff. She or he will champion you and your child and represent you to the entire staff. The key is to get going with the full program immediately after the course to get the best results.
Step 2: Within 6 months of taking the course, it is ideal to have your child’s first visit with the Doman International staff. Shortly before your first visit, you can attend Advanced Doman Courses online, designed specifically for your child’s cognitive, physical, nutritional, respiratory, and social development. At the visit, the staff can evaluate your child and design the very finest program for your kid and teach you exactly what needs to be done to achieve it. You can attend your first visit at any of the Doman International locations in the United States, Europe, India, Russia, Serbia, Latin America or Miami.
Step 3: Six months after your first visit, your family returns for a second appointment. At this point, up to twelve months of program have been achieved. You will attend the next set of online Advanced Doman Courses before your visit. You will continue on this path for the third appointment and the fourth appointment. At this point, 2 years of Advanced Doman Program should be completed. This marks the end of the two year commitment.
At this point, parents can reassess where their child is and decide next steps together and with their Staff Coach. There are many options that parents can choose at this point. They can continue online Advanced Doman Courses or Remote Consultations with the staff to further cognitive, physical, physiological, and social progress.
Many parents will choose to continue on the Advanced Doman Program online returning every six months for evaluations and new Advanced Courses. At no point will we ever abandon you and your child. As long as you want us and need our help, we are here to serve you.
Pelayo and his family on his day of Graduating from the Doman Program!