Doman-Delacato patterning (contested)

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Glenn Doman, Carl Delacato · 1955 · Philadelphia

What it is

A home programme run by parents for children whom IAHP calls “brain-injured” or “hurt”. A 2007 news report listed the conditions IAHP includes under that word: cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, epilepsy, Down syndrome, ADHD and autism. The programme was developed by Glenn Doman, a physical…

Format

• Phase A: parent course (entry). Both parents must complete a five-day course before IAHP will evaluate the child, because the parents will carry out the programme. The course is currently called What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child. IAHP describes it as a comprehensive course for improving the…
• Phase B: evaluation of the child at IAHP. IAHP evaluates the child after the parents' course. The 2007 fee was US$3,000. Doman's book describes the tools IAHP uses to measure visual, auditory, tactile, mobility and manual development, set out as a developmental profile. A home programme is then…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• After the programme: your aims are to help the family with grief, guilt, money and relationship repair, and to help them re-engage with evidence-based services.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the family dropping appointments; the team not knowing that the child is in the programme; a breakdown of trust between the family and the team.
• abrupt changes to medication or diet made without medical input; relapse into another similar programme; isolation; conflict with the volunteers.
• depression; suicidal thoughts in exhausted carers (assess using current standard practice); intensifying the programme as a defence against grief.
• injuries; more seizures; weight loss; a fearful child; parents who are unable to stop despite the child's distress; the isolation of the household.
• goals that are concrete and meaningful to the family, and parents who feel they are partners in the child's care. These are signs that the work is helping.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.