Don’t Let That Brain-Injured Child in the Supermarket Haunt You for the Next 40 Years

Rosalind and I were working in England with eleven young adults with brain injury in 1976. These were students at our School for Human Development. We decided to give them a summer abroad. During this time, we did the entire intensive physical program, intellectual program, and social program every day, seven days a week. Rosalind and I did all the crawling, creeping, brachiation, rolls, etcetera. We did the physical program outside, rain or shine. We presented their intelligence program and we took them out to social events. We did everything with them including masking. We had all of our meals together and we had all of our rooms together on the same floor. Rosalind and I were responsible for each of them twenty-four hours a day. 

At the end of the summer, Rosalind and I put all eleven of them on their flight back to the United States. Staff would be waiting for them in New York when they arrived. In ninety days, I had had only two days off and Rosalind had had only one day off.. When my parents, Glenn and Katie Doman came to visit us on July 4th, it was the 200th anniversary of the independence of the United States. We started at 6 am, with the students lights out by 10 pm. Rosalind and I had to prepare the next day’s programs, which often had us stay up past midnight. 

We took the train from the airport. We were sitting in one of those English trains with compartments. Opposite us were a mother and father with a child of about seven years of age, with Trisomy-21. Rosalind and I looked at each other and said nothing, with the family right there in front of us. Nonetheless, we both knew exactly what the other was thinking. We have to give this family information about the Institutes. Rosalind and I both searched for pens but did not find one. We looked at the child and the parents and they looked at us. Finally, the train stopped and the family got off but Rosalind and I had further to go. 

What did Rosalind and I do?

Nothing. 

As soon as the family left, we lamented and justified all the reasons that we hadn’t simply told them or had them write down the contact information for the Institutes or the book, What To Do About Your Brain Injured Child. 

That little girl has been haunting us for more than 50 years. The good news is that whenever and wherever we are in the world, we remember that little girl and when we see a child with a brain-injury, we give the parents the contact information for Doman International and advise them to read the book, What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child. We have provided this information to dozens of families around the world. 

In some ways, what Rosalind and I have experienced is similar to the experience of Dr. Eugene Spitz. He was one of our brilliant Pediatric Neurosurgeons. Dr. Spitz said, “ I am known as a radical surgeon. But I know no more radical act than knowing a child is going to die and doing nothing about it.”

Every parent who has taken the Doman Method™ Course: From Special Needs To Wellness or the new online Doman Method™ Course: From Special Needs To Wellness, knows that these children have incredible potential. They all have far more potential for intellectual, social, and physical development than the vast majority believes. Virtually everybody thinks they are “mentally retarded.” As you know, we have fought a battle for sixty years to have this term extinguished from dictionaries around the world. 

Everyone who knows the potential of these children shares a huge responsibility with the rest of the planet. Our children will have a more successful and happy life if more people respect their abilities and potential. 

The point here is when you see such a child in the supermarket, the pharmacy, in the local coffee house, or walking down the street, all you need to do is to tell them about your experience and your child’s successes and wins on the Doman Method™ Program. Never try to convince them of anything. Your child’s results are all they need to know. If they are the right people they will pull out their smartphone and call one of our Representatives. Like in the old days, there is a telephone number of our local representative. They are much more likely to want to know about us and perhaps will follow us on our Doman International Facebook page or Doman International Instagram page. Of course, there is also our Doman International website, which has many, many success stories filled with stories from children with all kinds of brain-injuries. 

The child in the supermarket may be considered the “old way.” Now parents meet on social media. With the latest technology at our fingertips, it is much easier for parents to connect with current, new, and potential Doman Parents. Below are some ways you can connect;

Facebook Groups: Doman International's Facebook Page

Instagram Followers: Doman International's Instagram Page

Podcasts: Doman Parenting Podcast

One of the beauties of sharing with other parents and providing Doman International’s contact information is that every profile change, every win that that child has on the program, will be in some part your win. Even if the child only learns to read, their lives will be changed forever. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to give information to parents and get such enormous changes in exchange. 

By: Douglas Doman