Frequently Asked Questions about “The Doman Method”

Who was Glenn Doman?

GLENN DOMAN founded The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential to which parents from every continent have been finding their way for more than a half-century. It is difficult to know if Glenn and The Institutes are better known for their pioneering work in the treatment of brain-injured children, or for their work in the early development of well children.

Glenn dealt intimately with more than twenty-five thousand families over the last fifty years and strongly influenced millions of families through the book What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child, and the creation of the groundbreaking Gentle Revolution Series of books and materials that teach parents how to teach their babies at home.

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Glenn Lecturing

Did Glenn Doman create The Doman Method?

As the work of Glenn Doman and the staff of The Institutes was translated into many languages and spread through many nations around the world, it was only natural that admirers of the work coined the term “The Doman Method” to put a name on The Institutes work. Over the years, thousands of parents have been introduced to the work of The Institutes often by a friend or professional who directed them to learn more about the “The Glenn Doman Method.”

Glenn and Janet Doman

It is certainly true that people sometimes call The Institutes work “The Glenn Doman Method”, it is equally true that Glenn himself very much disapproved of this term. He never used this term and discouraged others from doing so whenever he could do so.

Glenn always said *“There is no “Doman Method,” there is the program of The Institutes.”

He believed that using the term “Doman Method” did not properly acknowledge the significant contributions of the many staff and parents that have helped to make the work of The Institutes the dynamic and highly successful program that it is today. He also believed that the term “method” was not an appropriate description of the philosophy, program and techniques developed by The Institutes.

The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential is proud to follow in the footsteps of Glenn Doman and to teach thousands of parents of brain-injured and well children worldwide.

Click to learn more about the work of Glenn Doman and The Institutes

Glenn Doman Lecture

I heard that the “Doman Method” can be used to help brain-injured children, including children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, developmental delay and learning problems. Is that true?

Glenn Doman and The Institutes are internationally known for pioneering work in child brain development and for its programs to help brain-injured children achieve wellness.

Historically, children diagnosed with developmental delay, cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, learning problems, dyslexia, and a host of other symptomatic diagnoses have been considered hopeless. These are symptomatic labels, not a proper diagnoses. A proper diagnosis describes where the problem exists in the brain, the degree of the problem, and the extent of the problem in the brain.

Thousands of parents have come to The Institutes to learn how to help their children at home. Those parents have proven beyond any doubt that brain-injured children are not hopeless, but instead have tremendous potential. The Institutes exists to insure that all brain-injured children have a fighting chance to be well.

The objective of The Institutes is to take brain-injured children, however severely hurt, and help them to achieve normality physically, intellectually, physiologically, and socially.

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I heard that I can use the “Doman Method” to teach my baby or young child at home. Is that true?

Glenn Doman wrote How To Teach Your Baby To Read in 1963, and this was the beginning of a gentle revolution which continues to this day. Millions of mothers and fathers have read this book, and countless babies and young children have been started on a pathway to intellectual excellence as a result. For a half-century, mothers and fathers have been teaching their babies to read, to do math, to gain encyclopedic knowledge, as well as to become physically excellent.

For over a half-century, families have found their way to The Institutes from more than 120 nations. While there is a great diversity of background, language, and culture among the families, they have in common an extraordinary devotion to their children. Their children are their first priority in life. They are committed to doing everything in their power to help their children realize their full potential.

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Glenn Doman Method

I know a therapist, school, or center that claims to practice the “Doman Method.” Are they qualified to be teaching this program?

There are those around the world who claim to do “The Doman Method.” When someone claims that they are experts in “The Doman Method,” they certainly are not. First of all, if they knew Glenn Doman and understood his philosophy they would know better than to use the term “Doman Method,” which he strongly disliked. Instead, it is highly likely that they have little or no knowledge about the work of Glenn Doman and The Institutes. We spend a great deal of time evaluating and programming each child. But sadly they do not. Often they take bits and pieces and create their own version of what they think the program would be. Usually their version is a pale shadow of our program and, as a result, the child does not progress as he should. Sometimes they do the opposite of what we teach and use the name Glenn Doman. This is harmful to children and parents everywhere. It is also harmful to The Institutes.

The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential serves children from all over the world. The international headquarters is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Qualified branches of The Institutes are The Doman Kenkyusho in Tokyo, Japan. The Institutes have offices in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and Belem, Brasil. The Institutes presents courses for parents in Philadelphia, Japan, Mexico, and Singapore.

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Are there members of the Doman family who continue to carry on Glenn Doman’s life work?

Katie Doman worked side-by-side with Glenn from the first day of The Institutes in 1955 until his death in 2013 and then continued until her last day in December of 2017. Katie answered every letter written by mothers and fathers who read one of our books and wrote to us. She also saw children from all over the world and taught Mothers how to teach their children to read. Katie also traveled to Asia and South America and Europe to see children with the staff there.

Janet Doman, the daughter of Glenn and Katie Doman, has been the director of The Institutes since 1980. She grew up at The Institutes and was pitching in to help brain-injured children by the time she was nine years old. She was directly involved in The Institutes groundbreaking work in early reading. Janet and her father updated and revised Glenn’s international best-selling books. She co-authored How To Teach Your Baby To ReadHow To Teach Your Baby Math, How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence, How Smart Is Your Baby?How To Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge. Janet spends most of her day teaching the parents of hurt and well children and helping them to discover the vast potential of their babies and their own potential as teachers.

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