Your child’s problem is not a life sentence, but a call to action that requires knowledge, understanding and a dynamic and effective program to bring about real change for your child.
Course: What To Do About Your Brain-Injured
Child
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25,000+
Brain-injured Children Treated
50,000+
Parents Taught
10 mil+
Books Sold
65
Years of Experience
Alone With a Big Problem
Whether a child has an overwhelming mobility problem, or poor attention, concentration and speech, or a mild learning problem parents want their child progressing now. They have often been everywhere looking for answers.
Parents feel alone and desperate to do something. By the end of the course parents understand why their child is struggling and they have the answers and the tools they need. They know they are not alone anymore and they have our support in the future.
How We Can Help
A Real Evaluation
Through The Institutes Developmental Profile™, you’ll learn how to evaluate the stage of brain development of your child in comparison to expected benchmarks.
A True Diagnosis
Symptomatic labels like cerebral palsy, autism, or attention deficit are not a diagnosis. You’ll learn what a proper diagnosis should be.
Unique Treatment
There is no standard treatment for brain injury. After thoroughly evaluating your child, you’ll be able to develop a unique treatment program tailored to their needs.
Information at Every Turn
Over 50 hours that cover philosophy and practice with demonstrations, and hands-on opportunities to learn. Our clinical staff are there to answer questions throughout the course.
An Actionable Plan
By forging a pathway to success that features concrete action steps, parents develop confidence in their abilities to treat their children at home.
A Caring Community
Our community of knowledgeable staff members and parents provide support, so you'll never feel alone in treating your child.
Overview of the Course
Parents of a brain-injured child should not be left alone with a beloved child who may have a catastrophic problem and no solution. Parents should know there are many options. We are here to teach parents about the brain, show them those options then help them to get their child on a real pathway to wellness as quickly as possible. When parents complete the course they have a functional evaluation of their child, they understand a proper diagnosis but most importantly they have a battle plan to start to help their child get better physically, intellectually and physiologically.
What You'll Learn
Each day provides “the why” behind what is being taught. This is essential.
Our parents always want to know why, not only how.
“After the second hour of the course on Monday, I called my mother and told her that just those two hours were worth the time, effort, and money.”
Parents will be introduced briefly to the history of the work of The Institutes. They will learn about the causes of brain-injury, why the conventional treatments commonly used to treat hurt children do not succeed and what is essential in effective treatment. They learn that parents are often confused and disheartened by the symptomatic labels that have made them think their child was hopeless. They end the day understanding that their child has an injury to the brain and that the brain has great plasticity and can be treated.
Day 2
About Brain Development
“The staff was wonderful. They were knowledgeable, kind, helpful and, most of all, quietly confident that they can help your child.”
The day begins with the basic principles of brain growth and development. These principles will become the guiding light in the home programs of each child in the future. The neurophysiological evidence that the brain has incredible plasticity is presented. The most important dynamics in central nervous system transmission are taught. As parents understand the importance of stimulation and opportunity their most important question becomes “So, what is happening in the brain?” This question is addressed.
Day 3
Evaluation and Diagnosis
“This course is not just about theory, it is led by experts who are eager to share the vast amount of practical knowledge they have. It is a place you can ask every single question you have and get answers from trained professionals based on their rich experience.”
Parents learn about The Institutes Developmental Profile and how to use that profile to evaluate where their child is compared to the well child. This careful evaluation will be essential as the week goes on. The day ends with an overview on diagnosis in which parents learn that a proper diagnosis cannot be a simple description of symptoms but must provide where the problem is located, how much of a problem there may be and to what degree. Parents now have a clear picture of where their child stands and they are ready to learn what to do about it.
“This book is the first book in history, to my knowledge, which tells how to treat brain-injured children, why to treat brain-injured children, and most precisely what happened to a group of brain-injured children when they were so treated.”
– Raymundo Veras, MD
Day 4
Mobility Development
“This is the first time I’ve attended a training institute where I actually felt the staff loved and believed in what they were doing and teaching. It was a pleasure to hear over and over again that a brain-injured child can be helped and had potential.”
Now that parents know how the brain gets injured, why treatment must be directed to the brain and not to the symptoms, how to evaluate their own child and discover the areas of the brain that need stimulation, they are ready to learn how to begin a program. On this day the staff of the Institute for Physical Excellence take over and they teach all aspects of mobility from the immobile child all the way to the child who may walk and run. Parents begin to understand that the physical program is not only about mobility but it is designed to provide neurological organization to all areas of the brain that may be injured. Parents see demonstrations by children on the program. They are taught directly how to do certain parts of the physical program and they actually get to do some of the physical program their child will be doing.
Day 5
Intellectual Development
“I did not expect to be on the edge of my seat every minute of every lecture. I did not expect to get excited and gain this amount of knowledge.”
The staff of The Institute for Intellectual Excellence begin the day with the reasons why reading is the single most important part of a vibrant and effective intellectual program. They present a full background on reading and a detailed program that can be done at home with excellent results. Visual problems and their effect on reading and learning are reviewed.
Day 6
Sensory and Physiological Development
“The best thing about the course is the methodical approach to assess the child and identify relevant solutions. The course was without a doubt worth the time, effort and money.”
This day covers a lot of very important ground. The day begins with the sensory stimulation program where parents learn how to provide appropriate stimulation to help a blind child to see, or a deaf child to hear, or an insensate child to feel. Next, parents learn about oxygen enrichment, medications and detoxification from the medical staff. Environmental toxins and their solutions are presented as well as a comprehensive presentation of The Institutes nutritional program. This one day covers so much that it could be a one week course all by itself.
Day 7
The Family is the Answer
“Do whatever it takes to get to the course. It will forever change your life and, more importantly, your brain-injured child’s life.”
By the final day it is time to answer the question “Is there really hope for my brain-injured child, if so, what are his chances to improve?” The Institutes has kept meticulous records of each child in its Clinical Archive which goes back more than six decades. A summary of the results of treatment is presented so that parents can evaluate for themselves the significance based upon their new understanding of the development of the brain.
On this day we take a simple but profound look at the family and each parent understands why at The Institutes it is the family that is the answer. When parents understand exactly why the brain grows the way it does, they are the very best therapists for their children.
You’ll leave the course with all of the resources and knowledge you need to get your child on the path to excellence.
Custom Treatment Programs
A Physiological Program
Parents improve their child’s health and wellbeing with better nutrition and a healthy home environment whether the child may be chronically ill, or have allergies, sleep problems, digestive problems, seizures or poor weight gain.
A Physical Program
Movement at all levels is vital to development. Parents learn exactly what their child’s physical program should be, based upon The Developmental Profile of their child.
An Intellectual Program
Parents learn how to provide the sensory stimulation needed to see, hear and feel properly and how to create an intellectual program that is easy and fun for their child.
Essential Materials
Lecture Notebook
Lecture notes are provided for everything taught. These notes have diagrams, checklists and reading lists to help parents for the next 6-12 months at home.
Pathway to Wellness Book
240 critical points that guide parents on what to do and what not to do in mobility, intelligence, nutrition, liquids, communication, social growth, environmental factor and medication and surgery.
IN-Report Journal
For 45 years our journal has reported the results of what happens when hurt children have a program designed to grow the brain.
What Parents Say About The Course
Great Course
"Fantastic! My spirits are lifted. I know now exactly what to do. I am elated, breathing huge sighs of relief because I feel well prepared to teach my daughter."
Amazing Teachers
The instructors were topnotch! The subject is of supreme importance. The course content was complete but not overwhelming. The materials,videos, handouts, and course outline were the best and most well organized that I have ever seen.
Changed Our Lives
This changes our whole world – not just our daughter’s future, but the whole family. Now we have a battle plan and the appropriate weapons with which to fight. We now understand her amazing potential and the value of every wasted opportunity. Her environment will change to make it easier for her to succeed, eliminating many frustrations for her, my husband, and myself.
Invaluable Learning
"I learned that there is help for my child. This course has been such a blessing because teachers, doctors, and parents of other children with Down syndrome didn’t believe this to be possible.”
Beyond Expectations
“I saw The Institutes as hope, but I never expected the knowledge I received. I am armed to march into battle. I’m sure I’ll need reinforcements along the way, but I’m ready for whatever it brings. I see the light!”
Well Worth It
“Nothing in my life will ever compare to this week. You cannot put a price on the wellness of your child.”
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Teachers Who Really Care
Our staff provide expert instruction to ensure that parents understand the basis and rationale of the program, and practical know-how gained from years of firsthand experience with parents and babies.
Director
The Institute for Intellectual Excellence
As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, Susan began her studies and training at The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in 1973. In 1980, she became the Director of the Institute for the Achievement of Intellectual Excellence, and the Director of the Evan Thomas Institute.
She is a principal lecturer in the “How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence” course, which has been presented since 1978 to parents the world over. She teaches parents how to enhance the growth and development of the brain through intellectual growth, specifically in reading, mathematics, and encyclopedic knowledge. She also teaches parents how to do an evaluation of their child using The Institutes Developmental Profile.
Ms. Aisen is also a principal lecturer in the “What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child” course. She teaches parents of brain-injured children how to evaluate their children neurologically and how to create an effective program of sensory stimulation to enhance seeing, hearing, and tactility.
Susan is an international lecturer on intellectual growth in children, and has taught parents in England, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Singapore, Puerto Rico, and the United States how to create intellectual excellence in their children.
Director
The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential
Janet Doman has been the director of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential since 1980. Janet is the daughter of Glenn Doman, the founder of The Institutes. She grew up at The Institutes and was helping brain-injured children by the time she was nine years old. She was directly involved in The Institutes ground-breaking work in early reading. At fourteen, she illustrated one of the first books ever published that was written and designed to be read by two and three-year-old children. She and her team have been creating and designing this unique curriculum ever since. While still in high school, she was asked to document the mobility progress of each child on The Institutes program and make a film archive. Six hundred and fifty children were filmed at every visit – it was the first such archive of this kind of data ever made.
Dr. Raymond Dart , the discoverer of Australopithecus Africanus Darti, and a fellow staff member, encouraged her to study anthropology. She studied physical Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Wilton Krogman at the Krogman Growth and Development Center. He taught her anthropometric measurement which she brought back to The Institutes. She did the first anthropometric measurements of brain-injured children that had ever been done. These careful measurements are still done today on every hurt child. Her life-long love of animals caused her to interrupt her studies at Penn to study zoology for a year at the University of Hull in England.
Janet with Dr. Roselise Wilkinson in the Xingu territory in the Mato Grosso of Brazil Centrale in 1969
In 1969 she had the extraordinary opportunity to travel with The Institutes expeditionary team to the Xingu territory of Brazil central. There, assisted by the government of Brazil, under the direction of Claudio Villas Boas, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she helped to do the very first neurological evaluations and anthropometric measurements of the children and adults in the tribes visited.
After graduating from University in 1971 she returned to her work with brain-injured children at The Institutes. Adelle Davis, the world renowned nutritionist and author of the revolutionary book “Let’s Get Well”, had recently joined the staff of The Institutes. Glenn challenged Janet to learn everything she could about nutrition from Adelle and to make sure that Adelle had anything she needed to create the ideal nutritional program for each hurt child. Janet and Adelle spent the next two years doing just that. They formed a life-long friendship. Janet is still deeply involved with all aspects of the nutritional program at The Institutes today where she works closely with Dr. Li Wang and Dr. Richard Rosenbloom.
In 1973 She and her team from The Institutes for Intellectual Excellence were asked to create a full intellectual curricula for the students in the School For Human Development. This school was for brain-injured youngsters from 17 to 30 years who could not succeed in either high school or college because of their neurological problems.
In 1974 she headed a team sent to Japan to study with Shinichi Suzuki and to teach at Yoji Kaihatsu, in Tokyo a revolutionary early development school created by Matsaru Ibuka, one of the Founders of SONY. She created and put in place a highly successful English language program for 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children to be taught at home by their mothers. In less than a year there was a twelve-month waiting list to enroll in these early development classes for mothers.
On her return to the United States, she expanded the early development program developed in Tokyo to include reading, mathematics, encyclopedic knowledge, music, drawing, and physical development. Janet and her father decided it was time to create a new institute devoted exclusively to teaching the parents of well children.
Janet founded The Evan Thomas Institute in 1975, to honor Evan Welling Thomas, an outstanding public health physician who had given the last ten years of his life to the work of The Institutes. The purpose of this new institute was to teach mothers how to develop their babies intellectually, physically, and socially from birth to six. In 1976 Glenn was focusing on enriching the intellectual growth of brain-injured children by significantly expanding their database. He asked Janet and Susan Aisen to create a program to accomplish this. Over the next year the Encyclopedic Knowledge Program was piloted and developed into a very effective and popular program for both hurt and well children.
In 1978 Janet created a one week course for mothers “How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence”. The course attracted not only mothers, but fathers from all over the world who understood the enormous potential of the tiny baby and wanted to be able to learn more and provide an enriched environment at home. That course has been translated into four languages and has traveled around the world with the staff ever since.
Based upon the success of the “How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence” Course, Janet and the staff reviewed the lectures being given at that time for parents of brain-injured children and in 1985 created a one week intensive course for the parents of brain-injured children – “What To Do About Your Brain-injured Child”. This course has been translated into six languages and has also traveled the world with the staff ever since.
Janet wih Yuuki and Yoshiki in Tokyo
After working in Japan, Janet led the team of staff that began seeing brain-injured children in Japan and presenting lectures there. Janet has lectured and seen children in England, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, China, Colombia, Australia, Malaysia, Argentina, and Peru.
Over the more than half century Janet has taught thousands of parents and children from all over the world and professionals who have come to The Institutes to learn. She still does so today. “Who in the world could ever be luckier than I am? I spend all day, every day with incredible children, the world’s most dedicated parents, a staff that never gives up, and new challenges every day.”
Today Janet and the staff are expanding the work of The Institutes to offer new books, new materials and new instruction online.
Janet is the co-author of How To Teach Your Baby To Read, How To Teach Your Baby Math, How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence, How Smart Is Your Baby?, and How To Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge. Janet and a team of child brain developmentalist wrote The Pathway to Wellness and The Pathway to Excellence. She authored the children’s book Enough, Inigo, Enough.
In the field of child brain development she earned her Developmentalist Level in 1973, the Teaching Level in 1980, and the Preceptor Level in 1984. She has held the United Steelworkers of America Chair of Child Brain Development since 1987.
For her contributions she has received the Brasilian Gold Medal in 1974, The Statuette of The World Organization For Human Potential in 1980, and The Leonardo da Vinci Award in 1985 from The Institutes.
2019: Janet with Waldemar Nehgme, Director of The Institutes’ new school in Brasilia
Leia is from Brazil, and is the niece of Dr. Raymundo Veras, founder of the Brazilian Institutes. Before coming to Philadelphia in 1977, she worked for The Institutes in Brazil for two years. There she used her previous training in speech therapy at the Instituto Brasileiro de Otorrinolaringologia, da Faculdade Nacional do Rio de Janeiro.
After her arrival in Philadelphia she worked in the School for Human Development and rose to the level of vice director of the School. During these months Leia developed, with the staff, the Cortical Organization Program and the Laterality Program.
From June to August of 1977, she helped establish the Brazilian campus of the School for Human Development. In July of 1980 Leia returned to Brazil to assist Dr. José Carlos Veras at The Institutes in Rio de Janeiro. She became responsible for all physical, sensory, and physiological programs. Leia ran the Floor Program, the School for Human Development Program, the Evan Thomas Institute, and the Respiratory Patterning Department. She traveled to Brazilian cities and to Portugal to lecture and teach parents of brain-injured children.
In January 1981, Leia married Robin Reilly. Their son was born in 1982, and their daughter was born in 1983. When her children were young, Leia carried out an early development home program with them.
Leia achieved certification in child brain development at the teaching level in November 1989. In 1992 Leia returned to The Institutes in Philadelphia as an associate director of The Institute for the Achievement of Physical Excellence. In 1997 she became the vice director, and in 2000 she became the director of that Institute.
Leia lectures in all of the courses and in the lecture series for parents given by The Institutes. In addition to Brazil, the United States, and Portugal, Leia has served children in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Singapore, China and Japan.
For her work with brain-injured children, she received the Brazilian Gold Medal of Honor, the Raymundo Veras Award of Science and Humanities, the Ceremony of Inscription, and the Statuette with Pedestal. She is a founding member of the International Academy for Child Brain Development.
Vice Director
The Institute for Physical Excellence
Rumiko was born in Kagawa-ken, Japan. She attended Saint Maria College in Kyoto, where she studied elementary education, psychology, social welfare, and literature.
Following graduation, Rumiko worked with children from infancy to five years old. She then taught in a private elementary school, where she especially enjoyed teaching Japanese literature, creative writing, and music to children. Before and after school hours she tutored children with reading problems.
Rumiko learned of The Institutes through the experiences of Yoichi Fukunaga, a famous Japanese jockey who was profoundly injured during a horse race and was in a coma for more than a year. By following the programs of The Institutes, he learned to walk, talk, write, and eventually ride a horse. His recovery was widely reported throughout Japan.
Rumiko soon learned that The Institutes could help those children who were failing in school and in life. Rumiko came to Philadelphia in 1987 to begin her training in child brain development. As part of her staff training Rumiko crawled, crept, ran, and completed a full gymnastics program with the brain-injured students of the School for Human Development.
She worked with the students at the Pioneer Institute, where she coached the students in independence, leadership, and problem solving. Eventually she rose to the position of director of the School for Human Development, where she was responsible for the physical, intellectual, and physiological program of all the brain-injured young adults in the school.
Rumiko coached the students in singing and in social programs. She also taught swimming to the students of the Evan Thomas Institute. Rumiko is fully qualified in all aspects of the physical development of brain-injured and well children, and she is the advocate for many children around the world. She is associate director of The Institute for the Achievement of Physical Excellence, serving children in the United States and in Japan. She has lectured and taught the parents of brain-injured children from around the world.
For her work with brain-injured children, Rumiko received the Brazilian Gold Medal of Honor, Sakura Koro Sho, the Raymundo Veras Medal of Humanity and Science, and The Founder’s award of the Statuette with Pedestal. She is certified in child brain development and is a fellow of the International Academy for Child Brain Development.
Rumiko is married to Erik Doman, the oldest grandchild of Glenn and Katie Doman.
Senior Staff
The Institute for Intellectual Excellence
Kathy was born in Bellwood, Pennsylvania, where she grew up and graduated from high school. During these years her mother taught her to play the piano. Following high school, Kathy attended Appalachian Bible College, majoring in piano. She then worked as a secretary for a life insurance company and as a secretary for a printing plant.
In 1973 Kathy married Alan Myers. When their oldest child, Chip, was four years old, she took the How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence Course. Kathy became a full-time professional mother to her three children. Eventually they joined the On-Campus Program of the Evan Thomas Institute.
When her youngest child entered the International School, Kathy joined the school staff. She became the music director, teaching music theory, composition, and a choral class, and was director of the Junior Class. She later became vice director of the International School.
Kathy is now the administrator of the International School. In this role, she creates class schedules, organizes the curriculum books, and meets regularly with mothers concerning the home program of each student.
As her children graduated from the International School, Kathy home schooled them throughout high school, at their request. She continued her own education at Montgomery County Community College with courses in pre-calculus, calculus, history, and psychology.
Kathy now uses the experience derived from teaching her own children and the International School students to teach the parents of brain-injured children in the clinic.
In 1998 Kathy began her training as a clinical staff member, and is now qualified to take histories, perform evaluations, and teach intelligence programs.
For her work with children, Kathy has received the Brazilian Gold Medal and the Statuette with Pedestal. In 1998, the entire Myers family was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Medal.
Director
The Institute for Physiological Excellence
Dr. Ernesto Vasquez was born in the United States and grew up in Mexico. In 1984 he obtained his diploma as a general practitioner from the University of Baja California School of Medicine, in Mexico. He served his internship in 1985 at the Social Security Hospital in Mexicali, Baja California, and was in charge of community clinics of Morelos City, Baja California.
Ernesto first learned about The Institutes in 1982, when his sister Angelica began on the Intensive Treatment Program. Ernesto assisted with her home program and observed Angelica’s progress. He came to The Institutes in September 1986 and joined the staff of the School for Human Development. He later became medical director and then director of the School, coaching the students through every aspect of their physical, intellectual, and social program.
In 1987, he was appointed vice director of the Oxygen Enrichment Program. Now he divides his time between the research area and the Children’s Center, where he teaches physical and respiratory programs. In 1988 and 1989, Ernesto spent time working at Centro de Reabilitação Nossa Senhora da Glória with Dr. José Carlos Veras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and for Associação Barbacenense in Barbacena, Brazil.
Ernesto helped to present the first Spanish What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child Video Course in Mexico City, and was involved in the preparation, translation, and dubbing in Spanish of the How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence Course, also presented in Mexico City. Ernesto has been involved in the translation, preparation, and dubbing in Spanish of the video lecture series for Spanish-speaking families.
In 1992, Ernesto became the vice director of The Institute for the Achievement of Physiological Excellence and the acting director of the same institute in Europe. He has studied and treated brain-injured children in Mexico, the United States, Italy, Japan and Brazil.
In 1993, he married Thaisa Mendes, then a staff member. They have two children who have benefited from The Institutes Early Development Program. From 1995 to 1996, Ernesto returned to work with Dr. Jose Carlos Veras in Brazil and studied and treated brain-injured children in Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal.
He is certified in child brain development at the teaching level and he is a fellow of the Academy for Child Brain Development. For his work with brain-injured children he has received the Brazilian Gold Medal of Honor, the Sakura Koro Sho medal, and the Statuette with Pedestal.
Founder
The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential
Glenn Doman founded The Institutes in 1955. He is the primary lecturer in the course through the use of state-of-the-art video. This allows parents to be nose-to-nose with the founder all week long and learn from the primary author of The Gentle Revolution Series, and the most senior staff member of The Institutes.
Develop an actionable plan to improve your child’s condition and well-being
Thousands Of Parents Have Started With Our Book
“This book is the first book in history, to my knowledge, which tells how to treat brain-injured children, why to treat brain-injured children, and most precisely what happened to a group of brain-injured children when they were so treated.”
Thank you once again for your interest. We will reach out to you as soon as possible with more information, so you can start your course without delay.
Thank you once again for your interest. We will reach out to you as soon as possible with more information, so you can start your course without delay.
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