>Would like to refer you all to the work of Robert J
>Doman, Jr (nephew to Glenn Doman of Doman-Delgado
>Method fame) who does a Child Development set of tapes
>through the National Hdqtrs for Child Development,
>Inc. in Huntsville, UT (there is probably a website
>for that now).  He isolates seven developmental tasks
>(and sub tasks) required for normal development and
>crawling and "floor time" is definetly among them!  My
>dh is a coach and sports official and has gotten
>children who could not run and dribble a ball doing
>crawling exercises and after a few weeks, they could
>run and dribble!  I always point out in my BF classes
>how important this bilateral stimulation is for babies
>brain development; and we are not talking about the
>food here!
>Cheryl Adams RN, CLE, ICCE
>Lawrence, KS
>(not a lurker any more?!)

I'm not familiar with Robert Doman, but being somewhat familiar with Glenn
Doman, I am very skeptical about these claims. I don't think there is any
evidence that crawling and other "patterning" exercises have any effect on
the central nervous system, as Glenn Doman has stated. As far as I know,
there are no objective studies proving that Doman's methods are effective
in treating or curing cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, learning
disabilites, Down Syndrome, etc.

I hope you don't think I'm attacking you. I guess this is just one of those
issues that pushes my buttons! My oldest child is disabled, and a few years
ago a relative was pressuring us to do the Doman method. I knew right away
I wasn't going to do it when I read the part about leaving my child face
down on a bare wood floor much of the day! It didn't help that the relative
pushing this method was the same one who theorized that my breastmilk was
lacking in nutrients, and that this caused my child's disability. But I
digress.

Judi Hammett, LLLL
Baltimore, Maryland USA

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