Even if there is a disability..."The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold." Glenn Doman

It was a shock when Chloe was born and diagnosed with Cri du Chat Syndrome . It all happened so fast that we didn't know what had hit us. What we did know is that we were determined to help her reach her potential, whatever that was.

We were even considering the possibility of homeschooling.

The only problem was, where to start? I had worked with children with disablilities before. The most extremely disabled were those who were autistic. Many had Asperger Syndrome.

Despite my experience, I never had to work with a baby before. I wasn't even sure of the developmental milestones that pre-school children were supposed to reach.

I turned to my maternal and child health service notebook, and month after agonising month, watched the milestones go by without Chloe reaching them.

The Two Paths

It became very clear that there were two distinct paths open to us. We could go the well-travelled route and register for all the services available to us in the system. We did that. In her first two years Chloe saw:

• geneticists
• maternal and child health nurses
• paediatricians
• a cardiologist
• GPs
• orthopaedic surgeons
• speech pathologists
• physiotherapists
• audiologists
• optometrists

But it began to dawn on us that despite their best intentions and expertise, they viewed Chloe only in terms of their speciality. She was not a whole person, but a set of problems to be managed.

The Path of Potential

With this in mind, we also took her to:

These people gave her gentle, but mostly effective treatments and programs. They tended to view her as a whole person and were very willing to work with one another to help Chloe achieve her potential.

And there it was: the two paths - problems and potential.

Something Familiar?

I found a book called What to do About Your Brain-Injured Child by Glenn Doman. This made sense.

I found some families who had disabled children and who were also working with Glenn Doman's teachings.

Our neighbourhood was galvanised into a network of volunteers and so we set about our physical and intellectual development program.

We patterned, swung, exercised and flashcarded Chloe multiple times a day, seven days a week and began to watch the changes in her.

During her reading program, we would use flashcards with big red words on it. Suddenly I realised that I had seen this before. On questioning my parents I learned that my father had bought "How to Teach Your Baby to Read" by Glenn Doman, the author of Chloe's programs. My father found the book in the seventies and had taught me to read with it!

I had come full circle.

What This Linguist is Learning

For us, a dual carriageway worked with Chloe. It gave us the balance we needed between management of problems and seeking potential. It is very easy to become dogmatic and to crusade against one side of the carriageway.

In her six years Chloe has taught me more about disability, learning and development than I have learned at any other time in my life. Her presence with us has brought so many positive outcomes for me, my family and my practice that I can scarcely list them all.

For more details about the first steps of her journey, click the Disability First Seven Years Introduction Page. I have also written about forming a support group and the importance of diet and nutrition.

Your Disabled Child: How to Love the First Seven Years - ebook coming soon!

They are free to download, but will also be available all together as a PDF document for a small price.

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