The History of The Institutes

The Institutes was founded by Glenn Doman in 1955.

Since its inception, The Institutes has succeeded in changing substantially the world's attitude toward the brain-injured child. Some of the world still continues to believe that to speak of making a brain-injured child well is a contradiction in terms.

Originally the treatment program for brain-injured children was conducted at The Institutes on an inpatient basis. However, the staff and the parents working together discovered that a home treatment program produced greater results in the child than even the finest in-patient treatment program.

The Institutes has led the way to a better appreciation of the central nervous system as a sensory-motor cybernetic* system. Many of the methods pioneered by The Institutes, such as crawling, creeping, patterning, early reading, math, and encyclopedic knowledge programs, the elimination of braces and calipers, the oxygen enrichment program, careful nutritional program, and many others, are now in general use.

*cybernetic: dealing with organic control and systems, as the brain and its neurons.

Other methods developed by The Institutes are not yet in general use. Some of these programs are coma arousal, respiratory patterning, pro-gravitational and anti-gravitational environments, brain integration, and intellectual, social, and language development programs. The Institutes has pioneered the careful and safe elimination of anti-epileptic drugs and other medications such as tranquilizers and Ritalin.