Monday, May 28, 2007

A Different Way of Looking at Developmental Problems

What if the conventional neurological, physical, and pharmaceutical approaches to developmental problems are all irrelevant? What if there was a cultural patch to these problems that you could do as a parent and all the symptoms would be gone naturally, in a short while?

The accepted understanding for these developmental concerns is that:

a) there is no cure,
b) you might grow out of some of the symptoms over the years,
c) you might need to take some drugs that are prescribed,
d) and you may need to take those drugs for the rest of your life.

Developmental concerns show up as some combination of these behaviors:

* A lack of attention and concentration
* Poor coordination
* Inability to do some task for longer than a few seconds
* Inability to sit and wait
* Inability for understand directions
* Inability to connect with the context
* Inability to control impulses
* Extreme sensitivity to some forms of light, sound, or touch
* Poor self management
* Poor self esteem
* Poor athletic skills
* Poor musical ability
* Poor academic development
* Poor speech skills
* Poor emotional development
* Poor social skill ability

The current diagnostic process for developmental concerns involves recognizing which of these behaviors a child displays. But, what if none of these specific behaviors is really important with respect to a solution for the child? What if the fix is something really elementary and no one has even thought about paying attention to it?

In the last few years, I have worked with more than three hundred children who have developmental concerns. My experience is that over 70% lose all of their developmental problem 'symptoms' by following a precise exercise program and cleaning up their environment.

Advancements in other fields

Discoveries brought forward by research in the last few years are leading to new approaches in many disciplines. In many instances, a multidisciplinary approach is leading to new insights because of the distinct frames-of-reference from those multiple disciplines. Many people working together from different fields are sharing concepts and learning from each other. These shared concepts are leading to dramatic improvements in understanding for all involved.

However, in the areas of developmental concerns, many disciplines are looking at the problem, but few are sharing what they are discovering in a multidisciplinary approach. Because they are holding onto their own paradigms, little advancement is being made. There does not seem to be any major advancement because it appears that everyone is sticking within their own paradigms and rejecting all other paradigms. Advancements all seem to be in how to provide more detailed labels. No one appears to be bringing out anything significant in the areas of treatment or prevention.

What are universities doing?

I recently visited a university and talked with the director of the psychology department. This department of this university was focusing on Autism and Asperger's (a high functioning form of PDD). Their educational and their research efforts were focused on recognizing the minute and precise symptom differences between High Functioning Autism and Asperger's. The official paradigm for these disorders is that there is no cure (and there never will be). They are not looking for a cure. They are only focusing on how to get better at the diagnosis of these conditions.

When I told this university psychology department director of my own personal experiences of working with hundreds of children with these conditions who lost their symptoms, he explained that there is no way to achieve symptom reduction and elimination. My experience did not fit his approaches, so it was not something he could hear. I visited this university in search of graduate students who need research projects for their graduate studies. Their approaches are so strong, that no one from that university wanted to explore my techniques, even though I have consistent results with developmental problems.

It is the same for medical doctors, developmental psychologists, and special ed teachers. They think there is no way to fix these conditions and so they concentrate on precisely identifying these conditions. Most efforts for treatment are designed to help children, moms & dads, and teachers deal with the other children who have these developmental problems.

A new paradigm

What will happen when we talk about a program you can do in your community for a few minutes per day, and the developmental issue symptoms will be gone in 6 - 12 months? This does not fit the current approaches, so the 'professionals' will not review it or prescribe it. For them, this does not fit their current approaches, so it cannot exist.

Well, there is hope and the solutions are not coming out of the conventional neurological, physical, or and pharmaceutical approaches to developmental problems. The solutions are coming out of common sense and concepts that were common before the Industrial Revolution. The solutions are not neurological, physical, or pharmaceutical. They are cultural.

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