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Every Monday, a dozen parents and their brain-injured children visit a campus nestled in the outskirts of Philadelphia on Chestnut Hill. They arrive at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) from all over the world with high hopes of curing their children. They have already attended several lectures about human development and the brain, they've started a home-developed training program based on a designated book, and after years of waiting, in some cases, they have finally come to meet the specialists. The specialists will develop an individualized training program that will hopefully allow their children a shot at a normal life.

The peaceful campus with Italian castle-like buildings, trees, and gardens looks more like a private school than a forward-minded institution that constantly challenges existing concepts and treatment methods related to brain damage. The Institutes claim they can cure or at least improve the conditions of "brain-injured" children including the mentally retarded, epileptic, and autistic. Dr. Neil Harvey, the Dean of IAHP, says 100% of their patients show some improvement. About a third each show mild, good, and exceptional differences - "exceptional" meaning normal or above normal brain functionality. As hard as that is to believe, their main hall is decorated with pictures of previous patients who are now successful professionals in various fields. Portraits of benefactors such as the Japanese and Malaysian Imperial family and the Brazilian government also grace the walls. The NASA Chief of Medical Staff helped develop part of their program, and the Institutes have a staff exchange program with the Suzuki Music School in Japan. Dr. Harvey relates an incident years ago when former president Eisenhower asked IAHP to examine a child of his friend as soon as possible- the letter from the president is framed and hung.

Upon reading the IAHP bible, "What to Do About Your Brain-Injured Child" by Glenn Doman, founder and director of IAHP, you will find that their theory is very simple and comprehensive. Contrary to other medical studies, it is based largely on observation. The underlying belief is 1) brain injury is in the brain, 2) functional problems in eyes, ears, mouth, chest, arms, legs and everywhere else in the body are merely symptoms, and 3) the symptoms cannot be healed without treating the brain itself.

With that in mind, Doman and his staff created "The Institutes Developmental Profile" in the 1950s which they still use today to diagnose the severity of brain-injury in children. In developing the profile, Doman's staff spent countless hours researching the different levels of ability that children go through before reaching full functionality in visual, auditory, and tactile competence, as well as mobility, language, and manual competence.

For example, in the mobility category, they found that children cannot walk without creeping first, creep without learning to crawl, and crawl without the ability to move arms and legs. Not surprisingly, they found the complexity level of the skill corresponded with the level of the brain used. Specifically, the medulla, the brain level of fish, is responsible for the ability to move arms and legs. The pons, the brain level of amphibians such as frogs, is responsible for crawling. The midbrain, the brain level of reptiles, is responsible for creeping, and the cortex, the highest level is responsible for walking. These observations led to the conclusion that the child's functional development stopped at a point that corresponded with the injured part of the brain. If the child could not walk, it meant injury was in the cortex, and if the child could not creep, injury was most likely in the midbrain. They came up with the Profile after making similar observations about the other functions.

The Profile, which allowed them to determine the location of the brain injury was only the first step. After finding a way to determine the location of the brain-injury, the Institutes staff reasoned that if injury in the specific part of the brain was fixed and other brain areas were normal, then the child would develop normally. Doman writes in his book: "In a well child, the reflexes produce movement which he can feel. When he develops his capacity to feel, and matures the sensory portions of his brain. As the brain matures, it begins to appreciate the correlation between motor output and sensory response.... In the case of a child who had failed for any reason, to complete this cycle on his own, could we perhaps give him external help?" Thus started, a whole range of therapies designed to re-educate the injured section of the brain and re-awaken the inherited instincts.

One of the first therapies they developed is a popular method, "patterning", which has spread to many institutions and hospitals around the world. The concept of patterning is a simple one: adults showing the child how to move its arms and legs. When done several times every day, the child begins to learn. For crawling, an easy-to-build slide is used. The slide takes advantage of natural forces to re-awaken the child's instinct to move the arms and legs.

The program, as hinted in the beginning of the article, requires enormous family sacrifices. The core of the IAHP program depends on the parents' determination and ability to work with the child throughout most of the day. Through its rigorous requirements, the IAHP program weeds out quickly parents who aren't able to provide such commitment. In fact, you will not see the staff until you attend a lecture session and start a home developed program based on Glenn Doman's book. It is especially challenging if you have other children. Yet parents flock to IAHP from all over the world clinging to the possibility that the program will help their child have a normal life.

To find out more, read What to Do About Your Brain-Injured Child by Glenn Doman (Avery Publishing, $11.95) or call IAHP at (215) 233-2050 to request program information.