by Lisa Jamieson, Co-author of Finding Glory in the Thorns As a mom, I wear many hats. As an NACD mom, I’ve worn even more. And just like our ever-changing Minnesota weather seasons require different kinds of hats, my life’s seasons often require that I take on different roles and wear different “hats” to make…
by Debbie Frederickson When Ammon was born he had oxygen problems that weren’t detected until he was six weeks old. When he was three, the Sparks Clinic in Birmingham evaluated him and they said he was “mentally retarded.” When he was about five, we discovered that he had a hearing loss. We were told that…
by Robert J. Doman Jr. I recently returned from our Chapter in Southern California with renewed faith that our families there are really “getting” the importance of working memory/sequential processing. More importantly, they understand that they can really change it—dramatically! But before I tell you their specific stories, let’s look at the key they discovered…
By Melissa G. I remember a lot of things from before program, but I don’t remember how much having an inefficient brain affected all the things that happened to me. Some kids who have problems learning get to the point where they just say, “I have ADHD (or whatever their problem is called)” the same…
Robert J. Doman, Jr. Changing the brain (i.e., learning) requires providing the brain with specific, appropriate input that must be delivered with sufficient frequency, intensity and duration. Of the three components—frequency, intensity and duration—the least important is duration. Unfortunately, duration is the one component “education” tends to concentrate on the most. Most educators and legislators believe that “in…
The differences in intellectual abilities between digit spans of 10’s and 14’s, or beyond by Michele Aldridge I have utilized the teaching tools of auditory and visual digit spans with all of my children over my many years association with NACD and Robert Doman. My eldest child is brain injured and has been on program…
When our son Bill was born we had no idea what an extraordinary journey we were embarking upon. It has been one fraught with times of fear, disappointment, sadness, frustration and many roadblocks. However, the joy, the good times and his amazing success in all of his endeavors have far outweighed the bad. He has…
By Lyn Waldeck Our story, which by no means is at its end, began in the mountains. To be specific the Transylvanian Mountains. During Christmas of 1990, a specific child was brought to our attention that was in desperate need of a family. Florin Valc, who later became our son Evan Waldeck, had spent the…
by Jenny Marrs When John was born in the fall of 1994, we were devastated with the diagnosis of Down syndrome. We were so scared about what kind of future he would have. Among the tons of literature we were given to help us understand Down syndrome, I found no silver lining, and I only…
by Robert J. Doman, Jr. In 1972 I sent my first Down Syndrome child off to her first day of school, in regular class, in a “normal” public school with “normal” expectations, and no special services. Linda was entering first grade, having spent two years with me at the George Crother’s Memorial School. Linda entered…