| Developmental Disability includes Autism, | | | | but I do not think it amounted to 1/3. |
| Asperger's, PDD-NOS and other diagnoses. | | | | |
| Developmental Delay includes ADD, Learning | | | | What is a developmental problem? |
| Disability, Dyslexia, and more. Then there is | | | | |
| GDD and Central Auditory Processing Disorder, | | | | Quite simply, it is some blockage in the |
| and I don't know where they fit in the | | | | developmental process. All living things move |
| official structure of diagnostic labels, but | | | | through a life cycle. Much of the early |
| I know they are a developmental problem. | | | | phases of that life cycle are spent in |
| | | | maturing. From inception to maturity, all |
| I have been working with children with | | | | living things move through a series of |
| developmental difficulties for a few years. I | | | | milestones. For us humans, we refer to these |
| use the terms developmental difficulties to | | | | as our developmental milestones. |
| encompass everything from Developmental | | | | |
| Disability to Developmental Delay, and even | | | | For children with developmental difficulties, |
| more. In our consulting program we consider | | | | they do not move through their milestones |
| them all fundamentally the same. They differ | | | | appropriately. They get stuck at some of the |
| only by level of intensity. We have created | | | | milestones. They miss some milestones. So, |
| protocols which work with all of the | | | | many of the elementary learning processes |
| developmental difficulties. Our program | | | | needed for appropriate maturity, are skipped. |
| unlocks your child's suspended tendency for | | | | And, in some cases a child is unable to move |
| growing up. | | | | forward in a milestone and does not move |
| | | | forward on to the next developmental |
| How big is the problem? | | | | milestone. |
| | | | |
| All of these developmental difficulties add | | | | In my opinion, all of the unique diagnostic |
| up to an estimated 28 million children in | | | | labels are related to some elementary |
| America. The Census Bureau tells us there a | | | | elements. In which developmental milestones |
| total of 85 million children in America. The | | | | did the child get stuck or which milestones |
| APA (American Pediatric Association) tells us | | | | did the child lose? How intense is the |
| that one in every six children have a | | | | 'stuckness?' And, how many milestones did the |
| diagnosis for some developmental problem | | | | child lose? |
| (16.7%). The different associations for all | | | | |
| of the individual diagnostic labels of | | | | What can be done about it? |
| developmental difficulties all agree when | | | | |
| they estimate that about half of the children | | | | All of the different diagnostic category |
| with these problems obtain a diagnosis for | | | | associations in the field of developmental |
| their problem (that makes it one third). And, | | | | difficulties are clearly speaking on one |
| 33% of 85 million is 28 million children. | | | | voice when they say that the 1) developmental |
| | | | process is blocked and that 2) there is no |
| That means that one third of all the children | | | | cure. |
| in every classroom have some level of | | | | |
| developmental problem. Maybe it shows up as a | | | | Clinicians in this field do not know what to |
| lack of capacity to attend or sit still. | | | | do to cure developmental difficulties. |
| Maybe it shows up as a lack of capacity to | | | | Nothing that they try affects the |
| learn writing. Maybe it shows up as a lack of | | | | developmental process. For decades clinicians |
| coordination. Maybe it is so severe, the | | | | have tried everything they can think of to do |
| children never learn to connect to the | | | | and nothing works. |
| context. Maybe it is mild and only an | | | | |
| inconvenience to the children and the | | | | After all these frustrating years, they have |
| parents. | | | | finally agreed with each other that there is |
| | | | no cure. And, now it is officially agreed. |
| In whatever form, developmental difficulties | | | | All of the diagnostic associations and all of |
| seem to be growing in percentages. We are | | | | the committees creating the diagnostic |
| certainly getting more precise with our | | | | specifications have agreed that there is no |
| diagnoses. And, we are certainly advanced as | | | | cure. Now, they spend all of their research |
| a culture so that we offer those diagnostic | | | | dollars on finding causes instead of |
| services to more families who otherwise could | | | | developing solutions for 28 million children |
| not afford it. But, I am not sure this is the | | | | with these developmental difficulties. |
| reason we have 1/3 of our children with | | | | |
| developmental difficulties. | | | | They have tried many things, but they have |
| | | | not tried everything. |
| When I was a child in school, half a century | | | | |
| ago, I do not remember 1/3 of the children | | | | With our program children plug the empty |
| having these types of difficulties in my | | | | places in their developmental process. Our |
| classrooms. I remember that maybe 5% to 10% | | | | program unlocks your child's suspended |
| might have had these kinds of difficulties, | | | | tendency for growing up. |