Teach Your Baby to Read

[Stan]

Hello all,
I'm interested in hearing good and bad opinions on the now 40 year old
"teach your baby to read" book. I've heard a lot of "bad science"
claims about Doman et al, and if anyone has anything good to say
long-term about his programs for well children, it certainly doesn't
appear they do so publicly. I'm not intersted in sending my 3-week
old son off to one of their "boot camps" in Philly, but I'm half way
through the "Teach your baby to read" book and the techniques
mentioned in the book seem pretty harmless: if they work, great, and
if not, it isn't as if the 7 minutes a day you spend together with
flash-cards has a long-term negative impact. I'm interested in any
comments either way, but specifically looking for someone who used it
some time in the past and has some objective long-term opinion of its
use.
Thanks,
Stan

[Christopher Biow]

(Stan) wrote:

>Hello all,
>I'm interested in hearing good and bad opinions on the now 40 year old
>"teach your baby to read" book. I've heard a lot of "bad science"
>claims about Doman et al, and if anyone has anything good to say
>long-term about his programs for well children, it certainly doesn't
>appear they do so publicly. I'm not intersted in sending my 3-week
>old son off to one of their "boot camps" in Philly, but I'm half way
>through the "Teach your baby to read" book and the techniques
>mentioned in the book seem pretty harmless: if they work, great, and
>if not, it isn't as if the 7 minutes a day you spend together with
>flash-cards has a long-term negative impact. I'm interested in any
>comments either way, but specifically looking for someone who used it
>some time in the past and has some objective long-term opinion of its
>use.

>From all I've read about him, Glenn Doman a genial and well-intentioned
man, whose system causes no harm with a normal baby, unless taken to
extremes. Of course, the same could be said for spending seven minutes per
day in front of your baby standing on your head or baying at the moon.

Doman's "patterning" system and the books he has written about it are sheer
pseudoscience. You'll find a thorough review by Prof. Terence Hines in
[Skeptical_Inquirer 19:5, Sept 95]. Doman is without bona fide credentials
in the field. He founded his theories upon grossly mistaken ideas about
neuroanatomy, and he has consistently refused to allow skeptical review or
evaluation of his "results" by child development researchers. You'll find
condemnations of his claims by the American Academy of Pediatrics and most
other organizations dedicated to warning parents against spending money on
unfounded "therapies". Burton White's book _First Three Years of Life_ also
has an extensive treatment of Doman's claims.

The truly dark side of the "patterning therapy" comes when it is sold to
parents of children who really need help. The title of the re-published
version of Glen Doman's book speaks volumes: _What To Do
About Your Brain-Injured Child Or Your Brain-damaged, Mentally Retarded,
Mentally Deficient, Cerebral-palsied, Spastic, Flaccid, Rigid, Epileptic,
Autistic, Athetoid, Hyperactive, Down's [sic] Child_ [Avery Publishing
Group, Garden City Park, NY, 1994].

[LisaBell]

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 21:07:53 EST, (Stan)
wrote:

>Hello all,
>I'm interested in hearing good and bad opinions on the now 40 year old
>"teach your baby to read" book. I've heard a lot of "bad science"
>claims about Doman et al, and if anyone has anything good to say
>long-term about his programs for well children, it certainly doesn't
>appear they do so publicly. I'm not intersted in sending my 3-week
>old son off to one of their "boot camps" in Philly, but I'm half way
>through the "Teach your baby to read" book and the techniques
>mentioned in the book seem pretty harmless: if they work, great, and
>if not, it isn't as if the 7 minutes a day you spend together with
>flash-cards has a long-term negative impact. I'm interested in any
>comments either way, but specifically looking for someone who used it
>some time in the past and has some objective long-term opinion of its
>use.

I learned reading with flashcards from the Doman system some 36 years
ago and what I can say is that I learned to read very early (way
before kindergarten) and have always been a very fast and very fluent
"sight" reader. Of course I cannot tell you conclusively that this
resulted from the use of the flashcards, but the few minutes a day
spent doing them with me (I think I had only one session a day, not
necessarily the complete Doman regimen of several short sessions)
clearly didn't do any harm.

On the negative side, I have heard lots of negative things about
Doman's patterning system, and specifically the intense courses he
recommends (in his school or even at home if done devotedly enough) so
I'm not inclined to take his methods too seriously, per se. In other
words, I don't think a few minutes of flashcards a day can be harmful,
but believe that the full Doman "system" can be.

--Lisabell