|
Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome (FTT or NOFTT) in children is a diagnosis which recognizes that a baby is not progressing through developmental stages normally. So, there is little or no maturation emotionally, physically, behaviorally, socially, or intellectually. There are varying flavors of this diagnosis.
Some with FTT are 3, 4, or 5 years old and are still babies. Some children with FTT are physically growing and playing, but maybe they are not walking or talking by 5 or 6. Some children with FTT are walking and talking at 7 or 8 but not yet mature enough to be able to proceed to the first year in school.
Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome is one of many labels or diagnoses of developmental difficulties. For most of these developmental difficulties, the psychological communities have all acknowledged that there is no cure.
How Come Is There No Movement Towards A Cure?
Mostly, there is no cure because the researchers who examine their conditions and the clinicians who work with these children do not know why the developmental process got interrupted or slowed down. And, because they do not understand what pushes the developmental process and what might block that process, they only have the scope of training or treating symptoms.
Research Funds Are Available
Not long ago I visited a graduate psychology program at a major university. I talked with the graduate program director about the current understanding of developmental difficulties. He talked with me about one of his recent research projects. He had received a grant to research the precise difference between the conditions of Asperger's and the HFA. His project was to make the diagnosis of these two conditions more precise.
I believe that was interesting, because funds was being spent on making the diagnostic process more precise, but there was no precise treatment for either diagnosis. I could understand spending money to develop more precise diagnostic definitions for something where that difference in diagnosis would lead to people receiving the correct treatment for their diagnosis. Clearly, there is grant money available for research in developmental difficulties, but it seems to be channeled into minor applications.
There Seems To Be Little Hope For A Cure
We see pronounced signals of this in many places. There is a faction called Neurodiversity. In this faction, members have given up any hope of a cure for developmental difficulties and have started looking at these difficulties as a new aspect in human evolution. They see developmental difficulties as the next step in our evolution as a species. They resist the idea of a cure and refuse to have their children or themselves considered for treatment, because they think that nothing is wrong.
In our protocols we do not work on any of the symptoms, but we keep track of when symptoms are gone. One common symptom for severe developmental difficulties is the inability to look others in the eyes. In our protocols, this is one of the symptoms which disappears early in the process we manage.
I recently talked with the Director of an ABA center to find out the technical name of this symptom of not having eye contact so that in in creating articles I could use the precise technical name for it. I didn't get the technical name I was looking for, because I was so startled by the answer from the Director. He told me they no longer work to have their clients make and maintain eye contact, because they would never really need to. They were clearly preparing their clients to become adults with severe developmental difficulties. They were not working in any way to help their clients overcome their problems. They do not have any hope that there is a cure, or seemingly they think, that there will be a cure.
What We Presume Is Transpiring In Children With Developmental Difficulties
Developmental difficulties are a problem in the normal developmental progression. The symptoms (including the behaviors) of children with developmental difficulties are only symptoms. These symptoms are not the problem.
Interventions should focus on what interrupted or caused the sluggishness of the developmental process. Reactivating the developmental process should be the essential outcome. If the developmental process gets reactivated, the child "matures out of" the symptoms.
When the developmental process is blocked or stopped or slowed down, there are certain brain circuits which are not allowed to grow and develop naturally. After the obstructions are eliminated, there are physical exercises which should be performed so that these circuits can mature appropriately. These circuits drive the developmental process. As these circuits are re-established, the developmental process moves forward.
The reason that there is no cure for developmental difficulties is a paradigm issue. Developmental difficulties are not medical or psychological, yet we continue to treat them as if they were medical or psychological. I think the most appropriate explanation is that they are a cultural issue. Our cultural evolution has taken us away from the environment in which we evolved as a species. These sensitive children are reacting to factors in this new cultural environment. But the medical or psychological fields are stuck in their paradigms and are not yet able to recognize that their approach does not work for solving these difficulties.
Clinicians Are Looking In The Wrong Direction
Everyone is looking outside the child for the causes (mercury, vaccinations, etc. .). By looking outside the child, they are not seeing the most significant issues.
The most recent information from research institutions is telling us that developmental difficulties come from a genetic susceptibility and its interaction with environmental factors. The genetic susceptibility of these children is that they are hypersensitive and because of this hypersensitivity they are reacting to some things in their environment. This reaction blocks their developmental process. Research needs to look into that susceptibility, that interaction, and those reactions.
Now, many clinicians are focusing their attention on those possible environmental factors which seems to start the problem. Mercury and vaccinations are some of their current targets. I'm sure that many children are being affected by these substances. But, these outside factors in the environment are not the “cause” of the developmental difficulties. The cause is the reaction that these hypersensitive children have to these factors. It is important to understand that these hypersensitive children can have a similar reaction to wheat, corn, milk, chocolate, laundry detergent or thousands of other environmental factors.
If we focus our attention on those different offending factors out there in our environment, we will get distracted in an labyrinth which does not lead to a cure. If we focus on the thousands of things to which these hypersensitive children are reacting, we will spend all our attention, focus, and money on managing all those things. If we do this, we will not be able to on the real issue.
What Should We Be Focusing On?
We need to be researching the sensitivities and the reactions which these hypersensitive children naturally have to those environmental factors to which they respond. There are treatments that can be taught which temporarily neutralize the sensitivity to a specific factor for a specific exposure for a specific child. This temporary treatment can be done to stop the immediate reaction. Then a precise plan of action can be established for the child. This program needs to identify all of the factors to which this specific child is hypersensitive and eliminate those things from the child's environment. With this kind of approach, the child will stop having reactions and the child's developmental process can proceed without interruption.
This is what we do in our programs with Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome children. The program we have developed is not a cure. It does work to restart the developmental process for a specific child and encourages that process to catch-up. To be successful, it requires intentional participation by the client and client's family. When they intentionally follow the program, the child gets back on track.
If your child has developmental issues such as Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome, come by our free, private social network for parents. Talk with us and each other about your child's situation.
|
|
SIGN
UP FOR FREE
