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Autism Centre

Research & Scientific Articles

The Treatment of Neurologically Impaired Children Using The Delacato Method of Rehabilitation

Robin Burn  I Eng AMIMMM

ABSTRACT. This statement refers to the current Delacato Method of Neurological Rehabilitation as therapy for Sensory Impaired children resulting from brain injury or as a result of incomplete Neurological Organisation, and calls into doubt the assertions and conclusions of the American Academy of Pediatrics in their 1999 Policy Statement criticising Delacato Therapy (as related to Doman-Delacato Therapy).

In the policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published in Pediatrics Volume 104, Number 5, November 1999, pp 1149 -1151, the AAP in their opening statement declares that 'patterning' has been advocated as a treatment for more than 40 years for children with brain injury and other disorders, such as learning disabilities, Downs Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism. This "new" statement is merely a reiteration of AAP statements of 1968 and 1982.

The AAP statement of November 1999 (nee 1968) is incorrect on a number of assertions.

Firstly, the Delacato Method currently practised worldwide, is the result of over 40 years of continued research and development of a therapy, first proposed by Delacato, Doman, Doman, and Fay, during the period when Carl Delacato was a co-founder of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) in the 50's and 60's.  Continued during Delacato's time as a founding director of The Centre for Neurological Rehabilitation with Robert Doman in 1973, and later as director and founder, of Delacato and Delacato, now continued by David Delacato aided by Antonio Parisi, under the auspices of Delacato International with clinics in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany.

This theory is constantly updated in the light of the latest neurological, physiological, and scientific findings.

The second incorrect assertion in the statement, infers that patterning is prescribed for many hours each day, needing several persons to manipulate a child's head and extremities.

The current Delacato Method occasionally incorporates a degree of patterning as part of a holistic approach for a few minutes each day, but only for the most severely involved children with grave mobility issues (e.g., severe cerebral palsy).

Current practise is that patterning exists as a portion of an individually designed series of therapeutic exercises, with each exercise performed for a period of 1 to 2 minutes, and repeated up to 3 to 4 times a day depending on the individual's needs.

The current Delacato practise for neurologically dysfunctional individuals such as those inflicted with Autism or autism like conditions, is well detailed in the Delacato books, "A New Start For The Child With Reading Problems" (1970), in "The Ultimate Stranger, The Autistic Child" (1973), and the book published by Antonio Parisi, developmental neurologist to the Delacato Centres in Europe, "Children Who Do Not Look You In The Eye" (2003).

No reference is made anywhere in the AAP statement to the 1970 and 1973 Delacato publications, and the conclusions of a report published in June 1973 by the National Association of Retarded Children (NARC), under the Title of "Sensori-Motor Training Project," which concluded that the Delacato Method should undergo further studies but did in fact provide a sensible and worthwhile rehabilition approach.

In truth, the whole statement by the AAP, first published in 1968 is based principally on the criticism of the original IAHP practise of the 50's and the 60's, having in their updated statement of 1982 and 1999 made no reference to Delacato publications and practises after 1970.  These early criticisms having been wholeheartedly refuted by the 1973 NARC study.

The Autism Centre believes that this is a serious ommision by the AAP and casts doubt upon the relevancy of their criticism of the Delacato Method as practised today.

The Delacato Method for the rehabilitation of neurologically dysfunctional individuals remains to date the only therapeutic approach which has been scientifically assessed by any recognised body associated with brain injured individuals.

© Dec 1st 2003 - Robin Burn