The trip to Philadelphia was long and difficult. It takes about 24 hours straight to get there. Our boy survived two flights of 4 and 10 hours, the trip from New York to Philadelphia and all the layovers in between. We are grateful to all the people who helped us along the way and our friend Alex and his wife Nataly in particular.

 

Early Monday morning February 17, 2014, we reached our destination, the famous Institutes for Achievement of Human Potential founded by Glenn Doman. We were warmly greeted by the staff we knew from working with other branches. We also had a chance to talk ot some other Russian speaking families from Russia and Ukraine.

 

The first day of the visit - the day of assessment of the last six months’ progress. This time Igor had some time to adapt to the jet lag and showed excellent results.

 

Days two and three are usually devoted to the lectures for visiting families. The lectures last from 9 AM to 8 PM. A lot of up to date and very specific information is being delivered through these lectures, some of it not available from existing written sources. During breaks the staff answers parent’s questions which is crucial for implementation of home programs.

 

Days four and five are the most important. During these days the new developmental program for the next 6 months is being developed and explained to the parents. The staff discussed Igor’s program with us in great detail. Some customizations were made to the program to meet our son’s specific needs. For instance, because of Igor’s vision, we were told to use larger font when making books for him than was initially suggested by the program.

 

Among the new things that were added to Igor’s routine were breathing exercises. At some point we’re going to need a special device for that that costs 2500 euros ($3500). There were other additions, too. Institute’s specialists see a lot of benefit in maintaining a vertical body position so Igor was prescribed a device for vertical exercises.

 

We heard a lot of praise from the staff for implementing our home program and for Igor’s achievements. He met the program goals in mobility and was awarded a certificate for that.

 

Leave the Institutes was a bit sad but we knew we were going home where new achievements and our small victories awaited. Stay with us, together we can achieve the impossible.

To be continued...