Why Is There No Big Push For A Cure For Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome For Babies?

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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. So, there is little or no maturation emotionally, physically, socially, behaviorally, or intellectually. There are varying degrees within this diagnosis.

Some babies 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 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 start the first grade in school.

Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome is one of many labels of developmental problems. For most of these developmental problems, the psychological and medical communities have all recognized that there is no cure.

For What Reason Is There No Cure?

Mostly, there is no cure because the researchers who study their conditions and the clinicians who work with these children do not know the reason the developmental process got stopped or bogged down. And, because they do not have an understanding of what moves the developmental process and what might interfere with that process, they only have the scope of recognizing, categorizing, training, or treating symptoms.

Research Funds Are Being Disbursed

A while back I visited a graduate psychology program at a major university. I talked with the director about the current understanding of developmental problems. He talked with me about one of his own research projects. He had received funding to investigate the difference between the symptoms of Asperger's and the HFA. He was working to make the diagnosis of these two conditions more clear.

I thought that was a curious situation, because funds was being spent on making the diagnostic process precise, but there was no precise treatment for either diagnosis. I could understand providing funds 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 investigations in developmental problems, but it seems to be focused on minor applications.

There Seems To Be Little Hope For A Cure

We see pronounced signs of this in many places. There is a movement called Neurodiversity. In this movement, people have given up hope of a cure for developmental problems and have started looking at these problems as a new slant in human evolution. They see developmental problems as the next step in our evolution as a species. They resist the idea of a cure and reject to have their children or themselves considered for treatment, because they think that nothing is wrong.

In our work we do not treat any of the symptoms, but we monitor when symptoms disappear. One common symptom for severe developmental problems is the inability to maintain eye-contact. In our program, this is one of the symptoms which fades away early in the process.

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 reports I could use the precise technical name. I didn't get that technical name I was looking for, because I was so interested in the initial response from this Director. He told me they no longer try to have their clients make and maintain eye contact, because they would never need to. They were clearly preparing their clients to be adults with severe developmental problems. They were not proceeding in any way to help their clients overcome their problems. They do not have any hope that there is a cure, or it seesm like they believe, that there will be a cure.

What We Believe Is Occuring In Children With Developmental Difficulties

Developmental problems are a problem in the developmental progression. The symptoms (including the behaviors) of children with developmental problems are only symptoms. These symptoms are not the problem.

Treatment protocols should focus on what stopped or slowed down the developmental process. Reactivating the developmental process should be the essential outcome. If the developmental process gets started again, the child "grows out of" all the symptoms.

When the developmental process is blocked or interrupted or sluggish, there are certain brain functions which are not allowed to mature naturally. After the impediments are cleared away, there is a physical exercise program which must be performed so that these functions can develop appropriately. These circuits push the developmental process. As these circuits are rebuilt, the developmental process moves forward.

The reason that there is no cure for developmental problems is a paradigm issue. Developmental problems are not medical, yet we continue to treat them as if they were medical. I think the most appropriate characterization is that they are a cultural issue. Our modern cultural evolution has taken us away from the environment in which we evolved. These sensitive children are reacting to factors in this new cultural environment. But the medical fields are stuck in their paradigms and are not yet able to recognize that their approach does not work for solving these problems.

Everybody Is Focusing Their Attention In The Wrong Direction

Everyone is looking outside the child for the causes (mercury, vaccinations, etc. .). By looking outside the child, they are missing the most significant issues.

Recent information from research institutions is saying that developmental problems 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 shuts down their developmental process. Investigation needs to focus on this susceptibility, that interaction, and those reactions.

Now, many parents are looking at those possible environmental factors which seems to start the problem. Mercury and vaccinations are some of their current focuses. I'm confident that many children are being affected by these kinds of substances. But, these outside factors in the environment are not the “cause” of the developmental problems. The cause is the response that these sensitive children have to these factors. It is important for all of us to understand that these sensitive children can have a similar response to wheat, corn, milk, chocolate, laundry detergent or thousands of other things in the environment.

If we focus all of our attention on all those different offending factors, 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 sensitive children are reacting, we will spend all our attention, focus, and money on managing all those things. If we do this, we will not have the resources to on the real issue.

What Should We Focus On?

We need to look into the sensitivities and the reactions which these sensitive children naturally have to these kinds of things to which they respond. There are treatments that can be taught which temporarily neutralize the sensitivity to a specific thing for a specific exposure for a specific child. This temporary treatment can be done to stop the immediate response. Then a precise program can be developed for this child. This program needs to identify all of the factors to which this specific child is sensitive and eliminate them from this child's environment. With this kind of approach, the child would stop having reactions and the child's developmental movement will proceed appropriately.

This is what we do in our practice with Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome children. The plan of action 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. It requires intentional participation by the client and client's family. When they intentionally follow the plan of action, this child consistently gets back on track.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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.

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