Triumph Over Trauma: How My Daughter Overcame Her Traumatic Birth

Hello Friends in Love and Light and Peace!

I wanted to share with you a wonderful interview I had yesterday with Michael Ray Dresser, host of the online radio show Dresser After Dark. During the show I discussed my book Triumph Over Trauma: Learning Begins In Infancy, which is based on the story of how my younger daughter, Jennifer, overcame her traumatic birth and tells of the methods I used to stimulate her neurological development. As a result of my efforts, Jennifer was reading independently at the 3rd grade level at only 2 and 1/2 years old, and she was accepted into MENSA before she reached her teens.

Today's blog post will elaborate on the answers I gave during my interview with Michael.

What prompted you to write Triumph over Trauma: Learning Begins In Infancy?

My younger daughter, Jennifer, suffered trauma during my delivery: she swallowed her first stool inside of me, causing her to lose oxygen during the precious first minutes immediately after birth. She was rated in as a 1 on the Apgar scale, a method doctors use to gauge the health of newborns. A healthy baby usually scores anywhere from a 6 to a 10, and anything below a 5 is considered at risk. A score of 0 means the baby is completely unresponsive.

Even after the stool was suctioned out and she began to breathe, Jennifer's score was increased only to a 3. To compound matters, her first brain scan showed evidence of abnormalities. Her father and I couldn't even bring her home. She had to be put immediately into an oxygen isolette and transported to the intensive care unit, where she remained for more than a week. When we were finally allowed to bring Jennifer home, she had to use a feeding tube for several weeks because she could not nurse properly. The doctors told us to prepare for the worst: most babies in Jennifer's situation developed mental disabilities later on in life...but her father and I did not give up.

I wrote Triumph Over Trauma because I felt moved to help other parents, grandparents or guardians of babies or young people whose children may be at risk for problems caused by birth trauma. I listed step-by-step methods that parents can use with their children---the same methods I used with Jennifer! I know what they're going through, and I know how hard it can be to press on in the face of medical professionals who tell you it's not worth it and not to get your hopes up. But no matter how much effort it takes, the potential reward is always worth it: seeing your child overcome his or her disadvantages to become a high-achieving adolescent and ultimately a successful, accomplished adult.

Although Triumph Over Trauma includes personal stories of specific activities I did with Jennifer at various age levels to accelerate her intellectual growth, these techniques can be used with all children, not only those who experienced problems at birth.

Eventually, my work with Jennifer garnered the attention of Essence Magazine, and in 1999 both of us were honored with an Essence Award. We were also interviewed on ABC's The View, CBS's Day and Date and NBC's Inside Edition. We also appeared several times on Rev. Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power" televised Sunday service.

After appearing on national broadcast TV to receive my Essence Award, I began to get calls from parents all across the United States. Mothers cried to me over the phone because they wanted help for their little ones but weren't getting support from their families. Over and over again, parents told me I had to write down what I had done to help Jennifer and make it available. I was initially unsure I could undertake such a daunting task, but my own family encouraged me to tell our story. I pieced together journal entries, searched the house for my old materials, and jogged my husband's memories until I had enough to put together this book. I am so glad it has been able to help other children, as my daughter had been helped.

What techniques and programs did you use with Jennifer?

Several of the techniques I initially used with Jennifer came from the book How To Teach Your Baby To Read by Glen Doman. It is a wonderful source of advice for teaching babies who are as young as a few months old how to recognize words and eventually sentences, all while instilling in them the joy of learning that is often missing from more commonly used phonics-based reading methods.

One person in particular I want to mention is Robert Doman, Jr. Mr. Doman founded the National Association of Child Development (NACD), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents maximize their children's potential. Mr. Doman and his team at NACD designed a personalized homeschooling program targeted for Jennifer's special needs at age nine---a list that included ADD/ADHD and poor social skills. Jennifer excelled so greatly, we were able to enroll her in junior college at age 13!

A key element of the NACD program is an activity called Sequential Processing, which uses strings of letters and numbers to determine the amount of information one's brain can correctly process. Regularly practicing Sequential Processing will improve your mental fitness and enhance your brain's ability to retrieve stored information. Although Jennifer was clearly a bright student by the time she was evaluated by NACD, ADD and ADHD were preventing her from processing and understanding all the information she received in her classes. After only a few months with Sequential Processing, Jennifer showed an enormous improvement in her ability to utilize the information she was receiving in her brain in an orderly way, and in her ability to retrieve it effectively on exams and quizzes. Her grades shot up, as did her confidence and her constructive participation in class. (Recently, NACD has developed a computerized version of the Sequential Processing called Simply Smarter.)

Several other techniques Mr. Doman used to accelerate Jennifer's development and sharpen her awareness are also shared in Triumph Over Trauma. It is clear to me that Jennifer's lasting success throughout college and graduate school is directly traceable to NACD program designed for her by Mr. Doman. I could not have written this book without his knowledge and his extensive research into learning disabilities and neurological development.

What are some of the results you saw with Jennifer?

Some of the rewards from stimulating my daughter's development can be seen in the fact that she has very strong general reasoning and analytical abilities and possesses a quick mind. She also seems to excel at anything she tries. Not only was she reading words at 8 months, but she could hum some of the music we played in the background daily for her. She began reading home-made books at age 2/ 1/2 years, and she had her own library card at age 3, by which time she was reading independently at the first to second grade level. She entered junior college at age 13 and earned straight A's across the curriculum. After joining MENSA, she transferred to Harvey Mudd College, from which she graduated with a degree in Mathematics. Jennifer went on to obtain Masters degrees in Operations Research and in Computer Science. She has won local, state, and national awards in violin, voice, art, writing, and science. A few years ago she developed an interest in computer music production, and just last year she released a CD of musical selections which she wrote, performed, engineered and produced all by herself! Her father and I are continually amazed at how accomplished she is.

Why Should Pregnant Women Consider Themselves "Women With Two Brains?"

Why two brains? One is her own brain, of course...and the other is the brain of the fetus growing inside her, wholly dependent upon her choices for its nourishment and development. The experiences the mother has, the food she eats, the environment she chooses, the emotions she feels, the words she vocalizes, the music she plays, the interactions she experiences---all these play a role in shaping the brain of the new life within her. The music I played, the stories I read and the meditations I did were all things that calmed her down. I remember reading the Lord's Prayer to her and saying this was the prayer of Master Jesus. After she was born, and I began showing her pictures of people, with the picture of Jesus in the selections, she would always gravitate back to the picture I called Jesus, and wanted to hold that picture. As a toddler, she would carry it around with her. This and other events with my daughter let me realize how important it is to be careful what you say and how you react to others.

What should I take away from your book?

Parents should realize that all the techniques I describe in my book are designed for children with and without disabilities. Anyone can use these techniques with their kids! It's also important to realize the importance of using grandparents, aunts and uncles, whoever else is in the household to assist you in stimulating your baby, toddler, adolescent, etc. But don't be too serious: the emphasis should be on teaching in an exciting, enthusiastic and joyful tone. Teach them that learning is fun---and mean it, or don't do it all! You should show your children that you love imparting this knowledge to them.

Above all else, you, the parent-teacher, must believe in yourself and in your child's ability to learn! I can't emphasize this more. And believe me, the consistency does pay off. Make sure to give praise often, and don't push your children to always compete with others. Learning is the best game in the world, and it is exciting! Finally, look for and associate with parents who have similar values to yours. As your children grow, their peer group will become more and more important.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of Triumph Over Trauma: Learning Begins in Infancy if you have any more questions, and to listen to my interview with Michael Ray Dresser. The whole three-hour show will air continuously for 24 hours, starting at 7:00 P.M on Feb 11th 2010. (I am on during the second hour of the show...if the show is no longer posted to their website send me an email.)

Enjoy, and I wish all the parents out there the best of luck in raising happy, healthy and successful children!



God Bless You,

Lighterworker Gloria