Psychomotor patterning, rarely referred to as the Doman-Delacato technique, is a

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

approach to the treatment of intellectual disabilities, brain injury, learning disabilities, and other

cognitive Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

diseases. The treatment is based on the largely discredited hypothesis that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. The method assumes that intellectual disabilities results from the failure of an individual to develop properly through the phylogenetic stages, and treatment primarily focuses on non-invasive

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

in each of these stages. In one such stage, the '' homolateral stage'', a healthy child typically crawls by turning the head to one side while extending the arm and leg of the opposite side. The patterning treatment is applied to those unable to perform this motion, and involves passive intervention by 4-5 adults who assists the child in an effort to impose or induce the proper pattern onto the central nervous system. The therapy normally lasts for 5 minutes and is repeated at least 4 times a day. Full treatment programs typically contain a range of exercises combined with sensory stimulation,

breathing exercises Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

designed to increase oxygen flow to the brain, and systematic restriction and facilitation designed to promote hemispheric dominance.

The treatment modality of patterning was developed in the 1960s by Glenn Doman and Carl Delacato.

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