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Why Are There “No Cures” For Developmental Problems?

Of course, this is a complex question with many different kinds of answers. This topic could be addressed with discussions about research or about the pharmaceutical industry. I suspect that it is really a paradigm problem. Let me explain my idea about this.

Definitions In Present Tense

I think that all of the developmental problem diagnoses have definitions which include, “There is no cure.” I think that this means that at the time of the ratification and publication of the definition, there is not yet any proven treatment which “cures” this developmental problem. I think that this phrase is in the present tense and it does not indicate that there will never be a “cure.” I think that many people distort this to mean that there has never been a “cure,” and that there will never be a “cure.”

Cultural Problems

We already know that certain health problems like obesity and heart problems are cultural. They are clearly related to inappropriate nutrition, and the first world tends to suffer from these problems and the third world does not have many folks with these problems.

I think that if there are population distribution differences for developmental problems between various cultures, then these problems are probably a cultural problem too.

Cultural Problems in Horticulture

When diagnosing the difficulties of a poor performing young plant, a horticulturalist can look at the plant and recognize the overall characteristics of a plant that is not developing properly. When seeing the overall poor development pattern, the horticulturalist recognizes that the problem for this young plant is the culture of the plant and knows the kinds of interventions needed to get the plant’s development back on track.

“Culture” for a horticulturalist means the air, water, light, nutrients, temperature, and medium for the growth of the plant and this includes a check for damaging insects, contaminants, poisons, fungi and molds as well. But, if the initial exam shows a problem in the developmental process, the intervention will be changes in the plant’s culture.

After the horticulturalist knows the problem is the culture, the intervention choices do not include propping up the plant so that it can become a mature plant with a developmental problem. The horticulturalist doesn’t paint the plant leaves to have better color or any other artificial intervention. The horticulturalist provides the correct balance of cultural elements for the proper growth of this type of plant and then lets nature take over to bring about the natural, appropriate development of the plant.

Human Developmental Problems

When our children have developmental problems, we should be addressing them the same way the horticulturalist uses for diagnosis and treatment of a plant’s developmental problem.

When a child is hyperactive, there is a cultural problem and that is the problem that needs to be addressed. There is something in the child’s cultural environment which is affecting the child’s developmental process. We have been taught to treat the hyperactivity as the problem and it is only a symptom. If we treat the symptoms, we do nothing to re-engage the faulty developmental process.

What Is Needed?

We need more research into the nature of the developmental process and more research into which cultural factors affect the developmental process and in which ways.

We clinical professionals need to be exploring more carefully those cases we have where we see the developmental process re-engage and children catch up with their peers. When we see these patterns we should explore if interventions can be developed from our experience with those cases.

We need to use our professional associations to pass our cases to researchers for review. We need to be demanding that research be focused on the developmental process, rather than on the symptoms. treating symptoms is a disservice to our clients.

Rodger Bailey, MS