This story originally aired on April 29, 2017.
Seattle writer Michael Long was a terrible student in grade school. It wasn't that he couldn't do well; it was just that he had no interest in it. Instead of studying or paying attention in class, he would often be caught doodling or staring off into space.
Michael's parents had tried just about everything, including doctors and medication. But nothing seemed to work. Then Michael's parents found a doctor who suggested that one of the reasons kids do poorly in school is because they didn't crawl enough as a child. They decided to give it a try.
Michael was forced to get on his hands and knees and crawl 40 laps around the house every single day. And oddly enough, there were results. Michael's grades improved and his handwriting got better. But if you were to ask Michael if the crawling therapy worked, he would tell you that studying harder and paying attention more was completely motivated by wanting to never have to embarrassingly crawl again, and not as a result of any sort of treatment.
