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Many parents or caretakers do not realize that sharing and teamwork can actually be reinforced and learned based on numerous research studies. Teaching your children to work as a team and to share will reduce the behavior problem frequency in the future that the parent will have to address in the home and at school! The following are some ideas on how to encourage these skills.
1. One idea is to reward your children for working or playing with no tantrum or behavior problems. For example, if they are playing a game give social praise or a snack only on days they work together or play nicely! 2. Practice giving the something and telling them they can have that item (such as a cookie) only if they share it with their siblings. 3. Encourage children to take turns playing with a toy when they both want to play with it. You might even suggest they discuss it and come to some agreement about the use of the toy. 4. Purchase stories that include the theme of sharing or teamwork and discuss the story after reading it together. 5. Point out to your children when other people display team or sharing skills. For example, if someone picks up something that someone drops compliment the action by saying " wow what a gentleman he helped that woman!" 6. In the evening roleplay and discuss how people work together or play together at school or in the community. 7. Play alot of games with your children and focus on good sportsmanship, complimenting each other on playing skills, taking turns, talking nicely to each other and manners. Praise these skills when the occur during the game! Developing these social skills of teamwork and sharing will probalby lead to many happy experiences when your child is with another person or a group and a happier life! Parents with children with special needs and how to treat the other siblings in the household.2/20/2014 Parents or even caregivers with other children in the home sometimes forget about the other children in the home. It is important to keep in mind that the other children should be considered along with all factors in the home of a child with special needs. The following are some ideas that will optimized the effectiveness of your treatment package through the inclusion of the other children in the home.
1. Any reward program should be available to all the children in the home. If you child with special needs is receiving a token or reward system then include all children in this program. By including everyone the children all feel they are treated equally and will not feel resentment or anger towards the child with special needs when they receive reinforcers such as a cookie or an outing. If the other children are resentful or angry that might result in more aggression and aggitation or non-compliance from the child with special needs. 2. When consequences such as loosing an outing occurs then you have a choice of either having both children loose the outing or making sure the child with good behavior gets some alternative reward. The most important factor is that the child with special needs realizes he earns the outing only after good behavior. In the case where the other child is good it is usually better to have both children loose the priveledges since that way the child without special needs may help his brother to avoid having tantrums in the future. However, it can also be helpful to have the special needs child see the other child get the reinforcer for good behavior. Either method is useful. Parents should try to see which method results in more improvements in the children's behavior. The only crucial factor is that the consequence of not earning it for the special needs child is implemented consistantly. 3. If the child with special needs requires alot of doctor appointments it may be helpful to take the other child with you and see the doctor for a general check-up or any minor issues they have. This will help to include him and avoid the situation in which the "normal" child is not getting as much attention and time from the parents. This can also be accomplished by offering another fun activity for the "normal" child while his sibling is at the doctor office. 4. If the child with special needs has special equipment such as ipad or toys it is good to provide the "normal" child with some other equivalent toy or equipment while working with the special needs child. What often happens is parents focus on teaching the special needs child something on the computer and the "normal' child begins to tantrum and resent the special needs child. This can be avoided by having similar alternative equipment or taking turns with the equipment you do purchase for the special needs child. 5. If the "normal" sibling is able to understand the parent can ask him to help teach his brother something. This is useful since they can facilitate even more learning and even run some of the reward programs you have set-up for the special needs child. A general description would be useful of what you are trying to teach his brother. Try to avoid any negative statements about how smart he is and focus on just learning new things. Always praise the "normal" child for helping by saying things like " you are so helpful you taught your brother to sing the alphabet!" Generally, including the other siblings needs and assistance can promote faster progress for you child. The siblings are part of the family system and the enviorment that the special needs child lives in and can contribute to teaching and progress of your child with special needs. If they are not considered or addressed it can actually slow the learning progress. All family members should be a part of the treatment plan! Parents and Caregivers often become frustrated with clients or their own children. This occurs even more often when working with children with behavior problems or diagnosis such as autism. The following are some tips for handling stressful days!
1. Parents and Caregivers should plan time to take breaks from teaching and relax. Parents can do this by hiring a babysitter, having time for walks, taking deep breaths, relax each muscle systematically in your body, count to ten or baths to relax. Time for yourself is important to keep your balance when dealing with difficult behavior problems. 2. Incorporate time for teaching your children into your routine so that you can accomplish errands and not become overwhelmed with activities in your day. 3. When you realize you are feeling tired or stressed a quick trip to the bathroom, drink some cold water or other drink or to relax in a soft chair may help you to cope with a stressfull situation. After you are calm then return to the situation and things will be easier to resolve. 4. If you child does something upsetting in a public place you may have to work on this problem at a later time. Perhaps roleplaying difficult situations after dinner or brainstorming theses situations will help you to avoid these upsetting situations in their future. 5. Parents or caregivers can change a stressful situation into an appropriate one by simply changing the subject. For example, the parent might say wow look at the rain outside it is really pouring or I can't find my cellphone can you help me find it. 6. Parents can have cue words for their children that they say when they are getting upset so the child is aware and can avoid a big argument. Parents might say for example "use your words and ask me what you want". This is a good cue or reminder for the child and this can result in a more appropriate or less upsetting interaction with the parent. Parents and caregivers must realize that their own behavior can escalate a problem. By making efforts to relax, change the subject or talk about similar situations (role play) later you can reduce the number of situations that upset you and your child in the future. Homework is the basis for you childs' learning and determines what grades he will get. Parents and caregivers spend hours trying to convince, nag or even yell to get their kids to do this homework. This is not acceptable for most people since they can get health problems or their kids can have health problems related to this stress. Also, it disrupts the family household routine and the other family members become agitated too. The following are some tips to make homework a more enjoyable experience and reduce the amount of reminders and agitation needed to encourage your child to complete this task.
1. The first step is to set a goal you are working towards for homework. It is best to include both the quality and quantity of homework you want your child to achieve and alternative learning tasks for the days he does not have homework. This way you will achieve both good quality homework, a consistant routine of learning for a specified amount of time or amount of productivity each day. For example, a good example of a goal might be to complete the assigned homework each day and to check over a few of the items with you at the end to make sure it is high in quality. If there is no homework the child might be required to complete on page of a workbook or oe level on a computer program for learning reading such as the Mimio or headsprout program levels. 2. The next step is to identify why we are doing the homework clearly for the child. Parents can even go on you tube and find different colleges of professions that require a degree in high school or more to achieve. Discus life goals wth your child and different options. Make sure to point out to your child that by getting a job he will have the ability to earn money and by preferred items such as toys, cars, house or anything they want in life! 3. Parents must have available some immediate rewards to give their child after homework is completed. Each child is different. Some children like edible items such as gummy bears or cookies. Some children like games such as computer games, television, ipod games or interactive board games. These should be delivered immediately as possible on days that the homework is completed. Parents or caregivers often complain that the kids have "picky" or "unhealthy" eating habits. This can lead to major health problems, vitamin deficiencies, weight problems and may contribute to behavior problems when they do not feel their best! The following are some tips on how to encourage healthy eating and of a variety of food in your children.
1. The first step is to structure the environment or in this situation that includes the refrigerator might be the first step. Make sure you purchase the foods that encourage the types of foods you want your child to eat. 2. Secondly, going to restaurants that have the foods you want to encourage is important.For example, if you want to encourage healthy eating you probably want to go to restaurants with a healthy variety of foods. 3. Parents or caregivers should provide an preferred food such as desert, gummy bears or activity that is reinforcing for the child if he eats one new food at least at each meal that is served. This will gradually increase the number of foods the child will eat. 4. If the child does not want to eat the new food the parents should say no problem maybe tommarrow and try not to give attention or reprimand the child. The parent or caregiver must be careful not to give the desert that day or reinforcer and provide it the next day. 5. Many parents serve different foods to each child. Serving the same menu encourage children to try new foods and does not encourage picky eating habits. If the child does not eat the foods presented he will eventually learn that this is the food available and be more open to trying at least a few of the items served. Otherwise he will eat the next meal more completely since he will be very hungry. 6, Parents should assess the child's food preferences and try to make foods that include some variable of their preferences. for example, a child might love ketchup or tomatoes and these can be served as a condiment or sauce on a non-preferred food item thus encouraging more variety in the childs list of foods' he will eat. The above are a few of the things to consider in encouraging healthy eating habits. Encouraging a larger repeitoire of foods will make your childs' life much easier, avoid health problems from bad eating habits, they will eat healthy foods, probably have less behavioral issues and enjoy eating at restaurants with others in their future! Children with no problems and children with disabilties or diagnosis such as autism or ADHD often have problems while getting a haircut. A haircut can be a fun activity if preventative techniques and the environment is structured to encourage appropriate behavior. The following are some tips to consider in order to have a good experience with your child and his hairdresser!
1. The first steps begin before you go to get the haircut. Prepare you child by describing what will occur at the hair dresser. 2. Also, include what reinforcers they will earn while at the hairdresser and afterwards. For example, if the hairdresser has cookies or chocalate available you can let them know they can have access to any treats as long as they are behaving nicely, not crying and co-operating with the hairdresser by sitting still. 3. Always plan a reinforcer for after the haircut. This should be individualized for your child. if they enjoy an outing you might take them to lunch or the mall. The parent should evaluate his child and decide on a very strong reinforcer to give the child after the hair is done. 4. As usual always use social praised during the haircut. For example, you might say "you are such a gentleman you are sitting so nicely for the hairdresser". 5. You can point out the good reasons for sitting still. For example, you can tell your child that if he sits still his hair will look better and the kids at school will like his hair. 6. During the haircut you might give the child a toy or computer or cellphone to use while getting the haircut this will distract him and relax him during the process. 7. During the shampoo also praise your child, encourage the woman who shampoos his hair to massage the scalp and make it a very happy pleasant expereince with plesant conversation. 8. Always test the water before the shampoo on your hand, or the shampoo person can do this, to assure that the water is not to hot or not to cold. 9. Make sure the chair is adjusted to the right hight and position so the child is comfortable or provide a booster seat if necessary. 10. Try to include the child in the plan for how to cut the hair so that they feel in control of the situation and they feel their rights are respected. 11. Finally, make sure your child is feeling well the day he goes to the hairdresser. Try to go when he is not overly hungry, tired or sick. Parents or caregivers should realize that using some of these small tips may be the diference between a pleasant haircut and a big tantrum or problem at the hairdresser. Many children have difficulty solving problems and resort to displaying inappropriate behavior to solve their problems. There are numerous ways to improve your child's' problem solving skills. Any child with disabilities, autism, ADHD, defiant behaviors or just normal children can improve their problem solving skills.
Throughout the day parents can incorporate problem solving practice during the daily routine. For example, in the morning for breakfast prompt the child to try to figure out what he will eat, what he will wear and where you will go. During daily activities or outings try to encourage your child to use problem solving skills effectively. A variety of methods of problem solving might be used. He might list the options of the choices he has. For example, even a simple thing like making breakfast might be broken down into steps, list the choices of foods and choices of how to make the foods. If there is an argument in the morning with sibling over who can sit in a certain chair you might discuss the options. For example, maybe you can take turns each day sitting in that chair, maybe you can buy another chair like that one, they might ask for your help in working out a problem, or could bargain by offering another activity to his sibling in in in in in in using the chair. Parents should use reinforcement for getting along. The research shows that co-operative play can be increased through the use of reinforcers. Parents can offer additional reinforcing activities if behavior is co-operative and appropriate in the morning. Social praise or special treats for getting along can be effective depending on what is reinforcing for your child. Remember to be specific when using praise. For example, "you are such gentleman the way you work together on making breakfast!" Another example might be "you are such a good brother and so kind helping each other to set the table!" Parents should try to reinforce only if play is co-operative and not if only one child is good following each activity. Finally, practice at specific times during the day problem solving is helpful. Often parents have time while driving, waiting at a doctor office or at bedtime to practice problem solving with their child. For example, at bedtime the parent can review a situation, list some optional solutions, reinforce appropriate solutions and try to come up with other examples of this type of situation. Remember it is better to use hypothetical situations about other people, in a movie or from your experience rather than a situation your child has currently. If you use his current specific problem you may inadvertently reinforce him for having problems frequently with others. The more you practice solving problems that are imaginary then when he has real problems he will be ready to solve them quickly! Parents and companions should try to set up the home environment to promote positive behavior. One of the key theories behind behavior therapy is that the environment does effect your behavior. Structuring the home physical environment is one key step towards building a positive environment for your child. The following are some ideas to consider in designing your home environment.
1. Make sure you have a separate room for different activities. The bedroom should be set up mostly for a sleep with sound machines, calm colors, soft pillow and books to read to go to sleep for example. 2. Their might also be a room or corner of the house away from the toys and sleep area designed solely for homework. This cuts down on distractions. This area should be quiet preferably away from the main activity areas with television or cooking going on. There should be a comfortable chair and desk which promotes posture while working. Also, the area for homework should be well lit to make it easier to see numbers or read when doing homework. The computer might be there but most of the computer games like x-box or wii should probably be in another location. 3. The eating area should also be separate for the area that the children play, watch television or play on the computer. That way the child will focus on the skills of eating and socializing while eating. 4. The play area should not be part of another area. The play area should only containing toys and games the child enjoys. This will make it easier to reinforce the child. For example, after the child finishes studying you can ask him if he is ready to "play". The idea is that it will be easier to use the reinforcers of the toys since the child will only have access to them after they finish the homework or after dinner for example. A separate area for the toys will also reduce the arguments or discussion about whether it is time to play with the toys. 5. An area of the bedroom for dressing is also helpful so that the child can easily reach and find all his clothes to get dressed in the morning. Some closet are organized with specific clothing items in the same place or even labeled.Some parents put a shelf of each day of the school week with clothes for that day already in that shelf. Many parents label the drawers and closet so that the clothes do not become disorganized when others clean the room and so that the child can find a specific type of clothing item more easily. This will lead to improvements in compliance in the morning when getting dressed for school. The above are some examples of how to organized your home to reduce behavior problems and promote the learning of new skills and behaviors in your home! Parents and caregivers often express that the children do not stay on task or frequently leave the area or even the home during a schedled activity. This ca be a safety issue if you cannot find the child and it can interfere with learning since he does not participate in learning activities. The following are a list fo ideas to encourage him to stay on task and be safe while learning.
1. Evaluate what the reinforcers are for your child and use them to reward him for leisure and educational activities. 2. When he leaves do not over react which might be giving him attention. Instead quietly guide him back to an activity and remind him of the reinforcers for the activity and importance of the activity. 3. Try not to have to much physical contact when guiding back to th activity since physical contact may be rewarding in itself to some children. 4. Always make sure your child has his address and phone number in his pocket or in a wallet or somewhere on him. The home address and phone may be valuable if he forgets this information or does not know the information. Teaching him to tell people where he lives and his phone number should be considered as something important to learn. Some parents even provide the child with a cellphone for emergencies. 5. Consequences of course might be useful in discouraging him from leaving. For example, he may not earn a daily reinforcer or weekly reinforcer if he does leave. 6. Apologizing is helpful and trying to make up for the stress the parent may have if he leaves. 7. Roleplay or discussion can be helpful in stressing the importance of staying together on outings and activities. Discussing the advantages such as saving time so you can do more activities and relax with reinforcing leisure activities afterwards may be useful. In addition pointing out what might happen if it takes a long time to find him he might get upset or hungry for example. The above ideas may stimulate you to develope a plan to discourage this behavior in the future for your child. Safety and learning will be improved throught the use of some of the ideas above! Your child will have less problems and more fun if he learns to stay with his group or in his schedule activities!! |
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