Topic for May 9

Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Tips on Disruptive Behavior

1. Remember that even “normal” kids sometimes are oppositional and defiant; sometimes have tantrums; sometimes are mean-spirited; sometimes lie and cheat; sometimes are purposefully annoying; but most of the time, they grow out of it.
2. It’s more the rule than the exception that children suffering from diagnostic disruptive behavior disorders (such as, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder) also suffer coexisting disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Once these coexisting disorders are identified and treated, the disruptive behavior virtually always improves.
3. Disruptive behavior in children is most often benign, but about 30% of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder will go on to develop Conduct Disorder, a more severe form of disruptive behavior, and about 30% of those children will go on to develop Antisocial Personality Disorder.
4. Major risk factors for the development of disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolescents include:
   1. Parental neglect
   2. History of physical or sexual abuse
   3. Difficult early temperament
   4. Harsh parental discipline practices
   5. Inconsistence in primary caregivers
   6. Large family
   7. Association with deviant peer group
   8. Low verbal intelligence
   9. Parent history of Conduct Disorder (CD) and/or Antisocial Personality Disorder
   10. Low socioeconomic status
   11. Neighborhood disorganization & violence
5. The three well-established protective factors for children suffering from Oppositional Defiant Disorder include:
   1. Good relations with at least one parent
   2. Good peer relations
   3. Good parental monitoring
6. The best established treatment for disruptive behavior disorders is Parent Management Training, which includes teaching parents how to:
   1. Give effective commands
   2. Use positive reinforcement
   3. Ignore what they can safely ignore
   4. Utilize home and school-based behavioral plans
   5. Schedule their child’s activities wisely
   6. Set limits and consequences
   7. As a last resort, use effective punishments

Topic for May 2

Setting and Punishments

Tips on Child Discipline

1. Parents are consistently bombarded with information and advice about effective parenting, whether it is from the media, health professionals or other parents. Conflicting messages raise the question: “What really works?” While taking this all in, it is important that parents really know themselves and what works for them.
2. Dr. Alan Kazdin’s “Seven Myths of Effective Parenting”:
   1. Myth #1: Punishment will change bad behavior. Research shows that punishment, by itself, is ineffective in changing a child’s behavior. Punishment does not teach the child what to do, nor does it reward desired behavior. It can also increase aggressiveness and avoidance.
   2. Myth #2: More reminders lead to better behavior. Repeating yourself twenty times will not increase the likelihood your child will do what you have asked of him. In fact, requests lose their effect when they are continuously repeated. You can get better results not by nagging, but by giving more specific and calmer commands.
   3. Myth #3: Explaining to your child why a behavior is wrong will lead him or her to stop that behavior. Recognizing that a specific behavior is wrong does not change the behavior in children or adults. Have you ever told yourself that chocolate cake is not healthy and you shouldn’t eat it? For the most part, we eat it anyway. Children are the same way. The key is to not only explain why their behavior needs to change, but also to give the child opportunities to practice the proper behavior.
   4. Myth #4: Lots of praise just spoils your child. Praise is actually essential in improving your child’s behavior. However, it can also make it worse. For praise to be effective it should be specific and purposeful. Don’t praise your child excessively, but catch your child being good and let him or her know what they did right.
   5. Myth #5: Doing it once or twice means your child can do it regularly. In order to perform the behavior regularly, children often have to be trained. Set up a system of rewards, reward them properly, and practice proper behavior with your child. Eventually, fade your participation so that your child takes on more responsibility for the specific behavior you are targeting.
   6. Myth #6: My other child did not need special training or a program, so this child shouldn’t need them either. All individuals are different. We all develop at different speeds and demonstrate varying abilities and behaviors.
   7. Myth #7: My child is just being manipulative. For the most part, children are not consciously manipulative. They often just notice that they are getting attention for a specific irritating behavior, so they continue to do it. If you selectively ignore their “manipulative” behavior or praise them when they are not engaging in this behavior, the behavior will most likely fade out.
3. When giving your child a command it will be most effective if you remain calm, get eye level with him or her and talk quietly. This has been coined “CCQ” (calm, close, quiet) by Cynthia Whitham.
4. Before giving a child a consequence, the child should be warned. Let him or her know that if the behavior does not stop, privileges will be taken away.
5. If you are going to take away privileges, they should meet Whitham’s “ABCCD” criteria:
   • A - The consequence should be given as soon as possible.
   • B - The consequence should be brief (short-term).
   • C - The privilege taken away should be something the child cares about.
   • C - The parent has access and control of the privilege.
   • D - Consequences should be reinforced daily.

Consequences should be small and something that you can give as needed. Parents need to be consistent and willing to commit to the consequences given.

Topic for April 25

Children's Literature

Tips on Reading to Kids

1. While most teenagers (60 percent) spend on average 20 hours per week in front of television and computer screens, a third spend closer to 40 hours per week, and about 7 percent are exposed to more than 50 hours of 'screen-time' per week, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 48th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
2. In 1998, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tested children nationwide for reading skills. The results for reading tests for 4th graders were:
   • 38% - Below the most basic level
   • 31% - Proficient
   • 7% - Advanced
3. The study also revealed that students who reported reading more pages daily in school and for homework had higher average scale scores than students who reported reading fewer pages daily.
4. Children who learn to love books are often the children who become good readers. It is important to make reading a regular and enjoyable part of your youngsters' day, and you should encourage your child in their early attempts to speak, read, and write.
5. Show children that there are things to read everywhere and about everything. To increase access and interest, keep a supply of books and other reading materials within your child’s reach. As the child’s skills and interests change, add new books to the collection.
6. Let your child explore what THEY like. Whether it is fantasy, non-fiction, or biographies, pick up on the tendencies of children and get them books accordingly. Sharing the books and topics you love is a wonderful activity if coupled with allowing kids to have thoughts of their own. Encourage lifelong reading by allowing kids to get excited about their choices.
7. Know what your child is reading so if they have questions you can be there to answer them.
8. When you are looking for a good children’s book, make sure it's not just a short, “dumb-downed” version of an adult book. A good book should have an emotional core, identifiable characters, and some sort of reality in it. One should feel deeply satisfied by the time the last page is flipped.