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Hurt people hurt people.

It's more effective to reward your child for being "good" (appropriate) than to punish him for being "bad" (inappropriate).

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. (Peggy O'Mara)

If you (parents) tend to overreact to your child's misbehaviour - your child learns that he can't trust you. Mom, Dad, stay regulated!

If it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

The more 2 parents differ in their approaches to discipline, the more likely it leads to trouble for the child.

Setting limits teaches your children valuable skills they will use the rest of their lives. One day, they will report to a job where their ability to follow rules will dictate their success.

A tantruming toddler is a little ball of writhing muscle and incredible strength. It's like trying to carry a greased pig past a slop bucket.

"Unexpressed feeling never die. They are buried alive and come back later in ugly ways." (Stephen Covey)

The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

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What Can I Do About My Child’s ADD/ADHD ?

 

My previous blog focused on diagnosing ADD/ADHD and I ended it with the question most parents ask me about ADD/ADHD  – “What do we do about it?”

The answer to this question is also not straight forward as there are numerous directions parents can look – but each option has both positive and negatives and many unsubstantiated claims.

Your conventional options include:

  1. stimulant medications
  2. parent training
  3. family therapy
  4. educational accommodations

Your alternative options:

  1. homeopathy
  2. herbal medicines
  3. supplements eg. zinc, magnesium, iron
  4. essential fatty acids
  5. dietary modifications
  6. anti motion sickness medications
  7. anti fungal medications
  8. neurofeedback
  9. meditation
  10. chiropractic  skeletal adjustments
  11. karate
  12. massage
  13. single vitamin megadoses
  14. vestibular stimulation tricyclic ant-depressants
  15. and many more

Treatment  options for ADD/ADHD are  loaded with controversy. There is considerable empirical evidence supporting the conventional treatment options but many parents are philosophically opposed to using stimulant medications. There are no “slam dunk” behaviour management tricks that are universally successful but there are many parenting tips that are beneficial. There is widespread misunderstanding and in some cases reluctance in schools about how to accommodate ADD/ADHD students.  Many parents tell me that getting teachers onboard is their biggest problem.

Empirical evidence supporting most of the alternative treatment options is limited although there is ample anecdotal evidence supporting some of them as effective. I advise caution when moving this direction because  medical and mental problems that are poorly defined, chronic, troublesome and lacking in clear solutions are fertile ground for speculation and exploitation. ADD/ADHD are all of those things.

Regardless of the directions you end up going, I suggest that you have in place a plan to honestly and accurately  evaluate the  effectiveness of the treatment. Behavioural Management Systems can assist you in developing an objective way to know if you are moving in the right direction.

 

 

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ Lick Your Kids

  “Lick Your Kids” (figuratively not literally) (2 hours) First […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ Taming a Toddler

Many parents wonder what hit them when their sweet little baby turns into an unreasonable toddler – ideas for dealing with mealtime, bedtime, temper tanturms, toilet training, noncompliance, etc.

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See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“I wish we had found Rick 2 years ago. We could have saved ourselves and our son a lot of trouble.”

(T.T. – Byron)