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There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

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.

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

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.

Early intervention is always better than crisis management - but it is never too late to do the right thing.

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

It is what we say and do when we're angry that creates the very model our children will follow when dealing with their own frustrations.

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Teen Issues # 4 – Boundaries

    All teenagers want the freedom to do what they want when they want. They need to learn that freedom is earned and that they can gain freedom by demonstrating responsibility. Adolescence is the time in life when kids are supposed to learn this lesson. By the same token, parents need to be able to recognize when they are being over controlling and when they are being responsible and appropriate about saying “no”. They […]

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Teenagers

Between 1996 and 2016, the proportion of girls and women in the US taking antidepressant medications more than doubled, from 7.5 percent to 16.4 percent; more than 1 in 8 females in the US now takes antidepressant medication. Boys and girls are both having problems, but they’re having different problems. Many of the boys who are being sent to the psychologist or psychiatrist are being referred for problems such as ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. […]

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FASD – early adolescence 13-17 (life’s challenges)

SEXUALITY hormones are probably working fine problems frequently emerge because of lack of boundaries, lack of impulse control, inability to link behaviour and consequences, need for acceptance, social isolation often leads to sexual activity with predictable consequences eg. STD’s, pregnancy, exploitation, easy victimization DRUGS AND ALCOHOL often exploited by older teens & adults substance abuse treatment is generally more difficult, refuses help and more relapses SCHOOL, JOB, DAILY LIFE school frequently causes  extreme stress employment […]

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ADHD – A Frustrated Parent

The following is a quote from a parent that  is both very frustrated and at the same time very concerned about her son. “I can’t take it anymore! We scream all morning to get out of the house. Homework takes hours. If I don’t help him with his work, he’s so disorganized that he’ll never get it done. If I do help him, he screams at me. Since he never finishes anything, everyone thinks he […]

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How Does It Feel to Have ADHD?

The following quotes are from children who have ADHD: “It’s like being in a dark room where objects are scattered around to trip you. You don’t have a flashlight, but everyone else does. You trip around the room, bumping into things, until you finally learn the layout. Then someone moves you to a new room and the process starts all over again.” “Imagine you’re watching twelve channels all at once and you’ve lost the remote.” […]

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

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

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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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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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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

“Implementing Rick’s techniques and adhering to them is exhausting, but it is a healthy exhaustion rather than the detrimental exhaustion I used to experience.”

(B.F. – Woodstock)