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

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

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

"Parents aren't the cause of ADHD, but they are part of the solution." (Kenny Handleman, M.D.)

When a child is disregulated - is the time parents need to be regulated.

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

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

Children fare better when expectations on them are clear and firm.

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)

Learn more.

FASD – Late Adolescence (17 – 22)

The main goals :

  1. move out of home
  2. establish his own life
  3. learn to cope with societal rules – increase personal expectation with diminishing parental support (lots of teens without FASD have trouble with this)

Trouble Areas:

  1. undereducated
  2. poor money management
  3. loneliness
  4. lack of boundaries
  5. poor judgement

He may lack the emotional and / or the educational maturity to embark on an independent life but he still has the internal and societal programming that makes him want to do it.

GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS

Your late adolescent meeds a combination of:

  • support
  • encouragement
  • patience
  • letting go

It may be best to try to ease your young person into independence by having him board with someone or home share with a responsible adult or convert the garage to a granny flat or have him move into a group home.

This is the stage of life when some individuals begin families of their own. A person with FASD usually requires an enormous amount of support

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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

“Rick’s approach is so logical. He helped us clearly define the problem, analyze what has happened and select the best strategy. We now feel empowered to do something positive for our kid”

(A.N. – Tillsonburg)