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

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

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

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

Parents are the external regulator for kids who cannot regulate themselves.

"Cutting" is a visible sign to the world that you are hurting.

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.

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.

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

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

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Toilet Training (part 1)

 

 

“I am a grown man with a university degree. I consider myself to be mature, well adjusted and able to exist adequately in our modern society . As such, I never would have believed the exhilaration and pride  I experienced when my son did his first “slam dunk” in the potty” (a parent of a toddler)

Often times parents get in too much of a hurry to toilet train their child resulting in frustration on their part as well as their child.

Seldom is a child ready to begin toilet training before 18 months old and a significant percentage  are still not ready at thirty months. The neural pathways and the designated muscular groups must be sufficiently developed to exercise  the control necessary for toilet training.

Once these systems are sufficiently mature, the development is controlled by:

  1. the child’s will to comply
  2. his / her determination to defy
  3. the skill and cunning of the trainer

Many toilet training difficulties are really non-problems. Subsequent posts will outline a toilet training procedure that may be helpful.

What parents need most are ideas because with ideas we get options.Rick Harper has been providing ideas to parents for over 40 years.

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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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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

“Our psychiatrist recommended Rick to help us sort out behaviour management issues for our autistic son. He was an invaluable help.”

(C.C. – Sarnia)