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Parenting style matters - a lot!

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.

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

Being a parent of a teenager can cure a person of narcissism.

If you are headed in the wrong direction as a parent - you are allowed to make a U-turn.

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

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.

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

The mistake that Sharon and I both made is we never set any boundaries.  (Ozzy Osbourne)

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)

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Recommendations for schools regarding children with ADD/ADHD

Whenever possible, special needs children will do better within regular classrooms Putting more adults in a classroom (ie. EA’s, volunteers, etc.) is good for all children, but especially those who need more immediate feedback and attention. Traditionally arranged classroom furniture can provide more structure than the “open” concept. Establish, destigmatize and encourage the use of quiet spaces in the classroom Standards must be tailored to individual children’s capabilities ADHD/ADD children generally do better with a […]

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What Is ADHD?

“The wildest colts make the best horses” (Themistocles 5oo BC) ADHD is a common behaviour disorder that affects approximately 10% of school age children. An analysis of the research suggests that boys are affected 3 times more often than girls, althought the reason for this is unknown. Children with ADHD are hyperactive, act impulsively and have trouble focusing on their responsibilities. Most children of course have these same tendencies, but children with ADHD present these […]

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Alcohol Abuse in College Age Women

The following data comes from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in the U.S. (similar in Canada ? ? ?) In the 1960’s, only 7 % of American girls reported having their first alcoholic drink between the ages of 10 and 14. Today, nearly 1/4 of all American girls report beginning to drink before age 13. Over the past 50 years, the rate at which boys abuse alcohol has remained roughly constant. Over […]

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Adolescent Narcissism

Adolescence is the prime time for humans to become completely immersed in narcissism. Teens will often start sentences with the word “I” and end with “Me” with several good ‘My’s”, “Mine” and “Myself” sprinkled throughout. Any family decision will be deemed important only by how much it affects the teen. To the teenage mind, having to go someplace he/she doesn’t want to go is a complete waste of precious time that could be wisely spent […]

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Central Nervous System Dysfunction Associated with FASD

Children with FASD can show several signs of central nervous system dysfunction including: microcephaly (small head) altered muscle tone poor fine and gross motor coordination hyperactivity attention / memory problems learning disabilities language and speech problems mental retardation irritability weak sucking response As the children get older, behaviour problems frequently become significant: failure to consider consequences of actions lack of appropriate iniative unresponsive to subtle social cues lack of reciprocal friendships

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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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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

“We were so naive. We thought our son’s poor behaviour was just a phase he was passing through. Thankfully you led us ‘out of the wilderness'”

(N.S. – London)