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Don't sweat the small stuff. Choose one or two critical behaviors at a time to work on.

Be firm, yet flexible. Rigidity can increase oppositional behavior. Remember they are not willfully trying to make you exhausted or crazy.

Allow yourself to grieve the loss of a "whole" person.

Don't expect them to act the same as every other child their age. They are not like children who don't have brain damage.

Keep the mood positive. Give five times more praise to every one correction.

Don't hurry them. Defiant behavior increases when under pressure.

Don't take them places where they are likely to have problems. These are most often church, restaurants, malls, new and unfamiliar places, and events with high numbers of people and loud noise.

Do something fun with them everyday.  Encourage their sense of humor and yours.

Advocate for their needs.  It will make you feel better about them and yourself.

Do something for yourself every day.  A good warm bubble bath with soft music is a great way to end a stressful day.

Kathryn Shea, LCSW

  
 

 

 

KIDS WHO ARE DIFFERENT

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids who don't always get A's,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,
and noses that go on for days...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown, as history's shown,
It's their difference that makes them unique.

 

 

Copyright 1982 by Digby Wolfe. All rights reserved.