Think:Kids - Rethinking Challenging Kids
Contrary to popular belief, children with challenging behaviors do not behave badly to get or avoid things they want or don’t want, or because they have ‘bad’ parents. Some kids act inappropriately because they lack the skills to solve problems, to be flexible, and to cope with frustration. This is a type of learning disability or executive function weakness that affects a child’s capacity to handle life’s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.
While a reward or punishment may control a child’s behavior to a certain extent, it does not teach the child the thinking skills he will need to successfully deal with the increasingly complex situations he will face as he gets older. Think:Kids-Rethinking Challenging Kids, is a type of behavior modification program based on the book “Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative, Problem-Solving Approach” by Ross W. Green and J. Stuart Ablon. However, rather than modifying the child’s behavior, parents and other adults are taught how to change their behavior towards their child. Parents learn to:
- Understand how their child feels,
- Identify situations that trigger certain behaviors, and
- Work with their child to figure out appropriate responses and resolve conflicts.
The program, housed in MGH Psychiatry, offers a variety of resources including the Think:Kids website - www.thinkkids.org. It includes an overview of the approach, a description of the model, and videos that demonstrate how the model works. There is also a Thinking Skills Inventory tool. This six-page worksheet helps parents identify situations that trigger problem behaviors, and then literally “assign” blameto a particular executive function skill. This not only helps parents identify weaknesses, but also profiles their child’s strengths.
-From “ Think:Kids - Rethinking Challenging Kids” by Michelle Gaudet, Metrowest Regional Parent Coordinator, Family TIES of Massachusetts , Newsline, Federation for Children with Special Needs, Fall 2009, VOLUME 30, NUMBER 2 at http://www.fcsn.org/publications_resources/newsline/nlv30n2.pdf retrieved 1/4/10.
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