Wild Child

by Mordasini, Don

• ISBN13: 9780789011015
• ISBN10: 0789011018
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-04-06
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

How can you help the ADD child in your life? Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is one of the most discussed yet least understood childhood disorders today. Here is a book that delivers the answers people are looking for! Wild Child explains the symptoms, thinking patterns, and behavior of children and adolescents with ADD in terms that are understandable by parents and grandparents, yet relevant to the professionals who deal with these children. It outlines specific strategies that you can use to cope with the vast array of behavior, hyperactivity, and inattention problems experienced by children with ADD. The concepts outlined in Wild Child will show you how to bond more closely with children who tend to alienate them, and help children feel better about themselves, aiding them in their quest to master their specific challenges. Because this book is written from the inside, explaining what the symptoms feel like from the perspective of someone with ADD as well as from the perspective of someone with an ADD child, readers will easily identify with the author. This valuable book will help you and the ADD child in your life by helping you to: build your personal confidence in dealing with ADD children and teens through knowledge and understanding deal with specific problems in your family or patients build esteem and sound emotional infrastructures in ADD children and empower them to take control of their lives Wild Child features: tables and motivational charts that illustrate how to work with an ADD child checklists that adults can use if the suggested interventions fail with a particular child ADD is truly a hidden disability, and the children suffering with it are usually labeled wild, crazy, or stupid. This, of course, leads to low self-esteem and underachievement, but Wild Child stresses that new learning can and does take place when proper motivators are applied. This book provides concrete advice regarding what those motivators are and how and when to use them. Teaching adults to empower the children in their care is an important part of Wild Child. Without appropriate intervention, children with ADD frequently end up chemically addicted or in trouble with the law. This book can help prevent these things from occurring. This is a valuable resource for everyone who knows a child with ADD.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Bruce M. Wermuth, MD
Special Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I: Developing Understanding
My Struggle As a Parent	7	(6)
What My Personal Experience Has Taught Me	13	(6)
Parental Rigidness	13	(1)
Cause-Effect Behavior	14	(1)
Emotional Enmeshment	14	(1)
Loss of Self-Esteem	15	(1)
A Sense of Perspective/New Learning	15	(1)
The Power Struggle	16	(3)
Attention Deficit Disorder from the Inside Out	19	(18)
What Is Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder?	19	(1)
I Do Not Remember!	20	(1)
Inattentiveness	21	(2)
Hypersensitivity	23	(3)
Hyperactivity (ADHD Trait)	26	(1)
Impulsiveness (ADHD Trait)	27	(1)
Peer Relationships	28	(1)
Some Frequently Asked Questions	29	(4)
Rejected Parents	33	(1)
A Prescription from the Horse's Mouth	34	(3)
Your Child Can Change: Teaching Your Child New Behavior	37	(8)
Developing a Plan for Your Child	37	(2)
Planning Helps the Parent	39	(1)
Five Basic Rules	39	(6)
Charting the Course to a New Life: Motivating Your Child to Change His or Her Behavior	45	(24)
A Few Comments	45	(1)
Another Look at ADD	46	(3)
Verbal Encouragement	49	(1)
Nonverbal Encouragement	50	(1)
Indirect Verbal Encouragement	50	(1)
Tangible Rewards and Privileges	51	(1)
Point Charts	52	(11)
Negative Incentives	63	(2)
Phasing Out the Reward System	65	(2)
Moving Forward	67	(2)
Changing What Happens Inside: Empowering Your Child	69	(8)
Understand That Your Child Needs Special Help	70	(3)
Invite Your Child into the Decision-Making Process	73	(1)
Negotiate with Your Child	74	(1)
Allow Your Child to Make Choices	75	(1)
Praise Liberally	75	(1)
Use Medication Appropriately	75	(1)
Do Not Interact with Your Child or Make Decisions When You Are Emotionally Upset	76	(1)
Lessons for Parents	77	(8)
Self-Check	78	(1)
Modeling	79	(1)
Contact	80	(1)
Awareness	80	(1)
Choice (Empowerment)	81	(1)
Reinforcement	82	(1)
Putting It All Together	82	(3)
New Perspectives on ADD Medication	85	(4)
Putting It All Together	89	(10)
A Summary of the Steps	89	(2)
Applying the Behavior Techniques We Discussed	91	(1)
Discussions with Your Child	91	(1)
Self-Monitoring, Choice, and Reinforcement for the Parent	92	(1)
Use of Point Charts	93	(2)
What Age Should My Child Be to Benefit from the Information Summarized?	95	(4)
PART II: SPECIFIC PROBLEM BEHAVIORS (WORKING WITH CHILDREN AGES FOUR TO FOURTEEN)
Taming Aggression	99	(10)
Parent's Composure Review	102	(1)
Time-Out Review	103	(1)
Problems in Dealing with Aggressive Behavior	104	(2)
Conduct Disorder	106	(3)
Temper Tantrums	109	(6)
Why Do Children Throw Temper Tantrums?	110	(1)
Distinguishing Between Temper Tantrums and Disrespect	111	(1)
Stopping Temper Tantrums	112	(3)
Teaching Respect	115	(6)
Improving My Behavior List	117	(2)
Parent's Composure Review	119	(2)
Time for Chores	121	(8)
How to Motivate Your Child to Do Chores	122	(4)
Suppose This Does Not Work	126	(1)
Examples of Typical Problems I Have Encountered	127	(2)
How to Help Your Child with School	129	(8)
Problems with Focusing	130	(2)
Hyperactivity and Impulsiveness	132	(2)
Additional Notes	134	(1)
A Final Word	135	(2)
Easing the Homework Struggle	137	(18)
Helping Your Child	138	(1)
Communicating with Your Child's Teacher	139	(1)
Interventions	140	(15)
Peers and Socialization	155	(12)
Relationship Problems	155	(2)
A Social Skills Model	157	(4)
Coaching Your Child	161	(2)
Entering the Social Arena	163	(4)
Daily Challenges and How to Meet Them	167	(14)
Four Basic Rules	167	(2)
Additional Problem Behaviors	169	(9)
Going Forward	178	(3)
PART III: PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS
The Challenging Teen Years	181	(6)
Case Examples	182	(5)
What Parents Need to Know	187	(12)
Parenting Styles	188	(2)
Parental Pitffalls	190	(2)
Parental Resources	192	(5)
A Few Notes	197	(2)
Adolescent Anger	199	(8)
Conduct Disorder	200	(1)
Oppositional Defiant Disorder	201	(2)
Preventive Parenting	203	(4)
School Problems	207	(6)
Guidelines for Parents Whose Teenagers Have Difficulty in School	208	(2)
Typical Problems	210	(3)
Winning with Drug and Alcohol Problems	213	(8)
ADD Teens and Substance Abuse	214	(1)
Signs of Drug Use	215	(2)
Managing Drug Use	217	(1)
A Final Note	218	(3)
Additional Teenage Problems	221	(10)
Messy Rooms	221	(1)
Sibling Fights	222	(1)
Curfew	223	(1)
Homework	224	(1)
Truancy	225	(1)
Out of Control	226	(4)
Learning to Step Back	230	(1)
Index	231