23 Nov
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My last post introduced positive time-out. Positive time-outs are intended to interrupt problem behaviors and to help children calm down and gain self-control. When children are young the time-out both teaches them how to do this and gives them an opportunity to exercise those new skills. As the child gets older, time-out is both a reminder to the child to regain control over himself and a push to do so.
Here are some tips for using positive time-outs with the different age groups of childhood.
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17 Nov
Wardens, coaches and parents all use time-outs. In prisons, inmates are placed in solitary confinement to reprimand and punish. Athletic teams use time-out to recover, regroup or strategize. For parents, the athletic style time-out can be a useful strategy for stopping problem behaviors in the moment and fostering self-control in the long term. Using the penal style time-out with children is sometimes effective in the instant, but over the long term it tends to backfire. If we tell someone, adult or child, to sit in the corner for five minutes and think about what he did wrong, he is far more likely to be nurturing his anger and resentment than reflecting on his mistakes and considering how to atone. Read more »
12 Nov
Because the process of separation and divorce leads to the end of a nuclear family, family therapy for divorcing families strikes many as an oxymoron. What would be the purpose of helping a family communicate and function better if the family is ending? But while loss and endings are inherent in separation and divorce, the process is also one in which families families reorganize, establish new patterns of relating, and find new roles and tasks for individual family members. Family therapy can be a powerful tool for families to attend to these tasks. Read more »
12 Nov
As families who have teens and adults with developmental disabilities like autism and Down Syndrome endeavor to launch their children towards adulthood, one of their biggest tasks is accessing services to help maximize their children’s independence. Many organizations provide excellent programs which offer residential, educational, therapeutic, recreational, and vocational services, as well as socialization opportunities and respite care. But unlike schools that offer “one-stop shopping” for many children and teens, as children transition to adulthhood families have to navigate a myriad of agencies to get their children the help they need. Moreover, funding is often scarce, and waiting lists are often long. Tragically, because services are so uncoordinated and difficult to access, many people with disabilities are not able to make use of many valuable opportunities, and thus are not able to maximize their level of independence.
The web site of Jonah Green and Asssociates has developed an area of its web site dedicated to providing families in Montgomery County, MD who have teens and adults with developmental disabilities with access to services, resources, support, and information. Please click here to access this area of the site. We will be continually updating the site–if you know of an additional resource, please comment on this blog and we will add it to the web site. Thank you.
–Posted by Jonah Green
