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When someone asks me what to do about their child or student who has difficulty with transitions, say the child doesn’t want to shower or do homework after playing, or if the child loves to read but then doesn’t want to switch to math in class, or if the child went to a friend’s house […]

In the last week alone, I shared this sheet with parents almost daily, and sometimes even three times a day! Our children learn our values from the rules we create and live by, and from the seriousness and assertiveness with which we convey these rules. Sometimes, when kids are being “difficult,” it’s because they don’t know our

Last week’s email focused on teaching kids to self-occupy using a sample poster with a variety of activities on each. This week, there’s another “picture” (step #2 of the RGBT 6-step process) depicting a child’s thought process of doing both the reds and greens. These pictures are mostly stick-figure art, which most people already know

Just about every parent of a normal healthy child has heard their child complain, kvetch, or nag at some point in their life, “I’m bored! I’m bored!” Whose responsibility is it to entertain children? I’m of the opinion that it is not a parent’s responsibility to constantly find fun things to do to ensure that our children

(2 minute read) Action Plan is a step-by-step plan that one sticks to until completion. (2 minute read) Have you tried lots of different strategies, different therapies, different therapists, each one for a really short time? Say, you tried praising for one week, time-outs for two weeks, validating for one more whole week, but nothing

What is a great source of frustration when it comes to helping our children? In short, of the five important ingredients, ingredient #4 is Resources. When there is a lack of it, it leads to frustration. Resources includes time, money, and access to professionals. For example, the child’s or parent’s schedule is so tight that

(1.5 minute read)There’s a lot of debate whether children should be rewarded, whether behavioral changes stick once the reward is stopped, whether the changes are “real” and internalized, and so forth. What’s my opinion?? Rewards and incentives are necessary to motivate people, regardless of age. Without incentives, change can be very slow. Of the five

(2 minute read)Ok. The holidays are over. Real life is settling in. Back to work and personal goals. You made a resolution to say, lose some weight. Or exercise daily. Or organize that messy closet. (I know I’m not alone in these goals 😉 …) Whatever the goal is, the ingredients for success are still

30 Second read My dear friends, families, and colleagues, Yom Kippur reminds me of the scale of reds and greens. Have you noticed some kids spiral into reds the moment they are criticized or told that they are engaging in a red behavior? Some children notice themselves do red behavior and they feel absolutely awful,

(1 minute read)It’s the time of year that many of us might want to commit to a New Year’s resolution, maybe on behalf of ourselves, or perhaps on behalf of a family member or work/team member. What’s going to make the difference between success and failure? Well, there are five important ingredients. Here’s ingredient #1: