More skills fewer pills, Strategies for the HyperactiveChild at Home

Linda Sheehan, LCSWLake County Parent Network, Grayslake, IlLindaros@comcast.net

• “It is generally understood among health care practitioners that drug treatment would not occur in isolation. Medication is best provided as part of a comprehensive treatment program.” Dr. Thomas Laughren, M.D. Director, Food and Drug Administration, October 7, 2009

Yes, children are sponges• There’s a general finding in psychology that,

on average, about one third of our personal characteristics are innate, and roughly two-thirds are acquired one way or the another. “ Dr. Rick Hanson, Neuropsychologist, UC Berkeley

What is neuroplasticity?

• An umbrella term that refers to the changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes in behavior, environment and neural processes.

• Our understanding of neuroplasticity has come to replace the formerly-help position that the brain is physically static. We know know that actually changes the brain’s physical structure (anatomy) and functional organization (physiology).

epigenetics• Link for epigenetics video.docx

Calm Attention & Parental ResolveTools to help parents build a “we” that reflects the family’s values

• Simplicity Parenting

• The Nurtured Heart Approach

• 1-2-3 Magic

Calm Attention & Parental ResolveTools to help parents assist the child in building their “I”

• Mindful awareness

• The importance of movement

• How much is your child getting outside?

• Biofeedback

Calm Attention and Parental Resolve Toolsto help the child move into the social world-”them”

• Social Thinking

What is Simplicity Parenting?

Cumulative Stress

• How did the Cumulative Stress model come about?

• Cumulative Stress: an accumulation of “small” stresses that together and in the long term, come to affect a child in a manner similar to trauma.

Why simplify?

• Simplicity is not an aim is it a vehicle to connecting to your own deeper values and hopes.

• Simplicity parenting creates the conditions in which a true attachment relationship can take place.

• It not a flight into the past, but rather helping build the resilience required to face the future with flexibility.

What is “soul fever”

4 steps to treatment

• Notice the emotional/feeling life.• Quiet down and ask questions: Why is my

child overwhelmed? What is my child’s inner conflict?

• Let the fever run it’s course. Allow your child to experience the fever, offer love and alternatives to counter suffering.

• Return to simplified normal life.

Simplicity Parenting Change Process

• Identify the dissatisfaction• Imagine how things could be• Design one small doable change• Fulfill it with as much help as possible form

others• Celebrate and review

The 4 Realms

• Environment• Rhythm• Scheduling• Filtering out

What does the Research say?• The average American child receives 70 toys per year; the average 10

year old has memorized 300-400 brands.

• Children directly impact more than $286 billion of family purchases annually.

• Over consumption of toys creates a sense of entitlement and a false reliance on purchases rather than people to satisfy us emotionally

• Juliet B. Schor Born to Buy (new York:Scribner, 2004)• “Kids: A Powerful Market Force”, BNET Business Network

What is “Rhythm”?

• Predictable routines that a child can count on.• The rhythms of life provide consistency; the best

ones provide connection.• Committing to a rhythm builds trust and

relational credits; a connection that is “bankable” and can de drawn on later.

• Food is meant to nourish not to entertain• Two or three “pressure valves” built into the day

will help a child fall asleep at bedtime.

Scheduling

• Activity without downtown is ultimately unsustainable.

• Boredom is often the precursor to creativity.• Too many scheduled activities may limit

children’s ability to motivate and direct themselves.

• The messiness of free play, with its exchanges and possibilities, builds inner flexibility and social skills.

Filtering Out

• It is possible to say “no thanks” to minimize the effects of screens in our homes, certainly while our children are young.

• It is confusing to children to be involved in adult topics and conversations .

• Children need to know they have a place in a good world, and a future to look forward to.

4 Steps to Discipline

• Connect before you direct• Stay close, stay calm• Insist • Follow through

Helpful Language to use discipline as a teachable moment

• Describe/Disapprove (In our family…)• Affirm (Usually this doesn’t happen…)• Discover (Hmmm… I’m wondering if..)• Do-over Opportunity (when it is sincere)

The Nurtured Heart Approach

Nurtured Heart Approach

• I will use my energies & attention to focus on my child’s successes.

• I will not “water weeds” by getting energized by negative events.

• I will consistently follow through on clear consequences when my child needs a “reset”.

Nurtured Heart Approach

• http://www.childrenssuccessfoundation.com/video-abbreviated-intro-to-nha/

1-2-3 Magic

• http://www.123magic.com

• Dr. Thomas Phelan, well-known expert on child discipline and ADHD

• Site has materials for children 2-18• Site includes research

Mindfulness

• Often defined as “paying attention in the present moment in a non-judgmental way.”

• Mindfulness is a broader term than meditation. Meditation is just one way to be mindful and present.

• MSBR & UMass• Since the focus is self-regulation, there is much

interest in how it can be used with children.

Mindfulness

• Mindfulness is defined as paying attention intentionally to the present moment without judgment.

• Mindfulness is a broader term than meditation. Meditation is just one form of mindfulness.

• There is much interest in the use of mindfulness with children, particularly hyperactive children.

Mindfulness for Children Resources

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130905202847.htm

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267931/

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-kaiser-greenland/the-abcs-of-mindful-learn_b_563182.html

• Research in the Journal of Child and Family studies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267931/

• Lots of books/articles in parenting publications on MFN. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-gluskin/teaching-children-meditat_b_3891216.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-gluskin/teaching-children-meditat_b_3891216.html

• Susan Kaiser Greenlander’s site http://www.susankaisergreenland.com/content/inner-kids-level-1-training-for-the-2013-14-school-year.html

The Body-Mind connection

• http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/index-health-fitness/weiss.shtml

• Many schools regularly plan movement breaks for hi energy children

• Developmentally, it is difficult for young children to sit still for long periods.

Neurofeedback

• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130896102

• http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/09/10/neurofeedback-an-adhd-treatment-that-retrains-the-brain

• http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-12-15/news/36927775_1_neurofeedback-adhd-attention-deficit

Social Thinking

• http://www.socialthinking.coml

• The term Social thinking was coined by Michelle Garcia Winner in the late 1990’s while working with higher-functioning students, who were expected to blend in with their peer group by producing more nuanced social responses. This theory views social skills as dynamic and situational, not as something that canbe taught and then replicated across settings.