When Kai started ABA and began a reward system, we quickly determined that he needed positive reinforcers given for regularly showing his "happy face" (that is, opposed to a crying or tantruming sad face). It has worked really well! He has started to understand how he can control his emotional outbursts....and when he has them, they are much shorter in duration. Best of all, he is proud of the mounting number of happy face stickers on his chart (and ecstatic when he realizes that a LOT of them means something yummy is right around the corner!)
Then there is Dr. G.....another player in our Project Happy Face experiment. Dr. G is Kai's pediatric psychiatrist. We had a visit with him this morning, and he's impressed to see that the increase in Kai's Fluoxetine seems to be making quite a difference! Things that we are noticing are: Increased silliness, a sense of humor, a tendency to want to try more things (eg. greater effort) rather than giving up, a greater interest in the things around him, more of a willingness to speak, and....(be careful what you wish for) the emergence of the "pain in the butt little brother syndrome" which has always existed, but has been ramped up a degree or two. Yes, with increased energy for our little guy also comes that inevitable irking and bothering of our five year old.... Hmmm, maybe Project Happy Face for the Kai-man has become Project Sad Face for Jade, as Kai has succeeded in learning how to get a rise out of our little Jade-ster very easily. Sigh.... never a dull moment, hey?
On a slightly different note, Dr. Dana Johnson is the Director of the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota, and speaks internationally on the impact of early institutionalization, trauma, and poor nutrition on early development. Here he is interviewed by Heather Forbes, founder of the Beyond Consequences Institute: http://www.asktheexpertinterviews.com/danajohnson/danajohnson.html Take a listen....good info!
8 comments:
That is great progress! My "Ty-man" (I had to laugh when you wrote Kai-man because we say the same thing with Ty's name) is also quite the little pain to his big sister.
I think it is one of those dynamics that makes a sibling relationship "normal!" Too bad, hey? ;)
how cool!! Maybe I should try something like that soon! We've had a better time with less "sad face" since he's been able to ask for more things and tell us what he needs. Glad it's working!!!! Oh! And I am a space case- I am new to gmail- and I didn't see that you sent that post! lol I thought it was an old message!
I heart ABA!! It's so great to see how they respond to it, and it really can result in some great gains. Who knew that a sticker chart could wield such power?!?!? Hurray for Kai!
What a huge smile he has on his face! (Chocolate doughnuts make me smile, too!) Way to go, Kai!
Oh that is great! We have used everything from donuts, to soda, to fireworks to reward. And ABA was a miracle for us. Changed my son's life. Glad to hear things are going so well!
We're big into bribery here at our house. Never thought of using fireworks though! Whatever works! :) Food is the biggest reinforcer for Kai (for mommy too). It is SO hard to go to the bakery and buy ONE doughnut!!! Kai was so proud when he showed the woman behind the counter his sticker chart and said "Look, see?" I was like..."um, yeah...it's a reward system thing. He'd be having a meltdown right now if we didn't have it."
Love the happy face chart idea. It's amazing what we can get from our kids in exchange for stickers. Love it! We'll have to try it, too.
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