Parenting A Special Needs ChildDo You Give Your Child Physical Choices?
Listen to a father’s perspective about raising a special needs child by Nitsan.
Here is a Mind- Body approach to parenting that can make your child less impulsive:
Help your child make a choice in a physical way within their own body. When your child has a decision to make, let them imagine themselves as if they are approaching an intersection of a road where there is a clear choice of left turn and a right turn. You the parent can act out with your body using your arms how the right side is the good side that is wise,appropriate and a suitable choice whereas the left side is a bad choice with unfavorable consequences. Have your child also raise his arms and act out the different sensations of the right side versus the left side. Help your child to stop and think before each decision looking at each side for a moment,weighing up what each arm represents.
We try to make this method concrete with our daughter’s name DEENA. When she has made a good choice, we call her by her normal name Deena. It is symbolic of her good behavior and a sign that she is choosing to go with her correct instinct (right arm). When her behavior is bad and she has a sudden loud meltdown, we reverse her name and call her A NEED, symbolizing that she made a bad choice and went with the wrong choice (left arm). We want her to comprehend that her decisions can be thought through in a physical way and felt within her own body to assist her in making the correct choice.
Listen to this clip that clearly explains how to use this technique together with your child.
It’s good to hear a father’s perspective. Thanks for the idea.