Support for Parents

Parents want the best for their children. It can be very difficult, emotionally, for a parent whose child has an emotional disturbance. If you have concerns about your child, do not try to handle it alone. Speak with other family members, your child's teacher, or contact one of the professionals or organizations listed on this blog's Local Professionals page. Manage your own anger and stress. Self care is one of the most difficult, but most important part of parenting. Get healthy amounts of exercise and sleep. When your child is angry, calm yourself by taking deep breaths, stepping away if your child is safe, or talking with another adult for empathy and support.

Supporting Your Child with Schoolwork
If your child is diagnosed with an emotional disturbance, teachers and school professionals will provide support and services during school. Clear expectations, encouragement, behavior management strategies, and positive reinforcement will be used to encourage and support your child. At home, you can support your child's learning in many ways: 

• Communicate with teachers--set up a system with teachers to let you know how your child is behaving in school as often as possible (daily, weekly, etc.) Use email, texts, phone calls, or written notes. Even if your teacher is just giving you a quick rating on a scale of 1-5 (rough day-great day,) you will be more informed. 
• Support homework time--set aside 30 minutes to an hour each night for your child to work on academics. Make this time consistent and predictable. Communicate with teachers about assignments. If homework is done, your child should read, write, study, practice math facts, draw, or do another quiet academic activity. This reinforces that school and education are important to you and your family and sets aside some quiet focused time for your child. 
• Build Organization Skills--help your child keep a planner, checklist, or folder to organize and prioritize schoolwork. Check the folder during homework time. Just spending 10 minutes on this each day helps build skills for your child
• Praise Skills and Strategies--acknowledge and praise when your child remembers his or her folder, gets right to work at homework time, persists through a difficult math problem, or reads for a full half hour. 

Every child is different and requires personalized support if struggling with emotional disturbance; however, below are some ideas to try.

Withdrawn Socially

• Maintain positive interactions
• Empathize and explain that you care for your child's feelings
• Realize that your effort to show you care makes a difference, even if your child appears to be unresponsive to your efforts. Do not give up. 
• Connect your child with friends if possible
• Involve your child in groups or clubs

Breaking or Ignoring Rules

• Notice and praise as many positive behaviors as possible--give attention to when your child succeeds
• All adults involved with the child should agree on consequences rewards and expectations
• Set up clear consequences for breaking rules. Consequences should be predictable known ahead of time and routine, rather than decided on in the heat of the moment. 
• Set up rewards for following rules which are consistent, attainable and predictable
• Structuring the child's day with a predictable schedule can help children know what to do and when to do it. 
• Practice, teach, and praise the "right way" to do and say things. For example, if your child is hitting a sibling for taking the television remote:
• Explain to your child it's best to use words to solve problems. Say, It's clear that you were angry about her taking the remote, but use your words rather than hitting. You should say, "Please give back the remote." If she doesn't give it back after you use your words, find me for help. 

If your child is harming him/herself or others, please get professional help from one of the Local Professionals listed on this blog as soon as possible.