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Social Anxiety Always Needs Help and Grade Skipping Very Effective for Some Gifted Students
Social Anxiety Always Needs Help and Grade Skipping Very Effective for Some Gifted Students
Q: How do you know when social anxiety requires more attention (e.g. therapy or medication)?
A: A parent is often the first person who can help a socially …Read more.
Helping Over-Empowered High-School Students Is Not Easy
Q: My question is related to my role as a high-school teacher. I have my master's in special education with a concentration on students with emotional disabilities. I've taught for the last 15 years as either a special education or English teacher, …Read more.
When Should a Child be IQ Tested? and Death Is Frightening to Children
Q: At what point should IQ testing be conducted? We have an only child — a girl who is in kindergarten.
A: There's no specific time that all children should be given individual IQ tests by a psychologist. Schools often arrange for group IQ …Read more.
Grandson May be More Difficult During Grandma's Visit
Q: I'm concerned about my 2-year-old grandson who seems very needy and demanding. He cries for at least an hour after his mom leaves. Occasionally, distraction works but not often. He says, "It's mine" over and over about everything in his …Read more.
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Extracurricular Activities Can Be Overload, and Child With Attention Problems Needs HelpQ: We have three children and my husband and I both work (we're teachers). After school, I find that we spend evenings running our children around to their extracurricular activities. This leaves me exhausted with little family time together (family dinners, talks, games, etc.). When evening arrives, I'm so tired that my positive parenting skills are drained from me. Should we eliminate those extra activities? A: All educational research supports the importance of extracurricular activities for children to build self-confidence and to stay out of trouble. It's really true that teens and tweens who are busy with extracurricular activities are less likely to be involved in alcohol, other drugs and promiscuous sex. On the other hand, good family relationships also have a similar positive impact on adolescents. Ideally, families should be able to manage both participation for their children and family time. It's challenging to find the appropriate balance of activities, but that is the goal. For families who find themselves on overload, I usually suggest doing an inventory of their schedules every three months or so. It's too easy to keep adding activities without dropping others. Choices must be made, and kids should be included in making those choices. If you can't manage family time together for at least two or three nights a week, you're probably on overload and should determine what can be dropped. While overload is understandable for short periods of time, as before the drama play or band concert, no one manages constant overload well. So in short, it's a family balancing act that requires constant surveillance. You want to keep kids busy doing wholesome activities, but not so busy that you can't laugh, play and relax at least a little.
For free newsletters about "Growing Up Too Fast," the importance of the arts, or sports and competition, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address below. Q: My grandson is 7 years old and has Tourette's syndrome. The doctors have prescribed clonidine. Now the teacher said he might have attention problems. I want to know if he needs to see a psychologist and what kind of medicine you think he needs to control both the ticks and his attention problem. He's not a bad student; his mind just wanders. If you have some advice, I would love to hear from you. A: Your grandson would benefit by seeing a psychologist because his teacher has observed problems in the classroom. All children have some attention problems at times. The psychologist will help the parents determine if your grandson only needs behavioral help or if he should also have medication. Because he is already on medication for Tourette's, the doctor who prescribed the medication will advise his parents if there are interactions between medications. For a free newsletter about ADHD, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address below. Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
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