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Bonus Child Behavior Tips and Updates, Issue #007 -- teaser here
September 20, 2010

September Newsletter 2010

I’m excited to report some positive changes in our son, since we have started to explore biomedical treatments for his sensory processing disorder. Testing indicated that he had problems with mercury in his body (causes nervous system dysfunction), yeast overgrowth (commonly the cause of asthma, which he has), bacteria, and an additional food sensitivity to wheat (often associated with eczema).

So, for the past month we have changed his diet, added supplements, and implemented a heavy metal detoxifying program. Although the practitioner has stated it will take at least three months to completely heal the body, we have already noticed a difference. His sleep quality is better as well as his eczema and he seems to be much less sensitive to certain stimuli that would have normally caused emotional reactions.

We still have a couple of months to go, but I am already becoming an even stronger advocate of this treatment option for other children that I learned about from the book Healing the new childhood epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies If you happened to miss last month’s newsletter about this, be sure to check it out at Summer Newsletter 2010

Child-behavior-guide.com updates

Currently, I am in the process of rewriting many of my pages to update them with new information and make them even easier to navigate. So, be sure to check out what changes are being made over the next few weeks.

Bonus Child Behavior Tip

Raising a Good Sport

I think a lot of children struggle with losing or not having a game go a certain way because it makes them feel so good when they do win or are successful at a game/activity. Here are some of the things I do when working with children that also have difficulties with losing.

1. I never purposefully allow a child to win or "rig" a game for the child to succeed. This in the long run will only set them up in the position of not learning how to lose or accept the bad parts of games.

2. Talk to your child about how it's the actual playing of the game/doing the activity that should be fun, not whether you win or lose. I always say, if you only have fun when you win a game, then you won't have fun until the very end.

You may also talk about the importance of learning when you don't always succeed, that this makes us better at what you are doing. Reiterate this every time your child gets upset during a game/activity.

3. Try playing some games that frequently have "losing" aspects with your child, such as Trouble or Sorry. Whenever, your child has to go back to start, keep things light hearted, remind your child it's part of the game, and that it will happen to you as well. When you have to go back to start, keep a big smile on your face, laugh and say, "Oh well, it just means I get to play even longer and have more fun!"

4. When your child doesn’t win, be sure to give lots of praise for other things he/she did well. Focus on effort and if he/she was a good sport, be sure to really praise that.

What’s in the News?

A Woman with Autism Gives an Outside Perspective on Society

Daxer is a 27-year-old woman attending Wright State University for Biomedical Engineering. Although, she is unable to naturally learn the meaning of social cues, facial expressions, and social taboos, she has learned to memorize a list of things to help her better fit into society.

This is a common challenge for individuals with high functioning autism, such as Asperger’s Disorder and as a result they can often be alienated from social groups. Scientists claim that by being part of a social group you increase your chances of survival, but where would this put an individual with autism in terms of natural selection for survival?

I think that Daxer’s perspective on this subject is very eye opening and helps to understand why individuals with autism are actually a blessing to society as a whole, even if it doesn’t necessarily account for individuals with severe autism.

"So let's say Caveman Bob invents fire," Daxer says. "But because he's autistic he's too nerdy for the cavewomen, so he doesn't have any children. I mean how is that an advantage when it comes to natural selection?"

“It seems like it wouldn't be. But if Bob's discovery gives his tribe an advantage,” Daxer says, “his relatives will be able to have more children even if he never has any. So Bob's genes, including those involved in autism, will be passed on to future generations.”

For more on this story go to NPR

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