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Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

The teenage years require a delicate balance between the young person's need to gain independence, and the parent's need to retain authority.

Parents are the external regulator for kids who cannot regulate themselves.

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

If you (parents) tend to overreact to your child's misbehaviour - your child learns that he can't trust you. Mom, Dad, stay regulated!

It's more effective to reward your child for being "good" (appropriate) than to punish him for being "bad" (inappropriate).

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

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FASD – Wisdom from Long Ago

“You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink.”

( Judges 13:7)

In ancient Carthage, a ritual developed that forbade the drinking of wine by the bridal couple so that a defective child would not be conceived.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (500 BC)

“Foolish, drunken and harebrained women most often bring forth children like unto themselves, morose and languid.”                                                                                                                                 (Aristotle  350 BC)

“Parental drinking is a cause of weak, feeble and distempered children.”  (Royal College of Physicians 1726)

“Infants born to alcoholic mothers sometimes had a starved, shriveled and imperfect look.”

(British House of Commons 1834)

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“We were so naive. We thought our son’s poor behaviour was just a phase he was passing through. Thankfully you led us ‘out of the wilderness'”

(N.S. – London)