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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.

"Unexpressed feeling never die. They are buried alive and come back later in ugly ways." (Stephen Covey)

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

If it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

Removing a child from a traumatic environment does not remove the trauma from the child's memory.

When a child is disregulated - is the time parents need to be regulated.

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

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

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.

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FASD- Early Adolescence – guidelines for teachers

  1. the FASD adolescent still requires consistency, strong academic supports, and patience
  2. hormones are present but without the boundaries & social skills
  3. the teen may appear to be functioning higher than he really is
  4. sequencing problems may still persist
  5. teen will require immediate feedback
  6. other emotional problems may coexist

– depression

– eating disorder

– suicide ideation

– emotional alienation

  • outrageous behaviours may continue (eg. temper tantrums)
  • school suspensions

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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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See more of our workshops


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

“Implementing Rick’s techniques and adhering to them is exhausting, but it is a healthy exhaustion rather than the detrimental exhaustion I used to experience.”

(B.F. – Woodstock)