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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.

If you are headed in the wrong direction as a parent - you are allowed to make a U-turn.

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

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

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

"Rules without relationship leads to rebellion" (Josh McDowell)

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)

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

Good parenting requires sacrifice. Childhood lasts for only a few brief years , but it should be given priority while it is passing before your eyes

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Quotes from the Medical Minority re: ADD/ADHD

As mentioned in a previous blog, there is no consensus among the medical community regarding the cause and treatments for ADD/ADHD. In fact there are even doctors who question whether ADD/ADHD even exists. This medical minority believe that the individuals diagnosed with this disorder are nothing more than people who occupy one extreme end of the range of some behavioural characteristics.

Note the following quotes from some of the medical minority:

“Research does not confirm the existence of ADD/ADHD” . (David Johnson M.D.

“There is no consistent evidence for an underlying physical or chemical cause.” (Gerald S. Golden M.D.)

We have invented a disease , given it medical sanction, and now must disown it. The major question is how do we go about destroying the monster we have created. It is not easy to do this and still save face, another reason why physicians and many researchers with years of funding and an academic reputation to protect, are reluctant to believe the data.”

(Diane McGuinness M.D.)

My own (non medical) viewpoint is that clearly some people genuinely do have problems with attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity and benefit greatly from medical treatment.

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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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“I wish we had found Rick 2 years ago. We could have saved ourselves and our son a lot of trouble.”

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