MPC holds workshop on Behavior Management Techniques for students with ADHD

Despite the cold weather, on January 20, more than twenty-five parents attended our workshop on Behavior Management.  Miriam Cusicanqui, a supervising social worker at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital shared behavior strategies with parents.  The strategies demonstrated were based on years of research in behavior development and they included:

• Parent–child relationship, restoring and nurturing that relationship with positive feelings and building self-esteem.
• Increasing desirable behaviors through praise, acknowledgement and incentives, including the use of behavioral charts.
• Managing non-compliance, including the use of time-outs or other types of consequences. 

Parents should consider finding a therapist to help them practice these strategies consistently and to get through the often difficult challenges involved in carrying them out. The NYU Child Study Center has an excellent database to help you find a doctor. These strategies should also be used in school and if necessary implemented in a child’s behavior intervention plan. For more behavior strategies click here.

 The MPC can help with implementing these strategies in your child’s school by contacting our intake coordinator at (212) 643-2840 ext. 336. 

Are We Over-relying on Medication To Treat Behavioral Problems?

The over-reliance of medication to treat behavioral problems is becoming a rampant problem for individuals with disabilities. Recently the NY Times focused on the problem in state run group homes in its article “In Treating Disabled, Potent Drugs and Few Rules.”  The psychologist interviewed felt that medication does not address the underlying problem and that the behaviors could best be addressed by therapy. Lizabeth Pardo, an attorney in the Metropolitan Parent Center (MPC), sees this pattern in our schools. Many of her clients with ADHD are on medication but are not getting any type of behavior therapy privately or getting sufficient support through a behavior intervention plan at school. The workshop we presented is one way Sinergia is educating parents about behavior therapy to ensure their children are getting the proper care.