Book on tantrums, interesting response
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| Tue, 11-15-2005 - 2:13pm |
I always go to the library and check out books to read to Nathan. We have tons of books here at the house, but the boys always like it when I get new books to read. (Ok, Nathan does have his preferences, Dr. Seuss, and he brings "Cat in the hat" home from the school library....EVERY WEEK!!!! And we actually have the book at home too!!! GEESH!!!)
Anyway, I found an old book on the shelf about tantrums. I read it to Nathan lastnight. I said, see that's what you do sometimes. OH NO!!! WRONG THING TO SAY!!! Nathan pipes up and says, I don't do THAT!!!
It was a nice book, it gave examples and then gave examples of what to say or do instead of throwing tantrums. Pictures too. Well, we had a nice talk after reading that book!!!
He then starts opening up about school. He mentions a boys name. So I start asking and asking. I finally, after about 20min, get to the bottom of the reason he mentioned this boys name. Apparently, this little boy has the nerve to TOUCH Nathan's desk. This makes Nathan VERY MAD!!! LOL I guess talking about tantrums and getting mad, made Nathan think of this.
So, I had to explain to him, that I didn't think this little boy was touching his desk to make him mad, etc, etc......This was a SURPRISE to Nathan. lol He really cracks me up!!!!
I always try and get Nathan talking by discussing the books I read to him. It's so fascinating to hear what's going on in his head! This morning, he started tantruming again. So I BROUGHT UP THE BOOK. Boy, did he stop!!!!! Because, ya know.....he doesn't do THAT!!!!
michelle

michelle,
have you guys ever tried social stories with nathan? sounds like something he might benefit from.
v
What exactly are social stories? Acting out certain situations? New here - plenty of questions.
Christie
We just started social stories with Jake(2.5) and so far it's working well. Our social stories have to do with tantrums about bedtime and having to wait your turn in a conversation. Our speech therapist typed them up for us and we just read them to Jake just like a book. Our speech therapist said it's also a good idea to make a social story about something the child is good at.
Teresa
http://www.thegraycenter.org/
There is all the info. Carol Gray "Invented" social stories. In a nut shell they are short "stories" (for lack of a better word) that explain situations in ways our kids will understand. There are social stories for using the potty, for how to initiate a conversation, for how to lose gracefully. The best thing is this website will show you how to write social stories. The prewritten ones rarely work for us, but we often use our own.
A good example for helping to learn new skills is on Cait's new checklist from school. She has a daily checklist of what to do. At the top it says, "This list is to help me be better organized. I have organized my homework in order of priority (the homework I should finish first, then second, then third, and so on until homework is completed)...It goes on from there on what to do as she completes each piece of homework, etc.
Another time social stories are used is when there is some sort of situation that we need to prepare the kids for that may be scary, new, etc. For kids who have a hard time with new things this is really a good idea. We did this with Mike when he started kindergarten as well as when he switched to a new school. We took pictures of the school, teacher and classroom to use with the story.
There are times I write up a quickie story or even prepare the kids by phrasing things in a social story type way. Other times they need regular social stories (like Cait's homework) until a skill is mastered. Mike generally will only read a new story once, lol. So his use is limited but helps immensly when prepping him for a new place.
Renee
Christie
Edited 11/16/2005 9:48 am ET by jinxgirl2001
I tried the social stories before with Nathan. But he didn't like them, wouldn't even listen. I think because they didn't look like your typical story. So, that's why I turned to looking at books at the library. So, I'm teaching him something, without him actually knowing it!! He's pretty smart about that kind of thing. We read about the same time everyday, and it's the books from the library, or the books he gets from school. He won't have me introducing something new!! LOL Right now, I'm trying to work on his flexibility on doing "homework" on the weekends---in the afternoon, not just after dinner on weekdays. He's still not sure about this, but I was able to get him to do some work last weekend. We'll see how things go come Sat.!!
michelle