If you’re the parent of a child with an emotional, developmental or psychiatric disorder, then you are familiar with the DSM-IV, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition. This is the book that contains all the disorders the field of psychiatry uses as diagnoses. Starting back in 1952 there have been four editions of this manual published by the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM is a categorical classification system,... more

My teenage daughter loves to “help” me, and sometimes, like today when she helped me clean the house, she is a real blessing. If I give her a task to complete, she won’t stop until she is finished and sometimes even goes beyond my expectations. However, when I am not at home she likes to pretend to be me, and she does what she thinks I would do and orders the other children to help her. When I return home and ask questions, her initial reaction is to lie because she realizes that her plan didn’t turn out the way she thought it would. Then, she gets in trouble for lying.

Sometimes, her lies are almost comical because they are so implausible and because she thinks, her parents will... more

One of my readers commented on one of my blogs that my teenage daughter with FAS might be having trouble with self- regulating. She felt it would explain why my daughter is only able to control herself while I am at home. When I leave, even for brief periods, she inevitably gives the person in charge a difficult time; she sneaks, lies, abuses her assumed authority, and destroys property; for several years, my own mother wouldn’t baby-sit for her. The suggestion that she couldn’t behave because she is unable to regulate herself intrigued... more

Some time ago I read Dr. Ross Greene’s book, The Explosive Child, and saw a great deal of LuLu’s behaviors described within the pages. Over the last few months I have digested more and more of Dr. Greene’s approach, known as Collaborative Problem Solving, and I think he has a point. There is a different way to parent explosive, inflexible children.

Who are these inflexible children? Well, explosive and inflexible... more

When your child begins to show signs of puberty before reaching the age of seven in girls or the age of nine in boys, you should suspect your child is experiencing precocious puberty and have an immediate medical evaluation. Some indicators of beginning puberty are the growth of pubic and underarm hair, a growth spurt, the onset of acne, and an adult body odor. Girls will also begin... more

“Puberty is considered delayed (delayed puberty) if it hasn't occurred by the age of 13 years in girls and 14 years in boys.”

If you suspect your child has missed puberty, and you are lucky enough to have access to your child’s birth family, then ask them when family members experienced puberty. This method worked well for us when our daughter was about 13. We knew she might have a problem entering spontaneous puberty... more

More people need to become aware of the danger of obesity and high blood pressure in children. The popularity of junk foods, sodas, and long hours of playing video games and watching television instead of exercising, are taking their toll on our children’s health. These unhealthy habits are contributing to many problems including high blood pressure (hypertension). While problems with the kidneys or heart can also cause high blood pressure, for a growing number of kids, the cause... more

Our family was looking for a special needs toddler to adopt a few years ago. We applied for a beautiful set of twins that were nearly two years old, a boy and a girl. The twins were born three months premature and exposed to illegal drugs while in the uterus. We were told the children were very delayed and while they continued to make steady progress, it was slow and they still couldn’t walk or talk. They were involved in physical therapy and early intervention services and seeing an ophthalmologist regularly. They had also been in the same foster home since their release from the hospital, which lessened their chances for attachment problems.

We were very comfortable with the... more

Do you ever feel like “Sherlock Holmes” trying to discover what your special needs child is trying to say? Then, almost like Superman changing in the telephone booth, you are able to change into “Super Translator Mom,” so you can tell others what your child just said. With most special needs children, some days are better than other days, we need to be thankful for the good days, yet not expect them. I try to remind myself frequently, lest I set my 13-year-old daughter up for failure, by expecting too much.

She waltzed into the kitchen earlier today, just coming in from outside. I asked her where Allie was, because they had been outside together. She looked me right in the eyes,... more

I left the house for about 90 minutes today while I took the four year old to a “play therapy” session. I returned home just in time to be able to get my daughter to her piano lesson on time. I popped into the house and asked if she was ready for her piano lesson. She was not, apparently she had forgotten. She grabbed her lesson books and she was putting her shoes on, so I ran outside and jumped into the van and then, I waited. About 10 minutes later, she came out and stared at the van for a minute. Then, she actually walked up to the van, opened the door, and asked if I was waiting for her. I know, I should have just said, “Yes.” Instead, I asked, “Don’t you have a piano lesson in 10 minutes?”... more