Synopsis of a WorkshopBy

Sherry Knight &

Lisa Caccitori

Brain Growth: The gray matter (the thinking part of the brain the frontal lobe) thickens and gains connections at a rapid rate between the age of 10 and 12.

Brain Pruning: Excessive gray matter connections (the parts of the brain that are not used) prunes, eliminates and thinks throughout adolescence and into young adulthood.

The type of activity in which the teen is involved will determine which parts of the brain survive and which will be lost.

The frontal lobe is responsible for executive functions as: Planning Organizing Controlling Impulses Inhibit Gut Responses Regulating Emotions Thinking through Consequences

• This part of the brain is under-developed in teens and will not be completely mature until the teen reaches their early twenties.

This is an area in the back of the brain that is stimulated by movement.

This part of the brain actually goes through the most changes during the adolescent years and these changes continue well into the twenties.

This is the part of the brain which has long been associated with physical movement.

This part of the brain is responsible of social as well as physical grace.

It is critical in smoothing out intellectual processes and assist in navigating complex social situations.

During early adolescence the brain adds a large number of Dopamine receptor sites.

The brain does not need all of these receptor sites and they are pruned down to an appropriate number.

Research shows there are distinct differences in the activity levels in the reward achievement responses between adult brains and adolescent brains.

The reward activation center in the adolescent brain is under-stimulated which results in teens being less willing to work towards rewards and more willing to participate in activities which they view as providing them with significant rewards with little effort (such as drinking, sex, drug, use.) They also need greater rewards to motivate action.

The parts of the brain that are responsible for mediating spatial, auditory, language, and auditory functioning (the Parietal and Temporal Lobes) are mature

When using MRI’s to monitor how adults and adolescent brains responded to a series of pictures reflecting emotions, researchers discovered: Younger adolescents and males were more likely to be

incorrect Adult’s frontal lobes were utilized during this activity Adults were able to correctly label the pictures

representing “fear” with 100% accuracy Adolescents in 50% of the cases labeled the picture of

“anger” or “confusion” Adolescent’s anterior regions were during this activity The anterior region relies on “gut responses” as

opposed to logic

What is a difficult child: children who act out in order to get their needs met.

They view themselves as worthless and act out in certain ways to increase their sense of power.

Acting out children are skilled at getting the adults around them to respond to them in ways that reinforce their acting out.

1. Power2. Attention3. Revenge4. Display of Inadequacy

The power children feel most confident when they are in control of the situation and feel worthwhile when dominating others.

These children are skilled at engaging adults in power struggles.

* You know you are dealing with a power child when you feel as though you want to force them to do what you want them to do.

* The primary key to dealing successfully with power oriented children is to AVOID POWER STRUGGLESWays these children get powers:

Making you feel incompetent Threating to act out Playing adults against one another Getting you to lose your cool Wearing you down Acting as though they “don’t care”

Backing them into a corner Placing them in position to lose

face with peers. Taking away opportunities to

comply with dignity Get stuck on “ I have to react

now”

Give them choices, lay out what the consequences (good and bad) will be, and let them live with the consequences.

These children have leadership skill so use those skills to your benefit in class.

Let the children know you have no intentions of trying to force them into compliance

Making things a challenge for these students Make sure you are not working harder than

they are

Assume the Best: “I’m sure you have already thought about this.”

Tell them what you need- then walk away (less is more)

If they challenge you, let them know you have to think about it and you’ll get back to them

Give choices Avoid “no”- Instead say “yes when…” Focus on problem solving communication Agree Utilize “I don’t know”

* When focusing on the consequences of their behavior constantly ask, what was the situation, what was your decision, what was the consequence

Attention children only feel significant if the focus remains on them.

They feel the are not good enough to compete for positive attention, so they settle for any attention, even if it is negative and punitive.

These students are particularly skilled at getting adults to focus negative attention on them.

*You know you are dealing with an attention child if you feel annoyed by the child and are constantly stopping to correct him/her.

Do not Ignore them or use “Planned Ignore” it will increase more attention seeking behaviors

Stop instruction to yell from across the classroom

Ask yourself: Is there something going on that makes this student feel bad, dumb or stupid?

Find ways to address their behavior without disrupting the process.

Talk quietly and privately to them. Offer attention based reward

When dealing with the Revenge Child point out the scapegoat cycle: (They internalize these types of feelings and perceptions)You believe others dislike you, you react to others as though they hate you, you reject others before they reject you, others are hurt by your behavior and pull away from you, you tell yourself that you knew all along it would end this way.

You know you are dealing with a revenge child when your feelings are hurt and you have a strong desire to retaliate.

The key to dealing successfully with revenge oriented children is to be consistent and fair with consequences.

Be aware of the many ways that adults can retaliate against children.

Do not allow overly negative confrontation to happen between child and adult.

Do not allow peers to scapegoat this child.

Do not be over solicitizing or crowd them emotionally

Apply the same rules to them as other children.

These are students who are often depressed and feel powerless to change their lives.

They have often been victims and continue to take a victim stance.

Skilled at getting adults and other students to come to their aid and rescue them.

You know you are dealing with a display of inadequacy child when you feel sorry for him/her and find yourself wanting to alter your expectations for that person.

When you rescue these students, you are reinforcing their belief that they are inadequate.

The key to working successfully with these students is to not rescue and not criticize.

Do not collude with them around their assumptions that the are helpless.

Use positive as opposed to negative confrontation. Do not criticize. Praise whenever possible. Give overt as well as convert messages of

competence. Focus on teaching them to stick up and speak up for

themselves. Explore negative self talk and payoffs of their

behavior. Point out how the choices they have made, even

minor ones have impacted their lives.

1. REMEMBER: conduct disorder kids act out when they feel stupid or incompetent. Always ask what about this situation makes this child feel stupid and what can I change.2. Conduct disorder kids love power and getting power is a powerful reward for inappropriate behavior.

3. Reframe behavior. Attach attractive words to behaviors you want them to model. Identify the strengths in their not so desirable behavior.

4. Conduct disorder kids comply better without a peer audience.

5. Conduct disorder kids need ways to comply that allow them to keep their pride intact.

6. As much as possible give choices within commands.

7. Work on changing scripts.

8. Use metaphors and stories.

9. Focus on helping others.

10. Never take their behavior personal.

11. Use Indirect ways of confrontation.

12. Teach them to read situations and understand when enough is enough.

13. Teach them to understand what makes them mad and what thoughts they have that fuel the anger.

14. Focus on strength based communication.

15. Ask them to consider why you are addressing this issue with them.