And this is part five of our five part video series on getting kids unstuck.
And today's video blog is going to feature an excerpt from podcast number 51 where I
cover all five areas of getting unstuck in the five different areas.
But part five, this video blog, is going to focus on when you are stuck having a child,
uh, have problem behaviors that you don't know how to reduce, prevent, or eliminate.
So that's what this video blog is all about.
Hi, I'm Dr. Mary Barbera, autism mom, Board Certified Behavior Analyst and bestselling
author of The Verbal Behavior Approach.
Each week I provide you with some of my ideas about turning autism around.
This video blog is going to be a short excerpt about an area where parents and professionals
get stuck and see little progress and I'm going to provide some tips on how to get unstuck.
And the final area where people get stuck, parents and professionals, is they get stuck
with not knowing how to reduce problem behaviors, whether that's major or minor problem behaviors.
They just feel stuck with months or years of the same issues.
And if it's aggression, self injurious behavior, property destruction, it can obviously lead
to very um, limited choice in terms of who's gonna care for the child, who's going to provide
respite, who, where the child can be, um, in school.
Um, it's just so, so hard.
So, um, obviously it's a, it's a complex uh, topic of how to reduce problem behavior.
I'm not even going to really get into it.
I've had tons of podcasts and video blogs.
If you just Google Mary Barbera problem behavior, you'll find an assortment.
Again, this is a big focus of my online courses is not just to improve good behaviors we want
like language and learning and self care, um, getting more conversational but also at
the same time reducing those problem behaviors.
And it is two sides of the same coin.
We need to constantly be increasing good behaviors and decreasing problem behaviors.
So, um, in general, no matter if you have a, if you were stuck in any of these five
areas, you always want to start with an assessment and a revision of the goals, the plan, the
targets, peel back that onion, figure out what is going on and put one foot in front
of the other.
It's not going to be a day where all of a sudden you're turning things around, but turning
autism around, whether that is for an older child who is not toilet trained or not talking
or turning things around for a young child just showing signs of autism, it's always
possible to make progress.
Kids should be making progress.
They should at least be safe, independent as possible, happy as possible.
They should have the big three, uh, of being able to request their wants and needs.
Um, whether that's vocally or, or with a device, they should have major problem behaviors at
or near zero.
And they should be, especially if they're over five, uh, have the ability to, uh, use
the toilet as independently as possible.
These things are gonna affect their quality of life is going to affect the family's quality
of life because they're going to be able to get babysitters and, uh, respite workers and
the child is going to be more and more able to be included and have a happier life.
The more progress we can make, of course, we as parents and professionals only have
one life too so, um, try to remain as, as less stressed as possible.
I know when I interview guests, I'm always asking them, uh, about ways to reduce stress
and, and putting one foot in front of the other is the way I reduce stress.
Like whatever the problem is.
Okay, let's assess the situation.
Um, assess the gap.
Like is it a huge gap?
Is it a little gap?
Um, make a list, make a plan to, um, work towards fixing it or making it better.
Um, that's all what life is, is just making things as good as possible.
I hope you enjoyed that video blog.
If you did, I'd love it if you leave me a comment and share this video with anyone who
could benefit and to attend a free workshop where you can learn how to get unstuck, attend
marybarbera.com/workshop for more information.
I hope to see you right here next week.