Is Reinforcement Bribery?

When you give your child reinforcement for completing a hard task or tolerating a new, higher difficulty situation is that really just bribery?? Parents want their children to be intrinsically motivated and values-centered in their choices to do "the right thing." But, how do you teach that? Dr. Blevins chats through the differences between reinforcement and bribery with children, and how a parent might consider these concepts when intentionally interacting with their child.

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Growing as a Parent Advocate for Your Child

When a child is diagnosed with a developmental or mental health disorder, many parents start their own journey of becoming a new, tougher parent. It involves grief, self-compassion, finding your tribe and your voice, and becoming your child's advocate. I'm chatting today with my friend Amanda who is a mother of two children on the Autism spectrum. She eloquently shares her journey from novice to pro in developing her advocacy skills for her children in the school system. I know from working with families that Amanda's journey will parallel many other's paths. Her lessons learned may be helpful to some as they are sorting out skills they need or finding courage to be bold.

A few tidbits from this video:

1. The arc of Amanda's path was to first find her voice, then learn her legal rights as well as her child's legal rights, and now she is currently working on supporting her opinion with data when she talks with the school. 2. She uses targeted parent support groups online to find her tribe where she feels heard and can gain new ideas to help her children. She identifies this as her most valuable resource in supporting her children. 3. She discusses the signs of autism she saw in her own children in early infancy and childhood. 4. She discusses how she had to push to get an evaluation for her first child when no one else shared her concerns, and how this experience made her feel and led to a delay in diagnosis. 5. She shares how she learned about Washington state law to empower herself to share her opinion with her children's schools. 6. She shares how she pushes now for the school to collect data to support continued interventions in her child's ASD areas of concerns, like elopement and anxiety, and how she helps them to identify appropriate interventions based on the data.

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Giftedness and Specific Learning Disability... Can a kid have both?

Can you be gifted and have a specific learning disorder, like dyslexia or dyscalculia, or even ADHD? Sure can! This is often called "Twice Exceptional." The symptoms look different for children who are gifted, and parents and teachers will still want to identify and support these children. You can reduce imbalanced school-life activity, inefficient work and study habits, and promote positive self-esteem by helping gifted children to understand how to self-advocate and to show themselves compassion.

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Preventing Tantrums

I'm discussing the prevention of tantrums in young kids thru the use of language building. I'll specifically hit on Functional Communication Training, or teaching your child to use language to get their needs met instead of using the tantrum behavior. This is a preventive strategy designed to help the kid see language as an easier and more effective means to getting what they want than tantruming.

Remember that all Enilda Clinic learning videos are just for educational purposes. If you have a specific concern, ask your child's pediatrician about how to proceed or seek specialized support by establishing services with a specialized provider. Enilda Clinic is home to Dr. Leslie Blevins, a licensed psychologist and BCBA-D in Spokane Wa serving children and parents. Learn more at EnildaClinic.com or call at 509-844-0002. We're located at 705 W 7th Ave, Ste D, Spokane, WA 99204.

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Parenting and Video Games

I chat with many parents who are concerned about their child's use of video games. In today's learning video I discuss what signs to look out for that may indicate you want to change things up at home related to video games, a framework for thinking about video games in the context of other life activities, and whether video games can be thought of as addictive.

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How I Came to Create Enilda Clinic

This video is all about my personal journey, from key childhood events, through career turning points, that led me to opening Enilda Clinic. I view Enilda Clinic as a comprehensive, behaviorally oriented child psychology practice. My practice is different from others because I have intentionally looked at and limited policies and business practices that might limit results, as well as the most effective evidence-based clinical practices for children and teens, to culminate in what I hope is the best comprehensive care for children's mental health and behavioral health needs. I perform neuropsychological assessment, child therapy, education therapy, and parent training.

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What is Educational Therapy?

Dr. Blevins is discussing educational therapy. Specifically she focuses on ed therapy to help with executive dysfunction, or managing time, space, and mental resources to be successful in academics. She talks about how this can help your child love learning again, build and keep your relationship with them strong, and help them to be more efficient so they can live life.

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