“Stop, Think, and Act,” then check! Most children have weak executive functioning. It is the last part of the brain to fully develop. Kids are usually impulsive, act without thinking, and often have difficulty appraising what is needed. When deciding to act they also forget to evaluate what the future consequences of their actions will be. The ability to inhibit our impulses, appraise what is needed, think about what we are doing, and monitor our effectiveness are all part of the frontal cortex. Until this part of the brain is working strongly, parents must provide these functions for the child. Parents slow the children down, interrupt them before acting dangerously, require them to stop and think it through before acting, and then monitor the child’s actions as they do them. This “stop, think, than act” format works well for neurotypical (NT) children. Eventually they internalize the process and do the steps simultaneously with minimal conscious effort. For children who are on the spectrum, we need to teach these steps by slowing the children down and encouraging them to think about what is needed (appraising). Then have them slowly step through the action, while evaluating how they are doing. For ongoing action, they need to periodically pause to evaluate and adjust their actions as needed. Children will often jump right into activity without appraising what is needed and deciding a course of action. They dive right in without thinking, then meltdown this go wrong and they struggle. For example, when you take the child to the play ground, he may impulsively run up and unsuccessfully jump on the equipment (without first appraising what is needed). He may not have a clue on what to do, but jumps right in and starts doing it. He falls and gets hurts, becomes upset and throws a tantrum for 10 minutes. We need to frame new situations by having the child “stop, think, than act!” Prompt him to look and think about what is needed; what does he need to do, and how to do it. At the playground, before he starts climbing on the equipment have him pause and think it through with you (hold on with both hands, take one step at a time, etc.). This provides him a mental map. Next, have him pattern his actions based on this appraisal (start climbing, one step at a time, with both hands secure on the bars). Assist as needed; guiding his actions to be successful. If the child gets off track pause him again and have him think about what adjustments (corrections) he needs to make. Once he has climbed over the equipment, then talk about how it went (evaluate). Finally have him repeat these steps for several successful trials to engrain the new learning. Children on the spectrum need to have a script (stop, think, then act) to help them remember what to do. As you go through the day model this script during your actions (“Ok, I need to stop, think, then act!”). Then stop and remind the children of this frequently throughout the day. Until they learn the actions themselves, children need to have the parent coaching them through it; framing and scaffolding the new learning. For example, with the child who is climbing on the playground equipment, the parent is thinking it through with the child and shadowing his actions; assisting him to do it correctly, bridging what he may struggle with. We need to always encourage the child to cognitively “think about” what he is doing, before he is doing it, as well as while he is doing it. The parent demonstrates it, does it with the child, and helps the child monitor his progress. This ability to appraise and monitor takes a lot of time to develop, but is essential as the child gets older. Many children on the spectrum have trouble inhibiting their impulse to act long enough to appraise what is needed. Also while doing the action they have difficulty simultaneously monitoring their actions to match that expectation. They will either refuse to try something new or immediately jump in without first appraising what is needed and whether they have the ability to do it. Once they jump in they cannot step back and monitor what they are doing to make sure they are doing it right. Consequently, they jump in too quick, start to flounder and then meltdown when unsuccessful. The child with ADHD may also have these same problems. Again, we would stop the child first, think it through with him (appraise what is needed), coach and monitor the child through it, and then evaluate together how it went. Let’s look at an example of a child who wants to put together a model. Typically he might jump right in and start haphazardly putting it together without following the instructions, or appraising what is needed. Making matters worse, he probably will not monitor his work; checking to make sure he is doing it correctly. The parent needs to coach the child along these steps (stop, think, then act) as well as help him monitor how he is doing as he is doing it. The parent will “think through it” with him, help him check how he is doing, and provide support while doing it. Complete a step, evaluate if it is correct, and then appraise what is needed for the next step. Pause, check, and appraise! This way the child learns how to appraise, evaluate, and adjust his actions to stay successful. This takes a lot of time and hard work to make automatic. However, appraising and self monitoring are important functions to learn. The first response I get from parents is, “What if my child refuses to let me to assist?” This is a prerequisite step for becoming a mentor for your child. If your child is resistant to your help, do not try and direct. Simply do it with him while letting him lead or passively observe what he is doing. Think out loud as you appraise what is needed, and label what he is doing. Be a passive coach without directing him. Let him do it his way, but provide “thinking” guidance as he is doing it. He is hearing you. Just don’t tell him what to do, or try and direct what he is doing. Once he gets accustom to your passive thoughts, then he will start to trust following your guidance. Trusting you as a mentor takes a lot of time and exposure (trials). Use this process frequently throughout the day in all normal daily activities. Teaching the child to appraise first and frequently check how well he is performing. This will not happen quickly, but will occur through repetition over numerous activities. If the child is resistant at first, simply stay consistent and hang in there. It will come over time if you stick with it. This series on mentoring strategies can be found in the green book, Autism Discussion Page on Anxiety, Behavior, School and Parenting Strategies.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 01:48:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015