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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
My 5 year old hearing impaired daughter
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
My 5 year old hearing impaired daughter
by tracy, Oct 20, 2000 12:00AM
My daughter is 5 years old and hearing impaired. My ex-husband and I got her a Cochlear implant when she was three. She was brought up total communication until then, and then we slowly started to encourage her speaking and listening more. She is at her second oral school at the moment (the first was a "make-shift kind of school). My question is, her behavior is really pretty bad. She is hitting her teachers at her new school, telling them no and screaming at the top of her lungs. She has recently started this behaviour with me at home again. She had stopped for a while since I started the "123" method. Now, it seems to not be working. When she goes to time out, she is beligerent and very angry. Her teachers and I are concerend. They recently had a OT come in just to look at all the kids, and the OT felt she may have a sensory intergration disorder. This is the first time that I have heard of this, but her teachers and I both think her behavior is a combination of both. I am very upset, as I have tried many things that previous teachers have told me, and I have much more faith in these teachers, but I am getting to a point where I am feeling like its just my fault. When this behaviour crops up, I feel like I am just messing her up somehow. We have had this stuff happen since before she was two. My other question is, how much can this "sensory intergration" stuff be affecting her behaviour?
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Oct 21, 2000 12:00AM
, Oct 21, 2000 12:00AM
Dear Tracy,
No doubt the hearing impairment can complicate sources of frsutration for a child, but the behavior management piece can proceed nonetheless. In other words, hearing impaired or not, it's necessary to set clear rules, abide by them religiously, and establish an equally clear set of rewards/consequences for compliance and non-compliance, respectively.
The fact that your daughter proceeds to time out in an angry state is nothing to worry about. As a matter of fact, it's to be expected that a child will be angry under such circumstances. The important thing is that she cooperate with the time out, angry or not.
Sensory integration difficulties can pose complications relative to behavior. But it's difficult to talk about SI problems in general, because SI difficulties can occur in many different ways and at many different levels of severity. So, the questions to ask of the OT specialist are: What particular types of SI problems does your daughter display and what can be done to treat them? Dr. KDK
No doubt the hearing impairment can complicate sources of frsutration for a child, but the behavior management piece can proceed nonetheless. In other words, hearing impaired or not, it's necessary to set clear rules, abide by them religiously, and establish an equally clear set of rewards/consequences for compliance and non-compliance, respectively.
The fact that your daughter proceeds to time out in an angry state is nothing to worry about. As a matter of fact, it's to be expected that a child will be angry under such circumstances. The important thing is that she cooperate with the time out, angry or not.
Sensory integration difficulties can pose complications relative to behavior. But it's difficult to talk about SI problems in general, because SI difficulties can occur in many different ways and at many different levels of severity. So, the questions to ask of the OT specialist are: What particular types of SI problems does your daughter display and what can be done to treat them? Dr. KDK
