Behavioral Problems

[Kelly10]

I have a 2 1/2 year old little girl with a mild case of CP.  We are starting to notice some behaviral problems, at first we thought that maybe it was the terrible 2's but recently it is getting to be a real issue. When she gets upset she pulls hair, or scratches people, and if there is not anyone in grabbing distance she will pull her own hair or scratch herself.  Most of the time she gets along with other children but lately she has been hurting other children as well.  Discipline doesnt seem to help.  When she gets out of time out she goes right back after the same child, or she will start scratching or pulling hair again.  Some people are telling me that its sensory issues. Has anyone else had this problem? How do you discipline a child that discipline does not seem to work with?

[Dennis MD]

Hi.
I understand what you are going through.
I think her behavioral problem is related to her cerebral palsy.  It will be hard to discipline her at this stage.  Please continue to give her all the support that she needs and see to it that she does not hurt herself or anybody.  I suggest you bring her back to her doctor for a possible referral to a developmental psychologist.
Good luck and God bless.

[WeezyHJ]

I completely empathize with your situation; our 4-year old daughter has just been diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy, and we are also seeing behavior issues that are likely linked to the condition.  At first, we also thought that her mood swings, occasional aggression toward her younger sister, and larger-than-life temper tantrums could be merely difficult toddler/preschool issues.  But, now it seems that given the area of her brain that is affected, this could definitely be linked to her CP.  Since we are new to this diagnosis and now will likely view this in a whole new light, my advice may not be all that applicable.  But, I will tell you what frequently works with our daughter.  In a word . . .humor.  We find that being zany, goofy, light-hearted, and diligent about redirecting the bad behavior, she is much more likely to quickly exit the bad behavior and gain some control over her emotional rollercoaster.  I resort to goofy voices, silly voices, flopping over in mock exhaustion, anything at all that I think will convert the moment into comedy rather than tragedy in her mind.  I struggled with this for awhile, thinking that I was reinforcing the bad behavior by rewarding her with fun times, but after awhile, I began to see that it really did reduce the number and length of her inappropriate and negative behavior episodes.  By no means does it work every time, but I find that if I keep a COMPLETELY level head and communication free from stress, she responds accordingly most of the time.  It's the most difficult thing I've ever done, as it's a nightmare to see her at her worst, when all of her emotions are short-circuiting in her head.  I guarantee that our children are as bewildered by it all as we are, if not moreso.  Since sensory issues often go hand in hand with CP, we also find that sensory stimuli, such as vestibular stimulation (swinging, etc.) have proven really helpful for our girl.  Dancing has been a huge help for her as well---anything rhythmic---clapping, moving, repetitive sequences, are all very reassuring to her and music is a huge benefit as well.  In regard to discipline; again, in our case, the lighter the mood the better.  I am frequently the one to negatively impact the situation by becoming too frustrated by her emotional bursts and difficulty in comprehending the consequences of her actions and behaviors.  Time outs definitely do not work with her---some people find greater success with "Time-ins," and I understand them to be a variation of holding time.  For us, though, the greatest successes have come from distraction, diversion, and using humor to try and redirect back to a point of reason and calm.  Best of luck---I'm curious to see if you have had any luck with other methods, as we're also trying to weed through all of this and figure out what is attributable to the CP and what is just typical toddler/preschool behavior.  Yikes . . .it's a quagmire that seems a bit overwhelming at times.  Please know you are not alone, and I wish you well!

Lisa HJ

[babypink71]

hi my daughters was born nt breathing and had to be rescucitaed for ten mins she had a fit twice after and her brain was swollen with fluid
the doctors sat me down and tld me to prepare for the worst she could be affected by cerebral palsy n that it mite be her legs or her thinkin anything as she grew up she cud crwl and nw shes walkin fine bt her behaviour is horrible she scratches herself other people even pulls your hair and childrens im also worried could this be the cerebral palsy showin mre now as she is nt reli speakin jus mumbling could anyone plzz give me advice

[barfer]

I have a daughter who is 30 now and has cerebral palsy.  When she was younger and even sometimes still now, she could be very difficult to control.  She wasn't physically abusive, generally, to others but was verbally and made very hurtful comments.  She could also be very difficult in school when she didn't want to do something that was required of her which made it very hard for the teachers and other students around her.  This was and is my method of controlling the situation...it's all about incentives. Example:  If you play nicely with your friends today, you will get to have chips and dip when you get home from school.  It doesn't have to be food, it can be to play a computer game or you will read a special book that he/she loves.  Call it what you want...bribe or incentive, bottom line is it works.  Instead of disciplining the child...ie: Don't do that, or go to your room or time out, work it the other way, if you do this, then you get that.  Work with the teacher or caregiver or whomever is involved with your child to make sure this is consistent and you are all on the same page.  I got more result this way than with scolding or taking things away from her.  If you start out with the child having to earn things they want, it is more of an incentive for them to do what you feel is proper behaviour.  Pulling hair and biting is inappropriate behaviour and it is important that your child be told that, but by giving them  incentives to get away from this behaviour, you might be pleasantly surprised that it may actually work.  Remember, that the incentives have to be something that they really want or this will not work.   I'm still negotiating with my daughter and it still works...Just a thought and another perspective from an older mom.