Communicating Partners
Dr. James D. MacDonald's Website
Helping Parents Help Children. Programs for Parents, Therapists & Educators
I'd like to say a few words about why we encourage you to "RESPOND" to your child. Many people seem to misunderstand this. I'll keep short. and look for responses. (you see, just like your child is you respond to me I will come back more to you!)
Why should I respond to what my child does when I really want him to do something else?
This is a common question , spoken or unspoken, when I encourage people to respond to anything positive their child does.
Why respond? Because responding is the best way to get the child to do what he can do, feel successful, and stay interacting with you.
The recent stories on this list of parents who have turned their relationships around just by doing what their child does is strong support for the strength of responding.
When we respond to what a child does spontaneously, we are doing several things.
I'll stop for now; I have just finished a new book on this so I better to get obsessive.
Jim
ps: remember the goal of Communicating Partners is not for the child to perform but to spontaneously interact. And he will interact more when you respond to whatever he is doing ( as long as it is safe and not obnoxious).