Why is my child acting this way?
Sponsored by Brain Balance Achievement Center
Written by K. Kendall and C. Powell
At Brain Balance, we have a saying: “Better brain, better behavior.”brYet this really doesn't tell the whole story because even children who don't havebra functional disconnect (a right- or left-brain hemisphere that's processingbrtoo slowly) can be ill-behaved at times. All children and parents struggle withbrbehavioral issues, but what are the hidden messages that can be found in thisbrbehavior? Kids with a functional disconnect can pose more of a behavioralbrchallenge than others.
Oppositional behavior happens when the higherbrregion of the brain — the prefrontal cortex — is not strong enough to keep thebrlower brain regions from bubbling up. If it were not for our prefrontal cortex,brwe would all act like toddlers: running around, not sharing, jumping from onebractivity to another on a whim and having very little empathy. Behavior is allbrabout brain function, and there is plenty you can do to ensure your child'sbrbrain is functioning at peak performance. First, you need to understand whybryour child is acting this way, and second, you must put a plan of action inbrplace. All children can benefit from surroundings designed to optimize brainbrdevelopment and function.
Executive Function
Think about that higher level functioning, or “good behavior,” asbrbeing the product of executive function ofbrthe brain. If this makes you think of a little CEO in your child’s brain, youbrare on the right track. The CEO decides the course of action and keeps his teambron track. When this process goes awry, bad behavior rears its ugly head.brImpulsive behavior, failing to consider the consequences of actions or evenbrrisky behavior are all examples of bad behavior your child can exhibit. Thesebrunwanted behaviors are due to your child’s executive function not keeping thembron track. So you might be asking yourself: Why does this function take so longbrto develop, and what can I do to help speed up this process for my kid?
One simple answer is the frontal lobes arebrthe last regions in the brain to mature. They continue to develop all the waybrthrough adulthood. Created in 1883, one of the oldest ways to measure thebrexecutive function of you or child is to perform a Stroop Test. When you arebrperforming this test, you will have to suppress the impulse to read the wordsbrand instead name the colors.
How did you do? Difficulties with executive function are typicalbrin children but are especially pronounced in children who are struggling withbrdevelopmental disorders such as ADD or ADHD. Stroop tests your attention and executivebrfunction. The ability to sort out distracting information from meaningfulbrinformation is an important part of our cognitive abilities because much of thebrinformation we perceive isn't relevant to the tasks that demand our attentionbrat any given moment.
Experiences
Experiences shape the development of our brains,brand appropriate stimulation can take many forms, but sitting in front of a screen is not one of them. Your child'sbrbehavior will deteriorate proportionately to the time spent on the computer,brplaying video games or watching TV. The brain derives very little stimulationbrfrom passive activities. In fact, touching briefly on right- and left-brainbrbehaviors, screen time generally uses pattern recognition skills, which arebrstimulating to the left brain, but much of our bad behavior control is a rightbrbrain skill.
Physical Activity and HumanbrInteraction
Our brains develop, grow and stay strong through physical activitybrand human interaction. As a parent, being consistent is one of the best thingsbryou can do to help solve behavior problems at home. They arise from manybrdifferent malfunctioning areas of executive function. Some examples ofbrmisbehavior include:
1. The failure to plan and anticipate thebrconsequences of one's own action. For instance, if your child hits anotherbrchild and fails to realize this could provoke an all-out fight. This is also abrfailure to inhibit their actions despite the negative consequences.
2. The failure to understand how to evaluate thebreffects of their behavior and learn from what happens as a result.
3. The inability to follow rules. Some childrenbrunderstand the rules and can even repeat them but simply don't follow them.
There is a considerable difference between these differentbrbehaviors; however, they all have their neurologic roots in the samebrunderactive area of the brain. The good thing is once you know the source ofbrthe problem, it is easier to create a path to success for the child and therebybrreduce the likelihood of problematic behaviors.
Expectations
Some simple steps to help your child while their brain is stillbrdeveloping include being clear and specific about what you expect from them:
1. Give them commands in a single step, andbrpraise them when they comply.
2. Warnings such as “if-then” statements willbrhelp them understand that you will follow through.
3. Provide external support for your children,brand this will slowly transition into internal support skills they canbrutilize.
Executive function is one of the last brain regions to mature, butbrif you feel these steps are not working for your child, the issue might bebrlarger than you are able to tackle at home. The Brain Balance Evaluation willbrgive you insight into your child's overall brain age and development andbrdetermine if additional help is needed to get your son or daughter on track. Asbrpart of a Brain Balance Program, we test each child to determine their needsbrand then coach parents on how to make sure their children's brain's needs arebrmet.
A webinar will be broadcast June 26 frombr12:00-1:00 p.m. and live lecture on June 27 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Brain Balance Southlake encourages parentsbrand educators to tune into the webinar and learn more about behavior and whybryour child might act a certain way. Parents and educators can also find thebrlatest research and most innovative approaches concerning learning andbrneurological disabilities at BrainBalanceDFW.WordPress.com. For a full lecturebrschedule, contact Katie Milam at 817-416-9828 or email BrainBalanceSouthlake@gmail.com.
Brain Balance Achievement Centers offer the Brain Balance Program ® in 54 nationwide locations. The Brain Balance Program® is an individualized and comprehensive approach to helping children with neurobehavioral and learning difficulties surmount their unique challenges.
This proprietary, non-medical program has been successful in helping thousands of kids reach their physical, social/behavioral health and academic potential. We work with children who suffer with ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Tourette's, Asperger's and Autism Spectrum Disorders.