AFF members in the UK might be interested to know that the current issue of Supernanny magazine (a spin-off of the TV series) has this tagline on the cover: Autism - could you live with it?
I thought the Supernanny mostly gave good advice and one thing that really jumped out at me was how much better the kids' behaviour became once the fathers became actively involved in discipline and caring for the children.
All too often, the discipline is left up to mum, who is already frazzled and worn down and may easily give in for the sake of peace. However, the kids then become spoilt and obnoxious and know they can put one over mum (I'm mainly talking about NT kids here and not kids with other issues such as autism).
I'm not so happy with the idea of shows like "honey, we're killing the kids" as they lay too much of a guilt trip upon the parents but even they probably give some helpful hints.
I must admit if I had the kids shown on the ads, I would be very tempted to smack as the screaming and bad behaviour would be too much to cope with.
A lot of kids on these shows seem really naughty and spoilt (I'm not referring to the autistic kids) and quite often, the father is not much involved in the discipline, leaving it all to the poor mum who is often exhausted and overwhelmed.
It looks to me like one of those ideas for programmes that has crossed the Atlantic. I've no idea which direction it did that in though.
Westwards.
Reminds me of the American who went to Sweden, saw a branch of Ikea and said: "Oh, you have it over here too!"
Well, I felt sorry for that teenage boy with Aspergers on Dr Phil as it was so obvious that his parents were stirring him up all the time with their unreasonable expectations and rude comments to him.
But I don't think kids should be allowed to hit their parents, except in self defence.
But mother bears swat their cubs when they get out of line: ditto with mother cats.
I agree D W; all too often it is mum who is expected to cope with everything and it is too much to put onto one person.
The sleep thing is important but some parents find it easier to let the kids sleep with them (even to the extent of getting a big bed). This wouldn't be any good if the kids were wriggly but it would sure stop any more kids from being made for a while.
"i keep saying i am gonna have to call supernanny cause when you try different approaches and the child doesnt respond to disipline what do you do? My child already treats me like i'm his slave 24/7 i have tried different ways to approach it though he responds to nothing i know he's young but therapists are even telling me now i am gonna have a monster if i don't put my foot down. what am i suppose to do though i do the best i can".
Its easy, just start treating him like he is your slave for a while and he will get the idea. The only problems we had with our two children was when we got too slack with them. Otherwise they were happy well adjusted children and grew up to be successful parents themselves.
I notice in quite a few households, it's the kids running the whole show.
I agree, it's pointless creating a huge battle over whether a child brushes their hair or not but worth enforcing things such as not hitting parents and not running out onto the roads.
Supernanny has some good ideas but you really need both parents co-operating with each other for them to work properly or a very committed and tireless single parent.
Tigger, thanks for bringing this thread back on topic. We could do with more of your type on these forums!
Oh, the kind of people reported to social services are usually the "soft targets" who can't defend themselves very well. The more affluent and well-dressed parents can get away with more ill-treatment of their children. I also fail to see why the kids are forced to speak because as long as they can make their needs known, that should be enough.
One thing I don't like about Supernanny is that there is a lot of focus on family interaction. If this is what all family members want, that's fine, but there seems to be no acknowledgement of or provision for the fact that some people would rather have 'alone time' or who need to retreat into their own world sometimes to stay sane.
Yes. Some people assume it is just the father who needs this alone time but some mothers do too, especially aspie mothers.
What would have happened if the parents couldn't afford this therapy?