Using Worry Dials To Increase Coping Skills

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Re: Worry Dial for Parent/Child Interaction

From: Lisa Scott
Date: 18 Oct 2012
Time: 05:06:35 -0500
Remote Name: 71.229.4.98

Comments

Hi Heather, Thanks for the kind words about the article. As far as using it with young kids, I think it would depend on the kiddo. There needs to be some level of ability for the child to conceptualize that worry can vary up and down - so you may need to first start by brainstorming other situations in which a child that age would be worried: e.g., losing a toy vs. parents being mad at you vs. being lost, and ask the child to rate on a scale of 1-10 how worried/scared he might be. Then, you could talk about how speech situations can be like that too. The thing I think I would want to be very careful about is making sure that this is a child who actually DOES feel worried about his or her speech - not all kids at that age do. However, I'm thinking you probably have a specific child in mind that led you to ask this question, and that that little one is in fact worried. As far as using a worry dial at an IEP meeting, I think that's a GREAT idea. I also think it would be good to use with a parent in that context and ask the parent for times he/she is worried about the child's speech (e.g., watching him with friends, knowing he's tried out for a play, etc.) and coming up with strategies for the parent to get his or her own worry level down. I think brainstorming with the parent ways that have been used to calm the child in other situations would be great. It would also be informative for you when it comes to trying to learn more about the child's temperament, e.g., IS this even a child who can be calmed down in a difficult situation or is the child's temperament such that it would be better to let him work it out on his own? Excellent questions - thanks!!!


Last changed: 10/22/12