The Explosive Child (Paperback)

Removing the sources of explosive responses was difficult but well worth the effort. After about 7 months (I wish it took less time) improvement was noted. He has learned, slowly, to tolerate frustrations one situation at a time.

My son was fighting on the bus, during lunch, and during recess. He has been diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction, is categorized as learning disabled and emotionally disturbed by the school system. He has been dismissed from every daycare program (three)and has had only one successful summer camp experience, even the camp that was intended for LD kids dismissed him.

I removed him from the bus and modified his recess and lunch to include an aid. The aid uses social stories to facilitate confrontations with other kids/adults and when events get too hot, actually removes my son from the situation altogether and avoids a damaging meltdown.

Getting an aid was no easy task as the school was more interested in punishing rather than re-teaching. All this was last year. This school year he is back on the bus and does not have an aid for lunch but continues to have an aid during recess. Now that his explosive behavior has settled, he is now reading on a second grade level (he is in 2nd grade). At the beginning of the school year, he was barely reading at a low KG level.

Behavior at home has improved even more than behavior at school. Instead of dreading his future, I have great hopes for his future.

This book was very helpful and made me feel empowered to try. Many teachers and so called professionals blame parents for children with behavior problems - instead of encouraging and helping they blame humiliate and insist that the parents are incompetent. Dr. Greene supports parents in our journey to help our explosive inflexible children to grow and be able to tolerate frustration and function within our society.

Thanks for the hope.

However, I was completely disappointed at the LACK of REAL SOLUTIONS offered. The example cases seemed to overflow with poor outcomes. Kids ended up medicated and institutionalized. The author included far too many explicatives (as when a child addressed a parent in therapy) when a blank or symbol would do. We all get the idea that the kid swore. I don't want to have to read it over and over throughout the text. The author stated many times in fact to ignore children's swearing since it isn't a big deal. Well, to some of us it is.

This book reads like a series of overlapping lectures with plenty of therapy play-by-plays thrown in for filler. It is neither concise nor very helpful which is what I, as the mom of three (only one of whom explodes) needed. Parenting with Love and Logic is a perfect book to cover the remedial parenting advice found in this book. As for a book dealing with real solutions for an inflexible child and ending the tantrums, I'm still looking.