Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges [Perfect Paperback]

Steven E. (Author), Ph.D. Curtis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

When should you seek professional help for your child's behavioral, social, or learning challenges? Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior is the ultimate resource for assessing your child's behavior, learning when to intervene, and knowing how to seek further help for a struggling child. Whether a child is dealing with performance issues, anxiety, noncompliance, angry outbursts, or a host of other difficulties, this book offers a step-by-step method that walks parents through the often-complex process of treating a child's problems. You'll learn

• Not to accept any 'quick-fix' solutions
• How to holistically assess the condition and determine the nature and cause of the behavior
• What professionals can offer, and when to consult them

Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior can help parents make informed and confident decisions about their child's well-being.

Praise for Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior

'This is a terrific guide for knowledgeable parents who want to be informed consumers of care for their children. It reduces the often confusing abbreviations and psychobabble that we clinicians use into practical, easy-to-understand language.' --Holly Galbreath, PhD, child clinical psychologist and former program director, Child Study and Treatment Center

'A very useful and practical guide for those wondering where to begin to help a child who is struggling with troublesome behaviors.' --Brock Eide, MD, MA Co-Director of Eide Neurolearning Clinic and coauthor, The Mislabeled Child

'This book provides clarity for parents in situations that are often confusing and forms the basis for implementing practical and helpful changes.' --James T. Webb, PhD clinical psychologist and author, A Parent s Guide to Gifted Children

'This book is a helpful start in giving parents a systematic approach and guide to understanding the terminology and methods used by educational, medical, psychological, and other practitioners who study and work clinically with children. If parents can speak the same language and approach professionals with good documentation, perhaps a greater understanding of the child s puzzling behavior can be arrived at sooner and more effective solutions can be implemented.' --Bobbie Collins-Perry, Duke University's Duke Gifted Letter

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . Faced with behavior in their children that they don t understand, parents can easily become overwhelmed. They often find themselves having to select and put their faith in professionals they know little about, make decisions based on information they don't understand, and try to remain calm when they re frightened about what might be wrong with their children. Armed with a tool, such as this guide that Steven Curtis has created, parents can gain a greater sense of control and play a more active role in uncovering the cause of the children's puzzling behavior. Having this type of information can enable them to function as partners and make informed choices about their children's future. --Linda C. Neumann, Editor, 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter<br /><br />Almost daily, children's behavioral problems are in the news, and the parents' complaint is often the same: something is not quite right with my child. These puzzling behaviors can take many forms--social isolation, disruptive behavior, failure to learn, excitability, inability to follow directions... What s a parent to do? Curtis, a clinical psychologist and director of Lifespan Psychological Services in Washington state, asks parents to take an involved, detailed inventory of their child before seeking professional help.

Curtis shows parents through a step-by-step procedure how to clarify and document concerns. Included are several pages of reproducible worksheets: problem-tracking sheets, time line/stressors, causal factors, and more. These worksheets will help parents not only discover possible causes for behavioral problems, but also aid in the choice of professional help. Clearly, this is a no-easy-answers approach, and Curtis insists parents must profile the child before blindly choosing professionals and starting behavior-altering drugs.

An excellent bibliography, organized by topic, includes books and Web sites, as well as a glossary of terms. Lifespan s publishing goal is to provide self-help resources for parents and professionals, and this book fills that need without advertising its own services. Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior is an excellent book for parents and caregivers. --Linda Beck, ForeWord Magazine<br /><br />At what point do you seek professional help when a child is acting, by his parent's standards, weird? Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges is a parent's guide to understanding a child's strange behavior and whether they should intervene or it is simply another kind of normal. Suggesting that parents never go for short term solutions, how to look at why the child acts the way they act, and when is the line to seek psychiatric assistance? Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Child with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges is essential for any concerned parent who doesn't get their child's behavior and for community library parenting collections. --Midwest Book Review

Understand Your Child's Puzzling Behavior is a recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. The Mom's Choice Awards honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of the Mom's Choice Awards. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book/product has been honored by this distinguished award. --Mom's Choice Awards

At what point do you seek professional help when a child is acting, by his parent's standards, weird? Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges is a parent's guide to understanding a child's strange behavior and whether they should intervene or it is simply another kind of normal. Suggesting that parents never go for short term solutions, how to look at why the child acts the way they act, and when is the line to seek psychiatric assistance? Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Child with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges is essential for any concerned parent who doesn't get their child's behavior and for community library parenting collections. --Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Steve Curtis, PhD, is a school psychologist, with twenty-five years of experience working with children and parents. He is the former special education director at Seattle University. Dr. Curtis is now in private practice with Lifespan.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Lifespan Press (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979498201
• ISBN-13: 978-0979498206
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a parent, March 14, 2008

By 

A. E. Barnes (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges (Perfect Paperback)

A book whose time has come! I not only write this review from the perspective of a school psychologist, but moreover, as a parent. If your child is having trouble what can you do? Well I'll tell you...purchasing this book, reading it, and doing what it recommends is a great start. What Dr. Curtis has essentially written is not only a "where to begin" guide, but a "where do I go for help?" guide. Finally, a book that helps parents navigate the many services that can provide relief for their child in need. That said, Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges should hold a prominent place on every parent's book shelf.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Ppragmatic Book, March 8, 2008

By 

Dobielove (Redding, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges (Perfect Paperback)

Yeah! As a school counselor and consultant to parents, I have been waiting for this book. This is a highly readable, pragmatic guide providing parents with the knowledge to be involved in both diagnosing and intervening with their child's behavioral issues. A straightforward text, offering a systematic behavioral intervention process to be referred to over and over when helping parents and professionals to navigate the complexities of child behavior problems.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gift for Parents, March 6, 2008

By 

Beth Morgan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges (Perfect Paperback)

Dr. Steve Curtis' book was absolutely the most critical resource in getting my children the help they needed to maximize their full potential. In addition to helping you understand your child, this book will help you navigate the complicated world of educators, school administrators, doctors, therapists and other professionals. This unprecedented and comprehensive approach is indispensible to any parent with a child with puzzling behavior. Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior is a true gift to parents.