Sunday, March 22, 2009

My Pavlovian experience

Daughter #1 (who seems to have a fairly present case of ADHD) just had to miss a week of school from illness. So, we were working on some of the homework yesterday (adding fractions of different denominators), and the usual screaming fit was beginning. Any time she needs to work three or four steps to solve a problem, she loses focus on what to do at first and gets easily confused. This leads to crying fits, etc.

So yesterday, with the second problem of so,I started given her an M&M every time she did a step of the problem correct. This seemed to calm her down, to the point she did the last problem wihtout help.

I have no idea if this is a good long-term idea or not. But with all the work there was to do, I can't say I regret it.

Late addition:

We got a lot morework done today, lots of praise (including before we bagan the homework) but no M&M's.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

B.F. Skinner, he ROCKS, eh!?

Anonymous said...

What type of Rx is she taking for her ADHD? I'm 30 years old and my Dr. recently said that I've probably been suffering from ADHD my whole life without treatment, and he wants me to take meth pretty much. I think I'll pass on that action. I'd be curious to know what your kid is taking though, how it's going, etc. I don't know if you'll answer me here or not, but you can email me at lotf5000 (at) yahoo (dot) com. I really would like to know.

Love,

Trout.

One Brow said...

Daughter#1 hasn't taken anything for her ADHD, it's still an unofficial notion. She just had her first appointment with a psychiatrist, though, and was recommended to another who specializes in childrena nd teens. We'll be eager to hear what the doctor thinks. Meanwhile, she was given a prescription for Abilify, and it has helped to a degree.