On May 6, Tim Verduin, PhD, Clinical Director of the Institute for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Behavior Disorders, did a presentation to a full house of Ackerman faculty, students, alumni, and professionals on Cognitive Behavioral Practices for Young Children with Behavior Problems, for the quarterly alumni lecture series. Dr. Verduin’s focus was on practical tools and principles for parents to apply when handling children with ADHD or disruptive, defiant discipline problems.
Tim talked at length about the benefits of giving a child no attention rather than negative attention, the idea being that children who seek attention through bad behaviors get what they want through parents who give them lots of negative attention. These same children, who are not given the attention they are looking for, often improve their behaviors.
Another interesting facet was studies on positive and negative feedback. People generally believe they give more positive feedback than they actually do, and as human beings it takes three compliments to equalize the effect of one critique. Through the use of tapes and case studies, he pointed out the impact of these simple practices.