In controlling behavior it is generally necessary to know exactly what motivates people to misbehave. Many people will always attribute a behavior to attention seeking. But this is only one out of an array of motivations.

Attention:

Sometimes people are motivated by attention. This is especially true of clients in mental institutions, politicians and people involved in the media industry.

Solution to attention-seeking:

In order to solve the behavior problem it may be necessary to allow more attention to an individual than would ordinarily be expected. In rare cases, it may even be necessary to give an individual non-contingent attention in order to squelch the abnormal behavior. In some cases individuals may transcend their craving for attention by reflecting on what benefit they have received as a result of attention. Politicians sometimes realize that attention can carry with it just as many negatives as positives.

Terminate Ignore:

There are some who simply want to terminate the period of time in which they are being ignored. These are similar to people who crave attention except they are generally satisfied if they become the focus of attention for only a short time. Many wives are in this situation, feeling their husbands have generally ignored them. Many employees are in this situation, feeling their boss ignores them except when something goes wrong.

Solution to terminate ignore:

Sometimes simple recognition, even momentary, can be the solution. It only takes a short time to let someone know that you appreciate them. Very few people will express a dislike for being appreciated.

Task Avoidance:

Many times people will exhibit behavior problems when they are hoping to avoid a task. A husband or wife may start screaming at their partner when a subject is brought up that they do not want to discuss. Children sometime run away from home to avoid a trip to the dentist or therapist.

Solution to task avoidance:

Sometimes you can practice successive approximation, taking gradual steps toward the goal before reaching the target behavior.

Tangibles Acquisition:

This is a usual situation in which an object (toy, candy, food, car, money, house, etc.) is desired but not obtained. Sometimes the result is a temper fit or temper tantrum.

Solution to tangibles acquisition:

Generally, a behavior contract can be implemented. A special toy, for example, can be earned by one week of good behavior and doing designated tasks each day without fail.

Physical Sensation:

People participating in sexual crimes have physical sensation as their motive. People who use drugs to alter what their mind and body experience have as their motivation physical sensation. Sky-divers and amusement park riders have physical sensation as their motivation.

Solution to physical sensation:

Generally the solution is to discover acceptable safe ways to enjoy physical sensation, without the endangering of life and limb.

Escape:

Many people have escape as their motivation. Runaways, in many cases, just want to get away from their families and the situation that they have had to endure.

Solution to escape:

There are several solutions. Change the environment to a reinforcer-rich environment. Make home a good place to be, a place to enjoy. In the case of runaways, take more vacations and travel more extensively.

Compliance Tug-Of-War:

Some people enjoy a fight of any kind. Some employees, for example, enjoy pushing against their boss on various issues. Some hospital patients enjoy resisting treatment and seeing the reaction of the staff.

Solution to compliance tug-of-war:

One solution is to pass the word that no one is to react strongly to the one trying to get a tug-of-war started. This only works if everyone involved is consistent in participating.

More information is at behavior control. One principal in behavior psychology is that honey works better than vinegar. This is true and exemplifies the fact that positive behavior techniques should take priority. On the other hand, ruling out punishers is also a mistake. The best balance is having an environment in which misbehavior becomes the exception to the rule.

Catch people being good and reward them!

More information?

Go to behavior.

P.S. Also take into account the advantages which EFT (emotional freedom technique) is giving people and how it helps to set one on the road of self empowerment.

Do you want to get discount car insurance? Or perhaps you are finding the right residential phone service. We have all the inside info for you this week, and also, a great article about adoption counseling.

Car insurance companies aren't there to provide a public service - they are there to make a profit. They won't be chacking up on you to see whether you should be paying a lower premium. If you want to get discount car insurance, you will need to understand how car insurance companies operate.

Insurers are playing the odds. Regardless of how many clients make claims, they want to end up still making a profit. Insurers with a lower cost base, for example those which operate over the internet rather than from bricks-and-mortar offices, will be able to charge lower rates and still make a profit. Therefore, you are more likely to get discount car insurance online than in person.

What Is The Best Residential Phone Service?

A POTS line transmits your residential phone service over twisted pair copper wire. This gives you a nice, clear signal, but has limited capacity and limited flexibility.

As homes started to connect data services, whether it was cable or satellite services, or internet connections, the possibilities for the residential phone service began to open up.

VoIP technology uses your internet connection to route your residential phone service. At this point in time, calls made with VoIP technology are of much lower quality than calls made on a POTS line, or via ISDN, DSL, or ADSL. You will need to decide how important call quality is for your residential phone service. The quality of VoIP calls is constantly improving, as bandwidth is added to the internet worldwide, but for now it is still a consideration for your residential phone service.

Some people bypass the residential phone service completely, opting instead to just use their cell phones even when they are at home. This option can be expensive, so it is a good idea to have some form of residential phone service, even if you rarely use it.

And, if all else fails, the POTS residential phone service is still the trusty, reliable workhorse it always has been.

Adoption counseling is an important part of the adoption process. Adopting a child, whether a newborn, an older child, or a child with special needs, creates a range of stresses for the adopting parents and the child involved. Adoption counseling can help all concerned to navigate the adjustment process as smoothly as possible.

Adoption Counseling For Birth Parents

Giving up a child for adoption is a very difficult decision. Adoption counseling is mandatory in many jurisdictions, and is a very sound idea whether it is mandatory or not.

Even with adoption counseling, it is not uncommon for a birth mother to change her mind once the baby is born. This causes great heartbreak for all concerned. Adoption counseling can help to reduce the likelihood of this outcome, by making sure as much as possible that the birth mother has thought through her decision to give up her baby for adoption.

Until next time, all the best from the Family Issues research team!

When many people first decide to teach their child to sign, they jump right in with the first words without laying the proper groundwork for success. That is, they do not review some of the fundamentals that will make signing easier and more rewarding for both parent and child. In this article, we cover two of the elements to help ensure you have sucess with baby sign language. We cover the issues of initial timing and content. That is, we review when you should start signing with your child, and, in this context, what words you should first teach your child to sign.

The Timing Question- When to Start

A threshold question that parents have when they decide to teach their child to sign is at what age to begin the teaching process. As with most questions like this, there is no hard and fast rule on an exact age to begin signing. Every child is different, developing at his or her own pace. Most experts agree, however, that children cannot differentiate between signs in any meaningful way prior to 6 months of age. More likely, a child will begin to distinguish signs at around 10 months of age.

Generally, we recommend that people start to to introduce the first signs when the child is 6 to 9 months old. Your child will begin making basic signs when she is around 10 months of age. Starting around 12 months of age, you can start introducing some more absract, secondary signs. As your child gets older, and begins speaking his first words, you should start combining signs for "baby sentences". But again, there is no definite time frame for which your baby will develop signs.

Always pay attention to your child's body language and facial expressions for cues as to when she is ready to start the learning process. Use your intuition in this regard. Teaching sign langauge should be a natural process between you and your baby. When a baby starts sitting up and showing interest in what is going on around him, they are likely ready to begin learning signs. In particular, if your child is following what you’re doing with your hands, she may very well welcome your instruction. These nonverbal cues will tell you that baby is now ready to be taught.

Lots of children don’t make their first sign until 10 months of age or later, and some not before 12 months. Please do not get frustrated if your child does not immediately sign back to you. It may seem like it is taking her forever. But rests assured. Althouh the first few signs may come very slowly, one day your child will start to learn signs at a rapid pace. You will probably have a hard time keeping up! And then the pace may slow again. Teaching your baby sign language will be filled with stops and starts and fast and slow periods. But if you stick with it, you will succeed in teaching your child to sign.

The Word Question- What to Sign When

After you have decided it is time to start signing with your child, you must choose which words to start with. It is important that you choose only a few basic words to begin teaching your baby. Otherwise, you may overwhelm your baby, and yourself, with a large number of signs. We suggest that you only work on three to four new signs at any given time. Once your child learns a sign you are working on, add another sign to teach him.

Babies will recognize a sign before they begin using it as their own. The recognition of words is known as “receptive language”, while being able to form words (including signs) is called “expressive language”. Pay attention to your baby's facial expressions when you are teaching him a sign. Your child's expression may tell you when she begins to recognize the sign. For example, his eyes may light up with a smile when you sign the word “milk”. After she recognizes a sign, your baby will likely begin "expressing" that sign soon thereafter.

Finally, remember to always introduce and reinforce new signs at the appropriate moment in time. Again, working on a handful of signs, introduce them before, during, and/or after an activity that goes with the sign. A great time to teach “milk”, for example, is when you are giving your baby milk and after they are finished drinking their milk. Conversely, try not to teach a sign out of context. If your child is playing with a toy truck, do not try teach the sign for milk.

Best wishes and good luck in teaching your chlid to sign. Stay tuned for our next article for more tips to succeed in your signing endeavors. For now, click the following link for our website and more information on baby sign language.

Some parents might feel uncomfortable talking to their daughter about dating. It might make your daughter feel uncomfortable sometimes talking to dad or mom about it. Your daughter might be embarrassed to talk to you about a certain guy that she might like. Here are five important issues to talk to your daughter about dating.

1. Talk to her about her manners. Let her know what manners are appropriate during a date. Let her know that she needs to say please and thank you to the guy. Another thing is to let her know how he should be treating her such as opening doors for her and helping her with her chair.

2. Caution her about how some males only want to have sex. Tell her about how some men will say anything to get sex. Let her know that some males might try to pressure her into having sex before she is ready. Tell her that she shouldn't have sex with someone before marriage. Tell her about the risks of pregnancy by having unprotected sex and other risks such as diseases. Warn her about the great dangers of sexually transmitted diseases.

3. Explain to her the signs of a bad boyfriend or date. Let her know that she can talk to you about anything. Let her know that she needs to be able to recognize the signs of someone that isn't good for her. Tell her that she has every right to end a date or relationship at any time.

4. Caution her that she should always keep some extra money in her purse just in case she ever needs it. Let her know that she can always call you or someone else parents to get her out of trouble if her date doesn't treat her right. Make sure that your daughter has a cell phone for emergencies.

5. Explain to your daughter that she shouldn't date people that use drugs or sell drugs. Explain to her that reasons illegal drugs are bad and the risks associated with it. Make sure to tell her that HIV/AIDS can be passed through needles when people do illegal drugs.

It might be uncomfortable at first talking to your daughter about these things. The more you talk about it then the more comfortable your daughter will feel talking to you. It is a good idea to let your daughter know that she can talk to you about anything regarding dating and males. Make sure that your daughter has a curfew time to be home by a certain time when she is out on dates. Make sure that she does wear appropriate clothes on a date.

Talk to her about her dating habits to let her know that you would like to know where she is going to on a date and make sure that she lets you know the name of the guy that she is going out with. It might be extreme, but perhaps doing a criminal background check is a good idea just to be safe. Make sure you get the males phone number and a description of the vehicle that he is driving. When she goes out dating, make sure you write down the license plate number she rides with.

Does it seem like 5 minutes ago that your child was a baby? Of course they cried - sometimes alot - but there was no doubt as to who was the boss: you.

If you feel like you are living with a toddler with all the ambition of Bill Gates and the social skills of the average tornado, this article will help you.

Toddler behavior problems are not insurmountable - read on for some down-to-earthtips.

Why Do Problems Arise?

Don't assume that, just because toddlers can walk - and later on talk - that their understanding of other children
and people is advancing at the same pace. Not so.

Children of this age are naturally self-centred. There is no point pushing them to understand how you or anyone else feels. They are inacapable of empathy

Research has shown that youngsters under the age of 2 are never intentionally badly behaved. Concepts such as right and wrong are completely alien to them.

Even in older toddlers, many apparently naughty behaviors can often be put down to frustration, illness etc.

Biting and other aggressive behavior is an example of bad toddler behavior that is not usually malicious. Never premeditated, it can be thought of as a spur of the moment expression of frustration. As adults, we have all made thoughtless comments that we instantly regretted. And this brings us to a very important point...

Many difficult incidents can be traced back to toddlers' inability to say what they really mean and feel. Imagine how difficult life must be when you can't express yourself properly - no wonder they get so tired and frustrated.

How To Overcome Toddler Problems

Give positive instructions - this is very important. Along with limited verbal expression is limited understanding. For example, telling a toddler 'Don't eat that pebble' is unhelpful because they could well only grasp that you want him to eat the pebble ('don't' being more abstract).

It is much better to say 'Put the pebble down', perhaps showing him how to do it.

Divert and distract - toddlersare so easily distracted that you can turn it to your advantage. It is a wonder to watch a tantrum change into a fit of giggles within 30 seconds of your best puppy dog impression.

Strategic ignoring is one of the most proven strategies in the fight against toddler behavior problems. This is because young children want your attention more than anything else. Responding to a screaming fit with a stony stare out of the window or time out is more effective than you might think.

Avoid shouting and name calling.Above all, never use physical punishment, such as spanking. All of these teach your toddler nothing about controlling their behavior. Physical punishment will only teach that hitting is the way to resolve your child's problems.

For lots more information on toddler behavior, go to toddler behaviour guide.

Read how to be a good parent.

When you are not at home and someone else is with your child, you cannot possibly know what is going on unless you have hidden nanny cams in place. Unless your child can or will tell you of the things that happen when you’re not around, you just won’t know. That is why you have to make sure there is a set of eyes looking out for your children for you. Your hidden camera is the only way you’re going to be able to do that.

Because hidden nanny cams come in so many different disguises, it is no wonder that so many parents are able to catch nannies in the act.

Much of the footage that parents find when they’ve hired a bad nanny is a nanny becoming impatient with the child and shaking, slapping, or doing some other terrible act to the child. Little does the nanny know that the wall clock, DVD player, air purifier, or other household item has a hidden camera inside of it and it is recording every single move they make.

When the parents review the footage and they see this, they can use that footage to make sure that nanny never hurts anyone again. It is a disheartening thing to see, but it happens. Fortunately, having hidden nanny cams in place ensures that it doesn’t happen over and over. It puts a stop to it as soon as it starts.

Is this something that is legal? As a matter of fact it is perfectly legal for you to place hidden nanny cams throughout your own home to protect your children. Most nannies are aware of the fact that they might be recorded anyway, which is a good thing. That shows how popular these hidden cameras are becoming.

So protect your children to the best of your ability. Hidden nanny cameras add to that ability and you will feel much better if you have this valuable tool in your home. It is 100% legal and will help you move on with each and every day knowing that you have increased your ability to protect your child.