DON ’ T :
• Make your mind up about the cause of a problem until you ’ ve actually spoken to the child . Keep any hypotheses in a bubble till you know an awful lot more .
• Assume all children will react in a similar way . They are individuals .
• Expect to automatically carry out what you thought would be a good plan before the child arrived .
• Think you have to sort out the problem in one session ( even though sometimes you will do exactly that !).
DO :
• Find a way to engage the particular child in front of you .
• Keep an open mind .
• Expect the unexpected .
• Use a solution-focused approach .
• Be on your toes and be prepared to swap to a completely different approach or activity .
• Use simple language and check they understand you . They often won ’ t tell you if they haven ’ t got a clue what a word means or have no idea what you want them to do !
• Make them an audio to listen to at home to reinforce what you have done with them . They might make more change with this than in the session itself .
Remember that you are not the only one with the responsibility to sort out the problem . The child needs to take on and practise the new ideas and the parents need to support your work . The child also needs to listen regularly to any audio you may have provided .