Sleep
GETTING ENOUGH REST plays such a leading role in our well-being that Flannery-Schroeder and Tucker co-authored Banish Bedtime Battles: The Ultimate Six-Week Plan to Help Your School-Aged Child Sleep Independently.
“ It’ s very common for children who present with any anxiety or anxiety-related issues to also have difficulties going to bed independently,” says Tucker.“ When we address the bedtime issues in treatment, the child can use their new coping skills to become more independent at night, supporting their ability to be independent, competent and confident.”
CASE STUDY NO. 2
ANDRES ROSARIO’ S * nine-year-old son Tomas’* biggest challenge is what they refer to as anticipatory anxiety, where he builds up a situation in his mind based off his expectation of what will happen.“ Early on, I feared that a lot of this was caused by me, because I have always lived to a high standard that I hold for myself, and I started holding my child to a very high standard, and I fear that pressure becomes overwhelming for him,” Rosario explains.“ But I learned that I will not screw up my child’ s life if he doesn’ t brush his teeth right one night.”
Tomas gets jittery when anxious, and defiant, emotionally and physically refusing to do what’ s asked of him. In these moments, Rosario says the biggest benefits have been breaking things down step by step, and not letting the end goal be intimidating. Instead, he says,“‘ You don’ t want to go to school today? Let’ s just start by getting out of bed. Start by walking downstairs. We will address going to school when we’ re actually through the morning routine of getting food into our system, getting dressed. Take one step at a time,” Rosario says. He adds that occupational therapy also helped Tomas tackle stressful school projects, find strategies for being more efficient in the classroom, improve things like handwriting and physical strength, and learn how to combat anxious moments while limiting disruption.“ It really helps to break it down for him so the end goal is not nearly as daunting.”
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