Behavioral Issues
Behavioral issues is a common theme related to all of the major disorders treated at Brain Harmony, including ADHD to learning ability to ASD. Behavioral issues can cause issues in the home, in the classroom, on the playground, and create rifts with social relationships. The first step to addressing the symptoms of behavior concerns - be those tantrums, meltdowns, defiance, or otherwise - is to understand the root cause. Causes may include anxiety, learning difficulties, trauma, or otherwise.
Common symptoms of behavioral concerns include:
Defiance/rule breaking
Physical aggression
Impulsive decision making
Self injury, including scratching oneself, hand-biting, head-banging, hair pulling
Temper tantrums, screaming, yelling
Sleep issues
Social struggles, difficulty connecting and forging relationships with peers
Frequently, parents attempt to address the behavior concerns with cognitive therapy like positive reinforcement, applied behavior analysis (ABA) or pharmaceuticals including stimulants which fall short in making long standing changes to the autonomic nervous system upon which all human responses are based. Instead, the Occupational Therapists at Brain Harmony analyze the state of the individual’s neurological system, especially the sensory system to understand the root cause of the behavior.
“Self-control, self-management, anger control, and impulse control all describe people’s ability to adjust their level of alertness and how they display their emotions through their behavior to attain goals in socially adaptive ways (Bronson, 2001). In other words, self-regulation is the ability to establish and maintain an optimal state for a given situation. This includes regulating one’s sensory needs, emotions, and impulses to meet the demands of the environment, reach one’s goals, and behave in a socially appropriate way.
Testimonials & Success Stories
BEHAVIORAL ISSUES, ADD, ACADEMIC STRUGGLES, ANXIETY
Tommy's neurological system tortured him, his teachers and his classmates at school. He whined and cried often. Sitting still for reading was impossible; he needed to get up, touch others and run around. He would experience tantrums when it was time to change subjects or go to a different classroom. Tommy was suspended from school often. Tommy's constant suspensions put his parents’ employment at risk.
"I received two nice compliments today regarding my child's behavior. Not only have we seen a HUGE difference, I was asked today if Tommy was put on medication. I proudly said, ' No, he is receiving therapy at Brain Harmony.' Thank you so much with sincere and heartfelt thanks." - Tommy's Mom
“The past 3 weeks our daughter has been so much more affectionate than she has ever been! She wants to snuggle right before nighttime and has even asked specifically for snuggles from her dad. It's so nice! We are finding that she is regulating her emotions much better. She still has meltdowns but now they last for about 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes, or an hour and a half at its worst!”