
Becoming A Parent Detective

Instead of jumping to fix our child’s behavior, become a better parent detective by investigating the many contributing factors. When the following factors are not considered, simply addressing behavior is ineffective.
- Individual skills and developmental level must always be taken into consideration when assessing our child’s behavior. We must identify if the child has the skills to be successful with the task, if they do not then the expectation is too great.
- Emotions are a significant factor that affects behavior at any age. Managing emotions is hard for both adults and children! By frequently discussing our emotions in everyday situations, we begin to explore and understand them.
- Sensory systems that take in and interpret information from our environment and body, influences our behaviors and how we interact with the world. Individual sensory differences (sensitivities, preferences, and challenges) need to be respected and accounted for. See the next section for more information on the sensory systems.
As parent detectives, we can help to identify what factors are influencing our child’s behaviors and how to best support their needs.