Children with complex congenital heart defects often show delays and deficits in cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional functioning. As such, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Associated recommend ongoing monitoring and support of development. In conjunction with the formal therapeutic supports frequently…

Raising or caring for young children is a demanding job. Parents and other caregivers often struggle when children demonstrate challenging behavior. This article provides guiding principles and specific strategies that professionals and parents can use to gain insight into children's behavior and make positive changes in their daily interactions.

It is estimated that there are 1,678,778 military children in the United States, with 80% of them attending U.S. civilian operated public schools. Therefore, it is critical that educators across school settings have access to information that supports the academic, behavioral, and social emotional health of military children. The current paper…

Many actions of troubled children and adolescents can disguise and conceal their ever-present and deep-seated psycho-emotional pain. Adults living and working with these youth may overlook this pain in a strategy of avoidance. Labelling troubling behavior as "outbursts," "explosions," or "acting out," ignores the…

Being in a tornado can be very frightening, and the days, weeks, and months following the storm can be very stressful. Most families recover over time, especially with the support of relatives, friends, and their community. But different families may have different experiences during and after a tornado, and how long it takes them to recover will…

Going to school is usually an exciting and enjoyable event for young children. However, for some it can cause intense fear or panic. Parents should be concerned if their child regularly complains about feeling sick or often asks to stay home from school with minor physical complaints. Not wanting to go to school may occur at any time, but is most…

Denial in some form is almost always present in the assessment and therapy of children with sexual behavior problems. Although it can be a major element in the therapeutic interaction, denial has received scant attention, both in teaching programs and professional literature. It is as if the clinical community is "denying denial."…

We describe a sample of school-age children of incarcerated parents enrolled in a federally funded mentoring program. A mixed methods approach was applied to discern key themes related to caregiver incarceration. Results demonstrated a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress as well as high rates of internalizing and externalizing behaviors.…

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neurobiological condition affecting 1 of every 200 school-age children. OCD greatly affects students' academic, behavioral, and social functioning, and it can lead to additional problem such as depression. To effectively collaborate with other individuals providing appropriate support to students with OCD,…

Children who sometimes enjoy teasing, and at other times are terribly upset, may be pleased to be noticed and approached at times. At other times they may be busy and therefore feel intruded upon. Children sometimes experience teasing and being teased as fun. It is a form of human interaction. Someone is reaching out socially! This is why some of…

It is hard for many people to accept anger as part of a young child's range of feelings. Teachers work so hard to make children happy, and feel frustrated, even resentful, when they do not respond with 100 percent happiness all the time. Teachers know in their minds that anger is a normal emotion and that they, too, sometimes feel angry. However,…

A military deployment is a challenging time for all family members. Young children are especially vulnerable, because they often do not have skills to handle all of the change and uncertainty and are still learning to manage their emotions and behaviors. They do not have a wealth of past experiences to rely on as adults do. They also do not have…

In this article, the author responds to a teacher's request for advice on how to handle a child in her class who keeps on shoving and bopping other children, sometimes hitting them on the head with hard objects. The author offers support and suggestions on how to help children who use negative behavior to communicate their wants and needs. She…

The emotional trauma of recent events may never go away. A million people were uprooted by Hurricane Katrina, including an estimated 372,000 children of school age. Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas-Louisiana coastline, forcing thousands more to evacuate. Acute symptoms of trauma range from confusion, nightmares, and…

This article discusses the teacher and the parent's story about a child who has difficulty transitioning out of the classroom at the end of the year. The child develops a change in behavior at home and in school and tells that he hates school. Here, the author gives her assessment as well as things that the teacher and the parent can do.