Top 10 Things to Do When Your Child is Out of Control

Alamogordo Training 3/23/14, 2pm at the Alameda Park Zoo in Alamogordo NM

If you have an out of control child, then you need to be at the Alameda Park Zoo at 2 pm this Sunday, the 23rd of March.  Serena Talamentes will be presenting a class on things to do when you have an out of control child.  Come join us and bring your out of control child with you.  Our well qualified childcare attendants will entertain them while Serena gives you precious nuggets of instruction on how to deal with out of control behavior without pulling your hair out or pulling their hair out!  We will provide a light lunch for you and your child.  CE hours will be awarded, also.  While Serena instructs us in the AFOTZ (Alamogordo Friends of the Zoo) classroom, your children will be allowed to go into the zoo with our childcare attendants.  They will enjoy games, exercise and seeing the zoo animals - and maybe come back with some awesome feathers!  So, if you're like me and need help with out of control behavior, run - don't walk - to the Alameda Park Zoo this Sunday and get some helpful tidbits from Serena.  You can RSVP to me, "T.", at 575-491-7246 to save your space in the class.  Hurry and get there, but don't speed because if you get a ticket, we may see an out of control adult!  C'Ya Soon......."T."

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Alcohol and trauma are a bad combination, but all too often kids who have suffered prenatal trauma due to their mother’s stressful circumstances also suffer neurological damage because of the way she used alcohol to cope with the stress. Dr. Kodi and Dr. Kodi, neurobehavioral psychologists from UNM, (and married tag-team instructors) explained to a group of adoptive parents in Albuquerque that the consumption of alcohol by women who are pregnant is still happening in spite of public education, service announcements and media attention. Most women know that drinking alcohol when they’re pregnant is a bad thing. Often instead of this knowledge resulting in changed behavior however, it results in denial. The doctors said that many women will readily admit to using a variety of drugs while pregnant, but few will admit to using alcohol. That was one surprising fact among many- binge drinking is worse than daily intake, thinner drinkers pass on more alcohol to their babies than heavier ones, younger moms are at less risk than older moms for having a child with FAS, alcohol is by far the most dangerous of drugs to use when pregnant and a child can have FAS without the facial features that accompany it, depending on when in the pregnancy the mother was drinking.

But this wasn’t just a training on neurology and interesting facts, even though there were plenty of pictures of the brain, charts and graphs and real science, and those things are important to know about. The best thing about the training was the hope available to parents who are raising kids with alcohol issues. Kids with FAS need their environments to be quiet and calm, not stimulating. Their brains cannot take in too much at a time, so a parent needs to slow down and give a child a chance to process a request. Social stories and visual schedules are good techniques for these kids. They may have a hard time understanding cause and effect, so teaching these things as early as possible can prevent them from becoming a problem in the teen years. It’s good to know that resources are available through UNM to get a good diagnosis, behavioral strategies and gain better understanding of the condition. Please call me if you want to learn more… (505) 270-6219