We have developed a program for children with neurological disabilities that has been extraordinarily successful both at home and at school. We have brought this program to the families and schools of children with severe neurological disabilities all across Texas. Parents and teachers have been overwhelmed at how well this program works.
AFNIC's approach is to create an accessible environment for these children by removing the triggers that cause their frustrations and lead to rages. Most importantly, this involves letting the child "get away" with minor matters and the removal of the reward and punishment strategy. We pick our battles, and limit those to safety issues. Thus, rather than punish the child after a rage, we identify the cause of the frustration and remove the trigger. Over time, we drastically reduce the frequency and severity of the rages. Then we teach the child how to handle frustration and slowly add the triggers back into their environment.
The program has dramatically improved the lives of every child and family that has implemented it. The real effort is to convince families and schools to adopt the program and then help them implement it. Neither is initially excited about a program that allows the child to "get away" with inappropriate behavior without punishment. Thus, AFNIC's first task is to promote the program to the families and schools. Then, because the reward and punishment theory is so ingrained in our culture, it takes significant efforts in training and follow-through to educate the families and schools in how to implement the program. This is time-intensive work.
Thus, we ideally need two full hours to present the program. This allows us to share stories that help bring the main points home, and to have a question and answer session. For schools, we are able to present a shortened presentation, but we highly recommend the longer version.
If you would like to enquire about setting up a training, please contact:
If you are in or near Dallas/Fort Worth, email ferrara54@tx.rr.com
If you are in or near Austin/San Antonio, email djpowers@swbell.net
If you want to review a summary of the training, click here (PDF).
If you want to see and print a flyer about the training to give to someone, click here (PDF).
If you want to review letters from professionals recommending the program, click here.
If you want to see what some of the schools we have trained say about the program, click here.
If you want to see what some of the parents we have trained say about the program, click here.
To obtain services, you will have to first become a member. Click here to join.
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