Download – Substance Use and Abuse in Teens
Dr. Kari welcomes back Curt Widhalm, marriage and family therapist, to discuss effective ways to talk with teens and build your teen’s resiliency to substance abuse. Teen substance use is a growing crisis in America. Peers have more influence over our kids than ever before. Parents often don’t know what to do when drugs and alcohol become an issue. Parents can teach their teens appropriate ways to handle peer pressure and avoid drugs and alcohol.
Click here to view Mr. Widhalm’s website.
Download – Bullying—It’s Not a Rite of Passage–Mojo UP
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari welcomes Mr. Mojo to share with us how kids can “Mojo UP” to find their positive attitude to deal with bullying, and how parents can work with schools to put a stop to the aggression. Anti-bullying and youth leadership coach Travis Brown (known as Mr. Mojo), is currently on a nationwide school tour and has received support from the daughter of actor Jamie Foxx. Corinne Foxx has organized an Anti-Bullying Week at her school here in Los Angeles, featuring Mr. Mojo as the keynote speaker. My parents thought bullying was just something kids had to go through—no big deal. But I was terrified to go to school. It’s time for adults to face up the fact that bullying of our school children is the most common form of aggression in America today! Nearly 30 percent of students report being the victim of a bullying incident, and about the same percent confess to bullying other students. Bullying has always been abusive, and we finally understand the problems bullying causes.
Click here to see Mr. Mojo’s website.
Download – What Children Need from Parents to be Happy & Successful
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari interviews Dr. Kenneth Herman, clinical psychologist, for his insights into parenting. Tune in to learn about discipline, establishing healthy habits, and avoiding the common parenting mistakes! Dr. Herman is the author of Secrets from the Sofa: A Psychologists Guide to Achieving Personal Peace, which was the recipient of the Brian Walsh Award for The Best Personal Growth Book of the Year. It also won literary awards in the categories of Psychology, Health, Mental Health, and as a Guide to College Students.
This episode is for all parents, not just parents of special needs kids! All of us parents wonder and worry and even agonize about how to balance our discipline and limit setting with our desire to raise kids with rock-solid self-esteem. We all wish we knew a lot more about how to be our child’s guide and good friend and still be “in charge.”
Click here to see Dr. Herman’s website.
Download – When Should You Teach Your Child to Read?
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari interviews reading expert and educational therapist, Dr. Lois Provda, who explains how starting formal reading instruction too soon can have disastrous effects and shares with us the type of skills children need to develop before we begin the process of teaching them to read.
Odds are you were taught how to read in first grade. Today, though, children are expected to read by the end of kindergarten. While the literacy standards have changed, the nature of children hasn’t. Pushing children to read before they are biologically ready can do more harm than good.
Click here to see Dr. Provda’s website.
Download – Strategies for Great Reading Comprehension
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari interviews Emily Iland, parent, author, and leader in the autism field about the best strategies for teaching children to understand what they read. Emily’s new book, Drawing a Blank: Improving Comprehension for Readers on the Autism Spectrum, is a wealth of resources for parents and educators. Ms. Iland is also the co-author of Autism Spectrum Disorders from A to Z (2004). Many children with special needs such as autism and learning disabilities have trouble making sense of what they read. What makes it even more confusing is that these kids can have good “decoding” or ability to sound out the words. Parents and teachers want strategies to help these kids!
Click here to see Ms. Iland’s website.
Download – Keeping Your Child Safe From Sexual Predators
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari interviews Chris Mulligan of the Cyber Addiction Recovery Center who tells us how parents can make their kids resistant to predators, how to have frank discussions with your child about the risks of exploitation, and signs to look for that your child may have been victimized. Sexual predators look for vulnerable kids to exploit.
Click here to see Mr. Mulligan’s website.
Download – The Real Truth About Impulsive Behavior
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari is joined by social worker Garry Earles who gives us the facts about impulsive behavior and explains how parents can help children and adolescents who have difficulty controlling their impulsivity. Think you understand why your child does those crazy things?…well…I guess not. But anyway, you probably think he or she could have made better choices.
Download – Homeschooling Your Special Needs Child
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari welcomes back mother Bobbi Sheahan, mother of a child with autism, who talks about how to homeschool your special needs child, what type of children and parents have the most success with homeschooling, and how to provide your homeschooled child with a social life as well as an appropriate education.
Bobbi Sheahan is the co-author, along with Kathy DeOrnellas, PhD, of the book, What I Wish I’d Known About Raising a Child With Autism: A Mom and a Psychologist Offer Heartfelt Advice for the First Five Years (Future Horizons, 2011).
Click here to see Bobbi Sheahan website.
Download – Girls Can’t Really Have Attention Deficit Disorder Can They
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari is joined by psychologist Dr. Jennifer Cassatly, who talks about the problems girls with ADD can develop, how to tell if your daughter (or your niece, or even yourself) has ADD, and what to do to help. It’s usually much easier to tell that your son has attention deficit disorder than it is to tell that your daughter has ADD. Girls who don’t receive treatment usually aren’t able to discover and cultivate their strengths. They do, however, tend to grow up with a lot of shame and self-blame. They often feel second-class, unable to be the ideal woman, spouse, or mother that our culture encourages them to be.
Dr. Cassatly’s website click here
Download – Mom Shares Tips on How to Raise a Child With Autism
On this episode of Special Kid School Talk Dr. Kari welcomes Bobbi Sheahan, author and mother of four, including Grace who has autism, who shares her insights on parenting a child with autism. Ms. Sheahan hopes to spare other parents some of the pain, discouragement, and confusion that can accompany the early years of parenting a child who has or may have autism. Autism is the most feared childhood diagnosis. What do you do when you suspect your child could have autism, or if you have just received the diagnosis of autism, or even if you have known for some time that your family is affected by autism?
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