Randomly thinking today and I wondered what you guys use with your difficult children for verbal cues. We use/used:
Toothpaste - started when he was 3 or 4, a cue when he was starting to rev up and get really oppositional or generally gfgish. It was a nonthreatening cue, not a command or instruction or anything he really could argue with. I'm proud of this one because we came up with the idea all on our own.
Personal space - 'cuz boundaries mean nothing to him.
Volume control - 'cuz he has no concept of moderating his voice volume.
Asked and answered - I'm a fan of Law & Order, and this still comes in handy when he asks the same doggone question, over and over and over and over (perseveration anyone???).
Hoop (as in go thru, not around) - when he's expending *way* too much energy trying to beat the system when it would be just so simple to do what he's supposed to do.
Argh (seriously) - because he has this incredibly irritating habit of cracking his hands, neck, and back - over and over again. Drives me mad.
Not my problem - when he's trying reeeeeeally hard to get a rise out of me by telling me about some goofball stunt he's pulled. His junk is his junk, not mine. He *hates* it when I say this - unfortunately, I'm saying it a lot these days.
What do you guys use??
Toothpaste - started when he was 3 or 4, a cue when he was starting to rev up and get really oppositional or generally gfgish. It was a nonthreatening cue, not a command or instruction or anything he really could argue with. I'm proud of this one because we came up with the idea all on our own.
Personal space - 'cuz boundaries mean nothing to him.
Volume control - 'cuz he has no concept of moderating his voice volume.
Asked and answered - I'm a fan of Law & Order, and this still comes in handy when he asks the same doggone question, over and over and over and over (perseveration anyone???).
Hoop (as in go thru, not around) - when he's expending *way* too much energy trying to beat the system when it would be just so simple to do what he's supposed to do.
Argh (seriously) - because he has this incredibly irritating habit of cracking his hands, neck, and back - over and over again. Drives me mad.
Not my problem - when he's trying reeeeeeally hard to get a rise out of me by telling me about some goofball stunt he's pulled. His junk is his junk, not mine. He *hates* it when I say this - unfortunately, I'm saying it a lot these days.
What do you guys use??