Bright Stars Parenting Program
The online parent training program, Bright Stars, has been created specifically for parents and caregivers of highly intelligent children on the mild end of the autism spectrum!
In my years of practice, I have seen countless children with ASD who have incredible potential but are struggling with social, behavioral, and/or emotional challenges at home or at school. These children may not need (or qualify for) special education, or intensive ABA therapies. And yet, there are obstacles that parents find extremely challenging to navigate.
In the months following initial diagnosis or even further down the line, I often find parents returning to my office to seek my advice and consultation on dealing with behavior issues, tantrums, rigidity. Most of the times, these parents are already juggling all kinds of therapies that have been recommended for their child -Speech, O.T, social groups, ABA and every other activity they can think of to provide opportunities for their child to learn and grow. Amidst all this, there is one thing I see taking a back seat time and again. And it is the one thing that is actually the most crucial component of the child’s growth and success. And that is parent training.
About the program
“What more can I do at home to help my child progress socially?”
“I really need help figuring out how to deal with the day-to-day frustrations”
“My child has a lot of anxiety. How can I help him cope with it”
“I know my child can do so much better at school if she could only focus! How can I help her with it?”
Some of the questions that parents have posed to me most often are:
While regular consultations with an expert would help with these issues, this can at times become cost prohibitive, not to mention take up valuable time. To be honest, while bringing your child to see a professional is important, and warranted in many circumstances – in my professional opinion, the most crucial ingredient to your child’s success is that you – who spends more hours with your child than anyone else – be equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools of experts like myself. Because unlike other ailments like coughs and colds and sinus infections, the remedy doesn’t begin and end in the doctors office with a prescription. It takes an active education and participation of the parents for successful administration of the “treatment”.
And this is the idea behind Bright Stars. Through this program I have condensed answers to literally hundreds of parent questions, problems, and challenges into concise, content-rich video modules to impart the education and support you need to have the information and energy to be your best self and bring out the strengths of your child.
The course includes one video module and accompanying parent handout addressing strategies for that topic. I find this online format to be highly effective and less time consuming (and needless to say, more money saving!) than individual office visits.
The three modules in the Bright Stars Parent training program have been carefully chosen to give a you a solid foundation in understanding the underlying causes of problem behaviors and challenges. They also provide you with effective tools and techniques to handle them when they happen, and teach you how to anticipate and prevent them before they happen again.The Three Modules in the program are Behavior Challenges and Motivation, Social Perspective Taking, and Rigidity – the three primary domains most commonly impacted in kids with mild ASD.
Course Format and Content
Module 1 talks about motivation and Behavior Challenges.How do you motivate your child? What do you need to do to help your child make good behavior choices, and why do some typical discipline strategies often fail?? We will talk about how to establish the best parenting framework to elicit your child’s motivation and improve his/her behavior.
Module 2:
Module 1:
Module 2 talks about Perspective Taking as a Second Language: Social communication is not only about conversing and getting your thoughts across or your needs met, but is also about reading subtle gestures and body language and inferring from tone what might not be said directly in words. This can be a major challenge for children on the spectrum. It can affect how they relate to peers, family members, and can contribute to anxiety and self-confidence. In Module two we discuss this in detail, and outline the main parenting tools to use to teach your child social perspective taking.
Module 3:
Module 3 is all about Tools and Tips for Handling Rigidity. Why does a small change in routine elicit such a strong reaction from the child on the spectrum? Life is full of unexpected events. How do you handle an outburst at a seemingly small change in plan? What about when your child is stubborn, strong willed, or refuses to budge on his or her agenda? We discuss in this module what you need to know to teach flexibility.
Here is a free introductory video I created that gives a framework to understanding the unique developmental profile of your bright child on the autism spectrum. If you have any questions about the program, or are interested un purchasing it, please send us an email at contact@sdkidsfirst.com.
Free Training Video
Initial in home Appointment
Most clients begin with an initial in home 2 hour assessment with one of our specialists. This is your opportunity to share your concerns, ask questions, and provide any documents or other information you feel would help us get to know your situation. By the end of the session, your behavior specialist will have made a tentative plan about next steps.
Share Your Concerns and Create a Plan
consultations
Consultations are periodic 50 minute sessions with one of our behavior specialists to tweak your current behavior plan. Common issues addressed in a consultation include: social, emotional, academic, behavioral or developmental concerns. Consultations will act as a follow up meeting and provide advice for behavior implementation. Many individuals have all their questions and concerns sufficiently addressed within a single appointment, while others may choose to have subsequent consultative visits.
In Home Behavior Management
If you have a child that has difficulty regulating emotions, has frequent tantrums, trouble with authority, in school, at home, with siblings, and you need help learning new parenting strategies to change these behaviors, please call us for an assessment. These sessions are scheduled with one of our experts to develop specific tools and strategies designed for the individual child and family. These sessions can be scheduled as needed, and often in conjunction with other types of services, such as therapy/counseling or evaluations.
Bright Stars Parenting Program
Does your child have any of the warning signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Symptoms of ASD may include:
- Social struggles (making/maintaining friendships, being understood, lack of reciprocity)
- Academic challenges, specifically with reading and math comprehension
- Black and white thinking
- Anxiety
- A tendency to be rigid, argumentative, possibly aggressive
- Difficulty focusing and participating in undesired activities
- Special interest/ hyper focused
Click here to watch the first module of our Bright Stars Parenting Series about bright children on the mild end of the autism spectrum.
FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOAL ASSESSMENT
The FBA Interventions service allows parents to observe first-hand our providers implement individualized FBA interventions. Providers will directly work 1:1 with your child, modeling interventions for effective parent coaching and learning. Also, providers can develop client- individualized visual stimuli and visual aids to support parents in addressing behaviors consistently.
Parent Training
The Parent Coaching service is to help parents identify and understand the function of their child’s behavior. We will coach parents in appropriately addressing their child’s behavior in order to decrease the intensity and future occurrence of the behavior. Furthermore, we will support parents in replacing undesired behaviors exhibited by their child with more socially desired behaviors.
In Person Academic Support
Elementary, middle, and high school children and their families may participate in individually tailored sessions with one of our experts to improve academic and organizational skills. Areas of focus include homework/task completion, study skills and strategies, problem solving, decision making, academic planning, goal setting, improving peer relations, improving frustration tolerance, and developing healthy self-confidence and self-esteem. Appointments for these services are available in-home to maximize your child/teen’s progress.
Clinical sessions
Clinical Session service will begin with a 45-60-minute assessment and interview with the parent(s). Next, an observation of the targeted behavior(s) will be conducted. The session will end with a review and discussion of the observed behavior and ensuing behavior intervention plan.