FAQ

• Talk to your child about their anxieties and worries
• Reassure them
• Show them you understand
• Assist your child to recognize signs of anxiety
• Try to stick with regular daily routines as it is reassuring
• Prepare your children for new events that they are going to face
• Don’t try to become overprotective
• Practice simple relaxation techniques with your child
• Distractions can help your child

• Feeling scared
• Difficulty concentrating
• Not sleeping or waking up in the middle of the night with bad dreams
• Not eating properly
• Quickly getting angry
• Being out of control during outbursts
• Constantly worrying
• Negative thoughts
• Feeling tense
• Crying often
• Increased bathroom use
• Being clingy
• Complaining of physiological pains

The reason for anxiety differs depending on the age of the child.

It is normal for children to feel anxious and worried from time to time, like when they join school, move to a new place, face huge audience.
But for some children, anxiety affects their behaviours and thoughts on a day to day basis, interfering with their living for instance at school, home or social set ups. This is when you need to consider it as a serious issue and consult a professional.

Teach the child to follow the following techniques -

• Communicate with others assertively.
• Set achievable and realistic goals. When you achieve them, congratulate and treat yourself, and allow others to congratulate you.
• Accept compliments - say thank you, and smile.
• Act the person you want to be - play the role for long enough and you can become that person.
• Visualise positive change.
• Look after yourself.
• Stand, walk and talk confidently.
• Allow the child to dress neatly and present nicely.
• mindfulness – living in present not in past or future.
• Take up a new hobby or interest.
• Overcome Avoidance.
• Problem solve.
• Do things for others - help someone out. It makes us feel better about ourselves.
• Set limits and agree what you will and won't do.

• Feeling scared
• Difficulty concentrating
• Not sleeping or waking up in the middle of the night with bad dreams
• Not eating properly
• Quickly getting angry
• Being out of control during outbursts
• Constantly worrying
• Negative thoughts
• Feeling tense
• Crying often
• Increased bathroom use
• Being clingy
• Complaining of physiological pains

The reason for anxiety differs depending on the age of the child.

The duration of the therapy session depends on the individual case.

Harvard medical school study states that 8% of adolescents can qualify for lifetime anger disorder. There are several types of anger disorders. They are –

• Chronic anger, which is prolonged, and can impact immune system and cause other mental disorders
• Passive anger, not always expressed, so difficult to identify
• Overwhelmed anger – caused by life demands
• Self inflicted anger, directed towards self and inflicts guilt and low self esteem
• Judgemental anger, directed towards others, and not considering facts
• Volatile anger, bouts of impulsive anger, violent anger

​ Causes of anger disorder can be a person’s family traits or environment like stress, financial issues, abuse, poor social or familial situations, overwhelming requirements on your time and energy, alcoholism, or individuals raised by parents with the same disorder

• Thoughts that often occur:
  • I'm being treated unfairly
  • I'm being disrespected
  • They're breaking a rule or standard
• I won't stand for it – I must do something about it!
• Physical Sensations – The Adrenaline Response
• Heart racing or pounding
• Breathing quickly
• Tense muscles
• Shaking
• Hot, sweating
• Light-headed
• Stomach churning or butterflies
• Fist or teeth clenching
• might include:
• Starring & angry facial expression
• Aggressive body posture
• Go towards what makes us angry
• Attacking or arguing
• Hitting out (or urge to hit out)
• Shouting, snapping at others
• Running or storming away
• Staying silent, inwardly seething
• Door slamming, making lots of noise
• Sulking or being sarcastic

The reason for anxiety differs depending on the age of the child.

First, identify what feeds or keeps our anger going so that we can work at making positive changes to reduce or control anger.

We experience the following –

• Alert - On guard
• Thoughts – it’s unfair
• Emotions – frustration, rage, irritation, guilt, depression
• Physical arousal – adrenaline rush
• Defensive
• Aggressive behavior – I won’t stand for it
• Identify the triggers
• STOP, PAUSE, TAKE A DEEP BREATH, AVOID REACTING IMPULSIVELY & POSTPONE your reaction.

Answer to yourself –

• What you are reacting to
• What is really pushing your buttons in the incident that happened
• Is it fact or your opinion
• Identify your tendency to take things out of proportion
• Do you have unrealistic expectation from others
• What is the worst that would happen and
• Finally question if the other person didn’t mean what it appears.

Counteract the body's adrenaline response. It is ready for action. Use that energy healthily. Practice calming or mindful breathing - this one act alone will help reduce the physical sensations, emotions and intensity of thoughts to a great extent.

If you are concerned, don’t ignore the alarms. Take the child to your paediatrician and then to a child psychologist to get developmental milestone assessment done.

The American Academy of paediatricians recommends milestone assessment at 9, 18, 24 and 30 months or at least one of them.

A parent shouldn’t ignore if your child –

• Doesn’t stand, even if supported
• Doesn’t try to walk
• Doesn’t search for things that he or she sees you hide
• Doesn’t seem to know his or her name
• Doesn’t say single words like ‘mama’ or ‘dada’
• Loses skills he once had
• Doesn’t learn gestures like waving or shaking head
• Shows little or no interest in toys
• Doesn’t point to things

I recommend all paediatricians to develop a protocol to screen infants for any developmental delays

• Stand by himself or herself
• Walk alone or when holding one hand
• Walk or is beginning to walk
• Sit down without help
• Begin pretend play (like drink from a cup, talk on dummy phone)
• Respond to his or her name
• Say ‘mama’ ‘dada’ and at least one or two other words
• Understand simple commands
• Wave bye-bye
• Make a tower of 2 cubes by around 15 months
• Point to objects he or she wants

• Not babbling
• Not pointing
• Not showing objects to caregivers
• Lack of gestures like waving, shaking head, nodding (for no)
• Lack of shared enjoyment
• Repetitive actions or movements
• Poor eye contact
• Not following an adult’s pointed finger
• Paying more attention to objects than people
• Limited play with toys
• Not copying actions or sounds
• Not responding to his / her name when called

The International Dyslexia Association refers to dyslexia as a language-based learning disability “that does not arise from a physical limitation or a developmental disability.

Dyslexia is primarily associated with trouble reading. It’s not a sign of low intelligence or laziness. It is not due to poor vision. It is a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language. People with dyslexia can still understand complex ideas. Sometimes they just need more time to work through the information.

Dyslexia is not curable but it is treatable using effective teaching techniques. These children can be happy and successful.

• Read to your toddler daily.
• Ask her to find objects for you.
• Name body parts and objects.
• Play matching games with your toddler, like shape sorting and simple puzzles.
• Encourage him to explore and try new things.
• Help to develop your toddler’s language by talking with her and adding to words she starts. For example, if your toddler says "baba", you can respond, "Yes, you are right―that is a bottle."
• Encourage your child's growing independence by letting him help with dressing himself and feeding himself.
• Respond to wanted behaviors more than you punish unwanted behaviors (use only very brief time outs). Always tell or show your child what she should do instead.
• Encourage your toddler’s curiosity and ability to recognize common objects by taking field trips together to the park or going on a bus ride.

• Emotional learning develops at a very young age.
• As children discover a wide range of emotions, they evolve as they grow.
• Emotional development doesn’t occur in isolation.
• Cognitive and behavioural development interacts with emotional development.
• Social and cultural influences along with environment also play a role.
• Children who are emotionally abused can become overly affectionate to strangers, show attachment issues, aggression, low self-esteem, verbal aggression, extreme emotional outbursts, compromised social skills and more.
• Problems in emotional skills can also be an indication for developmental delays in the child.