WORKING WITH GIRLS
WITH EMOTIONAL DISABILITIES
Be pleasant; try smiling. Smiling show acceptance, not weakness. To the girl who needs acceptance, you may provide the motivation she needs to meet approval.
Be warm and consistent, firm and clear about what you consider to be unacceptable behavior. Let the girl know that you disapprove of what she does, without making her feel that you disapprove of what she is.
Try to understand the “whys” behind the girl’s behavior.
Sift out your feelings; is the behavior really a “problem” or does it just not meet your own personal standard?
Use a positive approach, rewarding the desired, appropriate behavior or a close approximation. “Catch her being good.”
Use praise such as: “You are working (doing, etc.) nicely” – NOT “I knew you could do it,” or “It pleases me to see you working so well.” She’s not there to please the adult. It is quite possible that pleasing adults is a part of her problem. Appropriate behavior should please the girl, so pay off – reward her with praise coupled with a touch.
Ignore inappropriate behavior. Remember that some girls will annoy you because they want your attention and they want you to like them.
Talk things over in a one-to-one situation and suggest better alternatives for behavior in preference to punishment.
Use proximity; moving close to a disruptive girl will often stop disturbing behavior.
Use signals; often a word or facial expression from the leader modifies the behavior.
Help girls see that no one is perfect, and that everybody makes mistakes.
Set them up for success – people are usually unhappy and resist or act-out, etc., when they are confronted or feel pressure to perform that which they do not do well.
“Nothing succeeds like success – Nothing fails like failure.”
Do you have suggestions and/or advice to share based on your experience working with differently abled populations? Please share them here!
