Guest guest Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 My son has a problem with erasing too and he has gotten better. We are homeschoolers and he has 25 spelling words a day. He is aloud 5 times that he can erase (1 time for each 5 words) just to make the letter the way he wants it to look. He gets a reward, usually fake gold coins that he can cash in for different items, such as a root beer float, ice cream sunday, or a movie. Whatever motivates him that day. He has gone from spending an hour and a half on spelling to 30 minutes. Sometimes less. Jan K. Sent from my iPhone > Hi- > I have a couple questions that I need your thoughts on: > My daughter is bossing back her OCD now with many rituals she use to have. We celebrate all her ways she does the opposite of what OCD tells her to do. However I think we are OCD free because of it being summer with no school expectations. I am wondering g if I should medicate her prior to starting school knowing that school is her trigger or do I wait and see what happens. I am thinking to be more proactive than reactive but I don't want to medicate before I need to. She struggles with erasing so her dr had her bring in her homework from 1st grade and talk about why she erases the letters she does. She gave her homework to do a weeks worth of sheets in pen and gets a star on a chart with a reward. Did anyone have a child that got past erasing? The dr explained that she needs to breathe As a tool when anxious about homework. Does this sound right type of way to tackle erasing? Also how does my daughter just start doing the opposite of what her mind is telling her without having to do all the exposure process that we talk about? Am I missing something? Does anyone else's child just do the opposite without having to do the steps of exposure therapy? > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 3, 2012, at 7:38 AM, " Trabulsy, " wrote: > > > - you mention that it is a CBT program for all kinds of things ( not just OCD). I just want to be sure that you address with them that they will be doing ERP for your son as well. The meat of OCD treatment IS the exposures. The CBT alone will not work. Again, many people say they treat OCD because they do CBT, but keep on them about the ERP. If you have to push them to do DAILY exposures ( within about 3-5 visits they should start) then you should be looking elsewhere. I know you are happy you found something, and it may well be the right thing, and I am sure the parenting skills and CBT are good skills, but if there is not a ERP component, you will not get very far and will be frustrated. Just be clear about what they are doing. Question them specifically about their treatment for OCD. If they dont have a specific plan for OCD that is different than for generalized anxiety or deperssion, then it is not a good program for your son for recovery from OCD ( but may be for other reasons- ie depression, family dynamics etc). I hope you have in fact found a CBT/ ERP program and i just misunderstood your post. Good luck > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Great to hear jan Sent from my iPhone > My son has a problem with erasing too and he has gotten better. We are homeschoolers and he has 25 spelling words a day. He is aloud 5 times that he can erase (1 time for each 5 words) just to make the letter the way he wants it to look. He gets a reward, usually fake gold coins that he can cash in for different items, such as a root beer float, ice cream sunday, or a movie. Whatever motivates him that day. He has gone from spending an hour and a half on spelling to 30 minutes. Sometimes less. > > Jan K. > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > > Hi- > > I have a couple questions that I need your thoughts on: > > My daughter is bossing back her OCD now with many rituals she use to have. We celebrate all her ways she does the opposite of what OCD tells her to do. However I think we are OCD free because of it being summer with no school expectations. I am wondering g if I should medicate her prior to starting school knowing that school is her trigger or do I wait and see what happens. I am thinking to be more proactive than reactive but I don't want to medicate before I need to. She struggles with erasing so her dr had her bring in her homework from 1st grade and talk about why she erases the letters she does. She gave her homework to do a weeks worth of sheets in pen and gets a star on a chart with a reward. Did anyone have a child that got past erasing? The dr explained that she needs to breathe As a tool when anxious about homework. Does this sound right type of way to tackle erasing? Also how does my daughter just start doing the opposite of what her mind is telling her without having to do all the exposure process that we talk about? Am I missing something? Does anyone else's child just do the opposite without having to do the steps of exposure therapy? > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > On Aug 3, 2012, at 7:38 AM, " Trabulsy, " wrote: > > > > > - you mention that it is a CBT program for all kinds of things ( not just OCD). I just want to be sure that you address with them that they will be doing ERP for your son as well. The meat of OCD treatment IS the exposures. The CBT alone will not work. Again, many people say they treat OCD because they do CBT, but keep on them about the ERP. If you have to push them to do DAILY exposures ( within about 3-5 visits they should start) then you should be looking elsewhere. I know you are happy you found something, and it may well be the right thing, and I am sure the parenting skills and CBT are good skills, but if there is not a ERP component, you will not get very far and will be frustrated. Just be clear about what they are doing. Question them specifically about their treatment for OCD. If they dont have a specific plan for OCD that is different than for generalized anxiety or deperssion, then it is not a good program for your son for recovery from OCD ( but may be for other reasons- ie depression, family dynamics etc). I hope you have in fact found a CBT/ ERP program and i just misunderstood your post. Good luck > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 My 13 yr old daughter had an erasing problem also but last year she decided that she would do all her work in pen so she " COULDN'T ERASE " when she didn't like how the letter looked. If she makes a mistake (a real mistake..like spelling) and she wants to correct it she draws a line through it and writes beside it. She also uses a pen for Math. Using a pen has saved hours and tears on both our parts. We homeschool also.  To: " " < > Sent: Friday, August 3, 2012 3:25 PM Subject: Re: Thoughts?  My son has a problem with erasing too and he has gotten better. We are homeschoolers and he has 25 spelling words a day. He is aloud 5 times that he can erase (1 time for each 5 words) just to make the letter the way he wants it to look. He gets a reward, usually fake gold coins that he can cash in for different items, such as a root beer float, ice cream sunday, or a movie. Whatever motivates him that day. He has gone from spending an hour and a half on spelling to 30 minutes. Sometimes less. Jan K. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 3, 2012, at 12:45 PM, mailto:krispesola%40yahoo.com wrote: > Hi- > I have a couple questions that I need your thoughts on: > My daughter is bossing back her OCD now with many rituals she use to have. We celebrate all her ways she does the opposite of what OCD tells her to do. However I think we are OCD free because of it being summer with no school expectations. I am wondering g if I should medicate her prior to starting school knowing that school is her trigger or do I wait and see what happens. I am thinking to be more proactive than reactive but I don't want to medicate before I need to. She struggles with erasing so her dr had her bring in her homework from 1st grade and talk about why she erases the letters she does. She gave her homework to do a weeks worth of sheets in pen and gets a star on a chart with a reward. Did anyone have a child that got past erasing? The dr explained that she needs to breathe As a tool when anxious about homework. Does this sound right type of way to tackle erasing? Also how does my daughter just start doing the opposite of what her mind is telling her without having to do all the exposure process that we talk about? Am I missing something? Does anyone else's child just do the opposite without having to do the steps of exposure therapy? > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 3, 2012, at 7:38 AM, " Trabulsy, " <mailto:mario.trabulsy%40vtmednet.org> wrote: > > > - you mention that it is a CBT program for all kinds of things ( not just OCD). I just want to be sure that you address with them that they will be doing ERP for your son as well. The meat of OCD treatment IS the exposures. The CBT alone will not work. Again, many people say they treat OCD because they do CBT, but keep on them about the ERP. If you have to push them to do DAILY exposures ( within about 3-5 visits they should start) then you should be looking elsewhere. I know you are happy you found something, and it may well be the right thing, and I am sure the parenting skills and CBT are good skills, but if there is not a ERP component, you will not get very far and will be frustrated. Just be clear about what they are doing. Question them specifically about their treatment for OCD. If they dont have a specific plan for OCD that is different than for generalized anxiety or deperssion, then it is not a good program for your son for recovery from OCD ( but may be for other reasons- ie depression, family dynamics etc). I hope you have in fact found a CBT/ ERP program and i just misunderstood your post. Good luck > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I would practice writing in pen as the exposure and " handing it in " to someone to be " graded " as an exposure. I would also pracctice writing in pencil and writing really sloppy letters but not eraseing them as an exposure When she gets anxious about it then focus on and rate the anxiety each time she practices. Relaxation breathing and thinking nice thoughts are not part of the CBT. They may be very helpful in real life , in school when you cant do an exposure and she is anxious. But while doing the exposure focus on the anxiety, telling her it is just a trick her OCD is playig on her, and that it will get better over time ( 20 to30 min or so) . If the therapist is having her write in pen than that is an exposure. Do it several times daily. Also try the writing in pencil because it may not be hard for her to not erase pen but still hard with pencil (OCD makes no sense) and if she needs to be able to write in pencil then try that too. Start wtih easiest. work your way up. Does she have other perfectionism stuff or jsut right stuff too? Stuff that is easier to work on to gain mastery? Do you have a fear heirarchy? My personal feeling is that I would not start meds pre emptively. I would only do them if I needed them. If she is bossing back her OCD and having success, by the time school starts, if she is triggered, it will just give her more to work on and that is good. If the meds take care of all the ocd then there is nothing to work on with CBT and they dont learn the skills, AND starting meds is not as easy as saying " im going to start meds now " It is often many months of trial and error and finding right dose and battling side effects- it turely complicates things. The purpose of meds is to be used IF the person cant engage in therapy. If she is engaging with therapy I would keep cheering her on! ( this from a parent whose child is on meds) Obviously you are there and know her best and likely have the best judgement around it and around how much she is engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 One thought I have is that the OCD may be better or worse depending on the personality of your child's classroom teacher. I have been positively and negatively surprised at how well or poorly a situation would work for my son. It is hard to predict. So it may be worth waiting to see how the school year starts before starting meds. With that said, I have asked myself *exactly* the same question... should we get meds going and in the system before school starts to be proactive...so I completely understand this line of thinking. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 For some kids, though, and my son is one of these, he is mostly just plain fine when on a med and will always need this I would think, based on my own experience. He is a happy, out going boy when on the med, but is a fearful, depressed kid bogged down by obsessive thinking when not on it. I am not convinced at all that OCD is something that one cures through therapy and that this is a " cure " that lasts. I think for many of us, ERP is needed to boost the effect of a med, but that the med is necessary so that our thinking is changed and we can be have a good quality of life. After many years of on and off intensive therapy, I finally decided that my OCD is a chronic condition and that I need medication for my mind to let me think more like other people and have a good quality of life. I am definitely for proper ERP, etc., but I think for the majority of people with OCD, medication is necessary so that life isn't always about fighting against the jail our thoughts would keep us in. Re: Thoughts? I would practice writing in pen as the exposure and " handing it in " to someone to be " graded " as an exposure. I would also pracctice writing in pencil and writing really sloppy letters but not eraseing them as an exposure When she gets anxious about it then focus on and rate the anxiety each time she practices. Relaxation breathing and thinking nice thoughts are not part of the CBT. They may be very helpful in real life , in school when you cant do an exposure and she is anxious. But while doing the exposure focus on the anxiety, telling her it is just a trick her OCD is playig on her, and that it will get better over time ( 20 to30 min or so) . If the therapist is having her write in pen than that is an exposure. Do it several times daily. Also try the writing in pencil because it may not be hard for her to not erase pen but still hard with pencil (OCD makes no sense) and if she needs to be able to write in pencil then try that too. Start w tih easiest. work your way up. Does she have other perfectionism stuff or jsut right stuff too? Stuff that is easier to work on to gain mastery? Do you have a fear heirarchy? My personal feeling is that I would not start meds pre emptively. I would only do them if I needed them. If she is bossing back her OCD and having success, by the time school starts, if she is triggered, it will just give her more to work on and that is good. If the meds take care of all the ocd then there is nothing to work on with CBT and they dont learn the skills, AND starting meds is not as easy as saying " im going to start meds now " It is often many months of trial and error and finding right dose and battling side effects- it turely complicates things. The purpose of meds is to be used IF the person cant engage in therapy. If she is engaging with therapy I would keep cheering her on! ( this from a parent whose child is on meds) Obviously you are there and know her best and likely have the best judgement around it and around how much she is engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 For some kids, though, and my son is one of these, he is mostly just plain fine when on a med and will always need this I would think, based on my own experience. He is a happy, out going boy when on the med, but is a fearful, depressed kid bogged down by obsessive thinking when not on it. I am not convinced at all that OCD is something that one cures through therapy and that this is a " cure " that lasts. I think for many of us, ERP is needed to boost the effect of a med, but that the med is necessary so that our thinking is changed and we can be have a good quality of life. After many years of on and off intensive therapy, I finally decided that my OCD is a chronic condition and that I need medication for my mind to let me think more like other people and have a good quality of life. I am definitely for proper ERP, etc., but I think for the majority of people with OCD, medication is necessary so that life isn't always about fighting against the jail our thoughts would keep us in. Re: Thoughts? I would practice writing in pen as the exposure and " handing it in " to someone to be " graded " as an exposure. I would also pracctice writing in pencil and writing really sloppy letters but not eraseing them as an exposure When she gets anxious about it then focus on and rate the anxiety each time she practices. Relaxation breathing and thinking nice thoughts are not part of the CBT. They may be very helpful in real life , in school when you cant do an exposure and she is anxious. But while doing the exposure focus on the anxiety, telling her it is just a trick her OCD is playig on her, and that it will get better over time ( 20 to30 min or so) . If the therapist is having her write in pen than that is an exposure. Do it several times daily. Also try the writing in pencil because it may not be hard for her to not erase pen but still hard with pencil (OCD makes no sense) and if she needs to be able to write in pencil then try that too. Start w tih easiest. work your way up. Does she have other perfectionism stuff or jsut right stuff too? Stuff that is easier to work on to gain mastery? Do you have a fear heirarchy? My personal feeling is that I would not start meds pre emptively. I would only do them if I needed them. If she is bossing back her OCD and having success, by the time school starts, if she is triggered, it will just give her more to work on and that is good. If the meds take care of all the ocd then there is nothing to work on with CBT and they dont learn the skills, AND starting meds is not as easy as saying " im going to start meds now " It is often many months of trial and error and finding right dose and battling side effects- it turely complicates things. The purpose of meds is to be used IF the person cant engage in therapy. If she is engaging with therapy I would keep cheering her on! ( this from a parent whose child is on meds) Obviously you are there and know her best and likely have the best judgement around it and around how much she is engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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