"Think before you speak"

[psreit]

How many have a child who, when asked a question, will just blurt something out without giving it any thought? My dd is like that. I want her to learn to think things through before she says or does something. Many times her comments are so random and really don't make sense, which sometimes, without her realizing it, cause other children to laugh at her. I need some ideas.....ways to get her to take time to think about her answers or comments. She's picture smart, but she needs more time to process words. She's very impulsive, so she just says things off the top of her head. When she was younger, she would say exactly opposite of what she meant, so we thought she was lying sometimes. I learned to discern when that was happening, but she is doing much better. She had CP, which could be interfering with some of that processing, so she needs extra training in that area. Any suggestions?

[lmercon]

I don't know if this would would work, but it seems that something tactile or some sort of non-verbal cue would work best. Here are a couple of suggestions.

1. Teach her to put up her hand when she wants to talk. Then you take about 10 seconds before you allow her to respond, which will give her some time to process what she wants to say. If she starts to blurt out, stop her and gently instruct her to slooooooow down and speak clearly. Over time, you may be able to remove the hand raising from the equation.

2. When she begins to blurt out something, stop her by putting your index finger over your lips, indicating "quiet." Then close your eyes as a model for her to do the same, and as you are doing so quietly say, "think." Allow her to leave her eyes closed for a few seconds, then say quietly, "Ok," which would indicate that she can open her eyes and speak. Require her to speak slowly and quietly.

Over time, she may improve to the point where she won't need these non-verbal cues.

hth,
Laura