Improving Child/Teen Complaince | Life Solutions of Dallas-Fort Worth

Just by making a few little changes in how we give instructions, parents can often achieve improved child or teen compliance. Here are some suggestions:

Reduce all distractions before giving instructions.

Don’t expect your child to attend to you when something more entertaining is going on in the room.
Turn off distractions – television, computer, video-game, etc.

Make sure your child or teen is paying attention to you.

Begin instructions with her name: this increases the likelihood she will be attending by the time you deliver the direction.
Make sure you have good eye-contact.
If necessary, gently turn the child’s face toward you to ensure she is listening and watching when instructions are given.
Tell her exactly what you want her to do and minimize the use of the words “don’t” and “stop.” For example, say, “Please complete your work.” instead of “Don’t play on the iPad.”
Ask her to repeat instructions to make sure she understands.
Avoid immediately repeating an instruction or inquiry as this may cause her to need to reprocess this information and take longer.

Make sure you mean it!

Never give instructions that you do not intend to see completed.
When you give instructions, plan on backing it up with consequences, both positive and negative to show that you mean what you say.
Do not present directions as a question.
Do not present directions as a favor.
State what you want your child or teen to do simply, directly, and in a businesslike tone of voice.

Do not give too many instructions at once.

For younger children, try giving only one specific instruction at a time.
If the task is complicated, break it down into smaller steps, and give only one step at a time.
Keep instructions short or give information in chunks.
Check with her before she starts a multiple-step assignment to ensure she understands each step to be taken.
Encourage her to ask clarifying questions while completing multiple-step tasks to avoid her missing important details and making careless errors.

Use Chore Cards.

Use an index card.
Work with your child or teen to list all the steps involved to correctly complete the chore or task.
Include how much time the task should take.
When you want your child or teen to do the chore, simply hand her the card.

Provide support for instructions involving the concept of time.

Children and teens with executive functioning problems have poor concepts of time.
If you need a task completed in a specific time, provide a clock or timer that will give your child or teen some type of feedback and support.

Life Solutions of Dallas-Fort Worth

Giving effective instructions for improved compliance

Just by making a few little changes in how we give instructions, parents can often achieve improved child or teen compliance. Here are some suggestions:

Reduce all distractions before giving instructions.

Don’t expect your child to attend to you when something more entertaining is going on in the room.

Turn off distractions – television, computer, video-game, etc.

Make sure your child or teen is paying attention to you.

Begin instructions with her name: this increases the likelihood she will be attending by the time you deliver the direction.

Make sure you have good eye-contact.

If necessary, gently turn the child’s face toward you to ensure she is listening and watching when instructions are given.

Tell her exactly what you want her to do and minimize the use of the words “don’t” and “stop.” For example, say, “Please complete your work.” instead of “Don’t play on the iPad.”

Ask her to repeat instructions to make sure she understands.

Avoid immediately repeating an instruction or inquiry as this may cause her to need to reprocess this information and take longer.

Make sure you mean it!

Never give instructions that you do not intend to see completed.

When you give instructions, plan on backing it up with consequences, both positive and negative to show that you mean what you say.

Do not present directions as a question.

Do not present directions as a favor.

State what you want your child or teen to do simply, directly, and in a businesslike tone of voice.

Do not give too many instructions at once.

For younger children, try giving only one specific instruction at a time.

If the task is complicated, break it down into smaller steps, and give only one step at a time.

Keep instructions short or give information in chunks.

Check with her before she starts a multiple-step assignment to ensure she understands each step to be taken.

Encourage her to ask clarifying questions while completing multiple-step tasks to avoid her missing important details and making careless errors.

Use Chore Cards.

Use an index card.

Work with your child or teen to list all the steps involved to correctly complete the chore or task.

Include how much time the task should take.

When you want your child or teen to do the chore, simply hand her the card.

Provide support for instructions involving the concept of time.

Children and teens with executive functioning problems have poor concepts of time.

If you need a task completed in a specific time, provide a clock or timer that will give your child or teen some type of feedback and support.

Try these steps and start to see improvement today. Combine these steps with other methods in this set of articles, and you’ll see remarkable results!

Need help applying these concepts?

Call 817.421.8780 to make an appointment.

© 2009-2019, Monte W Davenport, Ph.D.