Is my kid wired for struggle?

Is my child working too hard? Is s/he just wired for struggle?

Why is my child erupting with meltdowns when other kids are doing just fine. Why is my child unable to focus or just seems so darn quirky?

If you are concerned or worried about your kid's behaviour, here's a checklist that can help you identify whether there is a problem or not.

These questions will help you better understand if your child’s brain and body are having to work much harder than needed. Anytime - during the day or night - that our brain is more active in the survival part, we do not have an efficient connection to the parts of the brain that allow us to focus, engage, problem solve, and stay emotionally grounded and our energy is spent poorly - draining our "battery" for that period.

Go through the Wired for Struggle Brain Checklist, and mark which (if any) behaviors describe your child. Leave the circle blank if the behavior does not describe your child. Put a X in the circle if your child does the behavior regularly (it would be considered a characteristic of your child). Put a slash (/) in the circle if your child does the behavior sometimes.

You can download a hard copy by clicking here.

Please be aware that this checklist is looking for the glitch. If no glitch exists you will score low, and that is the best answer ever. The chances are if there is one glitch - there are others. The more glitches there are - the more important it is to get help. It means the complexity of your child's problem is higher. The good news is that we can work with you to help fix the glitches!

The questions are specific and indicate the behaviours that show glitches. If you score above 12 /188 on the online list of questions, or above 11 on the downloadable document, I recommend professional help. The complexity at that point is significant.

There are some behaviours that more significant than others. These are weighted in the online and in a separate column in the printed. The goal is to give you a way to know if you are noticing something important. These behaviours are not a problem in kids who are fine

If you have wondered whether more kids are struggling than ever before? Then YES - we are seeing more problems than we should. We believe the reasons lie in several areas and are working to address these as a community. If you want to know more or be part of the solutions please call me.

Below is a shortened list to give you an idea of the questions we ask

For the full hard copy list please click here The full list can be scored and has suggestions for ways in which you can help your child.

Does your kid:

Resist things that are new and different
Has difficulty making transitions
Has to be redirected several times
Can’t focus on what’s being said if there’s background noise
Has no sense of feeling full after eating
Has difficulty sleeping
Quits whenever something doesn’t go as expected
Has poor reading comprehension
Has difficulty tolerating a feeling of discomfort0 Dislikes Has difficulty staying on task
Likes to rock in a chair
Grips a pencil tightly - maybe too tightly
Has poor handwriting
Dislikes light touch ( tickles)
Dislikes cuddling
Avoids placing hands in messy substances
Has sensitivity to fabrics and tags
Has sensitivity to certain textures of food