Supporting Positive Behavior in Children and Teens with Down Syndrome

A child doesn’t want to leave the toy store, so he stops and flops. Another bolts across a busy parking lot, turns and smiles at his mom. An eighteen-year-old student bursts into tears when asked to change activities at school. Sound familiar? These and other common behavior issues in children with Down syndrome can quickly become engrained and may even persist into adulthood.

Dr. David Stein, a psychologist and Co-Director of the Down Syndrome Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, shares his approach to behavior management in this book for parents. He examines how the brain of a person with Down syndrome works, how those differences impact behavior, and why bad behavior should not be viewed as a willful act. Governed by this new awareness, parents are in a better position to change and manage their child’s behavior using these guiding principles. Some of these parenting concepts are intuitive, others are not, but when they are followed consistently, children and teens with Down syndrome do their best behaviorally and the parent-child relationship remains as positive and loving as it should be.