Hi everyone. Im new here so please bear with me. I am stepdad to Sophie who was born with CP and brain damage. She is now 7 and is a wonderful kid, normally very happy just being happy and by making everyone around her smile. However she has recently began to turn instantly moody and will kick-off big style if she doesnt get her own way. This can result in screaming fits and doing the dying fly as we call it (lieing on her back kicking up at anyone who goes near her). This can be VERY distressing for all concerned and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on coping with this type of bad behaviour. Normally I use distraction techniques to coax her along but even I think she is getting a bit wise to me! Thanks for any advice with this. Bern.

Hi Bern,

Is Sophie spastic and if so, did she have any surgery done to loosen her muscles yet? Maybe very tight muscles get her upset? Or does her brain work well enough for her to realize there are things she would really like to do but can't and is she really frustrated? Or is it really attitude (lol). My friends CP kid developed a bit of an attitude, and as he spends quite a bit of time in my family, and none of us particularly like the screaming, we decided what we would tolerate and what not and - like with any kid really - started to simply say no to certain things (of course I asked my friend what her kid is allowed at home). It means I have to straddle John (he is 14 now) and hold his head, move my face quite close to him and simply say "no!"
Eg John started spitting at one point, so now every time he spits, I hold him and say "no spitting allowed". It doesn't always work, but just as he likes to make us smile, he doesn't like it too much that we are "angry".
Hope this helps.

L.