There may be many reasons why a child refuses food, acts aggressively or won\u2019t comply with parent or teacher requests, but according to Kimberley Zonneveld, there is one common root issue that caregivers should keep in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren often exhibit these behaviours to communicate something,\u201d says the Associate Professor in Brock\u2019s Department of Applied Disability Studies.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, March 25 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Zonneveld will present \u201cAssessment and Treatment of Problem Behaviour in Children and Youth,\u201d a free, public webinar hosted by the Lifespan Institute\u2019s Speaker Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n She plans to share suggestions and strategies for addressing problem behaviours such as picky eating and non-compliance, and show how using an effective strategy consistently can change patterns of behaviour. She will also share the results of a case of food refusal in which a child progressed from eating only three foods to eating widely.<\/p>\n Zonneveld says there are functions of behaviour that can help parents and teachers understand why children behave in certain ways, whether it\u2019s related to avoiding tasks they don\u2019t want to do or gaining access to something they want.<\/p>\n \u201cEven negative attention can be reinforcing,\u201d she says. \u201cIf your parents are busy and not able to pay much attention to you all day and the only way you can get their attention is to do something bad, many kids will.\u201d<\/p>\n Zonneveld emphasizes that in order to change a child\u2019s behaviour, caregivers also have to change their own behaviour, and to be consistent.<\/p>\n \u201cParents may be trying several different strategies rather than sticking to one,\u201d she says. \u201cIn those uncertain conditions, you would expect that a child would continue to engage in problematic behaviour, because they don\u2019t know what the expectations are.\u201d<\/p>\n Zonneveld will also talk about when it is time to seek out the help of a professional, as the most informative assessment available requires professional training.<\/p>\n \u201cFortunately, we have a lot of behaviour analysts in the province at this point, given that we in our department have trained so many of them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n In addition to the webinar, parents concerned about picky eating have an opportunity to participate in one of the current studies underway in Zonneveld\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n Parents of children who are aged two to 17 years, with or without a developmental disability, who eat a variety of foods but show a low preference for other foods such as fruits and vegetables, can participate in remote training via videoconferencing to learn how to implement a feeding treatment to help improve their child\u2019s diet. For more information or to sign up, please contact Arezu Alami<\/a>, the principal student investigator, or Kimberley Zonneveld<\/a>.<\/p>\n