The Nancy Thomas/Foster Cline RAD treatment plan has made strong sitting fairly well known amongst RADilicious moms. The new generation of RAD "people in the know" say it is coercive. Here is my 2 cents worth. Trust me 2 cents could be over paying. I think all the controversy stems from the fact that strong sitting has not been used in the way it was intended. Done correctly there are some great benefits. I believe it is too be used especially in the beginning stages of building a new attachment. The best description of what strong sitting is written by Nancy Thomas herself. Click on her name to go to her article. This is very similar to the Lotus position in Yoga. The legs are a little different but unless you are Gumby you can just crisscross them. Here are the benefits of sitting this way according to Yoga Online.
This is an extremely good pose for meditation and concentration.
It has a calming effect on the mind and the nerves.
This pose keeps the spine erect.
Helps develop a good posture
It is NOT used as a punishment. It is not similar to time out. If you want to send your child to time out to think about it (generally doesn't work with RAD anyway) please do not call it strong sitting. It is merely practicing sitting quietly while learning to self regulate. It is also good for the brain and lungs. We just did it at certain times during the day in the beginning. They also did it when they were done with their chores at first to show me they were ready for me to check their work. It was very positive. Lots of praise and done very gently. If they didn't want too it was fine. They just did a longer weak sitting and then went on their merry way. It did not take long at all to figure out a short strong sitting was preferable to long weak sitting.
If you want to try strong sitting, I'm all for it. Just make sure you follow the guidelines carefully so you get the benefit for which it was intended!!
Now tomorrow I'll talk about RAD parenting!
This is an extremely good pose for meditation and concentration.
It has a calming effect on the mind and the nerves.
This pose keeps the spine erect.
Helps develop a good posture
It is NOT used as a punishment. It is not similar to time out. If you want to send your child to time out to think about it (generally doesn't work with RAD anyway) please do not call it strong sitting. It is merely practicing sitting quietly while learning to self regulate. It is also good for the brain and lungs. We just did it at certain times during the day in the beginning. They also did it when they were done with their chores at first to show me they were ready for me to check their work. It was very positive. Lots of praise and done very gently. If they didn't want too it was fine. They just did a longer weak sitting and then went on their merry way. It did not take long at all to figure out a short strong sitting was preferable to long weak sitting.
If you want to try strong sitting, I'm all for it. Just make sure you follow the guidelines carefully so you get the benefit for which it was intended!!
Now tomorrow I'll talk about RAD parenting!
3 comments:
We use strong sitting here in the casa, but I have all five of my kids do it - and I join them quite a bit.
They also do a certain number of jumps on our mini trampoline (we have one with an automatic jump counter, which makes it much more fun). It's actually a part of their schoolwork each day, written into their individual school schedules. I approach it as an exercise for the body and an exercise for the brain. I encourage them to dream and think of goals and aspirations during strong sitting. Most of my kids "save" it and do it just before they start their least favorite subject - ya' know, so their brain is "ready!" They know that it calms down their body but wakes up their brain. Makes them feel like they have some sort of neat trick to help them with schoolwork. :)
I love it, because when I'm strong sitting they know it is to be a quiet time ... and they don't disturb me. heh. heh. So, I do it for a very looooooooong time. ;)
We, too, use strong sitting and it's calming for both of us. Never punishment but calming and centering. We also do some yoga poses to find centers as well. You can literally see the tension leaving J when she does SS.
Like Christine we also do the mini tramp and it saves the day. J LOVES it and it can change up her whole attitude. I had no idea they had one with a counter. Going to have to check into that when this one bites the dust. (We're on the 3rd one!)
The awesome thing about the mini tramps is that they are inexpensive. I keep one in my bedroom. I drag it out into the family room for the boys. They are excellent. I think I know of an excellent article on that. I'll find it!
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