Supernanny

[smallworld]

Just had a quick look on google news for 'autism' and came up with this

I had no idea that supernanny had crossed the pond, it's a shame we won't get to see these episodes here. I wonder if she's testing how her methods work on asd kids in america before she tries em out on us

Anyone fancy signing up if she decides to 'tackle autism' in the UK ?

I won't be, she scares me

 

wac

[smallworld]

sorry, even though I've had a look at this webpage earlier, it's now refusing to appear.

Will try googling for it again

[lil_me]

worked for me

[Brook]

A friend of mine who used to live near me but has moved away, is appearing on 'little angels' in October, she has three kids one with aspergers and I think the little one has ADHD. I told her she was sooo brave to go on one of them shows, I could never do it, but I'm glad there are people who can.

 

She said they wanted to do a programme that involved special needs kids, she tells me she never swore once through the programme

 

Just had a thought, she might visit this site for all I know, if so apologies in advance for broadcasting this ***

 

She wont recognise me by my username anyway, then again I've given the game away as I've already said she used to live near me before she moved away

 

Brook

[smallworld]

Good, am new to this linking lark ! I could only get it to work if I went back to the original page. Am mystified as to why there's a flower symbol before the http bit ?

Would love to see supernannys efforts, but I am very cynical about her understanding of asd

[smallworld]

I really admire folks who can put themselves up for appearing on tv, let alone having their parenting style examined. I don't know which I'd fear most, Dr Tanya's patronising or Jo Frost's raised eyebrows

As you can probably tell, I'd be just plain scared. I found it hard enough being filmed for the earlybird course !

 

wac

Edited September 25, 2005 by waccoe

[lil_me]

I quite like Tanya, she's very honest and uses strategies which can be used in real life situations rather than quick fixes

[Malika]

Hi to all

 

I think supernanny style is not that bad after all and can work with our kids with some adjustments as they need more time and possibilities to adapte and understand what is happening around them, however Supernanny is teaching consistancy which should definitly works with ASD children her rules are usualy very simple to understand and ASD children once they take it on board are quite good to stick to rules. My son has watched SN twice during the holidays and enjoyed it mainly saying to me "I am quite a good boy then" bless him!!! he is a lovely boy and getting better every day with lot of love and few strict rules to stick to for many years still to come.

 

In any case I would find very difficult to appear on TV... even if we made a tape to help parents at one of the autism group I go to but I have not seen it yet if I ever do I'll probably die of embarassment (well at least the kids were not included...)

 

All the best.

 

Malika.

[Alphazebra]

Am mystified as to why there's a flower symbol before the http bit ?

The flower icon was added by the site itself. It is called a favicon (favourites icon). Built into the code of the web page they have added a bit of information which says if you bookmark the page then this icon (little picture) should be added with it rather than the bog standard 'e' icon you normally see. Its just a way of personalising the site a bit more and making it stand out in your favourites list. That said they also can appear with multiple visits to a site.

[helenl53]

My son loves Superanny because he likes to correct her pronounciation - such as "this is not 'ceptable behaviour". I can't remember the others but he just loves it. Then he likes to spout "you are the parent - this is a three year old naughty child"

 

I think it is the predictability of the programme that he likes!!!

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[baddad]

My one concern about this type of show is that the viewer will only get to see what they want you to see... I offered a similar comment in the thread about 'The Boy They called Chucky' a couple of weeks ago.

The strategies that she uses are actually very sound, and some kids with ASD would respond very well to them... If the family's chosen haven't tried or been consistant with these types of strategies, you could end up with a show that shifts the focus BACK on to 'bad parenting' (which is, lets face it, the underlying message of these types of programmes with NT kids, isn't it?), and does a hell of a lot of damage for parents who have practiced similar strategies diligently, comprehensively etc and not effected any change in their childs behaviour whatsoever; 'cos SOME kids with ASD just WON'T respond... If we get a programme showing both sides of the coin - or even acknowledging that there ARE two sides to the coin- I'll be happy. Cynic that i am though, i suspect i'll be wincing throughout...

L&P

BD

[Lucas]

I hope the Autistic kids tell her where she can stick her naughty corner. I think the main problem she will have is the assumption that the children will not know right from wrong(which is why supernanny and Dr Bryon both emphasise the need for contrast in good responses for good behaviour and bad responses for bad behaviour).

 

I've found many Autistic children come complete with their own set of developed morals and absolute concepts of right and wrong. So how can you teach someone what they already know? The problem I experienced myself as a youngster and I still see repeated is that the stupid adult actually thinks they are superior in their understanding of right and wrong, therefore has greater moral authority. There was never any consideration that my moral compass may have been far more complex and sophisticated than those who presumed to teach my right from wrong. A person who doesn't first dig deeper to find out how exactly I understand these things will have a very hard time working under the assumption that I don't come with them pre-packaged.

 

One teacher I had was a vegetarian, I asked her why she was a vegetarian, she said that she believed eating animals was wrong. I then said that was silly because the animals I ate were dead, so they weren't hurt by it just like how we were told that we should only collect dead wood that had fallen from trees rather than breaking off branches. She said it was still wrong because the animals were not given proper lives as they were bred only to be eaten and that animals had feelings. I said that many plants were also not given a proper life as they too were bred only to be eaten, they also have feelings; they're happy in summer and sad in winter(otherwise known as the six-month Autumn in this country; we haven't had a white Christmas in the UK in most parts since 1992). She couldn't believe I was attributing the same moral worth to plants as animals and said that plants don't have feelings because no one really knows. I said that scientists can tell a plant's mood with special equipment measuring bio-electricity(a big word for a seven-year old who had only been speaking non-echoliac for a year).

 

It ended with her asking me what could people eat if plants were equal to animals, I corrected her in that only she believed it was wrong to eat animals; I thought eating animals was fine just as eating plants is fine. She obviously wasn't going to press a child on what the difference was between plants, animals and humans; could have led to me saying eating people is fine.

[smallworld]

Can't fault you there, Lucas. I wonder if she's still a vegetarian ? !!!

My son loves the naughty step in our house, it's a bit of peace, so it doesn't really work, he likes to be sent there !

If I'm honest, the women from these programmes make me scared for me more than my kids, I would feel totally c**p as a parent. Also, I'm always left thinking 'YOU trying living this 24/7, see if you can retain that calm, controlled persona' It's a lot easier when you can just walk away once filming is finished.

[007paul007]

I take it you are on about these nanny programmes, I just wished she would come and see my son , he would just ignore her and walk off or laugh at her.

I also wish that when they the programmes about autism that they feature children at the severe end of the spectrum , with no speech , no toileting skills, hyper active , no sense of danger , unusual sleep patterns , children that go mad if the routine changes one bit , smearing and everything else. Until they start showing the wide range from the severe tend upwards everyone are percieve the stereo typed Autism , I mean even today I say my son has autism and someone says the film Rainman .

Edited September 27, 2005 by 007paul007

[TuX]

I take it you are on aabout these nanny programmes, I just wished she would come and see my son , he would just ignore her and walk off or laugh at her.

I also wish that when they the programmes about autism that they feature children at the severe end of the spectrum , with no speech , no toileting skills, hyper active , no sense of danger , unusual sleep patterns , children that go mad if the routine changes one bit , smearing and everything else. Until they start showing the wide range from the severe tend upwards everyone are percieve the stereo typed Autism , I mean even today I say my son has autism and someone says the film Rainman .

I agree,the media focuses' on people with the highest functioning Aspergers/HF Kanners,

not exactly a wide portrayal of a supposed spectrum,it creates viewer ignorance,people assume Autism is wholey mild and we'll all go on to live happily ever after with our own house,a partner exetera (as is the traditional steriotype?).

The belief to some is...once they have seen one programme about autism,they think it represents all persons with autism,the media is very influential and should at least portray Autism in a way that relates to everyone, not just one functioning group.

[Malika]

Hi

 

You are right that programmes should focus on all the spectrum but the fact is that even Rayman is the starting point of an "awarness time" as bad as this is it is better that what use to happen 25 years ago when the severly autistic children were shut in institution for ever with no contact with the outside world or even their family members; lucky then if the mother had not been diagnosed with mental illness and considered responsible for her children autism. As for the children on the other end of the spectrum they were not diagnosed at all and classified as naughty and eventualy put in institution for kids with behaviour problems and not the soft one we have now.

Most of the one with mild and moderate learning difficulties and not too much behaviour pbs were classified as"idiots" and use for cheap labour.

What I mean is that it is hard job but thanks to better communication awarness and understanding will improve and our kids will benefit from it.

 

As for super Nanny some strategy can be try and use if effective, bad parenting is an expression I dislike because in every family there are different "ingredients" characters and difficulties this is what makes every household unique that's why there are no magic solution but more likely trial and errors (especialy with ASD children) wich will lead to a better functionning for all the people concern, the main ingredient is PATIENCE and probably to lower our expectations.

I remember how I felt stressed because everybody around me would be so eager to tell me that H should have been out of nappies by now (what a bad mother too soft too soft) and how difficult and destructive he was, I stop many contacts just because I felt they had no right to judge me when the DX came through I felt somehow vendicated, kind of I was not that badfafter all...

[alibaly]

My first reaction to this is - how dare she. I could weep but then again maybe she will be sympathetic to the child and explain to the parents that the childs percieved naughtiness is actually a symptom of something being amiss.

[hev]

i admire people who go on tele like this as they are braver than me!my katie loves supernanny and copies the things the kids do,i just wonder if supernanny has any kids as she can go home when filming is done,i would deal with my kids different if i had a break at the end of each day,i do love the programme though!

[jessie]

hi all

i've been offline for a while due to a sick laptop.

 

Myaspergers/adhd son is currentky watching supernanny which is one of his favourate programmes and would just love our family to go on it. I think he would like to give her a run for her money.

 

 

No chance...........life is just hard enough facing Tesco's without faicng the nation

[alibaly]

at facing the nation

[puffin]

There was a 'Little Angels' last night about ADHD. They had a special ADHD psychologist - not Dr Tanja - it was really good - helped the exhausted mum break out of the negative spiral of shouting/criticising

[Lucas]

I do get the feeling that the Supernanny and Little Angels programmes do a bit of a 'David Blane' act; whenever there is an obvious and embarressing failure in their conjuring act, it isn't shown on TV.