David Weekly, V3 - 6

It's been a long week for David. He's continuing to have issues with hitting, and fighting at this new school.

David at school on Monday told me that he didn't like a certain boy at school, so his first choice was to hit him, and otherwise try to physically dominate him. I asked why he was doing this, and he said, "Because I don't like him. Because he tries to hit me..." I said that he does not have to like the boy, but he cannot hit him. Ms Nadine was a party to this, and had a talk with him, to give him some different choices, like staying away from him, or trying to be nice, and maybe he'll be nice back. David had a lot of trouble with this, and was crying…he wasn't in trouble. This kind of transition in thinking is hard for him.

Tuesday and Wednesday, same thing. I began trying to come up with ways to reward or penalize him for doing or not doing what he needs to so he stops fighting. We were going to see his cousins on Wednesday, but because he was fighting....we didn't go. Thursday he actually had a good day, and when I went to pick him up, he almost attacked me with "Can I have some treats?" That was the reward for being good. He got a cupcake. Friday he was good almost up until I got to his school. One of the things I told him was to tell the teacher any time he wants to hit someone. We even practiced it once or twice. He had a hard time with it, but did do it, and it helped. It's going to be a process to get him over this issue.

Friday night we went to my friend's house, Tracy. David got to play with William, Tracy's son. I got some good advice on helping David learn how to use his words, not his hands. That should help, too.

It hasn't been much of a week.