HOW DO YOU STOP THE SWEARING???

Angela does it obsessively. She can be sitting coloring and will be saying, "bit**. Fu**ing Bit**" under her breath, over and over again. Since Tyler's diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome, I've also run into 2 kids with DS who carry the diagnosis as well. So...well...of course I have diagnosed her with it too. LOL

What have you tried?

I have to be very careful. For those of you who remember the "issues" I had with Tyler earlier this fall I'm afraid to try very much. I have tried vinigar. So what does she do??? "Bu..Sh..! I get vigager now. Yep. Vigager for me!"

I think it's safe to say it's not effective. Nor are time-outs (does the same as when she's coloring) I'm ready to have a behavioral specialist come to the house, cuz I'm at a loss.

We have a little boy in our support group that's like that. He cusses ALL the time and says very inappropriate things. Sometimes it makes you laugh, but if I had to deal with it on a daily basis, don't think I'd think it was too funny. At our Buddy Walk a few years ago he came up to one of the ladies and said, very loudly "man you have the biggest tits I've ever seen". We all nearly died, of having to laugh, but were shocked more than anything. And his parents do NOTHING but laugh at him, which makes it worse. We try not to say bad words around Noah, but they hear things in school. Noah's big thing now is to call me an "OAF". Don't laugh!!! Yesterday we went shopping and every time I wouldn't buy him a toy that he'd ask for he'd cross his arms and say "you meanie OAF". Again, funny, but something you can't laugh at. He also walks behind me trying to pull my sweat pants down so he can say "I see mommy's butt crack". Another one of his famous lines that we can't break. I just HOPE that he doesn't call his aide an "OAF" the next time she asks him to do something and he doesn't want to do it..............or ask to see her butt crack, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....NOT FUNNY!!!!! :p

Sounds like you need ABA. Pick a reward that Angela would really want and tell her that if she wants it then she has to not say any of the bad words for whatever period of time you think she can handle and understand. We have a 60 minute clock with a red circle and when you set it the red goes away as the time passes. That's a good visual for kids who can't sense time or how long something might take. If she uses a bad word then she doesn't get the reward. There is no punishment involved at all. It is rewards for good behavior and no reward for bad behavior. Don't make a big deal about the bad behavior because often it is an attention seeking device. By the way, I am very bad at following my own advice.

I can recommend a good book on ABA if you are interested.

Oh, we have done ABA! It's what school was using for a little bit, and I'd been using it at home for awhile. Then the day would go like this:

"Angela, it's time for phy. ed." Remember that when you remember to use "good words" in phy ed. you get computer time at the room." (her preferred activity.)

Phy ed. would progress just fine for about 2 minutes when she would announce, "Fine! No computer for me. Nope..no computer!" and let the words fly....

So we shortened the time to a few minutes and she would say right away, and a token that was more immediate, like m$m's. She would just answer you with, "Fine! Nope! No m$m's."

So we changed it up. Started carring m$m's around and catching her being good an immdiately rewarding her. "Wow! Angela you went right over and got your snowpants for recess when Ms. H. asked! Good job! You get an M&M for that!" Or, "Wow! Angela came in from Recess when the bell rang! (instead of running into the woods and through neighborhood yards) You get to have computer time for 10 minutes!"

That worked for 2 or 3 days till she figured out what we were doing. So instead she'd announce that she was not planning to listen to directions that day. "Mrs. H! I'm not want computer today. Nope...no computer."

It takes her about 2 days to figure out whatever system we're going to use, and then decide that she's not going to participate. We have tried ZERO attention for things (not even eye contact, as that is attention) but other kids get hurt that way.

We DID change her meds recently, and it has been a HUGE DIFFERENCE for the better. She's extremely hyperactive, but has much more impulse control. Really that's when the "under her breath" swearing started. She's not just blurting it out an anyone anymore. It's mostly to herself, and NOT in context like it usually is. I'm going to videotape it for the dev. ped.

And Vonda, yes school IS frustrating! I spent years supervising recess duty, and there was ALWAYS group of kids hiding under the slide or something, practicing all the million dollar words. LOL

My 7 year old not ds had a problem saying da*n. My hubby made him eat soap and he got a spanking. Not to offend anyone but we do spank. The bad thing about Will was he said it at church!!!!

When he was small ( Will) he said sh** all the time. We just egnored him and he stoped but with the other case Will knew better.

In MN, if Angela were to repeat to someone that she got soap for saying bad words, I would have social services at my door. (if you were around earlier this fall, you're probably familiar with the story already.) and believe me, Angela would repeat it. It would sound something like, "Bullsh**.....Yep, now soap for me! Yep, say bad words you get soap!"

So we use vinigar. Worked great for 2 days till she started asking about it, and repeating it at school. I'm a little gun shy.

I won't spank her. I already have a problem with her wailing on people, I can't see how hitting her would teach her it's not OK to do it to others. All it does is show her that if someone does something you think is wrong it's ok to hit. Don't get me wrong...my other kids got spanked. Angela just can't sort it all out.

Well.....Leah.....
You are da*ned if you do and da*ned if you don't.....
Courtney gets her butt popped when she decides to say bad things. She does not like to get popped so most of the time she controls it. Sometimes I catch her telling herself to not say those bad words. I get down in her face, eye to eye, and tell her to not say "whatever word it is". Tell her to say she is sorry....and Tell her 10 times not to say it again. Most of the time that is it....until another word pops up. Then we go through it again....
It has gotten alot better. But you have to be consistent.
Last night....she decided she wouldn't answer a dang thing I asked. SO, she got in trouble, was sent to her room in isolation. No TV, No lights, Nothing....SHe had to get in the bed and think about why she wouldn't talk to me. I told her if she wanted to have her tv back she had to do what I said. So, After 30 minutes I went to check on her and she was talking to herself in bed....
"Courtney, talk....Courtney, talk......Courtney talk now!"...I had to leave before I died laughing or crying. She is such a stubborn thing.
Good Luck...

[Edited by HiCourt on 01-16-2006 at 11:52 PM]

Jennifer...I am DYING to one day get these to together. We'd have to videotape it though. Can you imagine the things they would SAY??? OMG...

I have been thinking about this for a few days Leah and I remember working with a 10 year old once in an institution whose only words were choice ones like Angela's. In the end we decided to pretend that some regular words were the worst swearing possible. We would say them to each other, then absolutely over-react and tell each other off. Stuff like (using an angry voice) "you darling". Worked a treat. Within a week he would get angry in public and turn around and call us a "darling". You could use something that Angela wouldn't have otherwise heard, and get Tyler and Dean in on the act.

LOL Today Angela's functional behavioral assessement came back and apparently school has been using alternatative words for awhile. I think I mentioned awhie ago that we were eating dinner one night when she dropped her fork on the floor. I was expecting to her, "Oh Sh88", but instead it was something like, 'oh fiddlesticks' and we about all fell over laughing. In the assessement report the words they have listed are , "shindig", and "tinkerbell". It seems to work sometimes. And yeah, we have to REALLY act like they are horrible horrible words. LOL