Dr. Ross Greene and Kim Hopkins explore the definition of grit and the fact that a lot of literature explaining how to teach grit leaves out the important role of problem solving first...

The US Department of Education recently released guidance suggesting that FBAs should be completed on all students.  Dr. Ross Greene and our Director of Legal & Policy Initiatives, Ben Jones, J.D., discuss where this idea falls short, what can be done instead, and how the USDOE became so wedded to PBIS.  We also have time to address one parent's email regarding a 4-year-old who is having difficulty with the word "stop."

Don't be late...ask the kid...developmental variability...safety - all key themes of this month's episode tackling the topic of school safety.  Listen now! 

We are back for the 2024-25 school year!  ...and using new technology to hopefully resolve previous audio issues.  In this edition of The CPS Podcast, Dr. Greene responds to a TikTok-er who is spreading misinformation about the CPS Model.  A good listen whether you are a parent, educator, provider or other caring adult! 

There's legislation pending in Massachusetts that would ban suspension for students in grades K-3. An admirable effort, but it drew some very ineresting responses from readers of The Boston Glove, which reported on this effort. Those responses tell us we still have a lot more work to do to ensure that caregivers understand the true factors that cause kids' concerning behaviors...and why a suspension would do far more harm than good. 

In the March edition of the CPS Podcast, we take a deep dive into Plan C (in the CPS model, Plan C refers to putting an expectation on hold, at least for now). While those familiar with CPS recognize that Plan C is a very important part of prioritizing expectations -- and stabilizing some kids -- putting expectations on hold is frequently misinterpreted as "giving in" and "giving up," and some caregivers have pressures being placed on them that make it very difficult to put ANY expectations on hold. 

On this month's program, we took a deep dive into "new" Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and whether its emphasis on assent and compassion really changes anything. Featuring guests Cindy Andree-Bowen and Shani Mandel.

The special topic on today's program was Coping Strategies: Are We Teaching Kids to Be Early or Late? Unfortunately, many of the coping strategies we're teaching kids these days teach them to cope once they're already frustrated. That's late. What should we be empahasizing instead? Teaching kids how to identify, anticipate, and solve the problems that are causing them to become frustrated in the first place. That's early. And we were also able to respond to an email and help out a mom who called in with a difficult situation with her son.

Today's program -- Voices of the Neurodivergent Community: What We Need You to Know -- features an interview with Jenny Hunt, a published multidisciplinary researcher that focuses on medicine, medical law, and ethics. Recently, they shifted their interest to Neurodiversity and go by the online name Autistic Sighentist.  

Our guest hosts, Alex Spencer (formerly principal of the Alternate Learning Centers in the New York City Public Schools) and Ben Jones (Director of Legal and Policy Initiatives at Lives in the Balance) described their personal experience with and data related to the disproportionate use of punitive, exclusionary discipline with Black and Brown students and those with with disabilities.

On the first Tuesday of every month, at 11 am Eastern time, from September through May, Dr. Ross Greene and Lives in the Balance Director of Outreach Kim Hopkins cover a wide range of topics related to how we understand and treat our kids -- especially those with concerning behavior -- and the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model. Whether you're a parent, a grandparent, an educator, a mental health clinician, or just someone who cares about kids, you can call into the program to get your questions answered or submit them via email here. And, if you can't listen live, all the programs are archived on i-Tunes. Today's program topic: De-escalation is not crisis prevention.