Supervision

FASD Behaviours

• Children with FASD often have difficulties with memory, lack of impulse control, and poor judgment – they ‘live in the moment’.
• Supervision and close monitoring can help your child avoid making poor decisions and getting in trouble, and help children to develop habit patterns of appropriate behaviour.
• Your child may have trouble learning from his mistakes or past experiences, therefore will likely need some supervision even as a teen and adult.

Strategies

• Structure free time: Provide supervised activities during your child’s free time; such as going to the movies, bowling or swimming.
• Supervise tasks even if your child has mastered them: Especially if poor decisions or mistakes are dangerous or risky, supervise your child in case she forgets how to complete a task.
• Provide gentle reminders: Cue your child with hand gestures, pictures, or simple verbal commands as reminders for everyday tasks.
• Take small steps: Only when your child demonstrates a stable, long-term ability to handle time alone at home or in social situations, begin to take small steps toward independence.
• Allow your child to participate in decision-making around activities they participate in to promote responsibility and the feeling that they have a say in what they are doing.
• Assist your child in determining the pros and cons of a few different options you provide and allow them adequate time to make a decision.
  •  Here’s an example: Mary asked her son, “Joey, we need to plan an activity for one hour this afternoon. Would you rather go for a walk in the park or play soccer?”

For a printable tip sheet of this information, click here.