What Your Explosive Child Is Trying to Tell You

July 7, 2008
Riley (The Defiant Child
and The Depressed Child
) offers answers as to why some children are especially prone to violent meltdowns, paired with techniques that train a child to avoid such outbreaks. According to Riley, a clinical psychologist, there are several reasons a child may explode: a kid with “road map issues” may become unglued when confronted with anything unexpected, while a child with unknown allergies can be adversely affected by certain foods. A child may be defiant and in need of discipline, or suffering from ADHD and in need of special handling. Once parents determine why a little one explodes, the book offers appropriate solutions for modifying the behavior. Riley’s approach for dealing with explosive children is sympathetic without being overindulgent. A certain amount of hard work is required by the parents, who will generally have to change the way they respond to their offspring’s outbursts. That said, Riley is not a particularly charismatic writer; even his case studies of epically explosive children read rather drily. Still, his sensible, well-structured, age-appropriate advice may be able to help many frustrated parents.