月份: 2022 年 7 月

Wear face mask for long time during Epidemic.
How to make children learn to “look at people’s eyebrows and eyes”?

文章作者作者: system
文章發佈日期 19/07/2022
在〈Wear face mask for long time during Epidemic.
How to make children learn to “look at people’s eyebrows and eyes”?〉中尚無留言

Parenting Tips

7 月 2022

Written by: Hong Kong Speech and Swallowing Therapy Centre
Senior Speech Therapist Eunice Siu

In our daily interactions with others, we not only observe others’ behaviors, but also “explain” and “predict” others’ behaviors. Theory of mind is the ability to infer or substitute other people’s mental states, such as their thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions, etc., and to use this ability to explain other people’s thoughts, perceptions, and predict their behaviors. Theory of mind can be subdivided into “emotion recognition”, “beliefs” and “pretend play”.

The developmental period for children’s theory of mind is from approximately 3 to 7 years of age. However, before the age of 3, children need to master the following skills to effectively develop theory of mind skills.

1. noticing and imitating the behavior of people around them
2. recognizing the emotions of others and using words to express them (e.g., happy, sad, angry, surprised)
3. participates in pretend play
4. understands that different people have different desires and preferences
5. understands that people will act to get what they want (e.g. reach for candy)
6. understands the causes and consequences of unsympathetic emotions (e.g. if I hit my brother, my mom will be mad and then she will scold me)

Ways to improve theory of mind are:

1. Use more psychologically relevant words when talking to your child

Using psychologically related words to communicate with children can help children understand their own and others’ psychological conditions more specifically. Examples of psychologically related words are “think,” “pretend,” “know,” “believe,” “feel,” and words related to emotions. Pay attention to what your child is trying to say and then respond. For example, “Ah! You want cake”, “Don’t be afraid! You think I’m gone, but I’m still here,” and “Mommy’s mad at you for hitting your brother. Parents can also explain to their children the psychological situation of others, e.g., “Mei-mei is smiling so much when she receives a birthday present, she should be very excited.

2. Participate in role-playing games with your child

Role-playing games encourage children to put themselves in different situations and characters’ perspectives to draw inferences about their behavior. To begin, children can pretend to be common everyday characters, such as mothers, doctors, teachers, and drivers. Parents should pay attention to the fact that both the words and behaviors in the game should be substituted for the role played. This activity helps children experience a variety of emotions, thoughts and interactions in different social situations, and learn to observe, imitate, anticipate, review and adjust their thoughts and behaviors.

I hope parents can make good use of the opportunity to share and communicate more with their children in daily life, so that they can learn to “look at people’s eyebrows and eyes” (meaning read people’s faces) and become a “mind-reading detective”!

Source：

Hollin, P., Baron-Cohen, S.,& Hadwin,J.(1999). Teaching children with autism tomind-read. West Sussex, England: Wiely Press

Lowry, L.(2015).” Tuning in” to others: How young children develop theory of mind. The Hanen Centre.

Spastics Association of Hong Kong (2005). Connecting: Developing social skills in children with autism. Spastics Association of Hong Kong.

疫情長時間戴口罩
如何讓孩子學會「睇人眉頭眼額」？

家長錦囊

7 月 2022

撰文：香港言語及吞嚥治療中心
　　　高級言語治療師　蕭以嵐

在日常與他人社交互動中，我們除了觀察他人的行為外，也會對他人的行為作「解釋」及「預測」。心智理論 (Theory of mind) 是推論或代入他人心智狀態的能力，例如代入他人的想法、信念、慾望和意圖等，運用此能力去解釋他人的想法、知覺及預測他們的行為。心智理論可細分成「情緒辨識」、「信念」和「假裝性遊戲」。

兒童心智理論的發展時期，大約是從 3 到 7 歲。但 3 歲之前，孩子要先掌握以下技巧才能有效地發展心智理論能力：

1. 留意身邊人們的行為及加以模仿
2. 辨認他人的情緒並運用詞語表達（例如：開心、傷心、嬲、驚）
3. 能參與假裝性遊戲
4. 明白不同的人有不同的慾望及喜好
5. 明白人會作出行為來獲得想要的東西（例如：伸手拿取糖果）
6. 明白不同情緒所產生的原因及後果（例如：如果我打哥哥，媽媽就會嬲，然後會鬧我。）

提升心智理論的方法有：

1. 向孩子交談時多用與心理有關的詞彙
運用與心理有關的詞彙與孩子溝通，可令孩子更具體地了解自己及別人的心理狀況。心理有關的詞彙例子有「想」、「假裝」、「知道」、「相信」、「覺得」及與情緒有關的詞語。平時多留意孩子想表達的意思，再給予回應。例如：「啊！你想要蛋糕」、「不要怕！你以為我走了，其實我還在」、「媽咪好嬲因為你打哥哥」。家長亦可多向孩子解釋他人的心理狀況，例如：「美美收到份生日禮物笑得很燦爛，佢應該覺得好興奮。」

2. 與孩子參與角色扮演遊戲
角色扮演遊戲鼓勵孩子代入不同的處境及人物的角度思考，藉此推論出相關的行為。開始扮演時，孩子可先扮作日常生活常見的人物，例如：媽媽、醫生、老師和司機。家長要留意，在遊戲中無論說話和行為都要代入所扮的角色。此活動能幫助孩子從不同社交情境中體驗各種情緒、想法及互動情況，亦在當中學習觀察、模仿、預知、檢討及調整自己的想法及行為。

希望家長能在日常生活善用機會，與孩子多分享、多溝通，讓他們學會「睇人眉頭眼額」，成為一個「讀心神探」！

資料來源：
Hollin,P., Baron-Cohen, S.,& Hadwin,J.(1999). Teaching children with autism tomind-read. West Sussex, England: Wiely Press

Lowry,L.(2015).” Tuning in” to others: How young children develop theory of mind. TheHanen Centre.

香港痙攣協會 (2005). 聯情繫意: 發展自閉症幼兒的社交能力. 香港痙攣協會.

To love children, first to love themselves, 3 moves to teach you to maintain the best mental state

文章作者作者: system
文章發佈日期 11/07/2022
在〈To love children, first to love themselves, 3 moves to teach you to maintain the best mental state〉中尚無留言

Parenting Tips

7 月 2022

Written by :Family Dynamics Child Play Therapist
Marriage and Family Therapist, Ms. Lee Wai Zi

In today’s society, it is indeed not easy for parents to maintain a good state of mind and body. I have met with many parents and found that the difficulty most parents face is not that they do not understand their children’s feelings and needs, or that they do not know how their behavior affects their children, but that it is difficult to maintain a trusting and optimistic attitude towards their children when they are in a situation. Often, parents become increasingly anxious as they worry that their child’s problems will continue and worsen, and repeat ineffective ways of dealing with their child’s problems.

So, how can parents maintain the best mental state to face the stress and challenges of disciplining their children? Here are some tips for parents to consider:

1. Be more sensitive to your own stress levels
Parents are human beings, so there will be times when they are depressed or physically and emotionally exhausted. The purpose of parents being sensitive to their own mental state is to remind themselves that they need to take care of their own needs first. It is difficult for parents to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of their children when they are in a highly stressed state. Conversely, inappropriate responses may harm the child and damage the parent-child relationship.

2. Use resources effectively to relieve stress
When parents feel stressed, they should try to explore and make good use of their own internal and external resources to regulate their negative emotions. For example, find family members or friends to talk to, do things that can relax you, and find positive thoughts and beliefs to encourage you. The purpose is to give yourself a proper rest and temporary relief from stress.

3. Turn your mind around and reflect
If a parent’s stress continues and increases, professional help is needed. Sometimes, these pressures come from more than just external influences. Parents’ self-worth, worldview, and perceptions of things can affect how we parent. For example, some parents worry that they are not doing enough to fulfill their parental responsibilities and end up pushing their children to study or participate in activities, or even that they are not flexible enough to respond to their children’s needs when they are stressed and negative.

If parents are aware of and take care of their own feelings and needs, they can prevent their negative emotions from affecting the next generation.

Therefore, parents who love their children must first love themselves. Only when parents are healthy and happy can their children grow up healthy and happy.

家長園地家長園地

Drawings peek into the inner world of children

文章作者作者: system
文章發佈日期 11/07/2022
在〈Drawings peek into the inner world of children〉中尚無留言

Parenting Tips

7 月 2022

Written by: Unleashing Mind Professional Counselling Academy
Psychotherapist Lee Wai-Tong

Painting can give us room to express our feelings. I use a brush to create a dialogue with myself in another language, soothing my emotions or gaining insight and unlocking my heart.

Crying over trivial stuff

In my past child counseling sessions, some parents came to me for help. They did not understand why their son, Ming, often cried over trivial things, such as being late for TV, late for dinner, or when his father came home late, etc. They mentioned the situation to Ming, but they did not understand why, which caused them trouble. Therefore, I suggested conducting a drawing assessment for Ming to understand the environment in which Ming grows up in his mind, which may help to understand the reason why Ming loves to cry.

Drawing reveals the reason for crying

Ming drew a “family story”. While drawing, he expressed his feelings that his parents were busy with work all day, so he often played alone at home. When his parents came home, Ming wanted to play with them, but his father soon became impatient. In Ming’s mind, it seems that his father is always angry; whenever his mother sees this situation, she will argue with him. In Ming’s eyes, his mother always looks sad when she argues with his father. In Ming’s mind, he knew that his parents loved him, but when he saw that his father was angry and his mother was sad because of him, he felt sad.

A peek into the inner world through paintings

Later, I met with Ming’s parents again. They never imagined that the quarrel in front of Ming was deeply engraved in their son’s heart. In addition, the father also found that his tiredness after work affected the quality of parent-child interaction. In this regard, I taught the father some relaxation methods and suggested setting up a “calm zone” at home to give everyone a space to relieve their emotions, and the parents promised to avoid arguing in front of Ming.

A month later, Ming no longer cried over trivial matters and the parent-child relationship was better than before. Painting can reflect children’s inner world view. In the process of creation, children project their inner world intentionally or unintentionally, so that we can understand their inner world and help them grow up healthily.

家長園地家長園地家長園地

畫畫窺探孩子內心世界

家長錦囊

7 月 2022

撰文：心啟晴專業輔導學院
　　　心理治療師　李偉堂

繪畫可以給予我們抒發感受的空間，作者利用畫筆創作，以另一種語言和自己對話，從中安撫個人情緒或獲得領悟，解開個人的心結。

常為小事而哭

回想過去的兒童輔導中，有父母來求助，他們不明白為何兒子小明常為一些小事而哭，例如遲了看電視、遲了吃晚飯、爸爸晚了回家等，他們和小明提及情況，但就是不明所以，對他們造成困擾。於是筆者建議為小明進行一次畫畫評估，了解小明心目中的成長環境，或可了解小明愛哭的緣故。

畫畫洞悉愛哭因由

小明畫了一幅「家庭的故事」，他一邊繪畫，一邊道出心中感受，父母整天忙著工作，令他很多時候獨自在家中玩耍。當父母回家後，小明很想和他們玩，但爸爸很快顯得不耐煩。在小明心中，爸爸好像經常發怒；每當媽媽看到這種情況，便會和爸爸吵起來。在小明眼中，媽媽和爸爸吵起來時，媽媽總是一臉難過。在小明心中，他知道父母都是疼愛自己，但當他看到爸爸發怒及媽媽傷心是因他而起時，他便感到難過。

資料來源：
Hollin,P., Baron-Cohen, S.,& Hadwin,J.(1999). Teaching children with autism tomind-read. West Sussex, England: Wiely Press

Lowry,L.(2015).” Tuning in” to others: How young children develop theory of mind. TheHanen Centre.

香港痙攣協會 (2005). 聯情繫意: 發展自閉症幼兒的社交能力. 香港痙攣協會.