[peppy]

Originally Posted by MRM

Yep times a million. He is communicating by throwing toys. That is the only way he knows how to communicate clearly at this point.

There is a fine line between letting a kid run amok and overdisciplining him. A two year old throwing toys, especially in this situation, is not exactly a call for whips and chains. Wait at least a year before you get to that level. A therapist is going to err on the side of over discipline because that's what makes the kid more compliant, and that's what makes their job easier. You have to live with the brain that develops in your son the rest of your life. Make sure it doesn't get stifled now, but use common sense so that he doesn't get the idea that he can get away with anything.

When my kids were that age someone told us about the system of telling them to do something, counting to three, and at three they either did it or went to a 5 minute time out, and then came back to start over as though nothing had happened - no recriminations, no yelling, just back to where you were, telling him to do the task, (which can include calm down or pick up the toy) and he does it or goes back to time out. There were also automatic time outs, which could be used for tantrums.

Now with your son, the hard part is communicating what you want him to do. You can count to three with your fingers, but you need to make sure he knows what needs to be done before you get to three, or he will learn only that he is disciplined at random for arbitrary reasons. I'm thinking they may have underestimated the level of hearing oss he has suffered. You might want to have him rechecked.

Good point with the retesting. That is coming next month. He has a mild to moderate hearing loss with Auditory Neuropathy. I remember reading something about AN children not doing as well as other hearing loss kids.