Therapuetic Approach
Dad reports:
Yesterday at Star Tommy started to slip into the giddy laughter and childish behavior. I reeled him in quickly by addressing him directly, asking him to look at himself, then spelling out a dramatic consequence if he didn’t straighten up (in this case, going straight home and not participating in the ride). He became serious and slightly sullen and I made him apologize to the instructors and had him ask the instructor if he needed to go home. The end result was he did straighten up and had a good ride albeit with nonstop chatter.