By Carol Lloyd What do tears, rhyming, storytelling, and
gripping a pencil all have in common? Don't answer. Just imagine
this scene: an 18-month-old falling on the ground and bawling
over a lost balloon. Now picture the same child collapsing into
tears because a balloon slipped from her hand eight years later.
When does a tantrum turn from difficult to diagnosable? We all
know that the meaning of the behavior changes radically with the
age of the child. But when it comes to our children, it can be
difficult to see. As parents, filled to the brim with worry and
love for our ever-changing children, we easily get caught in a
limboland of wondering: Is that normal? Should she still be
doing that? Her brother never did that — maybe she's got an
issue. The common factor in the laundry list above? All can be
clues that a child is struggling with a learning or behavioral
problem. So says Steven E. Curtis, author of the book
Understanding Your Child’s Puzzling Behavior (Greenleaf, 2008)
and a licensed child clinical