How narcissistic parents substitute emotional hunger for love. For me, one of the best examples of narcissistic parents is illustrated in the movie “The Joy Luck Club,” based on the novel by Amy Tan. In the film, a woman flashes back and, through voiceover, tells her story of becoming a child protégée as a chess champion.  While the film plays one of her early victories, the woman’s voice says, “Even at that age, I knew I had an amazing gift: this power, this belief in myself… It was the only part of my life, to this day… where I trusted myself completely.” The next scene flashes to the young girl being paraded around her neighborhood by her mother, who is carrying a... read more ...

and Cherisse Sherin, M.A. What do we mean by social isolation in children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum? There seems to be a valid concern, not only about the lack of social opportunities for children on the Autism Spectrum to develop friendships with peers, but for how these children learn to share and join into social experiences, which, for most, is a major obstacle.  What we know about social relationships is that they include positive shared emotional experiences, purposeful engagement in social activities and back and forth social communication about shared interests; which is what forms the foundations for meaningful friendships. Relationships can be normally viewed as a connection... read more ...

As parents, examples of ways we slip up with our kids occur almost every day. Take a typical scenario of butting heads with your seven-year-old over cleaning his room. At first, you nicely suggest he start tidying up his mess. When he ignores you, you demand, more insistently, that he start picking up his toys. Next, you beg, plea, threaten, negotiate, but nothing does the trick. Before you know it, he is crossing his arms in defiance, and you are at your wit’s end. Finally, you “lose it.” You raise your voice, and yell something to the effect of, “You’re driving me crazy! Just do what I tell you!” We all have something that triggers us as parents, be it defiance,... read more ...