Convoluted, but (Somewhat) Effective

So long since I had any time to post. Sorry about that. Following up from previous post....

Kieran had a one-day out-of-school suspension (a very big deal, permanent record crap) and we cleaned house. All. Day. Long. Oh, and he had school work to do when he wasn't cleaning. He did not like it (which, of course, was the point).

Last year after a run of bad days at school, they implemented a point system for him where he could earn a variety of things as he hit different 'levels' he could earn points, but not have them taken away. So we talked a lot about instituting a similar system at home.

Kieran kept trying to add rules and ideas to it. His complete program was some kind of weird looking Escher painting (but in flowchart form, if I had bothered to flowchart it at all). I scaled back from what he wanted to do and came up with the following:

Green is worth one point, everything above that has additional points to it up to 5 points each day. Going below green puts him at negative points up to negative 5. He can also earn additional points each day for his magnet chart. 3 magnets equals one point (are you following all this?). Ability to receive up to 2 additional poitns via magnets each day.

He can earn prizes in three different ways.
1. Daily or weekly he has to hit a certain level to be able to do specific things. Daily - 3 points to get dessert or an extra book at bedtime. 5 points and he can have both. 10 points earned during the week gets him into the bag of mystery at the end of the week.

2. Levels - we set up specific levels for him to reach to get certain priviledges. 50 points was earning his Pokemon cards back, for example.

3. Buy with points - he also wanted to be able to 'cash in' his points for special things. A trip to a local dessert place, a toy of his choosing, etc. He just took advantage of his first 'buy with points' item to buy Snackeez for him and his sister.

So far, it's done fairly well. He's still having some issues with control and we're working to find another therapist for him. But his general demeanor has been better and he and I are getting along better as well.

Soon, I should have some fun Halloween photos for you. This past month has been insane with the number of things going on. I am looking forward to the holiday slowdown.