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I have 2 newish kids at daycare. They've been in foster care for nearly a year. 2.5yo and 3.5yo boys. I know they've had a rough start in life, and they have great, patient foster parents who have been working their butts off to give these boys a feeling of security.
The problem: They are the most hyperactive kids I have EVER seen. They can NOT sit still or play quietly or gently. They constantly run, yell, screech, climb on stuff, jump off stuff, run into one another, wrestle one another, hit each other, and just basically can't function like a "normal" kid (NOT that their lives have been normal at all).
They are GOOD kids. The older is especially sweet and helpful. It's just that they can't ever settle down. Like, ever. It's not that they're really defiant, disobedient, or anything like that-they just can't stop GOING all the time.
How do I work with this? The 2.5 yo is getting infrequent speech therapy, but we only understand maybe 5 words that he says. The older one is very difficult to understand and doesn't qualify for speech therapy because he does have some speech abilities. Because of the speech issues, I doubt that a counselor would even see them (since they can't communicate with the counselor).
No amount of exercise and outdoor time helps. They can literally run for the entire morning and still not be at all settled down.
I'm open to ANY advice on what I can do or what any sort of therapist could do for them. So are their foster parents (who do try, as well, to wear them out and work on behavior). The foster parents are very careful about diet, and avoid sugar, dyes, and caffeine (they mom fed them Coke often, and still does at visits-over a liter EACH at each visit, twice weekly).
Heeeeelllllp?
The problem: They are the most hyperactive kids I have EVER seen. They can NOT sit still or play quietly or gently. They constantly run, yell, screech, climb on stuff, jump off stuff, run into one another, wrestle one another, hit each other, and just basically can't function like a "normal" kid (NOT that their lives have been normal at all).
They are GOOD kids. The older is especially sweet and helpful. It's just that they can't ever settle down. Like, ever. It's not that they're really defiant, disobedient, or anything like that-they just can't stop GOING all the time.
How do I work with this? The 2.5 yo is getting infrequent speech therapy, but we only understand maybe 5 words that he says. The older one is very difficult to understand and doesn't qualify for speech therapy because he does have some speech abilities. Because of the speech issues, I doubt that a counselor would even see them (since they can't communicate with the counselor).
No amount of exercise and outdoor time helps. They can literally run for the entire morning and still not be at all settled down.
I'm open to ANY advice on what I can do or what any sort of therapist could do for them. So are their foster parents (who do try, as well, to wear them out and work on behavior). The foster parents are very careful about diet, and avoid sugar, dyes, and caffeine (they mom fed them Coke often, and still does at visits-over a liter EACH at each visit, twice weekly).
Heeeeelllllp?
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