The Treatment of Temper Tantrums in a Cerebal Palsied Child: A Paradoxical Intervention

For the cerebral palsied (CP) child life is often a series of emotional crises related to frustrated attempts at physical and social mastery of the environment. Subsequently, the occurrence of tantrum behavior is not uncommon. Nonetheless, temper tantrums can be extremely annoying and often distressing for parents and teachers. In the most simple case tantrums represent a temporary disruptive influence on the natural course of family or classroom functioning. At other times tantrum behavior may become more deeply engrained in family life, occurring frequently and often arousing intense feelings of helplessness, hostility, or fearfulness on behalf of the child’s caretakers (Schaefer and Millman, 1978).