The behavioral person came to the house today to talk about the plan she'd set up, which was like a seven-page document with appendices and stuff. It had an allowance system, procedures to follow, background, discussion about contracts to be created, all kinds of stuff. An impressive document, all centered around getting an eight-year-old to behave herself and stop sending a cloud of radioactive bad mood all over the house.

Also, behaviorists Get It. They see my kid growling in disapproval (which she does, a lionlike sound), and they say, "Growling, huh," and they get these thoughtful looks on their faces, while they're clearly mulling over the question, "How do we develop a TBR plan for the growling?" (Targeted Behavior for Reduction=TBR). Which is better than the happy talk I get from the school: "Oh, my child growled. In fact, he howled and smeared feces. She's just being a kid."

Also also, most of behavioral analysts/therapists/whatever I've met can't spell or punctuate for shit, and I'm hypersensitive to those things (I guess there's not that much overlap with people who majored in English undergrad), and I've learned not to care. They don't know what a common splice is, and I don't know how to get my kid to behave. We can contemplate and complement each other's expertise.