The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children

by Ross W. Greene

“behaviorally challenging” (also not an ideal term, but maybe the best we

terms such as willful, manipulative, attention-seeking, limit-testing, contrary, intransigent, unmotivated—are inaccurate and counterproductive.

Challenging behavior occurs when the demands being placed upon a child outstrip the skills he has to respond adaptively to those demands.