Cover Your Cough!

It's cold and flu season in Jamaica and our children are back in school. That means it's very likely that they will be passing colds back and forth to each other like a game of tag. Why? They haven't quite grasped the concept of covering their mouths and nose when they cough or sneeze.

Image from: Coughing kids, and coughing cat memes https://secretscotland.wordpress.com/2023/12/10/coughing-kids-and-coughing-cat-memes/

A lot of the times we view children as tiny adults and expect them to just know the rules after being told what to do once. The truth is they have only been here for a short while and they need to be explicitly taught the rules and be reminded multiple times before they stick. Be patient. It takes time.

Do you remember our last post about positive reinforcement? I'm going to take that concept and build on it to help you teach your child how to cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing. Are your ready? Lets get started!

First things first you are going to have to observe your child. What happens before they sneeze? Does their facial expression change? Do they tip their head back? Do they make a sound? In order to change a behaviour, you have to know what the behaviour looks like.

Next, explain to your child what it means to cover their mouth and why it is important to do it. You can say something like:

"Let's talk about germs. Some germs are good for me and some germs are bad for me. The germs that are bad for me can give me a cold and make me feel sick. Sometimes when I have a cold I might cough or sneeze. When I cough or sneeze the germs that made me sick leave my body and can make other people sick too. When I am sick I will try to cover my mouth when I cough or sneeze so I don't get other people sick. It is good to cover my mouth I when I cough so I don't get other people sick"

The above section was written using principles of social stories. I will talk about this some more in future posts but social stories were originally created for autistic children and can be used with all children when teaching new skills. They are written in first person to facilitate increased ease of understanding. I recommend reading the story multiple times to your child to help them understand it fully. You can simplify it, print it and/or add pictures too!

After you have reviewed the story multiple times you can practice covering your mouth after doing fake coughs and sneezes. You do it, then you and your child do it together and then see if they will do a few by themselves. Remember, positive reinforcement is key to forming new behaviours so, every time they cover their fake cough you are going to tell them they're doing a great job.

Now you're ready for the real thing! Look out for the behaviours you normally notice before your child coughs or sneezes. When you see them you will need to act quickly! Tell them to cover their mouths. With some children, saying it verbally might be enough. Some children might need a but more assistance. You may have to physically (and gently!) move their hands to their mouth to help them to cover. With time, gradually fade how much assistance you provide your child to increase their independence with completing the behaviour.

If your child is autistic or you suspect that they might be, I recommend standing behind them as you move their hand to their mouth. This will help reduce their dependence on your cues, that is, they will not wait for you to do it for them in the future and should become independent more quickly. Then positive reinforcement, positive reinforcement, positive reinforcement!!!

It is important that you cue your child before they sneeze, otherwise you might end up teaching them to cover their mouth after the fact. Also remember it might take your child a few attempts to acquire this new skill so be patient and repeat the steps outlined as many times as you might need to.

Wow! That was a lot of information but, I know you can do it! Go forth, and be great! Subscribe so you don't miss our future posts and don't forget to leave a comment if you have any questions.