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The Power of Authority

08 / 20 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Asperger's, Autism, Highly Sensitive Children, Sensory Processing Disorder, Special Education, SPED, SPSD, Tips for Teachers, Trauma, Writing Disability, Young Children Tags , adhd, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, communication, connection, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, IEP, Intervention, Learning Disabilities, misbehavior, parent, parents, sensory, spd, SPED, spsd, teachers, trust, validation

When someone you love is sick, the doctor is the one with the perceived power to cure. When someone you love is struggling in school, the teacher is the one with the perceived power to make a difference.

Whether it is the emergency room staff or the IEP team, the ones ‘in charge’ have the power to access, to diagnose, to report and to offer suggestions for moving forward. This leaves the subject and their family in a vulnerable place. Trust is placed in the hands of the professionals. It is an awesome responsibility.

As an child development specialist and as a lay person I have been on both sides of this type of scenario and my recent trip to the vet emergency clinic in the middle of the night reminded me of how it feels to be the ‘parent.’

Creating Trauma Sensitive Classrooms and Schools

07 / 12 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Trauma, Young Children Tags , adhd, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, communication, connection, discipline, educators, highly sensitive children, home, Intervention, manipulative tantrum, meltdown, misbehavior, parent, parents, punishment, SPED, tantrum, teachers, trauma, trust

We highly encourage anyone going into the field of education to become familiar with the Adverse Childhood Experience Study. Known as ACE, this research was conducted by the American health maintenance organization Kaiser Permanente and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The participants were chosen in the mid-nineties and have been followed up as they matured. The study is frequently cited as a landmark in research and has demonstrated a direct association of adverse childhood experiences with physical and emotional health issues in later life.

Ten types of childhood trauma were identified:

The Benefits and Detriments of Labels

05 / 30 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Asperger's, Autism, Highly Sensitive Children, Sensory Processing Disorder, Special Education, SPED, SPSD, Tips for Teachers, Writing Disability, Young Children Tags , add, adhd, anxiety, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, communication, connection, depression, discipline, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, honesty, label, labels, Learning Disabilities, misbehavior, odd, parent, parents, sensory, sensory meltdown, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, spd, SPED, spsd, teachers

When children display behaviors that limit their ability to keep up in typical American classrooms they are often recommended for special testing. In a desire to figure out what holds them back from successfully completing tasks and appropriately handling emotions we have developed a litany of labels. The labels that have been created to describe these challenges can be both beneficial and detrimental depending on how they are used.

This is a call to be more conscious in the way we label and describe children. When labels are used with compassion and wisdom they can be used to create an individualized plan of cooperation between home and school, enabling a child to thrive in their unique way. Unfortunately they often create fear and distrust. When used with intellectual reasoning alone, the soul and psyche of the children may be forgotten and while the youngsters receive extra cognitive attention their inner worlds are left unattended. Many of these kids struggle not only with their original challenge but secondary layers of self-doubt and shame as well. We must always consider the whole child, not just the isolated ‘disability.’

Labels are a starting point, merely an entry into a portal of a complex inner world. As we offer tools to increase skills we want to be sure a child does not identify his sense of self by his deficit. It is vital to remind parents and teachers not to use the ‘special need’ as the overriding way we see and talk about these kids.

Do You Parent/Teach According to Harvard’s Standards?

04 / 24 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Highly Sensitive Children, Sensory Processing Disorder, Special Education, SPED, SPSD, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , adhd, behavior, bond, bonding, classroom, communication, connection, discipline, educators, highly sensitive children, home, misbehavior, parent, parents, routine, routines, sensory processing disorder, teachers, trust, validation

The Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education suggested to the class of 2016 that there are 5 essential questions you should regularly ask yourself. He noted that if you get into the habit of asking these questions you have a greater chance of being successful and happy.

He was posing these suggestions to people who have spent time at Harvard preparing to transform education in ways both large and small. I absolutely agreed with everything he said and I want to take it a step further. You see, he told these graduates that there is no higher calling than the field of education. There is a higher calling and that is being an educator who also bridges the gap for parents.

When we, as educators, forget that our students are not just learners of a subject, but beings destined for their own unique greatness we become trapped in a tunnel of teaching ‘to a test,’ to a ‘field,’ to a curriculum. We can be the models who remind parents that the present moment is as important as achieving a future goal.

Sensory Processing Sensitivity, Sensory Processing Disorder or Both?

03 / 20 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Highly Sensitive Children, Sensory Processing Disorder, SPSD, Tips for Teachers Tags , behavior, classroom, connection, discipline, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, Intervention, manipulative tantrum, meltdown, misbehavior, parent, parents, sensory, sensory meltdown, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, sensory processing sensitivity and disorder, spd, spsd, stress tantrum, tantrum, trust

Picture it. A four-year-old is all dolled up in a in a lacy dress and matching gloves, holding a basket of flowers and ready to sprinkle petals as her aunt prepares to walk down the aisle. As her turn approaches the little one begins to whine, “I don’t want to go.” She pulls off the itchy gloves and the tears start to flow… A tantrum is underway as she shrieks, “Take the dress off me! It’s too scratchy!!! No I don’t want to throw the flowers and you can’t make me!!!”

Let’s break down some of the reasons this child may be having such a BIG reaction… she may have Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). There is the possibility that she has both SPS and SPD (SPSD.) In addition, she may be acting in response to family stress, the lack of preparation for the event or a sudden overwhelming anxiety caused by a combination of the above factors.

Highly Sensitive Children (HSC) and Highly Sensitive People (HSP) ‘have’ Sensory Processing Sensitivity. This term speaks to a trait that 15-20% of the population experience, whereby a heavy volume of sensory information bombards their nervous system, often causing over-stimulation. When this happens to a child they can become dis-regulated and need help processing their thoughts, emotions and behavior.

Distractibility- Another Perspective

02 / 20 / 2018 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Asperger's, Autism, Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , adhd, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, communication, connection, discipline, Distractibility, distraction, educators, focus, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, misbehavior, parent, parents, punishment, routine, routines, sensory, stress tantrum, tantrum, teachers, trust, validation

I had one of my ‘aha’ moments in physical therapy a few days ago and I’ve been thinking about this whole notion of ‘distractibility’ ever since.

I’m a pretty intelligent adult, with many academic credentials and yet I watched myself acting like a grade-school student who really didn’t care much for the lesson my teacher was so kindly trying to explain to me.

You see, my therapist has been working on an issue I’ve been having with my shoulder and she was concerned with the lack of progress. After my treatment, she invited me into another room and took out a moveable model of the shoulder. She started to patiently explain all the detailed parts, how the muscles, tissues, etc. fit together and how they affect each other. I realized that my mind wasn’t keeping up with the scientific explanation because I started to think about what I was going to eat for lunch. I knew her lips were moving but my mind was elsewhere.

The Pause to Check System

12 / 15 / 2017 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Asperger's, Autism, Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , adhd, behavior, bond, bonding, brain, classroom, communication, connection, discipline, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, manipulative tantrum, misbehavior, neurology, parent, parents, pause to check, stress tantrum, teachers, trauma, trust, validation

The idea for this blog article came to me at a recent holiday party when I over-heard a conversation between two moms discussing how they were going to handle going to Christmas at their in-law’s houses. One mom lamented that the house is traditionally filled with bowls of sweets and decorated with breakables and treasured holiday-themed trinkets that her young son can’t help but touch. “He loves his grandparents,” she sighed, “but he doesn’t want to go to their house because he is scolded so frequently.”

This interchange brought up a memory of when my nephew was about a year old and he came to my house for the first time. Since I work with young children I knew that it was up to me to create an environment where he would feel happy, safe to explore and want to come back.

“I’m On The Spectrum”

10 / 23 / 2017 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Asperger's, Autism, Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , adhd, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, parent, parents, sensory, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, spd, SPED, teachers

I just latched my seatbelt to settle in for the five-hour plane ride from San Diego when the younger man sitting next to me started an innocent conversation with the question, “Are you going to New York for fun or business?”

I replied by saying that I was on my way to the east coast for a speaking tour to help parents and teachers understand children, especially children who are highly sensitive, have been diagnosed with ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder or just are challenging to figure out. He asked if I talk about kids with autism or Asperger’s. “Do you have an interest in that?” I responded. He had my rapt attention. “I have Asperger’s.” he declared. “I’m on the spectrum.”

Tantrums vs. Meltdowns

09 / 21 / 2017 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , adhd, asd, asperger's, autism, behavior, classroom, discipline, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, manipulative tantrum, meltdown, misbehavior, parent, parents, punishment, routine, routines, sensory, sensory meltdown, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, spd, SPED, stress tantrum, tantrum, teachers

It is important as educators to use appropriate terminology whenever possible. One point of confusion for some early childhood specialists revolves around tantrums and meltdowns. While these words are often used interchangeably they actually have very different meanings.

Tantrums are either a manifestation of learned behavior or a result of built up stress. Sensory meltdowns happen when sensory input triggers an uncontrollable neurological response. Tantrums can be “stopped” even at the peak of breakdown because they are not being driven by neurology, whereas sensory meltdowns must run their course and can last several hours.

MANIPULATIVE TANTRUMS

Manipulative tantrums usually start off innocently and without much deliberate thought. Adults sometimes —unconsciously— contribute to this type of tantrum by being inconsistent with rules, routines or boundaries.

Children learn to push back when our “No” is inconsistent. If whining, persisting or demanding is eventually given in to it reinforces ‘manipulative’ behavior. Manipulative tantrums tend to happen with children who learn to have their wants and needs met through unhealthy behavior.

Having established rules and age appropriate consistent routines in place can prevent manipulative tantrums. It is imperative that the expectations placed on children are within their developmental ability, otherwise frustration will ensue.

5 ‘School to Home’ Insights From Super Teachers

08 / 17 / 2017 By Sandi Schwartz No Comments Posted in Highly Sensitive Children, Special Education, SPED, Tips for Teachers, Young Children Tags , behavior, classroom, communication, discipline, educators, highly sensitive, highly sensitive children, home, misbehavior, parent, parents, punishment, routine, routines, teachers

As a new school year begins we want to share some of the most valuable methods employed by ‘super teachers.’ These insights, when adopted by conscious parents, can transform life at home. If you are just beginning your teaching career this can serve as a basis for implementing desired results and early achievement. Share these ideas with your families and be the model of all you aspire them to be.

The following 5 practices used by master teachers have a direct and positive impact on the flow of a day while also encouraging responsibility, self-regulation, and cooperation in young children.

1. Control the environment, not the child.

Experienced teachers have learned that trying to control children often creates power struggles, outbursts and frustration. They know it is worth their time and energy to set up the environment in a way that children will not get their hands on grown up materials. Labeling bins and shelves with photos and words not only creates physical orderliness (which helps with behavioral orderliness) but it also serves the dual purpose of reading readiness. It is the adult, rather than the child, who takes responsibility for the amount of clutter, availability and safety of the environment.

Home Hint: Has your child ever gotten his hands on your cell phone, television remote, car keys, laptop, doughnuts, chips, or dog food? Are so many toys available that the mess becomes overwhelming very quickly? If so, it’s probably time to be more conscious of how your home environment is organized and if it is working for or against you.

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