Does my child need classroom accommodations?

Laura Petix 0:00 is overall having a more nervous system centered way of approaching these behaviors rather than a behavior changing system where it’s if you do this, you get this sticker. Or if you do this, you get this punishment, how can we look at it as more of a nervous system centered way. The bottom line is if we ignore the underlying reasons for these meltdowns, these emotional regulation type behaviors, and we just simply threatened or reward the child based on how they’re behaving on the outside. This can backfire. And it might make the child start disliking school more, make them feel like they’re the one always getting in trouble, like they’re the problem child. And that’s definitely something we don’t want. Welcome to the sensory wise solutions podcast for parents, where parents can get real actionable strategies to support kids with sensory processing disorder. I’m Laura, OT and mom to Lilyana, a sensory sensitive kid who inherited my anxiety and my love for all things Disney. Consider me your new ot mom, bestie. I know my stuff. But I also know what it’s really like in the trenches of parenting a child with sensory processing disorder. Speaker 1 1:14 Okay, mom, enough about me. Let’s try the podcast. Laura Petix 1:21 Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we are diving into a topic that is close to many of our hearts this time of year, which is behaviors in the classroom. Maybe you’re listening to this, and you are an educator. And I of course welcome you to come in and possibly get some ideas. But I’m really here talking to the parents. If you have a child in a mainstream, traditional general education classroom, and you have gotten or you expect to get a lot of feedback about your child’s behavior and or learning in the classroom, and you want to help your child but you don’t know how, then this episode is a great starting point for you. My job here in this podcast episode, my objective is to encourage you and arm you with the confidence to request accommodations that could make a huge difference for your child. And I say confidence because I know there are many parents out there who don’t want to be the squeaky wheel who don’t want to be that parent that asks for this and asked for that. But it makes a huge difference. And there are ways to bring some of these topics and some of these ideas up with your child’s teacher and the admin in a way that puts you more on like a team level with them rather than feeling like you’re micromanaging them or being nitpicky, right, because we already know that teachers are doing the best they can with the resources that they have. So we want to be able to provide them with maybe more resources, more ideas so that their day can be a little bit smoother. So in this specific episode, though, I’m going to focus more on the why behind accommodations in the classrooms. But if you already know that you want to learn more of the how including how to ask for accommodations and what accommodations to ask for. Specifically, I want to invite you to my new workshop called neuro diversity in the classroom accommodations for all neuro types. It’s a 60 minute workshop that I’m hosting on zoom on Sunday, August 11. At 5pm Pacific Standard Time, you again can get access to the replays for our recording. So if you can’t make it live, not a problem. But in the workshop, we are going to talk about what accommodations are and why they’re essential for neurodivergent students, but may also be beneficial for neurotypical students. A lot of the accommodations I’m going to talk about will probably benefit more of the class than you think probably also help the teacher as well. We’re also going to talk in the workshop about how the right accommodations can improve things like attention and behavior and learning outcomes in the classroom, and common myths and objections about classroom accommodations and how you could respond to them, which can then give you that confidence that I was talking about to advocate effectively. And I’m going to leave you with a lot of very specific, actionable ways to achieve these accommodations and modifications in a classroom setting. So in addition to the information that you’re going to learn in the workshop, I’ll also share a comprehensive resource document with all of the accommodations categorized by challenge based on what the challenges are that your child experiences in the classroom, along with vision wills and links to purchase some tools, some equipment. And you also will get a template email script with kind of fill in the blanks and areas to change based off of your child so that you can properly communicate with your child’s teachers and school teams about the accommodations that you’re requesting. My idea here is to provide you with a toolbox so that you can just take it, apply the information that relates to your child and share it with their school team. So again, this workshop is really perfect for parents who have kids in the mainstream elementary classrooms, on my expertise is more within the kindergarten to sixth grade age range. More specifically, I have more experience with kids between kinder to about third grade. But some of these accommodations, again, can work for older classmates, just limited to the elementary classroom. And if you feel like your child has unmet needs that are holding them back from reaching their full potential, or you want to learn what accommodations to ask for, and how to advocate for them. And if you’re eager to create a supportive and sensory inclusive environment where your child can thrive, then the workshop is for you, you can find the link to the workshop below the show. Alright, so let’s dive into this specific episode, I want to start by painting a picture for you maybe this is a picture you’ve seen recently, maybe this has happened to you. Or maybe it’s just easy for you to to resonate with this. So let’s say you get an email from your child’s teacher. And you open it up and it says something like Eve is struggling to focus at circle time. She’s constantly wiggling, constantly rolling around on the carpet, constantly touching other students and creating distractions. And in this email, this teacher is asking you, you know, maybe to work on this at home, or if you have any suggestions. Maybe you have also gotten an email that sounded something like Luke had a hard day today, he needed constant redirection to the task and was involved in several conflicts with peers during free play, he continued to yell and pull toys out of his classmates hands. Or maybe you’re getting an email, or feedback about your child’s behaviors that involve like a fight flight or freeze situation or just overall dysregulation. And you feel helpless, and you feel responsible to change or to do something, but you don’t know what or you don’t know where to start or how to help. So let’s break down some of the common classroom behaviors that are related to these things, and what might be going on. Plus, if classroom accommodations could be implemented to help this now, the biggest one that comes to mind is sensory needs. So some kids need more sensory input in order to feel regulated and calm and ready to learn. And other key kids need less. So I have to start off by saying and reminding you and acknowledging the fact that it is impossible to meet every single child’s sensory needs all at once, all day long. In the same environment, of course, it doesn’t mean that we should just give up and just, you know, have the classroom one way. And that’s it because we’re Sol anyway, like we can’t, there’s nothing we can do about it. Of course, we’re going to still try and maximize as much sensory regulation as possible. And we also have to acknowledge that this, like meeting child children’s sensory needs, this responsibility cannot all fall on one teacher, it’s going to take resources on the schools. And that’s a bigger issue that we can cover. That’s not part of this episode. But it’s something of course, I have to acknowledge that I am coming from a place of brain dumping the things that I know will help these kids. Whether or not it’s feasible, and you’re in your child’s classroom isn’t is another is another thing, right? But I’m still gonna share the information with you. So if your child is constantly fidgeting, or rocking, or chewing on things, or sacking things, or touching things or constantly moving their body, they are outwardly communicating that those specific actions those movements are things that their body needs in that moment. The same goes for kids who cover their ears, or hide or avoid certain tasks. They are outwardly communicating, maybe not with words, but they are communicating exactly what their body needs. Sometimes their body needs safety. Sometimes it needs aloneness. Sometimes it needs quiet, sometimes it needs space. Sometimes it needs movement. They’re telling us what they need, but they’re telling us with their body. So this is a multi layer approach to accommodate these kids accommodating these kinds of sensory needs can happen in a few different ways. One of them is just making some overall advice are mental adjustments that can benefit the whole class there is research on kinds of lighting and sounds, and layouts that can be more conducive to learning. And from a sensory perspective, if we’re thinking about managing sound and visual clutter, that can help a lot for some kids with sensory needs. The other way we can accommodate these kids is one of the easiest ways by making mindset shifts. So this means that the teacher makes a mindset shift that other classmates make a mindset shift that your child makes a mindset shift, that actually the things that your child is doing is maybe actually fine. And they are already finding a way that meets their needs. And maybe what they’re doing just requires us caregivers, adults, people outside of them to be more accepting of it, as long as it’s not harmful to them, or others or completely distracting, of course, right. But sometimes we have in mind that kids should be sitting still crisscross applesauce, staring at the teacher. But instead this kid is maybe like fiddling with his shoelaces, or you know, picking a scab or doing something with their hands. And rather than saying, hey, Senator, all hands on lab, don’t touch that look at the teacher, maybe we could say, Okay, you need something to fidget with, or you know, what him fidgeting with his shoelaces and not looking up at the teacher is completely fine. We don’t even need to do anything, I don’t even need to report that as a behavior, because that child is self regulating, again, as long as it’s contributing to their ability to take in the information that they’re supposed to be learning at that time. So mindset shift can eliminate a lot of the quote problems that is being seen in the classroom, when we redefine them and say that’s actually not a problem. It’s actually this child self regulating. Now, some of the child’s self regulation strategies and behaviors that they’re doing to have their needs met, are maybe not appropriate for the classroom or they’re harmful, or they’re distracting, then we want to try to find ways to redirect them. So you provide them individual sensory tools, whether it’s fidgets or headphones or weighted items. Again, as much as you the parent can share what you have, if you have the resources to purchase one for your child to use in the classroom, the more likely it’s going to be able to be implemented rather than expecting the teacher to pay for it, or requesting it through through the school. And then another way to accommodate these kids is just giving them access to certain parts of the classroom or school, right. So maybe there’s a part of the classroom that is, quote off limits, or like only teachers get to go there for whatever reason. But there might be some areas of the classroom that are like off limits that are actually the quietest and the most conducive to a sensory child’s ability to learn. So maybe, for that child, you don’t necessarily need to create a whole new space, but it takes flexibility and the rules and regulations that you have in place in the classroom and in the school in order to help that child be able to meet their needs. So what happens when a child doesn’t get their sensory needs met? Like they can’t be met? I want to share with you an analogy. This is one of my favorite things to do when I’m talking about sensory stuff. I just like the analogies to help illustrate the point, right? So think of it like this. Think of when you’re hungry. And you’re really really craving like a snack and you reach next to you’ve got a granola bar there. Let’s say you grab the granola bar and you’re taking some bites, and someone comes over and rips the granola bar out of your hands. And you’re like, Okay, you’re still hungry, right? So for a while you let that go. You try to convince yourself maybe I’m actually not hungry. They said it’s not snack time right now. Maybe I’m not hungry, maybe that like rumbling in my tummies? I’m just going to ignore it, maybe it’ll go away. Obviously doesn’t go away. Over time your tummy grows louder and gets bigger. And at this point, you you are like I’m starving, I need to have a snack. So you get up and you go to find another snack, you find some cookies and you start munching on them. Then that same person comes over again and rips that Oreo out of your hand and said, hey, it’s not time for snacking. That’s not a healthy snack. You shouldn’t be eating that. So you’re again, you’re like, Okay, maybe I’m not, maybe I’m not hungry. It’s not snack time you try to ignore the hunger pains. But they get louder and stronger. And eventually you start to become moody and irritable and you can’t focus and the person who’s been denying you food all day, is now complaining to you and saying you’re being so rude. You’re being snappy. You’re not listening to what I’m telling you like you forgot to do this. You forgot to do that, like what’s going on? I hope you see where I’m going with this analogy, right? Maybe it’s not the closest analogy but it illustrates the idea that sensory needs, our needs. They are not wants they need this. And if you can’t allow the child to have those needs that if you can’t find a way to allow those child to allow the child to have those needs met, those needs are not just going to disappear, they’re going to keep popping up, they might even get bigger, they might even start interfering more with their ability to function. So how can we meet these needs, we cannot just expect these needs to just disappear by ignoring them. Alright, let’s switch gears a little bit. Let’s talk more about the emotional regulation kids, if you have a kid who has a hard time with things like school drop offs, or transitioning between tasks or environments, or maybe they have a big explosive meltdowns, or conflicts with friends or teachers, could those kids benefit from accommodations? Yes, 100% Absolutely. Many of these behaviors are the ones that are most often misunderstood and supported as a or addressed as a like, quote, like bad behavior, rather than thinking of it as a nervous system support need. And maybe they’re implementing sticker charts, or other punishment and reward incentives to stop a child from crying or fussing or complaining. But we know that there is something bubbling underneath the surface that needs to be properly addressed. Now, again, I am not expecting one teacher to a classroom of 25 to 30 students to go over and check on every single child who has, you know, a tantrum or an outburst or emotional regulation thing, I don’t think the teacher has time in the day to do that for as many times as this might come up. But here are some accommodations that we can start thinking about and ways to address this in a more respectful, supportive way of the child. First of all, maybe there’s some troubleshooting and adjusting, like around drop off policies, and any other school based procedures that maybe are like against school policy, but they can be adjusted for your child to feel comfortable. And you can come up with a plan that like eventually Wiens your child off of that and slowly assimilates them into some of the more the way that school policies already exist, right. Again, here, mindset shift is really important. And mindset shifts need to happen within the adults in the parents, the teachers, the admin, the staff, to shift from thinking that this child is misbehaving. And thinking that this child has a nervous system that isn’t able to properly regulate in this environment. Even if that is the only thing that can happen. Just having that internal narrative in the teachers mind can make a huge difference in how they show up with a child whether or not they do any other things, this mindset shift can make a huge difference, okay? Then you can also look at ways to make certain parts of the day may be more predictable, including using schedules or timers, or have more clear boundaries and things like that. And just overall, having a more nervous system centered way of approaching these behaviors, rather than a behavior changing system where it’s if you do this, you get this sticker. Or if you do this, you get this punishment, how can we look at it as more of a nervous system centered way. Now, I know this all sounds quite vague, I get to dive into a little bit more details on this particular need in the classroom more in the workshop and give more specific examples. But the bottom line is if we ignore the underlying reasons for these meltdowns, these emotional regulation type behaviors, and we just simply threaten or reward the child based on how they’re behaving on the outside. This can backfire. And it might make the child start disliking school more, make them feel like they’re the one always getting in trouble, like they’re the problem child. And that’s definitely something we don’t want. We want to facilitate a rapport with the child and their teacher. And some of those accommodations I listed might help a little bit. Lastly, let’s touch on the big ones in classrooms, focus, attention, executive functioning needs are so many demands of executive function needs that come up in the classroom. Just to remind you executive functioning skills are things like working memory, sequencing, impulse control, problem solving, and so many more of those skills that we really, really rely on when it comes to learning and participating in the classroom. And if I’m being honest with you, executive functioning skills are the ones that we expect too much from our kids. Like we expect them to have too many of these executive functioning skills when it’s just not developmentally appropriate. because these skills remember, they lie in our frontal lobe, which is a part of the brain that is not fully developed until, like early adulthood like in the 20s. So our kids parts of their brain that houses these skills are just not even properly developed yet. So we can’t expect them to have the same executive functioning skills as an adult. So there are neuro types like ADHD, in which function of executive functioning is directly impacted, and makes functioning and keeping pace in a non neurodiverse friendly classroom difficult for them. But I also want to remind you that even other neuro types, like sensory processing disorder, or autism, or anxiety, they can have associated executive functioning challenges because when they become dysregulated, whether it be from sensory or something else, those brain resources, those executive functioning frontal lobe resources, get redirected. And their executive functioning area and their frontal lobe gets less attention. Quick example, when I am feeling pressured, or stressed or overwhelmed from like, whatever is going on in my environment, I have a really hard time accessing my words and my logic, like I will not be able to finish my sentences, I will say, what’s, you know? No, I wasn’t talking about that I was talking about the thing. Like I just I cannot find the words when I’m trying to explain something. So especially when I’m in like a heated debate or argument, you know, whether it’s with my partner or someone else, I find myself almost stuttering, or just not being able to recall points that I want to make, like, I would not be great at public speaking in like a public debate, I come up with my points and my arguments when I when it’s quiet, and I can write them down and there’s no pressure right? Or when I’m driving, if there’s like a ton of traffic, a lot of people weaving in and out of lanes, and I’m in an unfamiliar place. I get pretty snappy. If Liliana says something or tries to talk to me, I can’t maintain a conversation. It’s it’s just really hard in that moment. And again, I get irritable and snappy. So it’s not all about being able to access words or communication. But for me, that’s how it impacts me the most. But the resources that are required to focus and pay attention and make decisions and remain calm, are all executive functioning skills. And all of those go out the window when the nervous system is dysregulated. So when I am dysregulated, from heat, or anything else going on, it can impact my executive functioning skills. And this goes for all kids as well. So when you want to think about ways to support your child’s independence, or success, and willful participation in the classroom, if they have executive functioning challenges, you want to think of ways to decrease the mental load of the task that you are asking them to do. Every single step every like visual memory that you expect them to keep in their head may need to be written or drawn out on paper. And this includes things like letter formation, like how they spell certain words, if you know, maybe they’re practicing spelling, and for them to practice, remember how to spell, they also need to remember how the letter A and letter B is formed. For some kids, it comes down to that very specific need. And so having something as small as a letter visual on their desk can help. So again, some ideas, general ideas, using visuals and checklists and notes to remember sequences, even for the most routine tasks, just having an out of their brain, something that they can refer to is helpful. Maybe you focus on helping them with task initiation and getting them started and removing external distractions as much as possible because they might have some internal distractions already happening. So how can we limit the amount of distractions if these supports or accommodations are not be are not able to be offered, your child might not be able to display their full academic potential. So, for example, your child might know more than what they can show. They know. Like I hope that makes sense. I couldn’t make that phrase sound any different. Your child knows more than what they can show that they know because they’re limited by executive functioning challenges that are not being met in the classroom. So the most intelligent you know, most advanced speller, advanced mathematician in the class cannot show off these skills and perform up to par of their intelligence and and achieve the grades that match. If there are executive functioning challenges in the way, think of it like, again, here’s here’s another analogy for you think of it like, you’re a world renowned chef. And you’re tasked with making a cake. Easy peasy, you know exactly how to make it. You know what ingredients you need, you know, the timing, you know all of that. But the catch is the ingredients and the oven are all behind a locked door, and no one’s giving you the key to it. So when we accommodate these kids, we’re helping them reach their full potential by unlocking that door to that by making the executive functioning skills easier for them so that they can access the math skills, the reading skills, the spelling skills, all of those things that you are like, I know, they know this stuff at home. But why are they having such a hard time putting it to paper, you might want to look at ways to support their executive functioning skills. All right, this was kind of a long episode. But I hope by now you notice the main takeaway? The answer is yes, these kids can benefit and deserve accommodations. And that’s really the first step recognizing that your child’s behaviors in the classroom are not coming from a place of misbehavior, but from a place of needing differentiated environmental modifications and accommodations, and we just really need to level the playing field for them. Understanding the why behind these accommodations is crucial, but knowing how to ask for them and what specific accommodations to request is the next step. And that is what I’m covering in my new workshop. neurodiversity in the classroom accommodations for all neuro types, again, happening on August 11 at 5pm Pacific Standard Time. So find the link below the show notes to to purchase your ticket and I’ll see you there at the workshop. I hope this was helpful. I will see you next week. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider rating it and leaving a review which helps other parents find me as well. Want to learn more from me. I share tons more over on Instagram at the OT butterfly. See you next time. Transcribed by https://otter.ai