WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:06.160 teacher from the UK. I share my passion for everything 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.119 communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.660 ideas for my classroom of disabled pupils aged 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:15.300 4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:17.640 the field answering your questions and sharing 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:19.579 our knowledge and experience working alongside 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:22.539 our beautiful young people. Let's get started. 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:30.280 Hello everybody and welcome to the Sensory Classroom 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.320 podcast. My name is Jordan and today I am joined 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.820 again by Regulate to Communicate for the second 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:38.780 time. They joined me on episode 50 and they are 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:40.780 back to talk about their new approach. Ellie 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:43.880 and Sophia run Regulate to Communicate, Occupational 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.000 Therapist and Speech and Language Therapy, coming 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:49.100 together in one holistic approach and I'm so 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.500 excited to speak about their new approach today. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.780 Hi ladies. Hi. It's so nice to be here. It's 00:00:55.780 --> 00:00:58.640 so nice to be back. Yeah, we loved your last 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:01.179 episode. It did really well because I think so 00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:03.700 many people are seeing things separately from 00:01:03.700 --> 00:01:06.099 a speech and language lens or through an occupational 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:10.700 therapy lens. And it's so refreshing to work 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:12.719 with it together because so often, and we're 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.060 going to be talking about crisis situations today, 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:18.019 but so often those crisis situations come from 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:21.459 a combination of sensory needs not being met, 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:24.849 environment not being suitable. them not maybe 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:26.329 having the communication or access to communication 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:28.650 that they need at that time and it's something 00:01:28.650 --> 00:01:31.629 that I see often in my classroom do you mind 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:33.569 explaining a little bit if they haven't listened 00:01:33.569 --> 00:01:36.890 to episode 50 about the background of regulate 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.370 to communicate how you guys came together how 00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:42.480 you guys through your business basically regulate 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.840 to communicate kind of came about because we 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.200 were both working separately as an occupational 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:49.159 therapist as a speech and language therapist 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.420 and we found that more often than not we were 00:01:52.420 --> 00:01:55.640 consulting on the same cases so we were working 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.180 with young people in schools in setting And when 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:01.819 I was doing my sensory work, I needed Sophia's 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.000 help to look at their communication. And when 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.879 Sophia was doing her communication work, she 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:08.520 needed help from me to look at regulating them 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.599 and helping them to be more regulated, more calm, 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:13.819 so that they were better able to communicate. 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:16.539 So we thought, hmm, there's something in this. 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:20.680 I think it'll work best if, moving forward, we 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.419 work with all children together. That's when 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:26.780 we see the greatest impact, when they've got 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:29.319 those communication skills and those regulation 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:32.300 skills working together. And it's really kind 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:34.819 of grown organically because when we did start 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:37.419 working on cases together, the feedback we were 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:40.500 having from school teams and also parents were 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:42.759 that actually the outcomes were really successful. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:46.090 You know, we were really... understanding these 00:02:46.090 --> 00:02:48.169 kids a little bit more and figuring out exactly 00:02:48.169 --> 00:02:50.610 what they did need to pull all these puzzle pieces 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:53.430 together and to really support them to engage 00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:55.530 in whatever that might be whether it's education 00:02:55.530 --> 00:02:59.509 or social socialization or going to the toilet 00:02:59.509 --> 00:03:02.919 or whatever it could be um so We kind of came 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:04.319 together and we thought we need to kind of grow 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:06.659 this. So we work within the West Midlands, within 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:10.159 specific schools, but we're really keen to kind 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.719 of share this approach as wide as we possibly 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:16.159 can because we know it's really hard to find 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.500 outreach professionals, really tricky, and then 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:21.300 really tricky to find those outreach professionals 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:25.879 that will work collaboratively and also make 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:28.639 sure you only get one set of targets. One set 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.860 of goals, one set of recommendations that are 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:33.219 conflicting with each other and work towards 00:03:33.219 --> 00:03:35.300 the best outcomes for the children and the young 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:38.120 people within these settings. And when we last 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.479 spoke to you, it was quite new, you know, since 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.780 then you've really taken off with social media, 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.060 you've developed your branding and your website 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:47.060 and everything. What have you noticed since, 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:50.680 I think it was November last year, what have 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:54.400 you been noticing? since that of the impact you've 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.080 had over the from the wider you know people that 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.080 have been able to access your your staff well 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:01.719 the big thing that's come back is kind of what 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:03.599 you started with saying Jordan a lot of people 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.560 are coming to us going Why aren't more people 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.939 doing this? This is exactly what we need. We 00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:11.919 need OT and speech and language together because 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:15.460 you can't separate those two things out. And 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:17.699 we're getting that message again and again through 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:21.040 our social media. So social media is not a natural 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:23.980 skill set for us. But we're really trying hard 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:25.899 because we know that's the way to connect with 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:28.319 so many different people. And I would say I'm 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.290 completely in Instagram comfort. And it's so 00:04:31.290 --> 00:04:34.410 lovely to have such a great community of people 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.230 who are really just trying to do the best for 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:40.110 these children within these settings and totally 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.670 get us, totally get what we're trying to do. 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:45.389 I'm really eager for support and we've been really 00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:48.250 thinking a lot around how we can make our service 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:51.889 even more accessible through putting out loads 00:04:51.889 --> 00:04:53.889 of free content, as much free content as we can, 00:04:53.990 --> 00:04:56.430 trying to make our training really accessible, 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.370 trying to make our virtual support accessible. 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:02.740 So then people who are desperate for this type 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:07.240 of help can get it through us. And I think ones 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.779 that are accessing our support through our social 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:12.420 media, be it looking at our videos and giving 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.629 them a try. or coming onto our online workshops, 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:18.689 they're seeing the work that we're doing, putting 00:05:18.689 --> 00:05:21.509 it in place and seeing the impact. So for example, 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:24.410 sensory circuits, that has been a really big 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:27.750 hit on Instagram. A lot have attended the workshop 00:05:27.750 --> 00:05:30.350 and they're putting in place sensory circuits, 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:33.550 not only informed by occupational therapy, but 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:36.389 informed by speech and language therapy. And 00:05:36.389 --> 00:05:39.839 they're like... wow this actually works and these 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.459 are settings that are already doing sensory circuits 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.779 but because they've not known how to fine -tune 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:47.800 it because they've not known how to fully meet 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:50.879 the communication needs or their sensory needs 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.699 specifically now after accessing some of our 00:05:53.699 --> 00:05:56.269 support they're doing it in a way that's that's 00:05:56.269 --> 00:05:58.089 really helping the kids. And we've had some really 00:05:58.089 --> 00:06:00.889 great feedback that we always share so that more 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:03.050 people can see how it might help their setting. 00:06:03.230 --> 00:06:06.089 And I think we're really passionate around inclusion. 00:06:06.189 --> 00:06:07.810 A lot of the things that we talk about in the 00:06:07.810 --> 00:06:10.250 regulate to communicate approach is good for 00:06:10.250 --> 00:06:13.209 all kids and young people. And I think that's 00:06:13.209 --> 00:06:14.829 been a real game changer, especially with the 00:06:14.829 --> 00:06:17.620 sensory circuit. Sometimes... In some settings 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:20.360 they're seen as a real specific approach for 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:22.540 this very small group of children that are then 00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:25.459 removed from their peers to access it in a separate 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:28.220 space. And I think what's really resonated with 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:31.740 people is actually this can be done within a 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:34.480 mainstream classroom, within a wider group, whether 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:36.600 that's a specialist group of eight kids, you 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:39.920 know, it can be done to really promote that inclusion 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.740 and to help us connect with our kids through 00:06:42.740 --> 00:06:45.879 these sensory activities and really understand 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.879 our kids a little bit more without it making... 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:51.399 it's something you have to withdraw for, something 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:53.019 you need more stuff for, something you need to 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:55.639 find more time to do. So not only are, you know, 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:57.579 staff seeing the benefits on the children and 00:06:57.579 --> 00:06:59.300 young people, it's also making their life a lot 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:01.779 easier as well. And it's only going to get more 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:03.560 needed, isn't it? As we're talking about inclusion 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.160 is a really hot topic at the moment. The government's 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:07.959 white paper, you know, we're not really sure 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:09.920 what that is going to look like, but it's certainly 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.040 going to look like more SEND children in mainstream. 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:16.379 That's guaranteed. So if all children are going 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:18.819 to benefit from combining these occupational 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.199 therapy techniques, these speech -language techniques, 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:24.740 and what special education teachers have been 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:27.420 doing for quite a while, if we can bring those 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:29.439 into mainstream and have them as a really high 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:33.480 -quality, inclusive offer for all children, then 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:35.240 I feel like everyone's going to benefit. The 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:36.660 teachers, the staff, there's going to be more 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:39.610 learning, more focus, all of that. yeah what 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:41.370 you've just said there i was just thinking about 00:07:41.370 --> 00:07:44.069 because really a lot of what we're doing for 00:07:44.069 --> 00:07:47.490 mainstream settings now is drawing on our knowledge 00:07:47.490 --> 00:07:50.430 and experience of been in specialist settings 00:07:50.430 --> 00:07:53.629 and there's so much amazing practice that we've 00:07:53.629 --> 00:07:56.430 learned from in specialist settings for example 00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:58.529 again going back to the sensory circuits you 00:07:58.529 --> 00:08:00.829 do it as a whole class in the morning all the 00:08:00.829 --> 00:08:03.750 students and you know you're talking about there 00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:06.350 students with very diverse and complex needs 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:08.889 but you're managing to do it as a whole class 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:12.110 in the classroom so we thought why not can that 00:08:12.110 --> 00:08:14.529 not be replicated within the mainstream classroom 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:18.300 and it's working So it's about learning from 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:20.600 all these different settings and what all these 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:22.680 other STEM professionals are doing and trying 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.680 to make it more equitable amongst all the schools. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.920 And more seen. I mean, we're literally locked 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.579 behind a door. Like so often our doors are locked. 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:34.159 Yeah. It's hard maybe for us to access and be 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.500 seen by the outside in the classroom or not. 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:39.899 My class is attached to a mainstream school and 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:42.789 even... then we are quite separate just because 00:08:42.789 --> 00:08:45.570 of the anxieties of the children you know their 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:48.470 own needs their own sensory needs it means that 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:51.710 we are quite separate so we're not able to share 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:54.789 or really celebrate all of these wonderful things 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:57.750 that the other classes could benefit from and 00:08:57.750 --> 00:08:59.809 I suppose that's the beauty of social media is 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:01.610 that we can kind of put a magnifying glass and 00:09:01.610 --> 00:09:04.529 you know shine a light on these great practices 00:09:04.529 --> 00:09:07.269 because it really could help everybody especially 00:09:07.269 --> 00:09:10.769 now when we're looking you know, to really improve 00:09:10.769 --> 00:09:14.230 inclusion and what inclusion really, really means. 00:09:14.470 --> 00:09:18.169 I'm sure you're the same in your DMs. You're 00:09:18.169 --> 00:09:22.870 often faced with messages about crisis behaviours. 00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:26.730 And it seems that mainstream schools are seeing 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:29.470 more and more crisis behaviours, quite extreme 00:09:29.470 --> 00:09:31.750 crisis behaviours sometimes, and sometimes quite 00:09:31.750 --> 00:09:35.029 hidden crisis behaviours. I know that's where 00:09:35.029 --> 00:09:38.480 your new approach is sparked. from are you okay 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.799 talking a little bit about the word crisis behavior 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:43.899 what it really means what it really looks like 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.220 so that those listening can understand what to 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:50.639 look out for and also maybe even resonate with 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.179 some of the things that they're seeing in their 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:56.440 settings so when we think about we we had a lot 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:59.889 of thought about this approach so this approach 00:09:59.889 --> 00:10:01.730 really the way most of the things with regulate 00:10:01.730 --> 00:10:04.669 to communicate have been created is really organically 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:07.169 we've been trying to put what we do every day 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:10.330 into a manageable chunk to kind of share with 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:13.269 as many people as possible and what we were finding 00:10:13.269 --> 00:10:16.230 is when we were in settings we were often supporting 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:20.409 these children who were in crisis But it was 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:21.929 called lots of different things within these 00:10:21.929 --> 00:10:25.710 settings. So that child just keeps having a meltdown. 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:28.750 That child is presenting with behaviours that 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:31.169 we find him really challenging to manage. That 00:10:31.169 --> 00:10:35.409 child is really angry or that child is really 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:39.690 withdrawn. So the language around crisis we found 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:42.649 is just so varied. So when we were trying to 00:10:42.649 --> 00:10:47.200 translate our approach to... our wider population 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.240 it was really hard because actually we're all 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:52.139 using such different language to talk about it 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:55.100 and I think trying to get a consistent language 00:10:55.100 --> 00:10:58.379 is really important so we know we can identify 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:00.820 it and then really importantly put the right 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:03.279 intervention in place to support that child at 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:07.059 that point so when we think about those crisis 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:11.620 behaviors the really important thing to say it's 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:16.029 not always the big loud, challenging behaviours. 00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:19.429 Sometimes the presentation of a child in crisis 00:11:19.429 --> 00:11:23.350 can be tricky to manage. It can be quite physical. 00:11:23.529 --> 00:11:27.610 It can be quite loud. But on the other end of 00:11:27.610 --> 00:11:30.889 the spectrum, we have kids who are in crisis 00:11:30.889 --> 00:11:33.970 who are actually incredibly quiet in their presentation. 00:11:34.210 --> 00:11:38.320 So they might be more that trying to flee. escape 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:42.539 withdraw and actually it's that that's the crisis 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:44.820 that i'm just going to shut down because that's 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:47.220 as safe as i can make myself if i completely 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:50.259 shut down and withdraw whether that is getting 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:52.240 myself away from the class or hiding under a 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.080 table those crisis both of those crisis whether 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:57.279 it's really loud or really quiet they both need 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.360 to be seen with an equal amount of importance 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.299 and actually the intervention is really similar 00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:04.460 because what we're really dealing with when a 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:07.440 child is in crisis is an overwhelmed nervous 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:10.240 system and you know we can't see the nervous 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:12.960 system because it's inside our body but what 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:17.080 we can see is the behavioral response to what's 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:18.799 going on with the nervous system and what's going 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.200 on with the brain so we have to be really like 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.580 detectives to try and understand what does a 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:26.960 crisis look like for this specific child and 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.960 it's going to be different depending on the child 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.379 but really recognizing and valuing both those 00:12:32.379 --> 00:12:35.720 different types of crisis presentations that's 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:37.759 really the starting point for a lot of our training 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.539 really is helping ones to identify what that 00:12:41.539 --> 00:12:44.259 looks like and understand what's going on in 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:46.440 the brain and what's going on in the body so 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:49.139 that we can then best support. I suppose that's 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:51.440 what's difficult about doing this kind of work 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.639 in mainstream is my children make it so obvious 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:56.340 when they are feeling overwhelmed. It is big. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:59.919 It is loud often. Yeah, it's magnified. There's 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:03.240 sensory regulation on the outside. identified 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.820 just because of who they are. And I suppose in 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:08.799 mainstream, you are seeing fawning, aren't you? 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.100 You're seeing children that are in crisis actually 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:14.960 trying desperately to please, trying desperately 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.100 to do the right thing. And often they're the 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:19.000 ones that are being praised for doing that. And 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.340 actually they're in just as much crisis as the 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:23.539 learners in my class that you're seeing as, you 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:26.039 know, hurting behaviours or those really big 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:29.240 behaviours. I think it's the same level of overwhelm. 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:30.879 And I feel like that's what makes it so tricky. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.940 to be able to navigate and notice those things. 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.299 Would it be, I mean, I suppose it starts with 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:43.159 knowing your learners and working with adults 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.039 that know them well as well. And I suppose understanding 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:51.039 their baseline, what does a good day look like 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:53.340 for them? And then what's changed? Have they 00:13:53.340 --> 00:13:56.159 gone then under the radar or have they gone over? 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:59.100 And I suppose any of those big changes compared 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:03.710 to their baseline could be. cause a crisis you 00:14:03.710 --> 00:14:06.850 know starting to share that dysregulation which 00:14:06.850 --> 00:14:08.990 could cause that crisis and kind of lead to that 00:14:08.990 --> 00:14:11.730 and i think we start all of our training by really 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:14.649 exploring that whole spectrum because as you've 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:17.309 said it it's not always easy it really isn't 00:14:17.309 --> 00:14:19.990 always easy and often when we're in schools when 00:14:19.990 --> 00:14:23.409 we are called to those big loud moments those 00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:26.289 messy moments those ones you know where kids 00:14:26.289 --> 00:14:28.629 might be using more physical behaviors or might 00:14:28.629 --> 00:14:33.120 be more loud in their vocalizations And that's 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.399 when we tend to call. But what we see a lot of, 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:37.100 because we spend a lot of time in our classrooms, 00:14:37.299 --> 00:14:40.259 is a lot of this falling, a lot of this fleeing 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:43.340 that might be going under the radar. Staff are 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:46.779 really aware that the child's having a difficult 00:14:46.779 --> 00:14:49.460 time. But do they understand what's happening 00:14:49.460 --> 00:14:52.240 in their nervous system? I think that's the difference. 00:14:53.019 --> 00:14:55.279 We always, with all of our workshops, all of 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.080 our training, we always start with understanding 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:01.320 that spectrum when it comes to sensory processing 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:03.840 and really starting to understand what's happening 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:06.879 in our kids' nervous system because it's really 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.779 hard. We work with lots of kids who are super 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:13.500 perfect, perfect in school, but at home, they're 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:16.139 really dysregulated. They spend a lot of time 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:18.659 in this state of crisis at home because of... 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:20.960 held it together they've held it together they've 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.980 tried to be really good they've kind of sat still 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:26.820 on their chair and they come home and that you 00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:29.320 know that dysregulation just has to come out 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:32.340 somewhere so good clue as well couldn't if you're 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:34.440 hearing from parents and carers that they're 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:36.179 having a really tough time at home rather than 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:38.320 your first thought being something's wrong at 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.120 home yeah maybe our first thought should be oh 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.379 what could we put in place in the day yeah To 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:47.019 make home easier. Yeah. And I think that's so 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:49.259 important because we work with a lot of parents 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:53.840 as well. who become incredibly frustrated and 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.940 upset themselves because they're thinking, what 00:15:55.940 --> 00:15:58.500 am I doing or what's happening in school when 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:01.100 I'm not there for them to come home and be so 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:04.360 upset and in this crisis state. And it can be 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:06.179 really upsetting and distressing as a parent 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:08.299 to know that your child is struggling through 00:16:08.299 --> 00:16:10.580 school. All we're hearing is, they're fine at 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:12.940 school. They've got friends, they're doing everything. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:15.519 That is even more confusing, isn't it? Because 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:17.720 you just think, well, there must be something. 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.289 Yeah. that we're not seeing or you're not seeing. 00:16:21.549 --> 00:16:23.769 And I guess that's the point, isn't it? They're 00:16:23.769 --> 00:16:27.090 not seeing it because it's internal. Yeah. So 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:30.029 I think it is our responsibility as the ones 00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:32.549 that are with those children for a large part 00:16:32.549 --> 00:16:36.669 of their day to put on our sensory goggles and 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:39.429 our communication goggles and start to try and 00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:42.470 unpick what's going on or what those subtle signs 00:16:42.470 --> 00:16:46.830 might be for that. a particular learner to see 00:16:46.830 --> 00:16:48.750 if there is anything in the day that we can put 00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:51.809 in place to support them so it doesn't escalate 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:54.330 and lead to this crisis because actually a lot 00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:57.110 of the people that have been on our crisis to 00:16:57.110 --> 00:16:59.669 calm workshop already have been parents it's 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:03.220 been mostly parents And they found the intervention 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:05.920 transformative and it's helped them to think 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:08.960 about managing those crisis situations in a way 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.119 that really supports the child and is simple 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.200 to remember and easy for everyone in the family 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.160 to do. Brilliant. And I suppose it's because 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.009 they're the ones seeing the... the aftermath 00:17:20.009 --> 00:17:22.710 of what's happening in school but how much easier 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:26.150 and better for the child if the parents and the 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:29.450 teachers in school are doing this system because 00:17:29.450 --> 00:17:32.089 then they're not going to get to the crisis before 00:17:32.089 --> 00:17:34.690 they reach the calm i suppose that's that is 00:17:34.690 --> 00:17:37.369 the ultimate goal isn't it to never reach the 00:17:37.369 --> 00:17:40.390 point that you're you know so desperate that 00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:44.589 that you're working inside or outside yeah that's 00:17:44.589 --> 00:17:46.410 always and with the whole regulate to communicate 00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:49.640 approach it's all built on we're trying to prevent 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.150 this dysregulation. If the regulate to communicate 00:17:53.150 --> 00:17:56.009 approach is embedded within an environment, the 00:17:56.009 --> 00:17:58.289 levels of dysregulation should reduce dramatically. 00:17:58.289 --> 00:18:00.230 You know, we should have less kids in crisis 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:02.970 because the environment's more supportive. The 00:18:02.970 --> 00:18:04.849 relationships are really strong with the people 00:18:04.849 --> 00:18:07.609 that they're working with. The routine is really 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:10.109 well embedded and supports their needs. So the 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:13.089 goal is that actually crisis to calm as an intervention 00:18:13.089 --> 00:18:15.210 is needed less and less and less. But what we 00:18:15.210 --> 00:18:18.210 know and what we've seen all the time. is that 00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:20.569 a lot of teachers, a lot of parents, a lot of 00:18:20.569 --> 00:18:23.289 TAs are finding themselves in a position where 00:18:23.289 --> 00:18:25.269 they're with a child who's experiencing this 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:27.990 extreme dysregulation, they're in crisis, and 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:29.809 they're not sure what the best thing is to do. 00:18:29.970 --> 00:18:34.130 And unfortunately, we are still moving away from 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:36.930 that more behaviouralist approach. And I think 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:39.849 the behaviouralist approach is always kind of, 00:18:39.849 --> 00:18:41.509 people always fall back onto it because they 00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:43.930 don't know what else to do. You know, what we've 00:18:43.930 --> 00:18:47.180 done for years is this real sort of... you know, 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:50.539 reward system and kind of this compliance -led 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:53.579 approach. And I think we can sit here and go, 00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:55.180 oh, that's really bad. You shouldn't do that. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.880 But actually, are we telling parents and educators 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:00.819 what they should be doing instead? I think actually 00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:03.700 lots of people, we know not to use it. I think 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:04.960 lots of people listening will think, hang on, 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.119 hang on, wait, what? We don't use that. Could 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.799 you explain a little bit more about what you 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.839 mean by, because I don't want people to leave 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:13.980 this confused in any way of why we don't promote 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:17.549 those things. Can you explain why, reward systems 00:19:17.549 --> 00:19:20.650 compliance -based systems aren't the best way 00:19:20.650 --> 00:19:22.410 because I feel like that will then help to support 00:19:22.410 --> 00:19:26.029 your newer affirming approaches and help people 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:30.450 to understand why it's it's better to do a compassionate 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:33.170 approach rather than a compliance -based so what 00:19:33.170 --> 00:19:37.029 are you seeing in classrooms and at home actually 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.059 And what does that mean for the learner in the 00:19:40.059 --> 00:19:42.480 short term and the long term that could be detrimental? 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:47.220 That's a big one. Because I have lots of opinions 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:51.640 on this. We could talk about this. I'll try not 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.460 to. So if we think about a behaviourist approach, 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.369 the big thing... Starting at the first step, 00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:00.289 because there's so much we could break down in 00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:02.829 terms of how we're managing this. A child is 00:20:02.829 --> 00:20:05.569 presenting in a way that a parent or an educator 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:07.690 is finding challenging for one reason or another. 00:20:07.910 --> 00:20:10.029 So again, as we've said, it could be quite physical, 00:20:10.130 --> 00:20:12.869 it could be quite loud. Now, if we look at that 00:20:12.869 --> 00:20:14.970 through a behavioural lens, what we're doing 00:20:14.970 --> 00:20:18.130 is we're really minimising what's happening here. 00:20:18.289 --> 00:20:20.690 And we're also taking away a really important 00:20:20.690 --> 00:20:23.549 opportunity to understand the child we're working 00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:26.380 with. So what we know is behavior is communication. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.880 But what we don't talk about enough is behavior 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.789 is rooted in our sensory regulation system. So 00:20:33.789 --> 00:20:36.329 when we are seeing a behaviour that we may find 00:20:36.329 --> 00:20:39.170 challenging, really that gives us as a queue, 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:42.809 as adults within the environment, to understand 00:20:42.809 --> 00:20:46.089 that child a little bit more. What are they trying 00:20:46.089 --> 00:20:48.970 to tell me? But what's happening from a sensory 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:51.950 regulation system? So looking at their nervous 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:54.390 system, looking at their sensory processing and 00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:56.930 thinking about what might be happening there 00:20:56.930 --> 00:21:00.390 and how can we unpick that in order to support 00:21:00.390 --> 00:21:03.519 the child move out of this state. moved for more 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.519 i suppose because the alternative would be looking 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.400 at the behavior externally not thinking about 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:11.799 what's going on with their needs not thinking 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:14.299 about what it is they are trying to tell us not 00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:16.759 thinking about what has gone on before but going 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.240 on what they are just doing in the moment so 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:21.339 say if they are ripping a display that's a classic 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:24.400 one right you are you are managing the ripping 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.119 of the display you're not managing their anxiety 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:30.519 or their dysregulation or communication needs 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.190 in that moment you are managing stopping them 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:36.329 from ripping the display. And sometimes that 00:21:36.329 --> 00:21:39.869 can look like physically, physical removal. Sometimes 00:21:39.869 --> 00:21:42.329 that can look like telling off, you know, calling 00:21:42.329 --> 00:21:45.029 the behavior bad, naughty. You know, I've seen 00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:48.410 those things. But it can also look like positive, 00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:51.910 kind approaches, which are also compliance -based. 00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:56.500 like offering bribes offering rewards for doing 00:21:56.500 --> 00:22:01.220 certain things that might mean do this yeah or 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:03.180 if you keep doing this you're not going to be 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:05.420 able to you're not going to yes if you keep doing 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:07.400 this you're not going to get play time which 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.660 is exactly what they need or working for something 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:14.180 so you can only get your sensory needs met you 00:22:14.180 --> 00:22:17.200 can only get what your body is really needing 00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:21.009 If you have done my way first. And it is that 00:22:21.009 --> 00:22:23.269 like, I suppose it's called control and compliance 00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:25.789 space because what we are doing is we are putting 00:22:25.789 --> 00:22:29.829 our needs as an educator before their needs as 00:22:29.829 --> 00:22:33.230 a human, I suppose, at its basic level. And I 00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:35.170 think what you're missing there is the connection 00:22:35.170 --> 00:22:39.069 there. Because actually in these moments that 00:22:39.069 --> 00:22:43.009 may be seen as naughty behaviour. what they are 00:22:43.009 --> 00:22:46.349 actually that is a child who is in a moment of 00:22:46.349 --> 00:22:48.970 feeling really vulnerable and quite unsafe and 00:22:48.970 --> 00:22:52.029 is looking to you and to the environment to go 00:22:52.029 --> 00:22:55.289 help me feel safe again and what a great opportunity 00:22:55.289 --> 00:22:58.130 for connection you know if you can become that 00:22:58.130 --> 00:23:02.049 safe person in that moment if you can try and 00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:04.990 understand that child in that moment that connection 00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:09.269 means long term the outcome and engagement and 00:23:09.269 --> 00:23:11.089 participation of that child is going to be so 00:23:11.089 --> 00:23:14.849 much greater anywhere and I always it never goes 00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:16.750 down well with schools but I always think you 00:23:16.750 --> 00:23:19.730 know when these behaviors that you do find challenging 00:23:19.730 --> 00:23:21.990 within the classroom actually it's a great opportunity 00:23:21.990 --> 00:23:24.130 what are they telling us let's understand this 00:23:24.130 --> 00:23:26.730 child more what is it that they are telling us 00:23:26.730 --> 00:23:29.509 what can we do in order to meet that need and 00:23:29.509 --> 00:23:32.500 then how can we by meeting that need create more 00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:34.559 opportunities for connection and learning and 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:37.039 participation. You know, it actually gives us 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.180 a really good way in for these kids. Yeah. And 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:41.720 that's mainstream children. You know, these are 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.559 children without a diagnosis. These are children 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:46.640 without neurodiversities. You know, all children 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.119 can experience big and little trauma throughout. 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:52.900 their day and or aren't feeling it you know for 00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:54.799 whatever reason they could be tired there's something 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.059 happening at home they could be feeling poorly 00:23:57.059 --> 00:23:59.299 there are so many reasons why they could be feeling 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:03.119 this overwhelming crisis and as well as then 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:06.039 non -diagnosed neurodivergence in mainstream 00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:08.500 it can be so many different reasons that can 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:11.289 really happen to everybody so if we're all seeing 00:24:11.289 --> 00:24:13.269 it through a compassionate lens if we're all 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:15.490 trying to really understand you this is unusual 00:24:15.490 --> 00:24:18.369 for this child there's obviously something happening 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:20.390 here if we're looking at through that detective 00:24:20.390 --> 00:24:23.450 lens rather than judgment shame you know or sometimes 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:26.089 public humiliation sometimes those traffic light 00:24:26.089 --> 00:24:28.430 systems in classrooms please don't use those 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:32.730 any way of publicly displaying that this child 00:24:32.730 --> 00:24:34.890 is having a hard time is not going to help build 00:24:34.890 --> 00:24:38.490 that trust so and I'm saying this and I know 00:24:38.490 --> 00:24:41.109 that so many schools are still using these systems 00:24:41.109 --> 00:24:43.430 and I think it's really important too that we 00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:45.750 do talk about what we mean by it because so many 00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:47.589 teachers are genuinely trying to do the right 00:24:47.589 --> 00:24:49.430 thing they love their people so much but they're 00:24:49.430 --> 00:24:52.509 not being there's not that explanation of why 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:55.789 these things systems don't work and I guess it's 00:24:55.789 --> 00:24:57.650 the most I mean what it really comes down to 00:24:57.650 --> 00:25:02.349 is adult people are telling us that those systems 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:06.329 used in their childhood was harmful yeah I mean, 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:09.329 that alone is enough for me. We should stop. 00:25:09.750 --> 00:25:12.509 Exactly. And it is so sad because we are seeing 00:25:12.509 --> 00:25:16.730 this more children with complex PTSD from being 00:25:16.730 --> 00:25:19.589 in a school system that's broken and that hasn't 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:22.690 met their needs. And that's really upsetting 00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:24.630 because the very thing that should be there to 00:25:24.630 --> 00:25:27.589 support and help them is actually caused a lot 00:25:27.589 --> 00:25:30.750 of damage. And as you say, that is enough. That 00:25:30.750 --> 00:25:32.970 is enough for us to change our practice or question 00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:35.859 our practice. And the other thing is... the behaviour 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:38.880 system doesn't work. So if you've got a child 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.480 who is ripping up that display, which is a great 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.579 example, Jordan, and you get them to start by 00:25:43.579 --> 00:25:46.119 bribing them with, oh, well, if you stop doing 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:47.599 that, we're going to get the bubbles out, whatever 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.819 it might be. What's going to happen in an hour? 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.559 We're going to be ripping up that display again. 00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:53.500 They want bubbles again. They're going to learn. 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:56.599 It's not, I mean, even my most high support needs 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:59.599 learners will learn when I want bubbles again 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.630 or when I want that. interaction again when I 00:26:01.630 --> 00:26:04.910 want my needs met again I have to do this extreme 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:09.150 behavior to be able to well looking today isn't 00:26:09.150 --> 00:26:11.430 even this extreme let's just start but I have 00:26:11.430 --> 00:26:16.490 to do this behavior to get those needs met I've 00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:18.789 got I don't know if you mind me telling a little 00:26:18.789 --> 00:26:20.910 story I've got a little girl in my class and 00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:22.630 parents have given me permission to share this 00:26:22.630 --> 00:26:24.349 because it just explains it really really well 00:26:24.349 --> 00:26:28.089 she came to us in nursery and she was thumping 00:26:28.089 --> 00:26:30.490 herself in the head so You would see that as 00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:32.029 a really extreme behavior. It was really upsetting 00:26:32.029 --> 00:26:34.670 for adults to witness. Really punching herself 00:26:34.670 --> 00:26:37.690 in the head, bruises both sides of temples. And 00:26:37.690 --> 00:26:39.890 parents were really worried that she was hurting, 00:26:39.990 --> 00:26:42.269 that she was telling us that she's hurt. Again, 00:26:42.329 --> 00:26:44.490 from a compassionate lens, it's a really great 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:46.910 thing. They didn't see it as behavior. They saw 00:26:46.910 --> 00:26:49.490 it as she's trying to tell us something. So they 00:26:49.490 --> 00:26:51.930 went to the pediatrician and they ruled out any 00:26:51.930 --> 00:26:54.569 medical need. She wasn't hurting. So then they 00:26:54.569 --> 00:26:56.430 were confused. You know, why would she be punching 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:59.660 herself? So then we looked at it through a sensory 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:01.900 lens and a communication lens. Exactly what you 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.740 guys are about. What is she trying to tell us 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:05.720 about her body? And what is she trying to tell 00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:08.339 us about, you know, what she needs? She needed 00:27:08.339 --> 00:27:10.559 grounding in that moment. And punching yourself 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:13.000 in the head tells her body where it is in space. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:15.460 It tells her where her hands are. It tells her 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:19.640 where her head is. I mean, they're so sensitive, 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:21.279 aren't they? She was getting relief. But she 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:25.369 was also... Getting adults to come to her so 00:27:25.369 --> 00:27:28.210 quickly and fix her problem. It was the quickest 00:27:28.210 --> 00:27:30.490 way that she could get an adult to respond to 00:27:30.490 --> 00:27:33.670 her need. And I was watching her and what I noticed 00:27:33.670 --> 00:27:36.150 was before she did the punching and it was minimal, 00:27:36.250 --> 00:27:39.630 she would look at what she wanted or she would 00:27:39.630 --> 00:27:42.269 look at an adult. You know, she wasn't ready 00:27:42.269 --> 00:27:43.970 to reach her point yet. She didn't understand 00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:45.670 that because what she'd learned in her early 00:27:45.670 --> 00:27:47.789 years was the quickest way to get that thing, 00:27:47.970 --> 00:27:50.369 to get help, to get the adults to respond to 00:27:50.369 --> 00:27:53.160 me. is to do this. And it was so effective because 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.920 you can't ignore somebody, you know, punching 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:58.420 themselves in the head. And she's a cute little 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:00.559 thing. You couldn't possibly ignore it. So it 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:03.279 was really effective. So she'd learned that the 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:05.259 quickest way to meet these sensory needs and 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:07.579 these communication needs and get my needs met 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:09.440 is to hit myself in the head. She didn't want 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:11.299 to hit herself in the head. She wanted to get 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:12.960 her sensory needs met and she wanted to get her 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:17.180 health needs met. So what we decided as a team 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:20.079 and with the parents' permission as well. We 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:23.539 were going to act slightly slower to her crisis 00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:26.579 behaviours, her hurting behaviours. And with 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:29.779 absolute urgency to anything else she offered 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:33.720 us, a look, a point, a reach, anything that she 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:36.140 gave us that wasn't, you know, hurting behaviours, 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:38.519 we would react as if she was hurting herself. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:42.579 So what this looked like was when she would, 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:45.319 yeah, look at the object that she needed, which 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.920 was often basic needs, a blanket. snack drink 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:51.220 you know it was her meat trying to meet her basic 00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:53.960 needs we would run to her we would give her the 00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:56.900 blanket show her blanket on her go talk so her 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:00.480 offering her another way of saying it and we 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:03.220 would say blanket you know we would run to her 00:29:03.220 --> 00:29:06.240 and then when she was hitting herself we would 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:08.779 come on over we would still come on over and 00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:10.700 we would support her with the regulation needs 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:14.279 like help you know and we would We would make 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:16.299 sure those buttons, she had sound buttons and 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:18.420 GoTalks, were always available to her and we 00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:21.019 would model those. And what we noticed was throughout 00:29:21.019 --> 00:29:23.240 the year, and it did take a year of doing this, 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:26.480 we were very consistent and very adamant that 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:29.099 this will support her to learn a better way, 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.720 to learn a kinder way so she doesn't have to 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.119 hurt herself to get her needs met. Within a year, 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:40.279 she was then doing this. The girl also going 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:43.220 over to the object and handing it to the adult. 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:46.079 She was pointing. She was using objects of reference 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:48.680 to request. She was pressing her sound button. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.960 She was pressing her GoTalk independently. So 00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:56.259 in the year we saw, you know, within a year we 00:29:56.259 --> 00:29:58.440 saw that it was communication. It was her trying 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:00.099 to meet her basic needs and she didn't want to 00:30:00.099 --> 00:30:02.440 hurt herself. It's just that was the only way 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:06.130 she knew to meet her needs. And I use that example 00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:08.410 because it is a very extreme example. You might 00:30:08.410 --> 00:30:10.369 not see those behaviours in mainstream, but it 00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:14.049 does represent perfectly what we're saying of 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:15.930 children don't want to be doing these things. 00:30:16.029 --> 00:30:18.130 They don't want to be spitting, hurting, throwing, 00:30:18.470 --> 00:30:20.930 ripping, hurting their friends. They don't want 00:30:20.930 --> 00:30:23.769 to be doing that. But they know no other more 00:30:23.769 --> 00:30:26.769 effective way of getting their needs met, whether 00:30:26.769 --> 00:30:29.410 that be sensory or basic needs like this little 00:30:29.410 --> 00:30:32.579 girl. So what we need to be doing is we need 00:30:32.579 --> 00:30:37.119 to be responding as urgently as a crisis, as 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.680 managing their anxiety rather than managing their 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:43.380 behaviour. It's anxiety management rather than 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:45.059 behaviour management, if you will. You know, 00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:48.980 we're treating this as an anxiety attack more 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:52.599 than a behaviour. And now when I see any kind 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:54.299 of crisis behaviours in mainstream or not, I 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:56.180 just think back to that little girl and think, 00:30:56.259 --> 00:30:58.759 what is the equivalent here? What is this child 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:02.920 needing? from us um because I have never met 00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:06.240 a child that that wants to be hurting that wants 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:09.859 to be in that state it's exhausting for one I 00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:11.700 don't know if any adults have ever had panic 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.220 attacks but it's not nice you don't want to be 00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:17.180 in that state but I think sometimes settings 00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:21.019 and giving children no choice other than to to 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:24.700 do that in order to meet their often basic needs 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:27.299 I think it's a really great example it's such 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.819 a great example and I think just to It took your 00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:33.539 team being really consistent and it also took 00:31:33.539 --> 00:31:36.980 you all kind of being fully behind it, kind of 00:31:36.980 --> 00:31:38.819 having faith it's going to work. And it was hard. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:42.480 Lots of the team were unsure because it doesn't 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.420 feel intuitive to act slow to that kind of behaviour. 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:48.440 It really, really doesn't. But by us being calm 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:51.660 and by us focusing on regulation, by us believing 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:54.819 her that when she wanted something, she really 00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:57.420 wanted it. It helped. But yeah, I'm not going 00:31:57.420 --> 00:32:00.240 to lie. I would say half of my team really, really 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:01.720 weren't sure and weren't on board right away. 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:04.299 It was only when we started to see a reduction 00:32:04.299 --> 00:32:07.400 in her hurting behaviors and an increase in her 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:10.900 other communication methods that they were then 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:14.259 convinced. But it takes time. It didn't happen 00:32:14.259 --> 00:32:17.099 straight away. I really had to convince them 00:32:17.099 --> 00:32:20.380 to try it because... And how I did that was we 00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:22.140 don't want her to be 18 and still doing this. 00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:24.200 Yeah, absolutely. Because that doesn't look like 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:27.180 an independent, thriving adult. It doesn't look 00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:28.819 like it looks like somebody that's probably three 00:32:28.819 --> 00:32:31.119 to four to one. It looks like somebody, you know, 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:33.099 I've worked with adults. I think maybe that's 00:32:33.099 --> 00:32:36.119 why where I'm coming from. I've worked with adults 00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:38.339 that need three, four to one that can't live 00:32:38.339 --> 00:32:40.380 at home anymore, that are in residential, that 00:32:40.380 --> 00:32:43.789 are really. really struggling because they have 00:32:43.789 --> 00:32:46.990 never been shown another way yeah and this girl 00:32:46.990 --> 00:32:48.849 you know she was four we want you know we had 00:32:48.849 --> 00:32:51.710 an opportunity there we could we could teach 00:32:51.710 --> 00:32:56.069 her and we're so powerful as adults as well in 00:32:56.069 --> 00:32:58.190 the space I think you know we have to really 00:32:58.190 --> 00:33:00.589 recognize that responsibility as adults especially 00:33:00.589 --> 00:33:03.029 with young ones because their brains are developing 00:33:03.029 --> 00:33:07.890 so fast And we have the ability to shape those 00:33:07.890 --> 00:33:12.509 brains. And we, as adults in the space, can positively 00:33:12.509 --> 00:33:17.609 reinforce negative behaviours and positive behaviours. 00:33:17.630 --> 00:33:20.809 So we have to think, what are we doing by responding? 00:33:20.930 --> 00:33:23.269 You know, what you did there when you analysed 00:33:23.269 --> 00:33:25.250 what we're doing by rushing to her when she is 00:33:25.250 --> 00:33:27.569 banging her head is we're actually reinforcing 00:33:27.569 --> 00:33:31.490 that method of communication, which we don't 00:33:31.490 --> 00:33:34.289 want to do. Same as bubbles when you're ripping. 00:33:34.490 --> 00:33:36.710 That's the same as going outside for a run when 00:33:36.710 --> 00:33:39.170 you're, you know, throwing things in the classroom. 00:33:39.529 --> 00:33:41.269 Yes, that is the right thing to do. The child, 00:33:42.170 --> 00:33:43.789 yes, they need it outside, but they needed it 00:33:43.789 --> 00:33:47.009 about an hour ago, not necessarily now. And it's 00:33:47.009 --> 00:33:49.430 that, you know, what are the children getting 00:33:49.430 --> 00:33:53.190 out of doing these things? Is it that they need, 00:33:53.250 --> 00:33:54.869 you know, often I hear, oh, they're doing it 00:33:54.869 --> 00:33:56.329 for attention. I'm like, okay, well, why aren't 00:33:56.329 --> 00:33:58.990 you giving it to them an hour ago? If they're 00:33:58.990 --> 00:34:00.890 needing to do that extreme behavior to get your 00:34:00.890 --> 00:34:02.900 attention, then that's it. That's not a them 00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:06.740 problem. That's an us problem. Why are the children 00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:09.380 needed to go to such extreme levels to get an 00:34:09.380 --> 00:34:12.420 interaction or a connection? So I just hear that 00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:16.300 and just think, what? That's not a thing. I think 00:34:16.300 --> 00:34:18.920 it's been clear. It is hard. It's really hard 00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:21.239 as adults within the space, especially when you're 00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:23.340 dealing with children and young people who are 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:26.280 experiencing crisis a lot throughout the day. 00:34:26.340 --> 00:34:29.480 It's not an easy feat in any way, shape or form. 00:34:30.030 --> 00:34:32.710 And that's why we created Crisis to Calm, because 00:34:32.710 --> 00:34:36.789 in those moments, adults need to maintain their 00:34:36.789 --> 00:34:38.969 own regulation, which can sometimes be really 00:34:38.969 --> 00:34:42.809 tricky to do. And we want to be able to respond 00:34:42.809 --> 00:34:46.389 to these moments in the right way, just as we've 00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:48.469 just spoke about, you know, in the right way 00:34:48.469 --> 00:34:52.510 with that regulation lens. But often in those 00:34:52.510 --> 00:34:55.289 moments, staff need to think really quickly. 00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.519 And that sometimes means that some of these more 00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:02.039 behaviourist approaches slip in. So with Crisis 00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:04.599 to Calm, we've created, it's very simple. It's 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:07.780 three steps. You use it in the moment to make 00:35:07.780 --> 00:35:10.260 sure that you are responding. Because you say, 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:12.920 for childs in crisis, they're screaming, I'm 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.760 not safe. I need to feel safe. So it helps us 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:19.980 respond to that, give them lots of signs of safety. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:24.139 But we've made it super duper duper simple. So 00:35:24.139 --> 00:35:26.239 then staff... who are probably feeling really 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:29.079 overwhelmed probably a bit exhausted probably 00:35:29.079 --> 00:35:31.300 really trying to maintain their own regulation 00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:34.460 levels aren't having to think ah what am i doing 00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:36.860 in this should i pull out a sensory circuit should 00:35:36.860 --> 00:35:38.579 i do emotion coaching should i get my bubbles 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:40.860 out should we go in the playground instead of 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:43.980 all those questions being in adults heads if 00:35:43.980 --> 00:35:45.860 they've got our approach which is just three 00:35:45.860 --> 00:35:49.429 simple steps And we're using that consistently. 00:35:49.969 --> 00:35:52.510 We're going to give that child lots of signs 00:35:52.510 --> 00:35:54.829 that they feel really safe. We're going to build 00:35:54.829 --> 00:35:57.230 their ability to connect with the adults around 00:35:57.230 --> 00:35:59.869 them. And we're also going to get them back into 00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:02.449 a calmer state, which is what we want. You know, 00:36:02.449 --> 00:36:05.210 we want our kids to feel safe and calm and happy 00:36:05.210 --> 00:36:07.869 and engaged within these spaces. I love that 00:36:07.869 --> 00:36:09.690 it's so simple because you're right. In that 00:36:09.690 --> 00:36:12.730 moment, it's so easy to meet them at that level. 00:36:12.989 --> 00:36:15.110 And then we're not making those decisions. Like 00:36:15.110 --> 00:36:18.440 you say, so often it's easy to go back. on um 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:20.079 you know you could have the best behavior plan 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:24.119 in the world um and you know it all goes out 00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:27.059 the window in that moment because you know you're 00:36:27.059 --> 00:36:28.619 thinking off the top of your head you're trying 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:30.760 to be spontaneous you're dysregulated as well 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:33.280 or half of the team are doing it and then half 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:34.800 of the team aren't they're going back to those 00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:37.460 traditional methods so having it simple is great 00:36:37.460 --> 00:36:40.980 to hear because everybody can access that everybody 00:36:40.980 --> 00:36:43.900 can remember it to go to support the child to 00:36:43.900 --> 00:36:47.300 calm we've spoken a lot about what crisis means 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:50.519 what does calm mean to you what are you what 00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:53.219 is the result that you are after once doing these 00:36:53.219 --> 00:36:57.719 three steps so first thing to say calm does not 00:36:57.719 --> 00:36:59.460 always mean still i think we're all thinking 00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:02.139 the same thing there i think that's a real common 00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:06.940 misconception calm is sitting at a table on a 00:37:06.940 --> 00:37:10.300 chair perfectly still serene ready to engage 00:37:10.300 --> 00:37:13.980 um that's not what we're looking for for some 00:37:13.980 --> 00:37:16.300 kids that is what calm will look like that is 00:37:16.300 --> 00:37:19.780 what calm will look like but calm is very individual 00:37:19.780 --> 00:37:23.039 just like crisis is you know all of our all of 00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:24.940 our the way that we will present in a calm way 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:28.199 will present so differently for some kids that 00:37:28.199 --> 00:37:30.360 will still look very physical that will still 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:33.289 look like there's lots of movement But what we 00:37:33.289 --> 00:37:35.150 tend to, when we're looking at that calm state, 00:37:35.269 --> 00:37:37.429 it means we're at that optimum point to engage. 00:37:37.909 --> 00:37:40.409 And again, when we think about that, it doesn't 00:37:40.409 --> 00:37:42.690 have to be that we're only calm when they can 00:37:42.690 --> 00:37:44.250 sit down and do this really boring worksheet. 00:37:44.590 --> 00:37:47.610 It might be engage with this toy that we're playing 00:37:47.610 --> 00:37:50.889 or with this ready, steady, go game or with this 00:37:50.889 --> 00:37:54.070 chasing game outside. It's being able to engage 00:37:54.070 --> 00:37:56.489 with something they find really intrinsically 00:37:56.489 --> 00:38:00.949 motivating. So we're not looking for still. We're 00:38:00.949 --> 00:38:04.650 not looking for sitting. We're looking for getting 00:38:04.650 --> 00:38:08.289 that child back into an optimum state where they 00:38:08.289 --> 00:38:11.409 are content, they're happy to engage in something 00:38:11.409 --> 00:38:14.750 that they find intrinsically motivating. Yeah. 00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:18.039 No, I think you've covered that really well. 00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:20.340 Yeah. And I think, yeah, that looks different 00:38:20.340 --> 00:38:23.420 for every young person. And again, that's really 00:38:23.420 --> 00:38:25.880 important to reflect on as adults in that space. 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:27.900 What does this child look like when they're in 00:38:27.900 --> 00:38:30.159 crisis? But what do they look like when they 00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:33.780 are calm? When are they at that optimum level 00:38:33.780 --> 00:38:36.980 of engagement? And we hear all the time, or I 00:38:36.980 --> 00:38:38.320 bet you hear this all the time as well, Georgia. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:41.880 This child is great when they're at forest school 00:38:41.880 --> 00:38:45.210 or when they're outside. We hear this all the 00:38:45.210 --> 00:38:46.750 time. The amount of times me and Ellie are like, 00:38:46.809 --> 00:38:49.969 should we do some more stuff outside then? We 00:38:49.969 --> 00:38:53.449 hear this all the time. They're outside. They're 00:38:53.449 --> 00:38:57.489 in nature. They've got all that sensory input. 00:38:57.610 --> 00:39:00.989 They're often moving. It's often, you know, there's 00:39:00.989 --> 00:39:03.690 different temperatures. There's a lot going on 00:39:03.690 --> 00:39:05.110 in that outside. I like to know that classic 00:39:05.110 --> 00:39:07.849 quote. If the kids are climbing the walls, remove 00:39:07.849 --> 00:39:14.480 the walls. But that could be the most calm a 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:16.679 child is. That could be their perfectly calm 00:39:16.679 --> 00:39:19.380 state. But actually what that could look like 00:39:19.380 --> 00:39:21.940 is being in forest school, being outside, physically 00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:24.719 exploring the space. So I always go back to that. 00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:27.179 Because, I mean, I think we hear it every school 00:39:27.179 --> 00:39:29.380 we go into. You'd be fine if you was outside 00:39:29.380 --> 00:39:32.539 all day. That's their optimum state. Then that's 00:39:32.539 --> 00:39:34.239 when they're calm. That's when they're ready 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:35.820 to engage. That's when you're getting the best 00:39:35.820 --> 00:39:39.059 out of that young person. Everything with the 00:39:39.059 --> 00:39:40.699 approach, with the whole regulate to communicate 00:39:40.699 --> 00:39:42.980 approach, but specifically with crisis to calm, 00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:45.940 does take you getting to, you have to know the 00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:48.420 children that you're working with because it's 00:39:48.420 --> 00:39:50.829 three simple steps. The three steps are the same, 00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:52.550 but they're going to look slightly different 00:39:52.550 --> 00:39:55.769 for that individual because everything we do 00:39:55.769 --> 00:39:58.730 in terms of making our practice the best it can 00:39:58.730 --> 00:40:01.210 be with these individual learners is taking an 00:40:01.210 --> 00:40:04.130 individualized approach. So yes, it's three steps. 00:40:04.309 --> 00:40:07.489 Yes, it's super easy to remember. But within 00:40:07.489 --> 00:40:10.050 those three steps, there's going to be individualization 00:40:10.050 --> 00:40:12.269 because their crisis might look different and 00:40:12.269 --> 00:40:14.670 their calm is going to look different. And in 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:18.429 our workshop, we really empower teams and parents. 00:40:19.070 --> 00:40:22.130 to kind of individualise all these steps to make 00:40:22.130 --> 00:40:23.869 sure that the child's getting the best out of 00:40:23.869 --> 00:40:26.190 them. It would be really lovely to add that to 00:40:26.190 --> 00:40:27.690 a behaviour plan or whatever you want to call 00:40:27.690 --> 00:40:30.289 it, a risk assessment or whatever, to have what 00:40:30.289 --> 00:40:33.170 crisis looks like for them and what might cause 00:40:33.170 --> 00:40:36.050 that, but also what the optimum calm state is, 00:40:36.070 --> 00:40:37.610 to have it out there, not just locked away in 00:40:37.610 --> 00:40:39.130 their folders, but maybe in some kind of communication 00:40:39.130 --> 00:40:41.389 passport that they take round with them or whatever. 00:40:42.230 --> 00:40:44.429 So that any adult supporting them and working 00:40:44.429 --> 00:40:47.269 with them knows what the optimum state is, knows 00:40:47.269 --> 00:40:49.909 what they're looking for. It will help them stop, 00:40:49.909 --> 00:40:53.210 like, minimising that calm behaviour, like, sit 00:40:53.210 --> 00:40:55.130 down, be still, you know, those kind of things, 00:40:55.210 --> 00:40:57.809 if they already are at an optimum state. It will 00:40:57.809 --> 00:41:00.750 also hopefully help them to notice and navigate 00:41:00.750 --> 00:41:03.889 those bubbling up behaviours when we're seeing 00:41:03.889 --> 00:41:07.550 those little cues and clues that something might 00:41:07.550 --> 00:41:12.110 be getting a little bit going wrong. And as part 00:41:12.110 --> 00:41:15.550 of the intervention, we've developed that very 00:41:15.550 --> 00:41:17.449 thing you're talking about, a one page document, 00:41:17.630 --> 00:41:21.550 which looks at crisis, calm and the three steps. 00:41:21.570 --> 00:41:24.889 How do we work from crisis to calm using the 00:41:24.889 --> 00:41:28.869 three steps? ones can individualize it and that 00:41:28.869 --> 00:41:31.329 can go as part of that young person's plan like 00:41:31.329 --> 00:41:33.590 you say sitting in the classroom and we've had 00:41:33.590 --> 00:41:36.329 a lot of schools approaching us recently that 00:41:36.329 --> 00:41:39.750 are looking to update their behavior policy and 00:41:39.750 --> 00:41:41.530 their behavior approach for the whole school 00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:44.159 And they've seen the work that we're doing or 00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:46.639 they've maybe experienced it themselves. So a 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:48.400 lot of schools that are already using the crisis 00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:51.619 to calm intervention have seen massive differences 00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:54.079 in their young people. They've got less incidents 00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:56.719 reporting. They've got more children that are 00:41:56.719 --> 00:42:00.199 actually in school, so less absences. And the 00:42:00.199 --> 00:42:03.019 staff feel positive and confident because the 00:42:03.019 --> 00:42:05.199 staff actually know what they're doing. They're 00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:08.030 not going into a situation thinking, what? What 00:42:08.030 --> 00:42:11.429 do I do here? Or what worked last time? Or what 00:42:11.429 --> 00:42:13.550 does so -and -so usually do because they're not 00:42:13.550 --> 00:42:16.789 in today and it's now up to me? Everybody knows 00:42:16.789 --> 00:42:19.210 with this three -step intervention that this 00:42:19.210 --> 00:42:21.130 is what we do with every single child. It might 00:42:21.130 --> 00:42:23.070 look slightly different for each child, but these 00:42:23.070 --> 00:42:25.309 are the three steps that we work through in order 00:42:25.309 --> 00:42:27.429 to move that child from that crisis situation 00:42:27.429 --> 00:42:31.690 to that calm situation. And I think that's a 00:42:31.690 --> 00:42:34.269 real passion for us at Regulates Communicate 00:42:34.269 --> 00:42:37.309 is supporting the staff because... We see how 00:42:37.309 --> 00:42:40.469 difficult and challenging this is. How little 00:42:40.469 --> 00:42:42.730 training they are given, let's face it. Absolutely, 00:42:42.849 --> 00:42:46.409 yeah. There isn't the training out there. There 00:42:46.409 --> 00:42:49.909 isn't the therapeutic training and an approach 00:42:49.909 --> 00:42:52.730 that's taught. You're taught about teaching and 00:42:52.730 --> 00:42:55.190 you're taught about the curriculum, but not so 00:42:55.190 --> 00:42:58.349 much about this part, the regulation part, the 00:42:58.349 --> 00:43:00.730 co -regulation part and the therapeutic part. 00:43:01.739 --> 00:43:04.539 Yeah, the feedback already has been fantastic 00:43:04.539 --> 00:43:07.119 and we're just so keen to share it with as many 00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:09.559 people as possible and to have it as part of 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:12.699 behavioural policies because that's when it works 00:43:12.699 --> 00:43:15.000 best, when it's consistent and when it's an expectation 00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:17.739 that this is what we are doing as a school and 00:43:17.739 --> 00:43:21.739 this is what we believe in, that we need. you 00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:23.420 know to be looking at the nervous system as a 00:43:23.420 --> 00:43:25.780 first port of call that doesn't mean to say that 00:43:25.780 --> 00:43:28.639 we can't do the emotion coaching later on because 00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:31.920 we totally respect and value that as an intervention 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:35.360 in itself but first of all we need to manage 00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:38.639 the nervous system and once we've done that then 00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:40.820 we can start talking about emotions if that's 00:43:40.820 --> 00:43:42.320 appropriate and a lot of these interventions 00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:45.579 we love emotions it's a fantastic intervention 00:43:45.579 --> 00:43:49.019 it works it just doesn't work at that point of 00:43:49.019 --> 00:43:51.659 crisis when you've got a child who's feeling 00:43:51.659 --> 00:43:54.599 really scared they're not feeling safe at all 00:43:54.599 --> 00:43:57.460 they're feeling really vulnerable putting lots 00:43:57.460 --> 00:44:01.079 of language in is often just more dysregulating 00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:03.719 and I think we've seen that time and again it's 00:44:03.719 --> 00:44:06.179 really well -meaning staff I mean as Elliot said 00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:08.460 we are so passionate about the teams that we 00:44:08.460 --> 00:44:10.860 work with because they're fantastic they're wonderful 00:44:10.860 --> 00:44:13.239 and they're trying their best in really difficult 00:44:13.239 --> 00:44:16.719 situations So they might come in with this really 00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:19.840 fantastic coaching, but actually if you don't 00:44:19.840 --> 00:44:22.940 get your timing right, it can cause more dysregulation. 00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:24.980 Then how does that member of staff feel? How 00:44:24.980 --> 00:44:27.780 does that child feel? You know, it just kind 00:44:27.780 --> 00:44:30.619 of breaks that connection down. So we kind of, 00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:33.059 our crisis to come is really at that kind of 00:44:33.059 --> 00:44:36.039 epicenter, that moment where that child is really 00:44:36.039 --> 00:44:39.679 feeling that real heightened dysregulation. What 00:44:39.679 --> 00:44:42.340 do we do then? And as Ellie has said, if we can 00:44:42.340 --> 00:44:44.400 all do the same thing, if it's all consistent. 00:44:45.199 --> 00:44:47.380 people within the space whether that's in a corridor 00:44:47.380 --> 00:44:49.639 or whether that's out in the you know trying 00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:51.400 to come in from the bus wherever it might be 00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:53.579 they can look at you and go I know where you 00:44:53.579 --> 00:44:55.639 are in crisis to come I know what you were doing 00:44:55.639 --> 00:44:59.420 at that point you know and it helps it be a consistent 00:44:59.420 --> 00:45:02.300 language a consistent approach and kids feel 00:45:02.300 --> 00:45:04.400 safer because they know what's going to happen 00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:06.059 when they're feeling a little bit wobbly a little 00:45:06.059 --> 00:45:08.659 bit unsafe yeah and then hopefully they can also 00:45:08.659 --> 00:45:11.400 learn how to get themselves from crisis to come 00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:13.900 ultimately that's the goal isn't it that these 00:45:13.900 --> 00:45:15.760 are like i said before with this little girl 00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:17.920 that they become independent thriving adults 00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:20.000 that they can get themselves from those crisis 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:22.780 situations because they're learning those techniques 00:45:22.780 --> 00:45:25.880 quite consistently and quite clearly who is this 00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:27.800 training for then what does the i suppose what 00:45:27.800 --> 00:45:29.920 does the training look like but also who is the 00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:32.480 training for who are you hoping to reach through 00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:37.420 yeah i suppose it's it's um mainly schools we 00:45:37.420 --> 00:45:39.690 sort of pitching this towards what as we said 00:45:39.690 --> 00:45:43.090 we do do more of a parent specific workshop and 00:45:43.090 --> 00:45:45.929 it's for staff that are working in schools that 00:45:45.929 --> 00:45:48.250 are supporting children that are experiencing 00:45:48.250 --> 00:45:51.030 these crisis moments quite regularly so that 00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:53.570 could be specialist settings that could be mainstream 00:45:53.570 --> 00:45:56.710 settings that could be resource bases it really 00:45:56.710 --> 00:45:59.429 works for everyone and that's the great thing 00:45:59.429 --> 00:46:01.789 about the intervention because the principles 00:46:01.789 --> 00:46:05.929 and the three steps are exactly the same for 00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:10.340 any young person um it's just that it's going 00:46:10.340 --> 00:46:12.420 to be individualized slightly different if you're 00:46:12.420 --> 00:46:14.099 working in a specialist setting or if you're 00:46:14.099 --> 00:46:16.400 working in a mainstream setting and that's really 00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:18.679 dependent on the child not necessarily the setting 00:46:18.679 --> 00:46:23.159 if that makes sense um so yeah so any member 00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:26.239 of staff can come come along and we do tend to 00:46:26.239 --> 00:46:28.139 have the members of staff who are on the ground 00:46:28.139 --> 00:46:30.920 teachers the tas the people who are in those 00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:33.949 moments and what I think is really frustrating 00:46:33.949 --> 00:46:36.949 for a lot of educators is then how do we translate 00:46:36.949 --> 00:46:39.230 that to senior leaders in order to change things 00:46:39.230 --> 00:46:41.730 like behaviour policy and to change the approach 00:46:41.730 --> 00:46:44.210 we take across the school. In our experience, 00:46:44.329 --> 00:46:49.019 unfortunately, but fortunately in one way. People 00:46:49.019 --> 00:46:51.019 need to see the results. They need to see the 00:46:51.019 --> 00:46:53.760 change happening in order to translate it into 00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:56.260 a whole school approach. I would absolutely love 00:46:56.260 --> 00:46:58.599 it if teachers came on the train and said, yes, 00:46:58.619 --> 00:47:02.199 I'm real, let's do it. But actually, it's within 00:47:02.199 --> 00:47:05.579 the practice that people can see the significant 00:47:05.579 --> 00:47:08.380 impact. And that's where we're so lucky to be 00:47:08.380 --> 00:47:10.840 going into these schools, because as I've said. 00:47:11.280 --> 00:47:13.820 this was really organically created because this 00:47:13.820 --> 00:47:15.960 is what ellie and i were doing within the settings 00:47:15.960 --> 00:47:19.159 all day every day and staff were going that was 00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:22.019 great how do i do that how do i make that happen 00:47:22.019 --> 00:47:24.719 i think because a lot of our schools saw us putting 00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:27.360 it in place We trained up the staff really organically. 00:47:27.719 --> 00:47:29.760 Senior leaders jumped right on board because, 00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:31.800 as Ellie said, the incidents started coming down, 00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:34.539 staff were happier, classrooms were running more 00:47:34.539 --> 00:47:37.320 smoothly. It is, our training's open to everyone. 00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:39.480 I'd love to say, senior leaders, please come 00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:41.320 along. We'd love to have you. If you're a support 00:47:41.320 --> 00:47:43.099 assistant, this is for you. If you're a teacher, 00:47:43.219 --> 00:47:44.500 this is for you. If you're a parent, this is 00:47:44.500 --> 00:47:47.380 for you. And share it. Talk about it with your 00:47:47.380 --> 00:47:49.340 teams. Talk about it in your staff meetings. 00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:52.909 When somebody's... saying how good you are at 00:47:52.909 --> 00:47:54.929 managing a situation tell them what structure 00:47:54.929 --> 00:47:57.949 you're using so that it gets spread across the 00:47:57.949 --> 00:48:00.050 trust across the school so that becomes part 00:48:00.050 --> 00:48:02.750 of your policy part of the expectation because 00:48:02.750 --> 00:48:04.829 it's only going to then support more children 00:48:04.829 --> 00:48:08.369 i love that so much is it live training is it 00:48:08.369 --> 00:48:12.320 virtual training what does it look like So we're 00:48:12.320 --> 00:48:14.780 going to be running, coming up soon, we're going 00:48:14.780 --> 00:48:17.000 to be doing a virtual workshop. So it will be 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:18.980 live, so Ellie and I will be there. It's going 00:48:18.980 --> 00:48:21.280 to be virtual, so you can ask us any questions. 00:48:21.739 --> 00:48:24.920 We are going to, we can also come into your settings 00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:29.320 and deliver it face to face. And hopefully we're 00:48:29.320 --> 00:48:31.539 going to be working towards creating more recordings 00:48:31.539 --> 00:48:34.880 so people can just access it as they go. So as 00:48:34.880 --> 00:48:37.789 Ellie said, our goal is, we know it works. our 00:48:37.789 --> 00:48:40.309 goal is to get it out to as many places as possible 00:48:40.309 --> 00:48:43.289 so we've got the virtual workshop coming up we 00:48:43.289 --> 00:48:45.030 can come in and do some face -to -face training 00:48:45.030 --> 00:48:47.090 definitely and hopefully we'll have some more 00:48:47.090 --> 00:48:50.309 recorded content coming soon as well so to head 00:48:50.309 --> 00:48:52.590 to your website regulate to communicate .com 00:48:52.590 --> 00:48:55.289 to check out that and everything else that you 00:48:55.289 --> 00:48:58.250 share as well which again it goes in parallel 00:48:58.250 --> 00:49:00.090 with all of this you know it's all good it's 00:49:00.090 --> 00:49:02.460 all part of that but this particular approach 00:49:02.460 --> 00:49:05.019 sounds really needed and really exciting and 00:49:05.019 --> 00:49:07.780 i do feel like it would support the confidence 00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:12.500 of so many support staff that are really loving 00:49:12.500 --> 00:49:14.679 and really trying hard to support these children 00:49:14.679 --> 00:49:16.940 with no training whatsoever and i just feel like 00:49:16.940 --> 00:49:19.639 it would really give them a boost of confidence 00:49:19.639 --> 00:49:22.820 to know that what they are doing is right and 00:49:22.820 --> 00:49:26.179 it's good practice yeah we hope and that's the 00:49:26.179 --> 00:49:28.210 feedback we've had and i think in everything 00:49:28.210 --> 00:49:30.090 we do with our sensory service and also with 00:49:30.090 --> 00:49:32.949 our crisis to calm there's the approach and then 00:49:32.949 --> 00:49:35.989 actually it develops so much greater understanding 00:49:35.989 --> 00:49:38.829 into our kids and their sensory needs and their 00:49:38.829 --> 00:49:41.329 communication needs so the reach can be really 00:49:41.329 --> 00:49:43.929 far and the impact can be quite significant so 00:49:43.929 --> 00:49:46.150 just doing crisis to calm actually going to grain 00:49:46.150 --> 00:49:48.889 such a greater insight into sensory regulation 00:49:48.889 --> 00:49:50.980 and also communication Of course, it's going 00:49:50.980 --> 00:49:52.820 to bleed into everything you do because you're 00:49:52.820 --> 00:49:55.179 understanding your learners so much deeper, aren't 00:49:55.179 --> 00:49:57.440 you? It's going to then impact your lesson, your 00:49:57.440 --> 00:49:59.900 learning, your lesson plans, how you manage, 00:50:00.199 --> 00:50:02.039 you know, friendships and all of those things 00:50:02.039 --> 00:50:04.619 is, of course, going to be effective. And I feel 00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:07.659 like that's where these good approaches that 00:50:07.659 --> 00:50:10.820 are coming up, whereas we're exploring what neuroaffirming 00:50:10.820 --> 00:50:13.679 means, is doing. I feel like all of these approaches, 00:50:13.800 --> 00:50:16.199 all these people that I'm talking to. That's 00:50:16.199 --> 00:50:17.559 exactly what they're finding. They're finding 00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:19.599 that it's this one standalone approach that then 00:50:19.599 --> 00:50:22.659 actually becomes embedded in just the philosophy 00:50:22.659 --> 00:50:25.619 and the feeling of the entire school, the entire 00:50:25.619 --> 00:50:29.239 class. I feel like that is what it is to be doing 00:50:29.239 --> 00:50:31.300 good practice. It just naturally kind of, like 00:50:31.300 --> 00:50:33.480 you said, organically bleeds into everything 00:50:33.480 --> 00:50:36.139 you do because it just feels good. It feels good 00:50:36.139 --> 00:50:38.000 as the practitioner. It feels good for the child. 00:50:38.219 --> 00:50:40.360 And yeah, this is another approach that definitely 00:50:40.360 --> 00:50:44.590 ticks that box. you know, neuroaffirming practice, 00:50:44.909 --> 00:50:47.789 validating, celebrating who they are, not trying 00:50:47.789 --> 00:50:50.010 to change and not trying to get them to conform, 00:50:50.349 --> 00:50:53.949 really honouring who they are as a person and 00:50:53.949 --> 00:50:57.769 supporting them to be the most engaged, thriving 00:50:57.769 --> 00:51:01.349 learner that they can possibly be in that moment. 00:51:01.429 --> 00:51:03.150 I mean, that is good neuroaffirming practice. 00:51:03.349 --> 00:51:06.789 So, yeah, I love this approach. Yeah, I mean, 00:51:06.789 --> 00:51:09.630 we stay perceiving part of it, aren't we? it's 00:51:09.630 --> 00:51:12.230 so great to see the outcomes already yeah yeah 00:51:12.230 --> 00:51:14.849 we're just we're just keen to share it with as 00:51:14.849 --> 00:51:17.590 many people as possible so keep a look out on 00:51:17.590 --> 00:51:19.949 on our instagram because we'll be sharing when 00:51:19.949 --> 00:51:22.409 the workshop launch is there so you can access 00:51:22.409 --> 00:51:24.949 it brilliant i'll share all social media links 00:51:24.949 --> 00:51:27.369 and uh website links down below if you want to 00:51:27.369 --> 00:51:29.449 check it out definitely go and check out episode 00:51:29.449 --> 00:51:32.550 50 as well where sophia and ellie talk about 00:51:32.550 --> 00:51:35.219 you know regulate to communicate as a whole and 00:51:35.219 --> 00:51:37.800 sensory needs and communication and how to integrate 00:51:37.800 --> 00:51:39.360 those because that's a really great episode as 00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:41.059 well thank you so much ladies for joining me 00:51:41.059 --> 00:51:41.239 again