Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education
teacher from the UK. I share my passion for everything
communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson
ideas for my classroom of disabled pupils aged
4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in
the field answering your questions and sharing
our knowledge and experience working alongside
our beautiful young people. Let's get started.
Hello everybody and welcome to the Sensory Classroom
podcast. My name is Jordan and today I am joined
again by Regulate to Communicate for the second
time. They joined me on episode 50 and they are
back to talk about their new approach. Ellie
and Sophia run Regulate to Communicate, Occupational
Therapist and Speech and Language Therapy, coming
together in one holistic approach and I'm so
excited to speak about their new approach today.
Hi ladies. Hi. It's so nice to be here. It's
so nice to be back. Yeah, we loved your last
episode. It did really well because I think so
many people are seeing things separately from
a speech and language lens or through an occupational
therapy lens. And it's so refreshing to work
with it together because so often, and we're
going to be talking about crisis situations today,
but so often those crisis situations come from
a combination of sensory needs not being met,
environment not being suitable. them not maybe
having the communication or access to communication
that they need at that time and it's something
that I see often in my classroom do you mind
explaining a little bit if they haven't listened
to episode 50 about the background of regulate
to communicate how you guys came together how
you guys through your business basically regulate
to communicate kind of came about because we
were both working separately as an occupational
therapist as a speech and language therapist
and we found that more often than not we were
consulting on the same cases so we were working
with young people in schools in setting And when
I was doing my sensory work, I needed Sophia's
help to look at their communication. And when
Sophia was doing her communication work, she
needed help from me to look at regulating them
and helping them to be more regulated, more calm,
so that they were better able to communicate.
So we thought, hmm, there's something in this.
I think it'll work best if, moving forward, we
work with all children together. That's when
we see the greatest impact, when they've got
those communication skills and those regulation
skills working together. And it's really kind
of grown organically because when we did start
working on cases together, the feedback we were
having from school teams and also parents were
that actually the outcomes were really successful.
You know, we were really... understanding these
kids a little bit more and figuring out exactly
what they did need to pull all these puzzle pieces
together and to really support them to engage
in whatever that might be whether it's education
or social socialization or going to the toilet
or whatever it could be um so We kind of came
together and we thought we need to kind of grow
this. So we work within the West Midlands, within
specific schools, but we're really keen to kind
of share this approach as wide as we possibly
can because we know it's really hard to find
outreach professionals, really tricky, and then
really tricky to find those outreach professionals
that will work collaboratively and also make
sure you only get one set of targets. One set
of goals, one set of recommendations that are
conflicting with each other and work towards
the best outcomes for the children and the young
people within these settings. And when we last
spoke to you, it was quite new, you know, since
then you've really taken off with social media,
you've developed your branding and your website
and everything. What have you noticed since,
I think it was November last year, what have
you been noticing? since that of the impact you've
had over the from the wider you know people that
have been able to access your your staff well
the big thing that's come back is kind of what
you started with saying Jordan a lot of people
are coming to us going Why aren't more people
doing this? This is exactly what we need. We
need OT and speech and language together because
you can't separate those two things out. And
we're getting that message again and again through
our social media. So social media is not a natural
skill set for us. But we're really trying hard
because we know that's the way to connect with
so many different people. And I would say I'm
completely in Instagram comfort. And it's so
lovely to have such a great community of people
who are really just trying to do the best for
these children within these settings and totally
get us, totally get what we're trying to do.
I'm really eager for support and we've been really
thinking a lot around how we can make our service
even more accessible through putting out loads
of free content, as much free content as we can,
trying to make our training really accessible,
trying to make our virtual support accessible.
So then people who are desperate for this type
of help can get it through us. And I think ones
that are accessing our support through our social
media, be it looking at our videos and giving
them a try. or coming onto our online workshops,
they're seeing the work that we're doing, putting
it in place and seeing the impact. So for example,
sensory circuits, that has been a really big
hit on Instagram. A lot have attended the workshop
and they're putting in place sensory circuits,
not only informed by occupational therapy, but
informed by speech and language therapy. And
they're like... wow this actually works and these
are settings that are already doing sensory circuits
but because they've not known how to fine -tune
it because they've not known how to fully meet
the communication needs or their sensory needs
specifically now after accessing some of our
support they're doing it in a way that's that's
really helping the kids. And we've had some really
great feedback that we always share so that more
people can see how it might help their setting.
And I think we're really passionate around inclusion.
A lot of the things that we talk about in the
regulate to communicate approach is good for
all kids and young people. And I think that's
been a real game changer, especially with the
sensory circuit. Sometimes... In some settings
they're seen as a real specific approach for
this very small group of children that are then
removed from their peers to access it in a separate
space. And I think what's really resonated with
people is actually this can be done within a
mainstream classroom, within a wider group, whether
that's a specialist group of eight kids, you
know, it can be done to really promote that inclusion
and to help us connect with our kids through
these sensory activities and really understand
our kids a little bit more without it making...
it's something you have to withdraw for, something
you need more stuff for, something you need to
find more time to do. So not only are, you know,
staff seeing the benefits on the children and
young people, it's also making their life a lot
easier as well. And it's only going to get more
needed, isn't it? As we're talking about inclusion
is a really hot topic at the moment. The government's
white paper, you know, we're not really sure
what that is going to look like, but it's certainly
going to look like more SEND children in mainstream.
That's guaranteed. So if all children are going
to benefit from combining these occupational
therapy techniques, these speech -language techniques,
and what special education teachers have been
doing for quite a while, if we can bring those
into mainstream and have them as a really high
-quality, inclusive offer for all children, then
I feel like everyone's going to benefit. The
teachers, the staff, there's going to be more
learning, more focus, all of that. yeah what
you've just said there i was just thinking about
because really a lot of what we're doing for
mainstream settings now is drawing on our knowledge
and experience of been in specialist settings
and there's so much amazing practice that we've
learned from in specialist settings for example
again going back to the sensory circuits you
do it as a whole class in the morning all the
students and you know you're talking about there
students with very diverse and complex needs
but you're managing to do it as a whole class
in the classroom so we thought why not can that
not be replicated within the mainstream classroom
and it's working So it's about learning from
all these different settings and what all these
other STEM professionals are doing and trying
to make it more equitable amongst all the schools.
And more seen. I mean, we're literally locked
behind a door. Like so often our doors are locked.
Yeah. It's hard maybe for us to access and be
seen by the outside in the classroom or not.
My class is attached to a mainstream school and
even... then we are quite separate just because
of the anxieties of the children you know their
own needs their own sensory needs it means that
we are quite separate so we're not able to share
or really celebrate all of these wonderful things
that the other classes could benefit from and
I suppose that's the beauty of social media is
that we can kind of put a magnifying glass and
you know shine a light on these great practices
because it really could help everybody especially
now when we're looking you know, to really improve
inclusion and what inclusion really, really means.
I'm sure you're the same in your DMs. You're
often faced with messages about crisis behaviours.
And it seems that mainstream schools are seeing
more and more crisis behaviours, quite extreme
crisis behaviours sometimes, and sometimes quite
hidden crisis behaviours. I know that's where
your new approach is sparked. from are you okay
talking a little bit about the word crisis behavior
what it really means what it really looks like
so that those listening can understand what to
look out for and also maybe even resonate with
some of the things that they're seeing in their
settings so when we think about we we had a lot
of thought about this approach so this approach
really the way most of the things with regulate
to communicate have been created is really organically
we've been trying to put what we do every day
into a manageable chunk to kind of share with
as many people as possible and what we were finding
is when we were in settings we were often supporting
these children who were in crisis But it was
called lots of different things within these
settings. So that child just keeps having a meltdown.
That child is presenting with behaviours that
we find him really challenging to manage. That
child is really angry or that child is really
withdrawn. So the language around crisis we found
is just so varied. So when we were trying to
translate our approach to... our wider population
it was really hard because actually we're all
using such different language to talk about it
and I think trying to get a consistent language
is really important so we know we can identify
it and then really importantly put the right
intervention in place to support that child at
that point so when we think about those crisis
behaviors the really important thing to say it's
not always the big loud, challenging behaviours.
Sometimes the presentation of a child in crisis
can be tricky to manage. It can be quite physical.
It can be quite loud. But on the other end of
the spectrum, we have kids who are in crisis
who are actually incredibly quiet in their presentation.
So they might be more that trying to flee. escape
withdraw and actually it's that that's the crisis
that i'm just going to shut down because that's
as safe as i can make myself if i completely
shut down and withdraw whether that is getting
myself away from the class or hiding under a
table those crisis both of those crisis whether
it's really loud or really quiet they both need
to be seen with an equal amount of importance
and actually the intervention is really similar
because what we're really dealing with when a
child is in crisis is an overwhelmed nervous
system and you know we can't see the nervous
system because it's inside our body but what
we can see is the behavioral response to what's
going on with the nervous system and what's going
on with the brain so we have to be really like
detectives to try and understand what does a
crisis look like for this specific child and
it's going to be different depending on the child
but really recognizing and valuing both those
different types of crisis presentations that's
really the starting point for a lot of our training
really is helping ones to identify what that
looks like and understand what's going on in
the brain and what's going on in the body so
that we can then best support. I suppose that's
what's difficult about doing this kind of work
in mainstream is my children make it so obvious
when they are feeling overwhelmed. It is big.
It is loud often. Yeah, it's magnified. There's
sensory regulation on the outside. identified
just because of who they are. And I suppose in
mainstream, you are seeing fawning, aren't you?
You're seeing children that are in crisis actually
trying desperately to please, trying desperately
to do the right thing. And often they're the
ones that are being praised for doing that. And
actually they're in just as much crisis as the
learners in my class that you're seeing as, you
know, hurting behaviours or those really big
behaviours. I think it's the same level of overwhelm.
And I feel like that's what makes it so tricky.
to be able to navigate and notice those things.
Would it be, I mean, I suppose it starts with
knowing your learners and working with adults
that know them well as well. And I suppose understanding
their baseline, what does a good day look like
for them? And then what's changed? Have they
gone then under the radar or have they gone over?
And I suppose any of those big changes compared
to their baseline could be. cause a crisis you
know starting to share that dysregulation which
could cause that crisis and kind of lead to that
and i think we start all of our training by really
exploring that whole spectrum because as you've
said it it's not always easy it really isn't
always easy and often when we're in schools when
we are called to those big loud moments those
messy moments those ones you know where kids
might be using more physical behaviors or might
be more loud in their vocalizations And that's
when we tend to call. But what we see a lot of,
because we spend a lot of time in our classrooms,
is a lot of this falling, a lot of this fleeing
that might be going under the radar. Staff are
really aware that the child's having a difficult
time. But do they understand what's happening
in their nervous system? I think that's the difference.
We always, with all of our workshops, all of
our training, we always start with understanding
that spectrum when it comes to sensory processing
and really starting to understand what's happening
in our kids' nervous system because it's really
hard. We work with lots of kids who are super
perfect, perfect in school, but at home, they're
really dysregulated. They spend a lot of time
in this state of crisis at home because of...
held it together they've held it together they've
tried to be really good they've kind of sat still
on their chair and they come home and that you
know that dysregulation just has to come out
somewhere so good clue as well couldn't if you're
hearing from parents and carers that they're
having a really tough time at home rather than
your first thought being something's wrong at
home yeah maybe our first thought should be oh
what could we put in place in the day yeah To
make home easier. Yeah. And I think that's so
important because we work with a lot of parents
as well. who become incredibly frustrated and
upset themselves because they're thinking, what
am I doing or what's happening in school when
I'm not there for them to come home and be so
upset and in this crisis state. And it can be
really upsetting and distressing as a parent
to know that your child is struggling through
school. All we're hearing is, they're fine at
school. They've got friends, they're doing everything.
That is even more confusing, isn't it? Because
you just think, well, there must be something.
Yeah. that we're not seeing or you're not seeing.
And I guess that's the point, isn't it? They're
not seeing it because it's internal. Yeah. So
I think it is our responsibility as the ones
that are with those children for a large part
of their day to put on our sensory goggles and
our communication goggles and start to try and
unpick what's going on or what those subtle signs
might be for that. a particular learner to see
if there is anything in the day that we can put
in place to support them so it doesn't escalate
and lead to this crisis because actually a lot
of the people that have been on our crisis to
calm workshop already have been parents it's
been mostly parents And they found the intervention
transformative and it's helped them to think
about managing those crisis situations in a way
that really supports the child and is simple
to remember and easy for everyone in the family
to do. Brilliant. And I suppose it's because
they're the ones seeing the... the aftermath
of what's happening in school but how much easier
and better for the child if the parents and the
teachers in school are doing this system because
then they're not going to get to the crisis before
they reach the calm i suppose that's that is
the ultimate goal isn't it to never reach the
point that you're you know so desperate that
that you're working inside or outside yeah that's
always and with the whole regulate to communicate
approach it's all built on we're trying to prevent
this dysregulation. If the regulate to communicate
approach is embedded within an environment, the
levels of dysregulation should reduce dramatically.
You know, we should have less kids in crisis
because the environment's more supportive. The
relationships are really strong with the people
that they're working with. The routine is really
well embedded and supports their needs. So the
goal is that actually crisis to calm as an intervention
is needed less and less and less. But what we
know and what we've seen all the time. is that
a lot of teachers, a lot of parents, a lot of
TAs are finding themselves in a position where
they're with a child who's experiencing this
extreme dysregulation, they're in crisis, and
they're not sure what the best thing is to do.
And unfortunately, we are still moving away from
that more behaviouralist approach. And I think
the behaviouralist approach is always kind of,
people always fall back onto it because they
don't know what else to do. You know, what we've
done for years is this real sort of... you know,
reward system and kind of this compliance -led
approach. And I think we can sit here and go,
oh, that's really bad. You shouldn't do that.
But actually, are we telling parents and educators
what they should be doing instead? I think actually
lots of people, we know not to use it. I think
lots of people listening will think, hang on,
hang on, wait, what? We don't use that. Could
you explain a little bit more about what you
mean by, because I don't want people to leave
this confused in any way of why we don't promote
those things. Can you explain why, reward systems
compliance -based systems aren't the best way
because I feel like that will then help to support
your newer affirming approaches and help people
to understand why it's it's better to do a compassionate
approach rather than a compliance -based so what
are you seeing in classrooms and at home actually
And what does that mean for the learner in the
short term and the long term that could be detrimental?
That's a big one. Because I have lots of opinions
on this. We could talk about this. I'll try not
to. So if we think about a behaviourist approach,
the big thing... Starting at the first step,
because there's so much we could break down in
terms of how we're managing this. A child is
presenting in a way that a parent or an educator
is finding challenging for one reason or another.
So again, as we've said, it could be quite physical,
it could be quite loud. Now, if we look at that
through a behavioural lens, what we're doing
is we're really minimising what's happening here.
And we're also taking away a really important
opportunity to understand the child we're working
with. So what we know is behavior is communication.
But what we don't talk about enough is behavior
is rooted in our sensory regulation system. So
when we are seeing a behaviour that we may find
challenging, really that gives us as a queue,
as adults within the environment, to understand
that child a little bit more. What are they trying
to tell me? But what's happening from a sensory
regulation system? So looking at their nervous
system, looking at their sensory processing and
thinking about what might be happening there
and how can we unpick that in order to support
the child move out of this state. moved for more
i suppose because the alternative would be looking
at the behavior externally not thinking about
what's going on with their needs not thinking
about what it is they are trying to tell us not
thinking about what has gone on before but going
on what they are just doing in the moment so
say if they are ripping a display that's a classic
one right you are you are managing the ripping
of the display you're not managing their anxiety
or their dysregulation or communication needs
in that moment you are managing stopping them
from ripping the display. And sometimes that
can look like physically, physical removal. Sometimes
that can look like telling off, you know, calling
the behavior bad, naughty. You know, I've seen
those things. But it can also look like positive,
kind approaches, which are also compliance -based.
like offering bribes offering rewards for doing
certain things that might mean do this yeah or
if you keep doing this you're not going to be
able to you're not going to yes if you keep doing
this you're not going to get play time which
is exactly what they need or working for something
so you can only get your sensory needs met you
can only get what your body is really needing
If you have done my way first. And it is that
like, I suppose it's called control and compliance
space because what we are doing is we are putting
our needs as an educator before their needs as
a human, I suppose, at its basic level. And I
think what you're missing there is the connection
there. Because actually in these moments that
may be seen as naughty behaviour. what they are
actually that is a child who is in a moment of
feeling really vulnerable and quite unsafe and
is looking to you and to the environment to go
help me feel safe again and what a great opportunity
for connection you know if you can become that
safe person in that moment if you can try and
understand that child in that moment that connection
means long term the outcome and engagement and
participation of that child is going to be so
much greater anywhere and I always it never goes
down well with schools but I always think you
know when these behaviors that you do find challenging
within the classroom actually it's a great opportunity
what are they telling us let's understand this
child more what is it that they are telling us
what can we do in order to meet that need and
then how can we by meeting that need create more
opportunities for connection and learning and
participation. You know, it actually gives us
a really good way in for these kids. Yeah. And
that's mainstream children. You know, these are
children without a diagnosis. These are children
without neurodiversities. You know, all children
can experience big and little trauma throughout.
their day and or aren't feeling it you know for
whatever reason they could be tired there's something
happening at home they could be feeling poorly
there are so many reasons why they could be feeling
this overwhelming crisis and as well as then
non -diagnosed neurodivergence in mainstream
it can be so many different reasons that can
really happen to everybody so if we're all seeing
it through a compassionate lens if we're all
trying to really understand you this is unusual
for this child there's obviously something happening
here if we're looking at through that detective
lens rather than judgment shame you know or sometimes
public humiliation sometimes those traffic light
systems in classrooms please don't use those
any way of publicly displaying that this child
is having a hard time is not going to help build
that trust so and I'm saying this and I know
that so many schools are still using these systems
and I think it's really important too that we
do talk about what we mean by it because so many
teachers are genuinely trying to do the right
thing they love their people so much but they're
not being there's not that explanation of why
these things systems don't work and I guess it's
the most I mean what it really comes down to
is adult people are telling us that those systems
used in their childhood was harmful yeah I mean,
that alone is enough for me. We should stop.
Exactly. And it is so sad because we are seeing
this more children with complex PTSD from being
in a school system that's broken and that hasn't
met their needs. And that's really upsetting
because the very thing that should be there to
support and help them is actually caused a lot
of damage. And as you say, that is enough. That
is enough for us to change our practice or question
our practice. And the other thing is... the behaviour
system doesn't work. So if you've got a child
who is ripping up that display, which is a great
example, Jordan, and you get them to start by
bribing them with, oh, well, if you stop doing
that, we're going to get the bubbles out, whatever
it might be. What's going to happen in an hour?
We're going to be ripping up that display again.
They want bubbles again. They're going to learn.
It's not, I mean, even my most high support needs
learners will learn when I want bubbles again
or when I want that. interaction again when I
want my needs met again I have to do this extreme
behavior to be able to well looking today isn't
even this extreme let's just start but I have
to do this behavior to get those needs met I've
got I don't know if you mind me telling a little
story I've got a little girl in my class and
parents have given me permission to share this
because it just explains it really really well
she came to us in nursery and she was thumping
herself in the head so You would see that as
a really extreme behavior. It was really upsetting
for adults to witness. Really punching herself
in the head, bruises both sides of temples. And
parents were really worried that she was hurting,
that she was telling us that she's hurt. Again,
from a compassionate lens, it's a really great
thing. They didn't see it as behavior. They saw
it as she's trying to tell us something. So they
went to the pediatrician and they ruled out any
medical need. She wasn't hurting. So then they
were confused. You know, why would she be punching
herself? So then we looked at it through a sensory
lens and a communication lens. Exactly what you
guys are about. What is she trying to tell us
about her body? And what is she trying to tell
us about, you know, what she needs? She needed
grounding in that moment. And punching yourself
in the head tells her body where it is in space.
It tells her where her hands are. It tells her
where her head is. I mean, they're so sensitive,
aren't they? She was getting relief. But she
was also... Getting adults to come to her so
quickly and fix her problem. It was the quickest
way that she could get an adult to respond to
her need. And I was watching her and what I noticed
was before she did the punching and it was minimal,
she would look at what she wanted or she would
look at an adult. You know, she wasn't ready
to reach her point yet. She didn't understand
that because what she'd learned in her early
years was the quickest way to get that thing,
to get help, to get the adults to respond to
me. is to do this. And it was so effective because
you can't ignore somebody, you know, punching
themselves in the head. And she's a cute little
thing. You couldn't possibly ignore it. So it
was really effective. So she'd learned that the
quickest way to meet these sensory needs and
these communication needs and get my needs met
is to hit myself in the head. She didn't want
to hit herself in the head. She wanted to get
her sensory needs met and she wanted to get her
health needs met. So what we decided as a team
and with the parents' permission as well. We
were going to act slightly slower to her crisis
behaviours, her hurting behaviours. And with
absolute urgency to anything else she offered
us, a look, a point, a reach, anything that she
gave us that wasn't, you know, hurting behaviours,
we would react as if she was hurting herself.
So what this looked like was when she would,
yeah, look at the object that she needed, which
was often basic needs, a blanket. snack drink
you know it was her meat trying to meet her basic
needs we would run to her we would give her the
blanket show her blanket on her go talk so her
offering her another way of saying it and we
would say blanket you know we would run to her
and then when she was hitting herself we would
come on over we would still come on over and
we would support her with the regulation needs
like help you know and we would We would make
sure those buttons, she had sound buttons and
GoTalks, were always available to her and we
would model those. And what we noticed was throughout
the year, and it did take a year of doing this,
we were very consistent and very adamant that
this will support her to learn a better way,
to learn a kinder way so she doesn't have to
hurt herself to get her needs met. Within a year,
she was then doing this. The girl also going
over to the object and handing it to the adult.
She was pointing. She was using objects of reference
to request. She was pressing her sound button.
She was pressing her GoTalk independently. So
in the year we saw, you know, within a year we
saw that it was communication. It was her trying
to meet her basic needs and she didn't want to
hurt herself. It's just that was the only way
she knew to meet her needs. And I use that example
because it is a very extreme example. You might
not see those behaviours in mainstream, but it
does represent perfectly what we're saying of
children don't want to be doing these things.
They don't want to be spitting, hurting, throwing,
ripping, hurting their friends. They don't want
to be doing that. But they know no other more
effective way of getting their needs met, whether
that be sensory or basic needs like this little
girl. So what we need to be doing is we need
to be responding as urgently as a crisis, as
managing their anxiety rather than managing their
behaviour. It's anxiety management rather than
behaviour management, if you will. You know,
we're treating this as an anxiety attack more
than a behaviour. And now when I see any kind
of crisis behaviours in mainstream or not, I
just think back to that little girl and think,
what is the equivalent here? What is this child
needing? from us um because I have never met
a child that that wants to be hurting that wants
to be in that state it's exhausting for one I
don't know if any adults have ever had panic
attacks but it's not nice you don't want to be
in that state but I think sometimes settings
and giving children no choice other than to to
do that in order to meet their often basic needs
I think it's a really great example it's such
a great example and I think just to It took your
team being really consistent and it also took
you all kind of being fully behind it, kind of
having faith it's going to work. And it was hard.
Lots of the team were unsure because it doesn't
feel intuitive to act slow to that kind of behaviour.
It really, really doesn't. But by us being calm
and by us focusing on regulation, by us believing
her that when she wanted something, she really
wanted it. It helped. But yeah, I'm not going
to lie. I would say half of my team really, really
weren't sure and weren't on board right away.
It was only when we started to see a reduction
in her hurting behaviors and an increase in her
other communication methods that they were then
convinced. But it takes time. It didn't happen
straight away. I really had to convince them
to try it because... And how I did that was we
don't want her to be 18 and still doing this.
Yeah, absolutely. Because that doesn't look like
an independent, thriving adult. It doesn't look
like it looks like somebody that's probably three
to four to one. It looks like somebody, you know,
I've worked with adults. I think maybe that's
why where I'm coming from. I've worked with adults
that need three, four to one that can't live
at home anymore, that are in residential, that
are really. really struggling because they have
never been shown another way yeah and this girl
you know she was four we want you know we had
an opportunity there we could we could teach
her and we're so powerful as adults as well in
the space I think you know we have to really
recognize that responsibility as adults especially
with young ones because their brains are developing
so fast And we have the ability to shape those
brains. And we, as adults in the space, can positively
reinforce negative behaviours and positive behaviours.
So we have to think, what are we doing by responding?
You know, what you did there when you analysed
what we're doing by rushing to her when she is
banging her head is we're actually reinforcing
that method of communication, which we don't
want to do. Same as bubbles when you're ripping.
That's the same as going outside for a run when
you're, you know, throwing things in the classroom.
Yes, that is the right thing to do. The child,
yes, they need it outside, but they needed it
about an hour ago, not necessarily now. And it's
that, you know, what are the children getting
out of doing these things? Is it that they need,
you know, often I hear, oh, they're doing it
for attention. I'm like, okay, well, why aren't
you giving it to them an hour ago? If they're
needing to do that extreme behavior to get your
attention, then that's it. That's not a them
problem. That's an us problem. Why are the children
needed to go to such extreme levels to get an
interaction or a connection? So I just hear that
and just think, what? That's not a thing. I think
it's been clear. It is hard. It's really hard
as adults within the space, especially when you're
dealing with children and young people who are
experiencing crisis a lot throughout the day.
It's not an easy feat in any way, shape or form.
And that's why we created Crisis to Calm, because
in those moments, adults need to maintain their
own regulation, which can sometimes be really
tricky to do. And we want to be able to respond
to these moments in the right way, just as we've
just spoke about, you know, in the right way
with that regulation lens. But often in those
moments, staff need to think really quickly.
And that sometimes means that some of these more
behaviourist approaches slip in. So with Crisis
to Calm, we've created, it's very simple. It's
three steps. You use it in the moment to make
sure that you are responding. Because you say,
for childs in crisis, they're screaming, I'm
not safe. I need to feel safe. So it helps us
respond to that, give them lots of signs of safety.
But we've made it super duper duper simple. So
then staff... who are probably feeling really
overwhelmed probably a bit exhausted probably
really trying to maintain their own regulation
levels aren't having to think ah what am i doing
in this should i pull out a sensory circuit should
i do emotion coaching should i get my bubbles
out should we go in the playground instead of
all those questions being in adults heads if
they've got our approach which is just three
simple steps And we're using that consistently.
We're going to give that child lots of signs
that they feel really safe. We're going to build
their ability to connect with the adults around
them. And we're also going to get them back into
a calmer state, which is what we want. You know,
we want our kids to feel safe and calm and happy
and engaged within these spaces. I love that
it's so simple because you're right. In that
moment, it's so easy to meet them at that level.
And then we're not making those decisions. Like
you say, so often it's easy to go back. on um
you know you could have the best behavior plan
in the world um and you know it all goes out
the window in that moment because you know you're
thinking off the top of your head you're trying
to be spontaneous you're dysregulated as well
or half of the team are doing it and then half
of the team aren't they're going back to those
traditional methods so having it simple is great
to hear because everybody can access that everybody
can remember it to go to support the child to
calm we've spoken a lot about what crisis means
what does calm mean to you what are you what
is the result that you are after once doing these
three steps so first thing to say calm does not
always mean still i think we're all thinking
the same thing there i think that's a real common
misconception calm is sitting at a table on a
chair perfectly still serene ready to engage
um that's not what we're looking for for some
kids that is what calm will look like that is
what calm will look like but calm is very individual
just like crisis is you know all of our all of
our the way that we will present in a calm way
will present so differently for some kids that
will still look very physical that will still
look like there's lots of movement But what we
tend to, when we're looking at that calm state,
it means we're at that optimum point to engage.
And again, when we think about that, it doesn't
have to be that we're only calm when they can
sit down and do this really boring worksheet.
It might be engage with this toy that we're playing
or with this ready, steady, go game or with this
chasing game outside. It's being able to engage
with something they find really intrinsically
motivating. So we're not looking for still. We're
not looking for sitting. We're looking for getting
that child back into an optimum state where they
are content, they're happy to engage in something
that they find intrinsically motivating. Yeah.
No, I think you've covered that really well.
Yeah. And I think, yeah, that looks different
for every young person. And again, that's really
important to reflect on as adults in that space.
What does this child look like when they're in
crisis? But what do they look like when they
are calm? When are they at that optimum level
of engagement? And we hear all the time, or I
bet you hear this all the time as well, Georgia.
This child is great when they're at forest school
or when they're outside. We hear this all the
time. The amount of times me and Ellie are like,
should we do some more stuff outside then? We
hear this all the time. They're outside. They're
in nature. They've got all that sensory input.
They're often moving. It's often, you know, there's
different temperatures. There's a lot going on
in that outside. I like to know that classic
quote. If the kids are climbing the walls, remove
the walls. But that could be the most calm a
child is. That could be their perfectly calm
state. But actually what that could look like
is being in forest school, being outside, physically
exploring the space. So I always go back to that.
Because, I mean, I think we hear it every school
we go into. You'd be fine if you was outside
all day. That's their optimum state. Then that's
when they're calm. That's when they're ready
to engage. That's when you're getting the best
out of that young person. Everything with the
approach, with the whole regulate to communicate
approach, but specifically with crisis to calm,
does take you getting to, you have to know the
children that you're working with because it's
three simple steps. The three steps are the same,
but they're going to look slightly different
for that individual because everything we do
in terms of making our practice the best it can
be with these individual learners is taking an
individualized approach. So yes, it's three steps.
Yes, it's super easy to remember. But within
those three steps, there's going to be individualization
because their crisis might look different and
their calm is going to look different. And in
our workshop, we really empower teams and parents.
to kind of individualise all these steps to make
sure that the child's getting the best out of
them. It would be really lovely to add that to
a behaviour plan or whatever you want to call
it, a risk assessment or whatever, to have what
crisis looks like for them and what might cause
that, but also what the optimum calm state is,
to have it out there, not just locked away in
their folders, but maybe in some kind of communication
passport that they take round with them or whatever.
So that any adult supporting them and working
with them knows what the optimum state is, knows
what they're looking for. It will help them stop,
like, minimising that calm behaviour, like, sit
down, be still, you know, those kind of things,
if they already are at an optimum state. It will
also hopefully help them to notice and navigate
those bubbling up behaviours when we're seeing
those little cues and clues that something might
be getting a little bit going wrong. And as part
of the intervention, we've developed that very
thing you're talking about, a one page document,
which looks at crisis, calm and the three steps.
How do we work from crisis to calm using the
three steps? ones can individualize it and that
can go as part of that young person's plan like
you say sitting in the classroom and we've had
a lot of schools approaching us recently that
are looking to update their behavior policy and
their behavior approach for the whole school
And they've seen the work that we're doing or
they've maybe experienced it themselves. So a
lot of schools that are already using the crisis
to calm intervention have seen massive differences
in their young people. They've got less incidents
reporting. They've got more children that are
actually in school, so less absences. And the
staff feel positive and confident because the
staff actually know what they're doing. They're
not going into a situation thinking, what? What
do I do here? Or what worked last time? Or what
does so -and -so usually do because they're not
in today and it's now up to me? Everybody knows
with this three -step intervention that this
is what we do with every single child. It might
look slightly different for each child, but these
are the three steps that we work through in order
to move that child from that crisis situation
to that calm situation. And I think that's a
real passion for us at Regulates Communicate
is supporting the staff because... We see how
difficult and challenging this is. How little
training they are given, let's face it. Absolutely,
yeah. There isn't the training out there. There
isn't the therapeutic training and an approach
that's taught. You're taught about teaching and
you're taught about the curriculum, but not so
much about this part, the regulation part, the
co -regulation part and the therapeutic part.
Yeah, the feedback already has been fantastic
and we're just so keen to share it with as many
people as possible and to have it as part of
behavioural policies because that's when it works
best, when it's consistent and when it's an expectation
that this is what we are doing as a school and
this is what we believe in, that we need. you
know to be looking at the nervous system as a
first port of call that doesn't mean to say that
we can't do the emotion coaching later on because
we totally respect and value that as an intervention
in itself but first of all we need to manage
the nervous system and once we've done that then
we can start talking about emotions if that's
appropriate and a lot of these interventions
we love emotions it's a fantastic intervention
it works it just doesn't work at that point of
crisis when you've got a child who's feeling
really scared they're not feeling safe at all
they're feeling really vulnerable putting lots
of language in is often just more dysregulating
and I think we've seen that time and again it's
really well -meaning staff I mean as Elliot said
we are so passionate about the teams that we
work with because they're fantastic they're wonderful
and they're trying their best in really difficult
situations So they might come in with this really
fantastic coaching, but actually if you don't
get your timing right, it can cause more dysregulation.
Then how does that member of staff feel? How
does that child feel? You know, it just kind
of breaks that connection down. So we kind of,
our crisis to come is really at that kind of
epicenter, that moment where that child is really
feeling that real heightened dysregulation. What
do we do then? And as Ellie has said, if we can
all do the same thing, if it's all consistent.
people within the space whether that's in a corridor
or whether that's out in the you know trying
to come in from the bus wherever it might be
they can look at you and go I know where you
are in crisis to come I know what you were doing
at that point you know and it helps it be a consistent
language a consistent approach and kids feel
safer because they know what's going to happen
when they're feeling a little bit wobbly a little
bit unsafe yeah and then hopefully they can also
learn how to get themselves from crisis to come
ultimately that's the goal isn't it that these
are like i said before with this little girl
that they become independent thriving adults
that they can get themselves from those crisis
situations because they're learning those techniques
quite consistently and quite clearly who is this
training for then what does the i suppose what
does the training look like but also who is the
training for who are you hoping to reach through
yeah i suppose it's it's um mainly schools we
sort of pitching this towards what as we said
we do do more of a parent specific workshop and
it's for staff that are working in schools that
are supporting children that are experiencing
these crisis moments quite regularly so that
could be specialist settings that could be mainstream
settings that could be resource bases it really
works for everyone and that's the great thing
about the intervention because the principles
and the three steps are exactly the same for
any young person um it's just that it's going
to be individualized slightly different if you're
working in a specialist setting or if you're
working in a mainstream setting and that's really
dependent on the child not necessarily the setting
if that makes sense um so yeah so any member
of staff can come come along and we do tend to
have the members of staff who are on the ground
teachers the tas the people who are in those
moments and what I think is really frustrating
for a lot of educators is then how do we translate
that to senior leaders in order to change things
like behaviour policy and to change the approach
we take across the school. In our experience,
unfortunately, but fortunately in one way. People
need to see the results. They need to see the
change happening in order to translate it into
a whole school approach. I would absolutely love
it if teachers came on the train and said, yes,
I'm real, let's do it. But actually, it's within
the practice that people can see the significant
impact. And that's where we're so lucky to be
going into these schools, because as I've said.
this was really organically created because this
is what ellie and i were doing within the settings
all day every day and staff were going that was
great how do i do that how do i make that happen
i think because a lot of our schools saw us putting
it in place We trained up the staff really organically.
Senior leaders jumped right on board because,
as Ellie said, the incidents started coming down,
staff were happier, classrooms were running more
smoothly. It is, our training's open to everyone.
I'd love to say, senior leaders, please come
along. We'd love to have you. If you're a support
assistant, this is for you. If you're a teacher,
this is for you. If you're a parent, this is
for you. And share it. Talk about it with your
teams. Talk about it in your staff meetings.
When somebody's... saying how good you are at
managing a situation tell them what structure
you're using so that it gets spread across the
trust across the school so that becomes part
of your policy part of the expectation because
it's only going to then support more children
i love that so much is it live training is it
virtual training what does it look like So we're
going to be running, coming up soon, we're going
to be doing a virtual workshop. So it will be
live, so Ellie and I will be there. It's going
to be virtual, so you can ask us any questions.
We are going to, we can also come into your settings
and deliver it face to face. And hopefully we're
going to be working towards creating more recordings
so people can just access it as they go. So as
Ellie said, our goal is, we know it works. our
goal is to get it out to as many places as possible
so we've got the virtual workshop coming up we
can come in and do some face -to -face training
definitely and hopefully we'll have some more
recorded content coming soon as well so to head
to your website regulate to communicate .com
to check out that and everything else that you
share as well which again it goes in parallel
with all of this you know it's all good it's
all part of that but this particular approach
sounds really needed and really exciting and
i do feel like it would support the confidence
of so many support staff that are really loving
and really trying hard to support these children
with no training whatsoever and i just feel like
it would really give them a boost of confidence
to know that what they are doing is right and
it's good practice yeah we hope and that's the
feedback we've had and i think in everything
we do with our sensory service and also with
our crisis to calm there's the approach and then
actually it develops so much greater understanding
into our kids and their sensory needs and their
communication needs so the reach can be really
far and the impact can be quite significant so
just doing crisis to calm actually going to grain
such a greater insight into sensory regulation
and also communication Of course, it's going
to bleed into everything you do because you're
understanding your learners so much deeper, aren't
you? It's going to then impact your lesson, your
learning, your lesson plans, how you manage,
you know, friendships and all of those things
is, of course, going to be effective. And I feel
like that's where these good approaches that
are coming up, whereas we're exploring what neuroaffirming
means, is doing. I feel like all of these approaches,
all these people that I'm talking to. That's
exactly what they're finding. They're finding
that it's this one standalone approach that then
actually becomes embedded in just the philosophy
and the feeling of the entire school, the entire
class. I feel like that is what it is to be doing
good practice. It just naturally kind of, like
you said, organically bleeds into everything
you do because it just feels good. It feels good
as the practitioner. It feels good for the child.
And yeah, this is another approach that definitely
ticks that box. you know, neuroaffirming practice,
validating, celebrating who they are, not trying
to change and not trying to get them to conform,
really honouring who they are as a person and
supporting them to be the most engaged, thriving
learner that they can possibly be in that moment.
I mean, that is good neuroaffirming practice.
So, yeah, I love this approach. Yeah, I mean,
we stay perceiving part of it, aren't we? it's
so great to see the outcomes already yeah yeah
we're just we're just keen to share it with as
many people as possible so keep a look out on
on our instagram because we'll be sharing when
the workshop launch is there so you can access
it brilliant i'll share all social media links
and uh website links down below if you want to
check it out definitely go and check out episode
50 as well where sophia and ellie talk about
you know regulate to communicate as a whole and
sensory needs and communication and how to integrate
those because that's a really great episode as
well thank you so much ladies for joining me
again