Month: June 2020

The Nervous System and Movement Regulation

After being my child’s teacher or co-facilitator of learning for a while, I have watched him fiddle, jiggle, and move when I wanted him to do a learning task. It caused me some frustration. I really wanted him to just sit still and do the activities set by the school.

Modern schooling asks kids to sit quietly in front of the teacher and others. It is not uncommon to hear comments such as, “sitting still everyone, don’t wiggle, I want to see you paying attention with your body.” Is this really how kids listen and pay attention? Are we asking them to do something that is counterintuitive?

Children’s brains are bombarded with billions of bits of sensory data every second. This is a lot for developing brains to take in. Each bit needs to be taken in, assessed for its importance, and processed. When the brain gets overloaded by this procedure (which can happen quite regularly) the nervous system becomes dysregulated. In that moment, the child needs to find an outlet, or way to regulate for peek performance. Movement is one of the ways that the body regulates.

Some of the ways that movement can aid in regulation and help with peak brain performance include:

Movement can help the child find the right sensory balance that works for their brains needs. This allows them to then be able to turn their attention to focusing and concentrating on other experiences
Moving can help them recognise and explore their emotional experience using the mind /body connection (We don’t always notice our shoulders are tense until we stand up and start to move)
Movements that require crossing the midline help build a bridge between hemispheres of the brain allowing neurons to move more easily between the two sides. (Left and right brain being integrated and able to work together)
Movement can increase oxygen levels vital for brain function

The amazing thing is that most children have an innate ability to recognise their need for movement. When they are perceiving a challenge, they will begin to move. You might see a child laying on the floor, reading a book, swaying their feet back and forward, or sitting in class, learning new work, gently rocking, or rubbing their hands. These are signs the child is using movement to help with regulation.

While children have this innate instinct to move it does not always mean that they are successful in their attempts to regulate. Nor that their choice of movement isn’t counterproductive, disruptive to others or socially appropriate in the situation. The instinct may be right but the execution misguided. This is where adults can assist with suggestions of productive ways to add movement.

Next time your child has trouble sitting still, try some of these suggestions.

Wiggling or bumping others while sitting on the floor

Allow to move to a space where they can stretch out
Offer an alternative such as sitting in a chair

Rubbing hands on the carpet, touching others:

Try a fidget toy, Something that they can hold in their hands that allows the hands to move in a more subtle gesture
Just remember that not everything that is labelled a fidget toy is equal and some offer different types of sensory input. You may have to try several to find the type of item a child will use that also helps them remain focused

Just can’t sit still at all no matter what you try:

Take a full movement break, Stop the task that they are doing and walk
complete some movement exercises
do some wall push-ups
Complete cross-crawl activities(crossing the midline of the body such as the left hand to the right knee

Allow this active break before attempting the task again later.

IN addition to responding when we notice a child showing signs of dysregulation, we can also anticipate a child’s need for movement when being asked to concentrate on learning. We can incorporate movement from the start, helping to satisfy the need before it arises. Teachers can do this by asking children to do things like: tap on their nose when they see the answer, flap their ears with their fingers or cross their hands over their chest (touching the right fingertips to the left shoulder and visa-versa.)

So next time your child is as wiggly as a worm, consider their need for movement and how it might be channelled into actions that feel right for both of you. Rather than asking them to just stop and be still, make some suggestions of where and what they can do to allow that flow of energy. If you do this, you may be surprised at how movement can bring your child back to centre and a place of focus.

I am hearing excitement from many parents and children in the last few weeks about a return to school. The preps- Year 2’s in Victoria have successfully returned and the rest of the year levels will soon be following. Parents are looking forward to not doing schoolwork and having less interruptions to work commitments. Kids are relieved to be able to See their teachers, be with their friends and enjoy the chance to talk and play.

School offers many things to children that provide comfort and security to the brain. The brain feels safest when surrounded by routines, predictability and of course connection. For many children, a return to school may help them feel settled and reduce feelings of stress that may have emerged during Covid-19.

While school offers many positives for supporting childhood mental health, every child is different. Some children may find that a return to school brings up some challenges for them. Right now, it’s important to have the conversation about what an unhappy child or a child who is feeling overwhelm, stressed or anxious may look like. If we are able to recognise these signs, we can put strategies in place to support their wellbeing.

Signs to Look Out For (For Parents and Teachers) And Strategies For Approaching Them

1. Separation Anxiety

Children have just had an extended and unexpected stay home during uncertain times. A lack of feeling safe and secure within this time may lead to an increase in feelings of separation anxiety. This is where one person feels anxious, stressed, and worried, at being separated from another. In the school environment this is most commonly a child being separated at school drop off from a parent. For some, the affect of the anxiety can continue throughout the day.

Strategies for Approaching Separation Anxiety

Be prepared

Providing your child with an idea of what separation will look like is a great way to start. For many schools at the moment this means that parents/ guardians will drop children at the gate. Children will enter on their own, sanitising their hands and walking to their classroom. Most schools are making sure there is a staff member available if there are any issues with this routine.

Be Consistent

Having plans for a quick and solid good-bye ritual can also be beneficial. Do you say good-by with a hug and a kiss or special words? Plan to do the same thing each day so this separation is consistent.

Do not prolong the good-bye as this will stretch out the transition. If the last thing you do is a hug and a kiss, try not to allow this to turn into 3. Let them know you are saving those extra’s for pick-up time.

The Reunion

Similar to being clear about what will happen at separation it is important to be clear about the reunion. Explain to your child what the pick-up routine will be and when you will be with them again. If older children understand clock time you might use this as a reference point. For younger children you may need to talk in time frames that make sense to them. This might sound like, “you will have morning session, then play break, middle session, lunch and then just a small afternoon session before your teacher will bring you to me at the gate.”

2. Attention Seeking Behaviours (Attachment and Connection Seeking)

Children have missed their teachers and their friends. Not all will know how to express this in a socially appropriate way. It is likely some children will show behaviours that may traditionally have been labelled at attention seeking “behaviours. These behaviours should not be seen in a bad way but recognised for what they are, attempts to connect with others. Attempts to interact socially with others and feel attached to them.

Responses to Attention/ Connection Seeking Behaviours

Change our Language

One of the biggest steps to addressing attention seeking behaviour that we can take, is to change our perspective or the language to connection seeking or relationship building behaviours. Attention seeking is seen as something to be frowned upon, a “naughty” behaviour. When we instead recognise these misguided behaviours as connection seeking, we put ourselves in a much better place to recognise what the child actually needs and is trying to communicate.

Help Build Connection and Relationship

Rather than punishing or ignoring these behaviours, take a positive approach to recognising the child’s need for connection. Consider how you might be able to provide this in a way that promotes successful relationships. You may do this in the moment by saying something like, “that is not an option now, but can you come and help me with ……. “

3. Emotional Dysregulation

Young children are only just learning how to regulate through different emotional states. Regulation refers to our ability to stay in control of our actions and stay connected to ourselves within emotions and situations. The more intense that children’s emotions are, the more regulation and regulation strategies they need to be using. Some children will have difficulty regulating emotions such as worry while others in the classroom will have difficulty regulating their excitement at seeing their friends.

How Schools and Families Can Supprt Emotional Regulation

Co-regulation

At school, so much will depend on the mood set by the teacher and how the staff are feeling about their own emotions in this environment. Children feel, react and draw on the regulation state of others. This is called Co-regulation. As adults, we may need to manage our own emotions first, so we are in the best place to support children to do the same.

Name It to Tame It

Dr Dan Siegel coined the phrase Name it to Tame it.” Our brains respond well to saying things out loud. Sounds like your feeling pretty worried, you are so excited to be here, your feeling a bit uncertain.” Putting emotions into words helps children to identify their emotions and has a regulating affect on their nervous system. When children are showing strong emotions it’s important not to ignore the emotion but to recognise it by labelling it.

Coach the Child Through the Tricky Emotions

Help the child to decide what their body may need in that big emotion. Do they need to take some hot chocolate breaths? (This is where you take a small breath in and then a longer breath out, blowing over your cupped hands as if it held a hot chocolate that needs cooling down Could a drink help? A walk? A break? To wibble and wobble and shake it out? Not every strategy will work for a child in every emotion, we need to support children to keep trying and find the strategies that work for them.

4. Somatic symptoms – body responses

Stress and mental health challenges can show themselves through the body. While a child may not come to you saying they are worried, sometimes their body says it for them. Re-occurring headaches, tummy aches, nausea and sleep disturbance can all be signs of challenge.

What You Can Do

Get Curious

After investigating these with a doctor to rule out a physical cause, Get curious about any reoccurring signs of illness. When does it show up the most? A particular day or time? It can be tempting to see these as “not-real ”or “made-up” by the child but in actual fact they can be the bodies way of signalling the challenge in the child’s brain and nervous system.

Talk About the Link Between Body and Emotions

Acknowledging the communication between our brains and bodies can help work towards a solution for this one. If we are able to make comments like, sometimes when I get worried my tummy hurts,” we are helping the child to recognise that emotions and the body are linked. Making this link may provide a path to delve into the emotional root of the problem.

As children settle back into the school routine and relationships, any symptoms should fade. If your child shows signs of stress that are affecting their daily life longer than a month after the return to school, consider seeking professional assistance from a mental health professional such as a play therapist. Whether the presenting behaviour is separation anxiety, attention/connection seeking behaviours, emotional dysregulation, somatic symptoms or another presentation not mentioned here, a mental health professional can support you and your child with further strategies and approaches to resolving individual difficulties.

Can You Please Sit Still? Why is my child always moving?