Songs in the store tell us this is the “hap/happiest” time of the year, but for people who have experienced trauma this season can trigger difficult emotions. For children with disabilities, those emotions can be particularly complex and confusing. Unexpected behaviors might show up at home or at school, especially when routines are disrupted.
Helping children understand their emotional responses to difficult circumstances is part of education, and schools are adopting new strategies around Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Social and emotional skills can be analyzed through educational evaluations, and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) establishes specific programming and goals around SEL for children with deficits in those areas.
A Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) is another tool for determining what supports a child needs to behave in ways that are “expected” for success at school. The FBA leads to design of a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), which provides specific guidance to school staff for positively reinforcing expected behavior.
When designing behavior plans, parents and school staff may need to discuss whether unexpected behaviors are the result of trauma and/or overwhelm. Strategies for helping may need to consider whether rewards and punishments will work if behaviors are related to emotional dysregulation and fight/flight/freeze responses to internalized and persistent anxiety. Formed Families Forward, a community and family-focused resource center in Virginia, provides a video series to help families and professionals better understand trauma and how to respond. The agency’s website also provides a resource collection related to trauma-informed approaches in multiple environments.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), which oversees Washington school districts, has developed curricula to help school staff teach children how to understand their emotions and become more skillful in social communication. PAVE’s website includes a three-part series of articles about the state’s initiatives and research related to SEL. Those articles include practical tips and a variety of additional links to further information.
Everyone can help create a calm environment. Best practice is to exhale long and slow, triggering the body’s relaxation response. Your feeling of calm can help someone else relax. Try it! Take 5 breaths, focusing on a long, slow exhale through your nose. Notice how you feel. If you feel calm, consider sharing that feeling with someone else through a loving smile, soft eyes or even a hug! Even if this is not the hap/happiest time of your year, give yourself permission to relish a simple moment of contentment or curiosity when you pause to breathe.