Have you ever heard of the therapeutic tool called 'Front Loading?"

There’s a really strategic approach to front loading -and the entire purpose it to set kids up for success – not heighten them or push them to escalation. It is about providing children with just the right amount of information, setting clear and achievable expectations, providing opportunities to practise skills before they encounter a situation, task, or learning experience.  

In this solo episode Chrissie gives clear guidelines to how and why front loading kids is a must have strategy for your therapeutic tool box - especially when working with kids who live with anticipatory anxiety and ADHD.

If you recognise the names Augie Pullman & Mr Tushman, then chances are you may know what this solo episode is centred on. An amazing book titled "Wonder."

Chrissie shares during this solo episode the importance of parents relinquishing control and encouraging their children to step out in the big wide world away from the safety of the family nest.

You see, Augie lives with a disability called Treacher Collins syndrome which is a genetic disorder that affects growth and development of the head. It prevents the skull, cheek and jawbones from developing properly, causing facial anomalies and hearing loss.

The episode also discusses the vital roles of attachment that our educators play in the lives of all children, but just how important they are for children living with disabilities: visble or not..

Disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, anxiety, foetal alcohol syndrome, developmental trauma and dyslexia are just some of the examples of invisible disabilities that people live with in our communities. These disabilities are not always ‘obvious’ to other people as they are part of the human brain wiring. We call this our neurotype and is why I encourage families to teach their kids about their brain as a starting point to understanding neurodivergence.

Education around developmental differences is vitally important as everybody deserves to know that they belong to their community and feel understood by those around them. It’s important that we are having those conversations as families to support understandings for when our kids meet other children who are different to them.

Research indicates that kids who grow up in families where they have access to this information, where it is encouraged as part of their everyday conversations, go on to be more accepting, inclusive and understanding of those with differences to them.”

“When we are a family that embraces and celebrates difference, then our kids go on to do the same. True inclusion starts at home."

You can purchase the book Wonder here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026

You can learn more about Treacher Collins Syndrome here: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/treacher-collins-syndrome

Buckle in - this is is a bit of a longer one - as our topic of Pervasive Drive for Autonomy(PDA) is so complex, we needed more time to unpack this at times, perplexing, nervous system disability, and how it shows up in our kids at home and in school.

Both Chrissie & Steph have lived experience of raising a little PDAer, and they have learnt so much 'on the job' about just how much these kids are wired for safety and relational attunement from their attachment figures.

We hope this informative chat leads you further into your understandings about how the nervous system is impacted so significantly for these kids in educational settings, and why using intrinsic motivation and known areas of interests, declarative language and understanding sensory systems are paramount when supporting them.

We really need to provide them with as many opportunities for a sense of' felt safety and strongly attuned relationships' to support their nervous system regulation, keep them engaged and able to learn.

Work with Steph Robertson: https://www.sgroccupationaltherapy.com/

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The body keeps the score

Declarative Language Handbook

Dan Siegal - brain hand model

Polyvagal Theory

We use the term dysregulated ALOT when it comes to our kids and their big emotions - but what does this actually mean? And why are we expecting kids to have their emotions sorted by the age of 6 once they hit formal education, when most adults find keeping their cool in stressful situations difficult? Are we expecting way too much, too soon from our kids with underdeveloped brains.

In short? Yes we are!

When we start to view big behaviours as 'stress responses in children' we can easily start to see that labelling them as 'challenging or defiant', is not very supportive or neurodiversity affirming. In fact, when kids are distressed - they actually need our help and support more than ever.

Our motto is "Compassion over Compliance. Always."

Today we discuss the importance of creating "Regulation Rituals" with kids and how these support nervous system regulation, and how in fact incorporating these into classrooms set our kids up for success each day.

And it is way easier than you might think!

Checkout Chrissie's regulation support tools for kids over in the Brain Builder Shop here:

https://www.chaostocalmconsultancy.com/shop

Check out Sally Galloway's work here: https://www.sallygalloway.com.au/home

What if we taught children the way the brain actually learns?

The days of a one size fits all model in education are OVER, and it is time that we started to really understand the importance of adapting our educational practices to be more aligned with a child's actual neurotype.

We have go to work with them - NOT against them.

In fact, the more we try to go against a child's natural wiring - the more we risk the change of damaging their self esteem and love for learning.

Dyslexia is a neurotype - one to be celebrated and embraced- and today we learn more about we can support kids with their learning and use a multi sensory approach. The more lines of sensory input we can inject into an activity, the more chance a dyslexic child has of retaining that knowledge.

And can we all just remember, that being neurodivergent has got nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with how we receive, process and retain information.

You can learn all about Kristy Hayworth and her work within the Dyslexic Community here:

https://www.allkidscan.com.au/

Dyslexia Association Australia: https://dyslexiaassociation.org.au/

Understood- https://www.understood.org/

What is a social story and HOW can it be of benefit to kids in schools?

Today we are learning more about this powerful, but incredibly under utilised therapeutic tool that can be easily embedded in our educational practices as a way of ensuring that our communication is not being lost in translation.

Used by the Autistic community for many years, it is time for all school leaders to understand the vital ways in which we can aim to reduce anxiety and emotional distress in kids by helping them understand the where, when, why and what is expected of them.

Social Stories are a positive, proactive and preventive measure we can use as a whole school approach to demonstrate our understandings and beliefs that not all kids onboard, process and understand information in the same way.

Our guest, Dr. Kathryn Hackman identified a gap between the medical field where she works, and the ways in which we can prepare our kids for medical procedures or needing to go to hospital. These experiences can be incredibly daunting and overwhelming for our children and social stories help them understand what lays ahead in VERY simple, factual information.

Kathryn set to work and has created an incredible tool that creates socials stories in a flash - saving you time and effort - and they can even be personalised for kids and she is currently working on a school version.

Chrissie has been using social stories in specialist settings, and with her own kids for years!

She actually cannot quite believe that more schools have not been implementing this game changing strategy.

Maybe after hearing this conversation, they will.

You can learn more about the origin of social stories here: https://carolgraysocialstories.com/

Courageous Kids here: https://www.courageouskidsapp.com/

Today, The Child Charmer is educating us about the importance of professionally debriefing in education after a critical incident.

It is a supportive tool that has been used in Specialist Educational settings for decades. Chrissie explains just how important they are when working with volatile kids- and why we simply MUST be adopting this protocol into our everyday practices as modern day educators.

Having a supportive team, colleagues and school leaders around you is the key to having longevity in education. It is also vitally important that we also include the little humans who may have witnessed a critical incident in the classroom.

And even more importantly, how we report the incident to the school community, and still preserve the dignity and well-being of the beautiful little human at the center of it all.

You can read more about Chrissie's amazing work in Education here: www.chaostocalmconsultancy.com

The research is in folks - brains LOVE music and if you aren't convinced, after this amazing episode with Pip Reid from Using Music you absolutely will be!

There is so much research around the many benefits of incorporating more playfulness, tunes, movement and music to support nervous system regulation in classrooms and schools.

AND- for our little friends who's brains are driven by a 'pervasive drive for autonomy' & singing instructions, or reframing perceived demands in rhyme are an absolute GAME CHANGER!

So folks- warm up your vocal chords - and let's bring more music and singing back into our classrooms! It is a NO brainer!

Learn more about Pip Reid here: https://www.usingmusic.com.au/

Teacher retention is one of the leading challenges we are facing in our current Education System, with our incredible pre-service educators not lasting longer than 3-5 years in the profession. If we are to have any hope of creating educational change within our school system, it really starts with looking at how our beginning teachers can not only 'survive' in education - BUT truly 'thrive' and actually LOVE the work they are doing with our children.

But are we throwing them under the bus? They come out of university with NO real education or training about child brain development or stress responses in children. They are not equipped to be able to cope with the rising demands of data collection, Disability Inclusion Profile applications and report writing - all of the things which actually suck a lot of joy out of being an educator.

Today's insightful discussion is with Em Gentle who is dedicating her work to supporting our beginning teachers so that, hopefully, they can stick it out long enough to actually see their pedagogical beliefs, practices and achievements really start to develop. If its one thing we know about teaching, its the kind of job that you get better at the longer you are in the classroom.

This also means that you are going to make mistakes - in fact - you MUST make mistakes to work out who you are as an educator. We are all life long learners and it's ok not to have it all worked out yet.

But how can we provide our beginning teachers with enough support whilst they 'learn on the job' and lead them towards achieving a fulfilling career in education?

You can read more about Ems amazing work here: https://www.thegradguide.com.au/about

We use the term 'trauma informed' in education ALOT - but what does it actually look, sound and feel like on the ground in the classroom?

Trauma informed practices centre more around a state of 'being, rather than doing' and it comes back to our own nervous system regulation, and our ability to "See the child NOT the behaviour." It means that we use responsive practices, rather than punitive. We also fundamentally know that our role is to offer behaviour support, not sanctions when kids are distressed or overwhelmed.

You can buy Rebecca's book "Safe to Learn" here: https://ambapress.com.au/products/safe-to-learn

You can learn more about the Berry Street Educational Model here: https://www.berrystreet.org.au/learning-and-resources/berry-street-education-model/training-course

Work with Chrissie Davies - Child Behaviour Specialist here: www.chaostocalmconsultancy.com