25 Self-Regulation Strategies and Skills for Children and Adolescents

Day Three: The General and Special Education Summit

Presented by Kathy Morris, M.Ed.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019  |  Richmond, bc

Date & Location

Children and adolescents who struggle with self -regulation often look like those who just aren’t paying attention, have difficulty with emotional control, blurting out answers, have difficulty making transitions and/or purposely not controlling themselves. They may be unaware of the connections of their behaviour and the consequences of the behaviour.  If you don’t have self-regulation, you may act out, get placed in timeout, sent to the principal’s office, then miss important learning time. A downward spiral occurs as the student gets more upset and continues to act out when given punitive consequences.

Executive functioning changes radically over the first few years, continues to improve quickly throughout adolescent years and, finally, during early adulthood years, the frontal lobes and prefrontal lobes are activated and connected to other regions of the brain. Executive function skills can be trained. It’s just like going to the gym. The more one practices these strategies for metacognition and self-regulation, the neural connections will be strengthened.

The beginnings of executive function and self-regulation skills appear in the neurotypical brain around 4 years of age. However, what happens when the prefrontal lobe and frontal cortex are compromised due to faulty brain wiring and sensory traffic jams, such as seen in autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disturbances, behaviour disorders, post-traumatic disorders, poverty, attachment disorders?

This one-day seminar will address practical strategies that meet the needs of those children and adolescents who are impacted by these differences in their brain maturation. However, the participant will realize that these strategies apply to ALL students! The purpose is to provide practical tools for those clinicians, educators, therapists or parents who are directly involved in working with children and adolescents. This seminar is designed for those who are “working in the trenches.”

Who Should Attend

Education and Clinical Professionals: K–12 Classroom Teachers, School Counsellors/Psychologists, Learning Assistance/ Resource Teachers, School Administrators, School Paraprofessionals including Special Education Assistants, Classroom Assistants and Childcare Workers. All other professionals who support students including but not limited to: Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, Clinical Counsellors, Family Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Addiction Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Probation Officers, Police Officers, and Early Childhood Educators.

Parents, Caregiver, Foster Parents, Grandparents, and Extended Family raising a child.

Agenda

Drawing on over 45 years of professional experience, Kathy will lead you through dynamic discussions, video case examples and demonstrations providing dozens of strategies  (30+) you can implement immediately with children/adolescents in any setting.  Walk away with an array of practical strategies for:

• Preventing and de-escalating meltdowns
• Teaching and promoting visual supports when mental rigidity is apparent
• Providing instructional consequences/replacement behaviours
• Developing self-control and self-management skills
• Addressing inhibitory control……..and more!

Learning Objectives

1. Participant will be able to label metacognitive and self-regulation strands for executive functioning components.
2. Participant will be able to list visual strategies that support communication, social and behaviour skills
3. Participant will be able to troubleshoot and identify strategies from case study examples of children/adolescents who have difficulty with inhibitory control, working memory, emotional control, mental rigidity
4. Participant will be able to create at least three strategies to meet the needs of an individual student identified who lacks self-regulation.
5. Participant will be able to discriminate functions of behaviour and determine if it is a tantrum or a meltdown.
6. Participant will be able to identify and intervene when student is overstimulated and has sensory breakdowns.
7. Participant will be able to determine which techniques to use to prevent, intervene, or stop targeted behaviours.
8. Participant will be able to implement a “system” rather than a person dependent intervention.

Your Presenter

Kathy Morris, M.Ed.

Kathy Morris, M.Ed., has been a speech therapist, teacher for self-contained programs (including students with autism, severe behavioural difficulties, and cerebral palsy), resource teacher and first grade teacher. She was also a diagnostician/supervisor for all grade levels. She was a LIFE Skills/autism/ behaviour/assistive technology consultant at a Texas education service center before leaving to start her own business in 1999. Her business, igivuWings, has reached families and educators throughout the world,. Kathy has had over 42 years of experience working with children and adolescents with severe behavioural difficulties.

Registration & Fees