written by: Veronica Karwoski
This article includes a lot of different information related to emotional and sensory regulation. Use this table of contents to navigate to what information you want to learn more about today.
self regulation.
What does emotional and sensory regulation mean
Emotional regulation refers to the ability to recognize emotion, reflect on and understand emotions, and choose intentional mechanisms to support our mind and body in processing strong emotions. Sensory regulation refers to the ability to accurately perceive sensory stimuli.
Emotional and sensory regulation help students shift their internal state to a more calm or active one based on the situation or task at hand.
Setting up the environment for self regulation
We need to both normalize regulating strong emotional and sensory reactions AND make clear what is acceptable and not. We can do this by directly explaining, practicing together, and frequently reviewing safe ways to process emotions. Let's look at two ways to do this:
1 Brain Breaks:
Brain breaks are a way of showing students how to notice if they are feeling overwhelmed, and then take a few minutes to process what they are feeling in a healthy way.
As a classroom teacher, I taught students how to take brain breaks as a classroom routine on the first day of school. I explained "everyone experiences strong emotions as times, or even just reactions to things like fatigue or hunger. It is important we learn to process these feelings in ways that allows everyone to feel safe and respected."
I continued..."A break is different from just avoiding work because a break is an intentional choice to help ourselves. A break is also timed." This last part teaches students both time management and classroom boundaries.
Then we role played how to both NOT take a brain break, and HOW to successfully take one. First I acted out unsafe reactions to emotions like anger by throwing a chair or running away from the class. I even practiced disrespectful ways of processing strong emotions like name calling and yelling. I asked students to tell me what they saw, and they narrated back to me what I did.
Next, I acted out actually taking a brain break. I set a timer and I went to the classroom break area. I modeled while "thinking aloud," what I needed in that moment and what options were available. I showed them how to use tools like coloring sheets, puzzle pages, fidgets, or even just putting my head down for a few minutes. I asked students to reflect on what I did differently.
Then students practiced how use the break station. I always positively reinforced and honored break requests. I credit having a break station as one of the tools that helped me foster a safe and productive learning environment following the pandemic - a time that we've seen a huge increase in unsafe behaviors and students in crisis.
Take a look at the brain break station:
2 Explicit Expectations:
Explicit (and realistic) expectations signal safety and reduce fight or flight responses that can create unsafe situations. Preparing ahead of time can help adults regulate themselves and support students to do so as well. When I think of proactively supporting student's behavior, I think of three c's: clarity, contrast, and consistency. Within these guidelines we can meet the needs of a variety of students, tasks, and emotional and sensory needs.
Clarity is important for students to understand what is expected in the given situation and for how long.
For example:
We will be at the park for 1 hour. You can play, run, and jump. When you hear me say "it is time to go," then you will come over to me have a snack and head to the car.
"Language Arts lasts from 10:00-11:20 and we transition at 11:23. We keep our hands and feet to ourselves and complete our work during class. We can take a 5-10 minute emotional regulation break like coloring, putting our head down, or using a fidget if we find it hard to stay focused."
Contrast can help teach this clarity. Modeling and practicing both what not to do and what to do can help students clearly see the difference. Sometimes we think this should be automatic, but it is helpful to remember student shift in and out of situations that have different expectations frequently throughout the day. For example students may play tag at recess and tap each other and run, but the expectations around these behaviors changes in a few minutes when they head in for class. The more up front clarification and contrast you can build in, the less reactive you have to be.
It is essential to be consistent in language and practice, especially during times of change or when there are multiple demands on students attention and processing. Positively telling students the expectations at the beginning of each class both serves as a reminder and a signal for predictability and safety.
When students need more support
Having a classroom that is clear, consistent, and positive provides a foundation for emotional and sensory regulation. Even so, often some students will need individualized and more supportive interventions. Providing the the truly appropriate supports can be challenging but often leads to more productive outcomes for both the student and the rest of the class. So how we do that? When a student is exhibiting behaviors that are stronger or more prolonged than normally expected and these behaviors interfere with the students learning or the learning of others, it is important to remember that all behavior serves a function.
Functional behavior analysis
In order to better understand the function of the concerning behavior a functional behavior analysis, FBA, can be conducted. An FBA involves a series of student observations, data collection and analysis, and interviews with different team members including the parents and teachers. It is important to observe the student on multiple days across different environments with different task demands in order to understand the function of the behavior. During a functional behavior assessment the observer should take notes accounting for the exact sequence of events including the antecedent that happens directly before a behavior occurs and the consequence, or what happens directly after it. In this case the term consequence objectively means the resulting outcome. For example: 11:43 Teacher places worksheet on students desk 11:45 student throws pencil at a peer. 11:46 Teacher presses intercom and asks for assistance.
When conducting a functional behavior analysis there are traditionally four functions of behavior- escape, attention, access, sensory. Escape refers to allowing the student to escape certain tasks or situations, attention provides the student with the opportunity to interact with another person, access refers to the ability to gain access to a highly preferred activity or item, and sensory means providing some type of sensory stimulation that feels "good."
It is important to note that behaviors can sometimes appear to serve one function when there is actually a different one being met. For example behavior like running up and hitting a peer may provide the student with attention from that peer, but a comprehensive evaluation may show that the student displays these behaviors in any situation where a difficult task is expected regardless of if they obtain peer attention. In this case the true function of the behavior may be to escape work. If the true function is determined then an appropriate and effective plan can be developed to provide an alternative behavior that meets the same need or that can gradually extinct the concerning behavior. The more trained and experienced the observer, the more reliable the analysis will be. It is also important to note that in order to do this analysis written parental permission is required, and in certain situations parents can also request this type of evaluation to be conducted. In public school settings an FBA might be conducted by a special education case manager, a behavior specialist, or another professional in a related role. Board certified behavior analysts also conduct FBA's.
Sensory Systems
From my experience as a special education teacher one of the most important but also least understood functions of behavior is sensory needs. Many of us are familiar with the "five senses," including sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Did you know there are 2 more sensory systems that play a direct role in our body awareness and our ability to detect movement? I am referring to our proprioceptive and vestibular systems. Within the different sensory systems, people and children will have different windows of tolerance for sensory input. Some may be hypersensitive and struggle with too much input and others may be under sensitive and crave sensory input. For example a child whose vestibular system is hypersensitive may appear clumsy and uncoordinated and may be scared of playground equipment, but a student is under sensitive may need to be in constant movement and struggle with impulsive behaviors like frequently jumping and running. If sensory input is identified as a function of behavior that interferes with a child's ability to learn or be safe, a sensory evaluation may be conducted to provide more understanding of the child's needs.
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