The Delayed Effect! How many of you see this? The child is fine at school, but explodes once he gets home! Many people see this delayed effect once the child comes home from school. If the child is strong enough to hold it together at school, then the stress comes out as soon as he arrives home. The stress chemicals that accumulate during the day at school come out once the child is in a “safe” setting to release them. The child may appear fairly calm and organized at school but have learned to “hold it together” while building up this accumulation of stress chemicals. As discussed above, if the chemicals build slowly the brain may go into shutdown to escape being overwhelmed. This mild shutdown will allow the child to appear calm and allows him to “keep it together” while at school. However, once home, the stress chemicals come reeling out! When the parent approaches the school, the staff simply report that the child is doing well there. The school claims that the child does need any accommodations or extra supports. However, these children need the same supports (less demands, work broken down simpler, sensory diet, frequent breaks, physical activity, etc.) as the child who acts out frequently at school. We must realize that holding it in can be damaging to the nervous system, and takes a great toll on the children. We need to identify the stressors, build in accommodations to lessen the stress, give frequent breaks to regroup, and provide physical activity/sensory diet to release the stress chemicals as they are accumulating. We simply need to recognize what the nervous system needs to stay calm, alert, and organized and not tax and drain the brain. Just because he looks good doesn’t mean he is good! This delayed effect is so common that schools need to take it serious. Parents, I would approach the school team for help with this; especially the occupational therapist who should clearly understand this phenomenon. All it takes is a few simple modifications and accommodations to support the child to reduce the stressors and release the stress so the child can arrive home feeling good about his day and about himself. However, you may need some of the professional team to interpret this effect for the teachers. What do you do for your child once he comes home? How do you help him through this transition? Each child is different. Some children need to escape in isolation for an hour or so; some may need to take a nap; some rebound by engulfing themselves in a preferred activity (reading, music, etc) and others need a heavy dose of physical activity. Whatever allows your child to release stress, regroup and rebound, should be a given as soon as he is out of school. Make this a consistent and predictable routine, so the child looks forward to it and knows it is coming. At school, if possible have the occupational therapist or school counselor work with the child to build in simple breaks, and teach simple coping skills for handling stress and staying calm and organized. Over the years the child needs to learn how to identify what stresses his nervous system, gain awareness of how to advocate for accommodations he will need, and learn simple coping skills for managing the stress during his day. Starting now will help him build these needed skills
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 09:57:35 +0000
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