I’m back today for part 3 of Anya’s story. Catch up on part 1 [here] or part 2, [here].
Some of Anya’s dysregulation stems from holding it together all day at school (which we talked about last week), but she also displays some dysregulation during transitions, especially in the morning and right before bed.
Anya’s Dysregulation
Let’s learn more about Anya’s behaviors when she’s dysregulated, and when they seem to happen most.
When Anya’s dysregulated, she typically:
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Has unsafe movements
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Seems out of control
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Has a loud volume of voice
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Can be hyper-giggly
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Seems to have zero body awareness
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Can cause fights “out of nowhere” with her sister or parents.
The times this happens most often is:
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In the morning when she gets up and gets dressed (from there, breakfast and leaving the house is rocky)
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When she gets home from school
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Anytime they need to leave the house
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During bedtime routine, when mom is running the bath
“Sometimes she seems like she’s just not there– she can’t hear my instructions and she’s just so loud, spinning and throwing, running and crashing. She’ll grab her sister and spin with her until one of them gets hurt. It’s always right before bed and makes it so chaotic”
We can all relate to this right?
When playtime gets out of hand and it starts out cute when the kids are playing hide and seek or tag and all of a sudden we’ve lost all control over the situation. They won’t respond when you tell them to slow down or to be careful. The only thing that stops them is some bonked heads and tears.
Morning Routine Tips
They left the house around 8:30 to walk to pre-K, and they woke Anya up around 7:30 to start the routine (but we already know this isn’t working for them). For this scenario, I made the following suggestions:
