Welcome to part 2 of Wesley’s story. You can go back to part 1 here, but as a quick reminder, Wesley’s family is seeking support for his dysregulation at school, leading to some peer conflicts and interfering with his participation in other classroom activities.
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I asked his parents to find out more information for me about the behaviors and what was happening in the environment during or right before the behaviors. It’s always important to have as much information about the context of the behaviors before jumping into any strategies or solutions.
Here’s some information that we learned:
❇️ Some of the aggression (pushing) did happen during a social conflict with a peer that seemed to be mutual, but it still seems to be stemming from a dysregulated nervous system.
❇️ Wesley often moves around the classroom and makes sounds whenever the teacher does whole group learning and teaching about a topic he already knows. He seems to dislike long, verbal instructions for lessons.
❇️ Transitioning in from recess and lunch often resulted in increased dysregulation in the classroom immediately when they returned from outside
❇️ Wesley is aware of these behaviors, and when he’s asked about why he does them, he says he doesn’t like waiting, especially waiting in line, and he doesn’t know what to do when he’s next to other kids.
It’s also important to remember that in the context of all this, this was only his third week in this new school. The school was offering Wesley weekly counselor sessions to address his emotional regulation. They were also offering “occasional breaks,” which was allowing him to visit the counselor’s office to have a cozy spot to read. It was observed that he used this break frequently during Spanish class, which involved a lot of singing that he mentioned he did not like.
In a vulnerable (and heartbreaking) share with his mom, Wesley said,
“Everyone else really likes it [Spanish class], and they're talking about how much they like it, and I don't like it. Something’s wrong with me.”
