September 7, 2023

98th Edition

Hello Karen,

Teachers spend many hours each week with our kiddos and can be an invaluable part of a family's healing support team.

Many teachers face some of the push away behaviours and chaos experienced by parents as they spend a lot of time in an authoritative and nurturing role with a child.

The more resources and techniques teachers have to help a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder, the more success everyone is likely to experience - parents included!

Teachers, this one's for you! We've compiled some of our best school resources for you and wish you much luck as the school year gets underway!

Enjoy!

Karen Poitras

President & Founder of The RADish Ranch

P.S. Parents - feel free to pass this newsletter on to your child's teachers!

Classroom 3BI

The Brain-Based Behaviour Intervention (3BI) Program is a wonderful tool for the classroom to help deal with disruptions, limit testing, defiance, destruction, and disrespect.

To set up, get a mini trampoline for your classroom and a few small sitting rugs that are designated for strong sitting. Have them set up in an area that is within your sight but allows the child some privacy, and the least amount of distractions. Having children face a blank area or the back of the room can help minimize distractions and give them the best chance at getting their brain shifted quickly.

As teachers working in a classroom setting there are several tweaks that can be made to make the program more workable in a classroom setting.

• Teachers give high fives - hugs are reserved for parents.
• The strong sitting and jumping on the mini trampoline brain shifters work best in a classroom setting as they allow you to continuing focusing on the rest of the class while the child works through their brain shifter.
• If you are unable to step away from the class to process the "what happened" part of the intervention, the child can write down what happened and what they would like to do for a restitution. You can then check both responses and move on to step #11 of the 3BI process or tell the child to "try again."

Restitutions

Restitutions around the classroom can include wiping desks, taking out the garbage, sweeping the floor, cleaning up after a project, general cleaning, etc.

Restitutions should NOT include anything that will disturb another child (such as touching their personal things), any form of touch (no hand rubs, back rubs, etc.), any form of pet care, or any job that puts them in charge of others or is seen as a class privilege.

Nurturing

Teachers are very nurturing people, and holding back nurture from a student can be very hard. With a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder, the ultimate goal is to have them form a healthy bond with their parent, and nurture from other adults can disrupt or displace this bond.

Teacher hugs can be replaced with high fives or handshakes, classroom treats or gifts can be given "from Mom/Dad who loves you" (rather than seen as directly from the teachers and giving a boost to the parent-child relationship).

Brain Breaks

All kiddos benefit greatly from brain breaks throughout study periods, but especially neurodivergent children and those who are hypervigilant. If a child has been sitting and studying for more than 30 minutes at a time, take a brain break!

Brain breaks can be:

• jumping on the mini trampoline for 3 minutes
• playing a quick game of "Simon Says"
• marching around the classroom
• jumping jacks
• playing a round of "I Spy"

Support and Teamwork with Parents

One of the best things you can do as a teacher to help your student is to support their parents in all of their therapeutic parenting decisions and strategies.

Ensure you have open communication with parents to help cut down on manipulation and triangulation. Weekly check-ins can help the school year to run much more smoothly, especially after the "honeymoon" period has ended. This can be a weekly in-person coffee date, a phone call, or an email.

Homework and Classroom Work

One of the main strategies used with children with RAD in therapeutic care is that of responsibility or the "10 units of concern." Classroom work and homework are 100% the child's responsibility to complete - which many times ends up as uncompleted or half-completed work. It is important to recognize this as the child's responsibility and to allow them to deal with the ensuing consequences.

Don't feel bad about marking work as zero if incomplete - this allows your student to begin the process of learning to take responsibility and to care about their work. Eventually, they will realize this is something they need to take care of, and not something an adult will "fix" for them.

Classroom Posters

Here are two great posters you can download and put up in your classroom to help promote healing and responsibility! Click on the graphics to download the PDF posters.

Doing work fast and snappy, right the first time, the adult's way includes school work!

Additional Resources for Teachers