Independent Down Time—Leisure Skill Development Students need things to do when they are done with an activity but the schedule is not ready to change. Many problems …
Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD)
The NVLD student is easily lost, looking confused, after just getting started on an assignment, because of their poor ability to mental map and maintain a view of the …
Attunement and Engagement
It is easy to become distracted or preoccupied while teaching or assisting in a therapeutic classroom. However, being present and aware, being attuned to the student …
Chronic Stress, Inflammation, and Mood Dysfunction
It is not well understood at this point but there is a relationship between pro-inflammatory cytokines (immune system response) and neurochemical activation (dopamine, …
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Positive Psychology and Student Learning Implications
People who experience anger, rage, high stress, and frustration also experience an increase in blood pressure, muscle tension respiration rate, the activation of the …
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Oxytocin and Serotonin
Oxytocin speeds up social processing. More information, more complete information, and more integration of social information is processed more rapidly and this …
Staying Neutral – A Warm-Up Routine
Many emotionally reactive students shut down or protest activities that they think will be too challenging. Extremely anxious students may run out of the room or …
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Visual Systems to Increase Motivation and Support Better Decision Making
Many children, especially emotionally troubled children (e.g., anxiety, depression, chronic stress, anger management), children with autism spectrum disorder or …
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Understanding Stress: The Relationship Between Mind, Body, and Behavior
Stress is not always a bad thing (though most of this article will be devoted to the adverse effects of stress). We cannot learn something new without experiencing …
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Using Classroom Routines To Create a Therapeutic Brain Settling Effect
For all of us, routine creates a mind/body settling effect. When people are immersed in familiar routines their brains are recruiting an abundance of relevant memories …
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Perception Management to Promote Better Decision Making
Memory is based on perception of what happened, not what actually happened. We want to help students solve the problems right in front of them, current problems in …
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Micro Goal Programming
It's easy for discouraged students to give up when the tasks they face seem like they will take too much effort, or too much time to accomplish, or too much skill that …