Just What If? Primitive Reflex Integration

What if we found out that most learning, attending, emotional regulating challenges are all because of poorly integrated primitive reflexes?

Just what if, in every early childhood and primary classes we built in some sensory integration movement that would help our kiddos turn those primitive reflexes into integrated ones?

What if our school OTs and PTs focused on providing the sorts of movement therapy to all our struggling wee ones? What if it was daily? GASP!

What if it really was that simple?

I have spent the last few weeks catching up on my reading about primitive integration as I prepare a presentation about Aunt Sally for an upcoming conference. I have long believed that sensory integration is one of the  BIG keys in helping our kids become effective and efficient learners as well as to have a sense of well-being which then helps with social interactions and relationships.

Aunt Sally provided rhythmic movement. Although the movements were not as specifically prescribed per the current literature, those rhythms, those weaving movements did positively affect our students.

So, rather than site specific literature on the topic, I am simply going to share what I have learned, what has been confirmed for me in all the research and reading I have done on the topic.

As I read the literature, I always think of specific students as well as my own kiddos. And, WOW! What if?

What are primitive reflexes?

They are automatic movements and changes that happen in a baby. They help him  to survive, grow and develop.  There are many of these reflexes like Moro Reflex- (startle reflex), Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (learning about gravity), Asymetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (sids-to-side movements), Fear Paralysis Reflex (withdrawal from stimulus).

Primitive reflexes need to be integrated within the first few years of life. This means they slowly get replaced by postural reflexes – those that help us walk, sit and stand….

When primitive reflexes are not integrated all sorts of difficulties with life and learning develop. Think of your most challenged and quirky students and kids. Do they have trouble with any of the following? This is a short list based on my ability to remember all I have read.

• easily triggered into anger
• poor balance and coordination
• low stamina
• hyper-sensitivity to light, movement, sound, touch, small.
• vision, tracking and writing difficulties
• poor muscle tone
• easy to fatigue
• visual, speech, auditory challenges
• toe walking
• trouble navigating stairs
• feelings of being overwhelmed
• shy, fear of embarrassment
• fear of separation form loved one, clinging
• aggressive behavior
• fear of failure
• phobias
• low tolerance to stress
• poor posture
• ‘w’ sitting
• trouble copying from the board
• attention difficulties
• poor concentration
• poor posture
• poor short-term memory
• fidgeting
• speech delays
• poor social behavior
• poor manual dexterity
• poor pencil grip
• handwriting difficulties

When primitive reflexes are not integrated, the fight/flight/freeze response is easily triggered- in fact, some kiddos are in this state all the time! This causes extreme stress. And chronic stress inhibits learning, and denies us a sense of well-being. Imagine.

So, what if we assessed every single preschooler and primary education kiddo for sensory integration and then provided them with all the rhythmic movement exercises they needed to get those reflexes integrated?

While we are at it, how about we increase recess time and access to swinging and jumping rope and climbing and going down the slide so some of this can occur naturally?

Now imagine all those kiddos you thought about as you read the above list. What if  we focused on ensuring their primitive reflexes became integrated?

I invite you to just imagine.

Now take action.

Texts From School

 

It is day 6 of this new school year and every single day I have gotten distressing texts from my sophomore on the spectrum. I am sharing them here to illustrate how difficult school is for my kid and others with anxiety, nonverbal disability, depression, not enough support and how absolutely alone and disconnected they feel every single minute in school.

No matter what classes. No matter what peer group.

Day 1-

• the bus is way too scary. Are you sure this is the right one?

Day 2-

• I am the only one in study hall, I don’t know the teacher and I don’t know what to do! I want to be in the AUT room for my study hall but they said there are too many other things going on and I need to make this work. 
• I need a break! Who do I tell?
• I don’t know what to do!
• They keep telling me to do stuff and are always too busy with other kids.
• I just need to go to the AUT room and breathe!  Who do I tell??
• Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Dear parents, My teachers are hypocrites! They said they would help me with my anxiety. But, no, they are forcing me to suffer.
• I miss my AUT peeps! I don’t have lunch with them any more. Where are they? Why?
• I thought special ed director was going to make sure people understood better about AUT so we would start this year better. She promised!
• I just want to go to the resource room. 
• I am sorry, I just cannot take it. School is way too stressful for me. My teachers are hypocrites because they said in my IEP that I will have support in every class. It’s not happening!!!
• I think I am going to crack wide open.

Day 3-

• I am in study hall and nobody is here! No teacher and the bell rang! I don’t know what to do!
• Mrs. M just came in.
• World Studies and ELA are making me feel impatient and anxious because all they do is talk and it is too much yacking.
• Can I go to online school?
• OK, I am just going to have to do a lot of self-talk. It hash’t worked yet though.
• Gotta go. Have a good day, Mom!
• I am in student services. I feel dizzy and all tingling. My chest hurts a little. 
• OK, I am lying down and deep breathing like you said.
• It’s been 30 minutes and I still feel this way. What should I do?

                   

Day 4-

• What do you think of my school?
• Yes, I know there is plenty of good here, but it isn’t my kind of good.
• I just cannot handle public schools in general. The pace just doesn’t fit.
• I am lonely.
• Nobody to check in with and I don’t know what to do!!!!

                                     

Day 5-

• I left my meme at home. remind me to bring it tomorrow.
• Can I have a mental health day on Friday? I can’t take 4 days in a row of this crap.
• It’s not better this week!
• In world studies the teacher said that the US will collapse and nobody will get to leave. This scares me to death!
• What do I say? Who can I talk to? Is it true? Can you google it for me?
• Can we leave the US before this catastrophe happens? Mr. H says the country is falling down!!!
• I am pretty upset. I am doing self talk and breathing. 
• There’s a flash flood warning!!! what am I going to do?
• I need a new big binder with lots of drawing paper. I need it for my comics and drawing. That’s the only thing I can do to keep calm.
• Oh no! I have homework!
• My bus is in an unfamiliar place. I am scared
• !!!!!!!!
• EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!
• What do I do!!!???????
• I am so stressed out.

                                       

I am sure you are wondering how I respond to this stuff.

I reassure him, I suggest people he can go to. I tell him to breathe, doodle, self-talk, go to the AUT room for sensory breaks. As much as my heart breaks with each text,  I know the best thing I can do for my kiddo is reassure, talk him through, encourage him to advocate for himself.

Behind the scenes I am emailing people, talking to other parents who are experiencing much of the same. One parent labeled it a “shit show”. She is right

I sent the study hall teacher an email with a short list of things he might find helpful to know about my kid. No response. Really? Is that professional?

I sent special education admin emails. Only one was answered and it was just a canned bullshit response.

When I asked my kiddo to summarize the problems he was quite articulate. He tells me there are too many kids, not enough adults, nobody is there to help him process, he is lonely, his teachers lecture too much in class and he wants to learn what they are talking about but cannot keep up with all the words.He is upset at how messy his papers are because he is always being rushed.

My kid is smart. He is in a mix of classes. Some special education pull out, most in general ed with support. But the support is not there. No accommodations are being made, nobody is helping him process what he is stressed about. Thus far, no evidence of UDL, effective collaborative co-teaching, differentiation.

He comes home every day so far near tears, dejected, angry, and so very lonely.

And yes, I know the start to any school year is challenging for kids and teachers. I started 20 school years as a special education teacher. I know all the glitches that need working out. What I object to this year is that the program is understaffed, my kid’s needs are being ignored, and promises made late last spring by administration have all been broken.

So far today, only one text thanking me for the awesome drawing/doodling notebook I made him last night.

But today is a 2 hour late start and his first 2 classes are ones he likes.

I expect texts to start rolling in soon.

Best Collaboration Ever, Part 4

We got the old lady dressed. All of her parts were labeled. Many sheets had been cut and rolled into beautiful balls. We loaded the shuttles.

The kids were beside themselves. We used a bit of grant money to pay for a sub for Wildabest so she could be with us all day. My sister, the fiber arts professor, stopped in for a few hours to lend support and much needed technical support. Wildabest and I were still figuring Aunt Sally out.

We documented the day with little snippets of what we were observing, reminders to ourselves about how to handle little kinks we ran into. We noted who needed accommodations and problem solved. It was a glorious day, a day full of hope and joy and questions, and awe. The kids were amazing. Many declined recess. We stepped aside right away and had the first weaver teach the next weaver. He was our first ‘expert’. We took notes about how gentle the kids were with Aunt Sally and each other. We had other adults wander in and out, a few of the students from my program invited their classroom pals in to have a look.

At the end of that first day Wildabest and I knew this was the best thing either of us had ever done as teachers.

This is the most important part of the story. What follows is the heart and soul of the whole rhythmic loom project. This is why it worked. It’s powerful.

What we know about kids receiving EBD services-

• They are negatively viewed and thought of as destructive and non-contributing members of the school.
• They suffer from academic underachievement.
• They have little self-worth and feel inconsequential.
• They act out in ways that repel others.

Given just those truths, we knew we needed to empower the students by giving them a way to contribute positively, a way to be seen as positive members of the school community, to be experts in something. We wanted the whole school to come into ‘that’ room and benefit from Aunt Sally. We had to give this group of kids every opportunity to redefine themselves.

Brain based research pointed us in the direction of rhythmic repetitive movement. Not only to decrease maladaptive behavior, but to encourage new neural pathways and to strengthen brain wiring in hopes of  improving learning and attending. We believed that if kids have a strong sense of well-being, they do better emotionally, socially and academically.

We believed, from researching, observing and reading the testimonials I received about weaving, that time with Aunt Sally would make a difference.

• Rhythmic and kinesthetic activities strengthen and fine-tune a child’s ability to more effectively learn reading and math concepts.
• Rhythmic exercises have proven to integrate primitive reflexes that are important for reading and writing.
• Rhythmic movement increases the ability to maintain focus.
• Rhythmic movement reduces stress.
• Rhythmic movement helps to filter out unwanted sensory information
• Repetitive rhythmic activity conducted prior to and during oral reading impacts reading performance.
• Rhythmic exercises have proven to integrate primitive reflexes that are important for reading and writing.
• On an emotional level, creating beautiful things and moving your body rhythmically increases your sense of well-being.
• The acts of moving, creating and giving improve brain chemistry.
• Weaving on a loom provides auditory rhythm as well as body in motion rhythm.
• The act of making and creating improves brain chemistry and encourages new growth of neural pathways.
• The act of teaching strengthens brain efficiency.
• Random acts of kindness, observed or performed change brain chemistry.

To ensure that the use of Aunt Sally served only those purposes we had firm rules about how she would be used.  If we had not followed this one rule, Aunt Sally would have had little effect.

AUNT SALLY WAS NOT USED AS A REWARD OR PUNISHMENT

Time with Aunt Sally was not something to be earned.

• Contingent motivators (if/then) actually de-motivate unless the rules are simple and there is a narrow focus and a single solution. (Alphie Kohn)
• The purpose of Aunt Sally was to allow the student to regain self-control and to instill a better sense of well-being so learning could take place.
• We want engagement first.
• Students need some autonomy each day. Especially students with sensory and emotional challenges.
• If the brain spends most of its time in hyper-vigilance and attending to basic needs (including safety) that brain is not in a position to take on academics. Weaving provides an opportunity to be in a calm state.

I know some of you are thinking that kids will use Aunt Sally to get out of work. My answer is this. So what? If we have students avoiding work, then it’s on us to figure out why and fix it. Maybe weaving is the only thing that student can do today. If so, then it’s a darn good thing we have Aunt Sally, isn’t it? Sitting at a loom and weaving is better than tearing your room apart, disrupting the class, picking fights. The teachers I worked with were so supportive. Instead of sending kids to ‘the EBD room’, they started suggesting, before maladaptive behaviors presented, ‘would you like to go be with Aunt Sally?’ Isn’t that amazing? My wonderful teacher pals were replacing negative and punitive language with suggestions to visit with Aunt Sally. I love them for that. The students would also request to go see Aunt Sally for a bit when they were feeling out of sorts, and those teachers, who I love so much, always granted permission. 

Do you see how profound that was? We had shifted from punitive to preventative, to self-monitoring, to self-awareness. WOW!

Here is more magic. The students would come to Aunt Sally, weave for however long they needed, sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes 20, sometimes they worked in their daily schedule like right before math. And get this- when THEY determined they were in a good place, they would head back to class. All on their own. Teachers reported positive differences in behavior, attending and learning after these visits to Aunt Sally. The kids were better able to deal with frustration because of time with Aunt Sally.

And the most magical thing of all was how the kids shared Aunt Sally. Without my direction.  One such incident will stay with me forever. A 5th grader was at the loom. He had come in on his own to get in a better place for a class that gave him trouble. He had been at Aunt Sally for about 5 minutes. We heard a door slam down the hallway and looked at each other waiting for the door slammer to enter our room. We just figured it was one of us. It was. A 6th grader entered, threw his math text book across the room. The fifth grader sitting at Aunt Sally, moved over and said, “Hey, you can have Aunt Sally now.” He said it with such compassion, such heart, such ernest. Makes me tear up remembering it.

What you should know about that 5th grader is he was one of the angriest kids I had ever worked with. I had, until that day, never seen this side of him. That is the power of Aunt Sally.

Tomorrow I will finish up the story with tidbits of the logistics and how that first year of Aunt Sally ended.

Don’t you want to know how many rugs the kids made in just 3 months? Don’t you want to know what we did with the rugs? Don’t you want to know what happened next?

You know you do.  See you then.

Tenacity Required

I am exhausted. Certainly not physically exhausted because I don’t move much, but emotionally exhausted. I am thinking-of-how-much-work-we-have-to-do-in-schools exhausted. Tired-of-meeting-with-people-in-education-who-just-don’t-get-it exhausted.

I feel pretty hopeless today. Worn out.

I believe the best course of action for me is to quit all things school and open my own pie shop. I love pie. Never met a pie I didn’t like.

Well, that won’t happen because as soon as I start dreaming about my pie shop, I think about how I could hire marginalized, disconnected special ed kids and adults and provide them with job skills and a place to be productive in a meaningful way. And there I am back where I started. Addressing the needs of people with disabilities, people who are differently abled. No matter the spin I put on it, it boils down to one thing. Including ALL people in ALL things in which they wish to be included.

I asked this week if what we are doing is working and how do we know. This weighs on my mind heavily as every IEP meeting I attend, every evaluation and re-evaluation meeting I sit in, every eligibility meeting I weigh in on, is full of people doing the same thing, thinking the same way, treating kids the same way over and over and over. No matter the kid. No matter the needs. No matter the lack of progress. No matter the evidence that shines light on how we can do better..

And I cannot understand why. I cannot understand being willfully blind. I cannot understand why change is so threatening. I cannot understand how we keep moving farther and farther away from individualizing. How we ignore the brilliant new learning science and cling to what we have always done even though we are burning out and our students are not making progress.

Is it working?

It is not working when behaviors are not extinguished in a matter of weeks of a behaviorist intervention. Keep in mind that most educators are not even using pure behaviorists methods which includes collecting baseline data, developing an intervention that targets just one behavior at a time, apply intervention, collect data, systematically remove the rewards and be done.

It is not working when kids throw things, scream, cry, thrash out, refuse to work, put their heads on their desks, roll on the floor or hide under tables.

It is not working when the unwanted behaviors still occur even when we take recess away. And by now you know how I abhor taking recess away for misbehaviors. I believe that recess is a civil right.  Don’t you?

It is not working when our students are excluded from instruction, activities with their peers, whole school rewards, and field trips.

It is not working when parents are not seen as experts about their own children.

It is not working when kids engage in self harm and are depressed and anxious.

So, take this weekend to consider how much of what you do is not working.

Also take time to celebrate what is working, because figuring that out for some of our kids takes ferocious tenacity.

Contrary to popular thinking, making our kids work for us is not the goal. Making it all work for our students is the goal.

So we better figure this out.

Is it working? How do we know?

Is It Working? How Do You Know?

I ask these questions a lot. The way we determine if something is working is as varied as the teachers designing and running special education programs.

Unfortunately, more often than not and without skipping a beat, the answer I most often hear to the first question is, yes. When I ask how they know, there is usually silence, long pauses. Sometimes I am shown weak data that is unrelated to the intervention. Sometimes the response is a vague statement about how far Joey has come in the last 6 months.

What is more concerning though is that we aren’t asking ourselves if what we are doing is even what we should be doing.We just keep doing as we always have. And that usually means leaning harder and heavier on the kids rather than reassessing our interventions and programs.

When we provide services, write IEP goals, gather data for FBAs and develop BIPs, how often are we just doing what we have always done? I have read IEPs written by the same teacher for 4 different students and they all read the same. How individualized is that?

How many classrooms, particularly special education classrooms, just automatically use level systems and token economies? Every year. No matter what student needs are. Same level system and token economy used over and over.

So, I ask. Is it working?

Is what we are doing actually affecting positive change? Is what we are doing helping the students we work with? In what way? Are we even sure we have targeted the right behaviors to begin with?

That’s where we start. This is where we have to be totally objective, throw that plan on the table and walk around it, look at it from all angles and perspectives. This is hard. How many of us want to see that what we are doing is ineffective, that we could and should be trying something else? How many of us are comfortable evaluating our work? How many of us even know how to evaluate our work?

Two blog posts in a row and all I am doing is asking questions. But that is where we start. If we don’t ask mindful questions that make us consider what we are doing, how can we possibly know if what we are doing is working?

When I was working directly with kids I forced myself to ask if what I was doing was working. If I could say yes, I asked myself how do I really know? What evidence do I have that what I am doing is working?

And that is where it gets challenging. We have to be absolutely sure that we develop our programs and plans for students and that we are seeing the challenges clearly. That means we are not assuming. That means we are leaving all preconceived notions at the door. That means we are considering the whole child. That means we are totally in the moment of that student. The lenses are clean and clear of the debris left from our last critical analysis.

We cannot develop an effective plan if we don’t look at the challenge through those clean lenses. How can we possibly write meaningful goals? How can we develop appropriate and effective interventions and programs without clearly understanding what we need to work on with our students, how to best support them, how to meet their needs?

We can’t. And that is where we fail time and again. That is why kids don’t rid themselves of the heaviest of special education labels. ED, EBD, Bad Kid, Out of Control Kid, Crazy Kid.

Because what we are doing is absolutely not working.

I suggest the most common reason for little to no progress is that we have not correctly identified the challenge. We have not looked past surface and masking behaviors. We keep developing interventions that don’t even come close to the source of the unwanted behavior or learning difficulty.

Unfortunately many of us are not trained to objectively analyze behaviors. We see an unwanted behavior and quickly conclude that is our target. But if we are aiming at the wrong target, how can we possibly develop effective interventions? If we are misdiagnosing, wrongly identifying the challenge, how can we help our students in any lasting way? Or, we might have correctly identified the target, but our interventions are inappropriate, ineffective, missing the target.

The goal is NOT to control kids.

Wait, what?

The goal is to help our students be comfortable and confident enough in school to take learning risks, to engage in what we offer, to develop healthy self concept, to define themselves in positive terms, to restore a sense of well-being.

So, if our students are not making positive shifts in those ways, then what we are doing is most certainly not working.

How do we know? Because our students are not happy. They are not comfortable in school. They are not engaged, they are not making and keeping friends, they are defining themselves in negative terms. Their peers are defining them in negative terms.

And that means what we are doing is not working.

Period.

It’s kind of simple if we look at it in those terms, isn’t it?