Assignment #4: Self-Regulation Plan

Your goal is to develop a plan of action to guide you in your interactions with students with
behaviour challenges. Remember, there are three parts to teaching self-regulation skills:
1. Reduce the student’s overall stress level
2. Teach the student what calm and alert feels like
3. Teach the student how to return to calm and alert and how to manage stressors

The Self-Regulation Plan for the student in the case study should be simple, clear, and easy to
understand.

ASSIGNMENT #4: IN-CLASS GROUP TASK – SELF REGULATION ASSIGNMENT (10%)

What are the signs (what do I see and hear) that tell me my student is stressed and
experiencing allostatic overload?

Some of the signs that Brittany’s student shows when she is stressed are:
 Getting frustrated when she is not first in line.
 Having an outburst or a meltdown if she does not get her way and does not get the
toy that she wants or is not able to sit beside her preferred friend at the time.
 When she is outside and she is having an outburst with sharing.
 Having difficulties joining the group during circle time.

How does this over-stimulation negatively impact this student’s behaviour? Consider the
impact across the 5 domains (biological, emotional, cognitive, social, prosocial).

The negative impact Brittany’s student behaviour through her 5 domains are:
 Biological domain: Equilibrioception (feeling “off balance”). An evidence of this is
when she is looking for sensory outputs.
 Emotional domain: Change in routines – children fighting – conflict – confrontation –
disagreements/arguments – emotional liability – feeling “off” – strong emotional
expressions. An evidence of this is when she shows frustration when making
transitions and being in constant arguments with her peers and teachers.
 Cognitive domain: Cognitive dissonance – making decisions – poor working memory.
An evidence of this is when she seems unable to ask for toys when playing and
organizing her thoughts to shift from one activity to another.
 Social domain: Adjusting to new norm of retirement – confrontation- defensive
reaction in self when you disagree with what someone is saying – hypersensitivity to
Social Signals – interpersonal conflicts – lack of social engagement – learning the
norms of a new group.
 Prosocial domain: Difficulty reading others’ cues – feeling limbic resonance and not
knowing that’s what the feeling is – limbic reactions of others.
 What can I change in the classroom and/or recess environment to reduce my student’s
stress levels?

Introduce new toys to the classroom or purchase new samples of her preferred toy. In
addition, we can make a visual transcript in order for her to manage her emotions prompt her
to self-regulate. Another strategy could be the use of a visual schedule to organize her
through the day so that she can anticipate the different activities and transitions during the
day. She can also benefit from a Social Story for sharing. To meet her sensory needs, she can
wear a sensory vest when need it, also her chair can be adjusted to having a rubber band
from one leg chair to another so that she can put her feet on tab and provide movement in
order to release stress. At the same time, she can sit on a sensory seating cushion.

How can I help my student recognize what sorts of activities help her to become calmly
focused and alert and what activities they need to limit?
Provide examples of appropriate activities you would use.

 Activities to be calm and focus

 Create an infographic with options for her that includes quiet time, fidgets, a hug,
exercise, breathing exercises, ludic activities, that she can use whenever she feels
stressed.
 Create microenvironments that meet a diverse range of Self-Regulation needs for her
(tent or fabric over a desk, long table with curtains over the front and pillows
underneath, etc.).
 Other things to consider are hydration and nutrition. Allow her to have breaks through
the day for drinking water and have a nutritional snack.
 Provide her with some space to reflect on the behaviour that caused her stress and
help her find appropriate choices to be calm and focus.
 Practice some mindfulness exercises.
 Activities she need to limit
 Avoid unstructured playtime and routines.
 Avoid sudden routine changes.
 Having her follow no more than one instruction at a time.

*This template has been adjusted to suit the needs of Brittany’s student. We would typically
consider both over- and under-stimulation of any one student.