A resource for Early Childhood Professionals who care for children who have suffered early adverse experiences.

Calmer Kindergartens

This resource was prepared through the assistance of a grant from the Foundation for Graduates in Early Childhood Studies. It is based on the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, developed by Dr. B.D. Perry and colleagues at the Child Trauma Academy (www.childtrauma.org), and was written by Dr. Nicole Milburn, Infant Mental Health Consultant with the assistance of Ms. Clare Ryan, Ms. Catherine McQueen and Ms. Toni Heron. Take Two would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Tweddle Child and Family Health Service for the consultation and feedback provided.

ISBN: 978-0-6482088-3-9

Models appear in our photographs to protect the identity of our clients.

Acknowledgements

Behaviour has meaning!

We might not always know the meaning though! A trauma-informed approach is curious about ‘what happened’ to the child rather than ‘what’s wrong with the child’.

Knowing what the behaviour means is the first step in working out how to manage it. Sadly, some children have suffered serious adverse experiences in early childhood that make it harder for them to manage their feelings and behaviour. Examples include:• Experiencing violence in the home• Being hurt in the home• Early unplanned separations from parents• Unplanned moves between families or into foster care• Being cared for by parents who struggle to give

good enough care because of drug addiction and/or mental illness

• Parents being unavailable to meet the emotional needs of the child

Small children literally grow within a relationship - they look to parents and caregivers to understand themselves. Think about how they know something is good or bad - they look at their parent or caregiver’s face and see smiles or frowns. If a parent smiles the child thinks ‘this is good’.

Attachment and Learning

It takes many repetitions to learn something newTrust, security and patience grow when needs are met over and over again.

Think of the crying baby - baby cries, parent comes, baby cries, parent comes, baby cries, parent comes. If the parent is a bit late in coming the 900th time, the baby thinks ‘well the parent came every other time so they probably will this time’ and trust is built. Predictability is a key factor in the development of trust.

When care has been unpredictable small children are not sure whether they’re going to be looked after or not. They can become very easily stressed, anxious, and angry. Small children who have been repeatedly frightened, hurt and/or neglected by their parents will often find it hard to believe that adults are able to be trusted and relied on for comfort and support. Unpredictable care grows a sensitised stress response system that can may be hyper-responsive. This means that little things can make the child very stressed!

All living things work to keep their systems in balance, or in equilibrium. An example of such a system is how we sweat to cool ourselves down and shiver to warm ourselves up- sweating and shivering keeps our temperature in a state of equilibrium. We don’t consciously decide to sweat and shiver, our body just does it automatically.

Repeated adverse experiences in very early childhood can interfere with the developing brains’ equilibrium systems,

The brain develops from the bottom upThis means that the bits of the brain that are responsible for important things like heart rate, temperature regulation, basic trust, stress responses, language, movement and coordination develop first and are most impacted by adverse experiences in early childhood.

so we often see children who get too worked up and find it very hard to calm down, who may lash out and hurt people or who may sit in a corner and stare into space for ages. These kids are out of balance. Like sweating and shivering, these kids’ brains and bodies are trying to return them to a familiar (if not necessarily healthy) balance. Their lack of trust in adult caregivers means that attempts by caregivers to set limits on behaviour, say “no” or provide comfort may be met with a similarly unconscious, lower-brain reaction from the child that resists the limits and comfort offered.

www.ChildTrauma.org

1.000: BASIC BRAIN ORGANIZATION

The Brain Matters

Ü The human brain is the organ responsible foreverything we do. It allows us to love, laugh,walk, talk, create or hate.

Ü The brain - one hundred billion nerve cells in a complex net of continuous activity - allows us our humanity.

Ü For each of us, our brain’s functioning is areflection of our experiences.

All rights reserved © 2006-2017 Bruce D. Perry

Complexity Plasticity

Neocortex

Limbic

Diencephalon

Brainstem

All rights reserved © 2006-2017 Bruce D. Perry

Cortical

Limbic

DE

BS

Cortex

Limbic

DE

BS

CORTICALMODULATION

Cortex

Limbic

All rights reserved © 2006-2017 Bruce D. Perry

“Top-down” “Bottom-up”

Multi-levelProcessing

All rights reserved © 2006-2017 Bruce D. Perry

Principles

243

1 Interventions

need to be rhythmic,

repetitive and relevant

to the problem.

Sometimes consulting

child mental health or other

relevant professionals

is needed.(see Resources section).

Sharing information

in the team can be most

effective in working out what

is happening for a child, and

how to help them.

Behaviour has meaning ... but the meaningmight be unclear.For example, biting might mean I need a break! I’m angry! I don’t know what to do - it’s all too much! Sensory problems are common as well and can be seen in things like constant climbing, refusing to wear underpants, spitting food or screaming.

Working out what the behaviour might mean is a great first step in helping the child learn a different way to communicate and for staff to manage behaviour.

To do this for any one child, work together as a team to take really good notes for a defined period of time, 2-3 days might be enough. Record what is happening across the day, who is present and how the child is. Review together at the end of the time period to see if there are any patterns or triggers that can be identified.

REGULATE RELATE REASON

REPEAT

Start with remaining calm yourself, and then support the child to calm their body. This helps to organise their dysregulated stress responses.(see breakout strategies)

Engage the child in paired activities with a safe adult, who is sensitive to the cues the child displays regarding their desire for connection and closeness.

Only when the child is relatively calm and has their body in a balanced state can they really understand what you have to say and teach them about their behaviours.

Children with early adverse experiences need lots of repeated doses of the above 3 R’s, day in day out, in order for trust in safe adults/caregivers to start to become part of their baseline equilibrium.

Ways to help children stay calm and happy

Break in Stop the behaviour

Breakout Break out of the situation by taking the child away or doing something completely different

Build up! When the child is calm, help the child do something in a relationship with an adult caregiver to build up coping skills

Ways to

Break inGet down on the child’s level, make eye contact, put a hand out, palm facing down, and say ‘stop!’. Do not get too close when doing this and ensure the hand is palm down - children who have experienced or witnessed violence may feel threatened if the hand is up.

If the child is physically hurting someone and the above doesn’t work say ‘I need to stop you from hurting John. I am going to carry you to the corner and stay with you until you can stop hitting. I will not hurt you’. Then lift the child and carry them to somewhere quiet.

Note that many children who have had adverse experiences in the very early years have a different tolerance for closeness. They may find closeness comforting, but it also might trigger fear or anger. See if you can work out what the child’s optimal closeness is and work with that.

Ways to

Breakout1. Jumping up and down

on trampolines.

2. Hanging upside down.

3. Rolling on the ground.

4. Jumping on bubblewrap to pop all of thebubbles.

5. Brushing hair.

6. Hand massage.

7. Play doh.

8. Getting a group to clapin a rhythm, creating adrum sequence usinghands and slappingthighs.

9. Stomping.

10. Blowing up balloons orblowing bubbles.

11. Singing with movement- e.g. if you’re happyand you know it; hokeypokey.

12. Play ‘who can wrap ablanket around theirbody the tightest’.

Ways to

Build upBuilding up emotional and behavioural regulation skills occurs in relationships. Relationships are with peers as well as with Early Childhood Professionals. It is helpful to remember that many of these children will require significant adult structure and supervision to be able to play and interact successfully with their peers.

Activities:

1. Reading a story together,getting the child to sit closeand talking together aboutthe book.

2. Helping tasks - e.g. packingup, putting things out forsnacks.

3. Interactive gamesthat involve motorcoordination, e.g. clappingtogether, jumping together,singing in a group, blowingbubbles, lifting up aparachute and climbingunderneath.

4. Rocking together gently.

5. Drawing/painting togetherand talking about what thechild is showing you.

Kidsmatter early childhood: www.kidsmatter.edu.au

Raising Children Network: www.raisingchildren.org.au

Six core strengths for healthy childhood development (Child Trauma Academy) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skaYWKC6iD4

How Trauma Affects Child Brain Development (Radio Broadcast).

http://kunm.org/post/rebroadcast-how-trauma-affects-child-brain-development

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)/ Child and Youth Mental Health Services (CYMHS) in each region.

Early Learning Professionals can play a key role in helping children who have suffered adversity. This guide provides some suggestions that come from the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, developed by Dr. Bruce. D. Perry and colleagues at the Child Trauma Academy (www.childtrauma.org). Understandings are also provided from the field of infant mental health and the therapeutic practice of the Berry Street Take Two Program, an intensive therapeutic service for child protection clients. 

Resources

for (child’s name):

Date: Review:

I need help with:

I do this when:

Things that make it harder for me (more likely that I’ll have problems):(e.g. being hungry, waiting for my carer, seeing other parents come and take children home, having toys taken from me, sharing, hearing loud noises, seeing angry faces).

Things that help:Break ine.g. words, actions.

Things that help:Breakout

Things that help:Build up

Things that work

www.berrystreet.org.au