Supporting Students Who Have Experienced Trauma

1. Supporting Students Who Have Experienced Trauma Adapted from: Helping Traumatized Children Learn Antelope Valley SELPA Stacy Alvey A Training for Educators

2. VIDEO: Through Our Eyes: Children, Violence, and Trauma-Introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8vZxDa2KPM&t=8s

3. Basic understanding of trauma work • It takes time to work through grief, hurt and traumatic experiences • There are no easy, fast fixes • It’s ok to be not-OK • Your students will not be perfect & you will not be perfect • We’re all in this together

4. ACE Study • 44% or respondents reported suffering sexual, physical or psychological abuse as children. • 12.5%reported having a mother who had been treated violently. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html

5. ACE Study • An informal survey of 450 students in Massachusetts, who attended Alt-Ed programs indicated that 90% of the students reported histories of trauma exposure. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html

6. The Trauma Risky Behavior Connection

7. National Child Traumatic Stress Network NCTSN survey found that interpersonal victimization primarily in the home was the most prevalent form of trauma among children treated by NCTSN.

8. “The impact can get carried into the classroom, where it can interfere with the ability to process information and maintain control over behaviors and emotions. The fact that family violence is frequently kept secret from schools adds to the confusion, often making it difficult for educators to discern the reasons for a child’s behavioral and learning problems.” - Helping Traumatized Children Learn

9. “Because of one’s past experiences, outlook, cognitive abilities, and even culture factor into the experience, trauma is highly subjective.” – Esther Giller

10. Child Traumatic Stress Signs at home Signs at school Frequently yawning, puts head on desk, sleeps in class Frequently in nurse’s office/frequent absences Doesn’t eat school lunch Acts immature Aggressive towards staff and peers ADHD type behaviors Socially withdrawn Nervous “in his/her own world” Trauma play • Difficulty sleeping/nightmares • School refusal • Lack of appetite • Bed-wetting or regression • Anger • ADHD type behaviors • Anxious, withdrawn or afraid to be separated • Nervous • “in his/her own world” • Trauma play

11. Factors Which Impact The Level Of Trauma A Child Experiences • Age • Temperament • Previous trauma • Social support • Cognitive level • Community Support • Chronic or single event • Other protective factors

12. Childhood Traumatic Grief • Death is experienced as horrifying or terrifying, whether the death was sudden and unexpected or due to natural causes. • Trauma symptoms interfere with the child’s ability to work through the typical bereavement process. • Left unresolved, this condition could lead to more serious difficulties over time.

13. Impact of Trauma on Learning The Science of trauma & learning Institute of Child Development - TCU Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) Creating Trauma-Informed Classrooms, National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

14. Impact of Trauma on Learning • Children with secure attachments to adults and a positive worldview usually are able to regulate their emotions and develop the solid foundation necessary for adapting well at school. • Children from violent homes may have a diminished sense of self-worth, feel incapable, feel hopeless, experience self-blame and a lack of control. Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) Creating Trauma-Informed Classrooms, National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

15. Impact of Trauma on Learning

16. Impact of Trauma on Learning According to brain researchers, when children encounter a perceived threat to their safety, their brains trigger a complex set of chemical and neurological events known as the “stress response.” This activates a natural instinct to prepare to fight, freeze, or flee from the unsafe event. This part of the brain becomes over-developed.

17. Impact of Trauma on Learning • Hyper-responsive • Constant state of hyper-vigilance. • Constant “scanning the environment” for potential threats.

18. Impact of Trauma on Learning • Language & Communication Skills • Social and Emotional Communication • Problem Solving and Analysis • Cause and Effect Relationships • Taking Another’s Perspective • Attentiveness to Classroom Tasks • Regulating Emotions

19. Impact of Trauma on Learning

20. “The behavior is so willful, so intentional. She controlled herself yesterday, she can control herself today. If we only knew what happened last night, or this morning before she got to school, we would be shielding the same child we’re now reprimanding.” – “On Playing a Poor Hand Well: Insights from the Lives of Those Who Have Overcome Childhood Risks and Adversities” - by Mark Katz

21. Both the plasticity of brain development and the scaffolding nature of skill development are strong reasons to intervene as early as possible with supportive, ameliorative and protective experiences.

22. Schools can play a key role in assisting student who are suffering from trauma.

23. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: • VIDEO • Trauma, Brain and Relationship: Helping Children Heal – Dr. Bruce Perry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYj7YYHmbQs&t=107s

24. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: • Relationship is key! • Follow your school’s reporting procedures if you suspect abuse. • Work with the child’s caregiver to share and address school problems. • Refer to community resources when a child shows signs of being unable to cope with traumatic stress. • Share Trauma Facts for Educators with other teachers and school personnel.

25. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: For many educators, reframing their students’ behaviors as survival strategies rather than willful disobedience creates a dynamic shift in classroom interactions and behavior management.

26. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: • Maintain routines. This communicates that the child is safe. • Give the child power & control where possible. • Increase the level of support and encouragement. • Set clear, firm limits for inappropriate behavior and develop logical—not punitive—consequences. • Avoid battles for control. Reinforce the message that school is not a violent place.

27. Helping Traumatized Children LearnWhat YOU can do: Creating a safe environment • Assigned seating • Check-in and check-out • Posting of pictures • Notes or calls home • Rituals

28. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: Creating a safe environment • Structure the classroom so it isn’t over-stimulating • Use behavioral interventions that don’t exacerbate trauma • Give voice (Attachment/Bowlby) • Give water • Snacks Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

29. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: Creating a safe environment • Recognize that behavioral problems may be transient and related to trauma. • Provide a safe place for the child to talk about what happened, but don’t force them to talk with you. • Be sensitive to cues in the environment • Anticipate difficult times and provide additional support. • Warn stuents if you will be doing something out of the ordinary. • “Co-regulate” with your student.

30. Don’t lecture!“Give your mouth a rest, it’ll thank you”

31. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: H2O & Trauma Glutamate, (neuro transmitter that is commonly elevated in children with histories of harm,) is elevated when children are dehydrated. By giving water during school hours, glutamate level can be controlled. Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

32. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: Blood Sugar & Trauma Insulin receptors are altered by chronic stress. Have snacks at times of day when student’s blood sugar may be low. Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

33. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: Sensory Input Allow students to choose an alternative when an activity is aversive to the senses. Call, C., Purvis, K., et.al. (2014) National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, No. 75, pp. 1-10

34. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: Responding to Questions Give simple and realistic answers to the student’s questions about traumatic events. Clarify distortions and misconceptions.

35. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: • Be aware of other children’s reactions to the traumatized child. • Protect the child from peers’ curiosity. • Be attentive if the child experiences severe feelings of anger, guilt, shame or punishment attributed to a higher power. • Consider accommodations/modifications to academic work for a short time.

36. Helping Traumatized ChildrenWhat YOU can do: • Understand that children cope by re-enacting trauma through play and interactions w/ others. • Resist their efforts to draw you into a negative repetition of the trauma.

37. Identifying and Addressing Barriers • The tendency to see trauma as a home problem • Misplacing blame on students or parents • Balancing individual needs vs. whole class • Lack of skills/resources for dealing with impact of trauma • Staff feelings of helplessness & being overwhelmed

38. Why We Need Trauma-Sensitive Schools • VIDEO • Why We Need Trauma-Sensitive Schools • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyQdOLl6d2c

39. References • Benckendorf, K. (2013). Children of Trauma: What Educators Need to Know. National Council for Adoption, Adoption Advocate, September 2013., Issue No. 63. www.adoptioncouncil.org • Cole, S.F., O’Brien, J.G., et. Al., (2009) Helping Traumatized Children Learn: Supportive School Environments for Children Traumatized by Family Violence.Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Boston, MA • McMay, M., Wood, J.C., (2007) The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, New Harbinger Publications, Inc., Oakland, CA. • National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee. (October 2008). Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators. Los Angeles, CA & Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. • Souers, K. & Hall, P., (2016) Fostering resilient learners: strategies for creating a trauma-sensitive classroom, ASCD, Alexandria, VA. • http://www.ascd.org/Default.aspx

40. Adapted from: Helping Traumatized Children Learn Antelope Valley SELPA Stacy Alvey