{"id":37110,"date":"2022-06-14T11:42:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T10:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/?p=37110"},"modified":"2024-08-15T17:40:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T16:40:52","slug":"it-has-nothing-to-do-with-sensory-by-mariza-ferreira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potentialplusuk.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/14\/it-has-nothing-to-do-with-sensory-by-mariza-ferreira\/","title":{"rendered":"It Has Nothing To Do With Sensory! by Mariza Ferreira"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]So Why Else Would A Child Act Out In Class?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this occasional series by Paediatric Occupational Therapist Mariza Ferreira, we consider some of the sensory, motor coordination and emotional regulatory issues which could be affecting children with high learning potential.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”2″][vc_column_text]Dear Teacher,<\/p>\n

Thank you for reading my blog posts for Potential Plus UK over the last year, in which I have explored some of the sensory, motor coordination and emotional regulatory issues that could be negatively affecting children with high learning potential.<\/p>\n

I trust that I have been able to help you recognise and help those children with high learning potential who struggle with their handwriting, are constantly on the go, and overly sensitive to touch, visually busy environments and noisy environments.<\/p>\n

As you know, I firmly believe that children have a fundamental need to \u2018fit in\u2019 and \u2018be good\u2019. If their behaviour is therefore not as expected in class, such as them being aggressive, oppositional and argumentative, then you have to explore the possibility that this could be related to sensory processing difficulties.\u00a0 Children often use behaviour to communicate the messages they do not yet have the words for.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, however, the out of sync behaviours of children with high learning potential have nothing to do with sensory<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

Over the years I have worked with many children who have dual or multiple exceptionality (DME) \u2013 also known as twice exceptionality (2e) -, specifically those with high learning potential and sensory processing difficulties or disorder. I have come to realise that not all behaviour which appears to have a sensory base, is in fact sensory!\u00a0 For example, a child who is often on the go with lots of \u2018out of seat behaviours\u2019 could display this behaviour because he has a neurological need to move more (vestibular sensory seeking behaviour). \u00a0However, it could purely be because the child is not challenged adequately enough on a cognitive level in class and therefore find themselves intellectually bored<\/strong>.\u00a0 Wandering off in all sorts of ways to get the stimulation they need, will therefore (unconsciously) seem like the most logical thing for them to do. I call these non-sensory or motor issues, the \u2018non occupational therapy factors\u2019 or \u2018non OT factors\u2019 when I speak with my own colleagues, which I think all professionals working with DME children need to be mindful of.<\/p>\n

Another example to illustrate my point is from the mother of a young child I worked with years ago, who told me that he once swiped all the papers and writing equipment off his table whilst the teacher was explaining what the class had to do.\u00a0 This child had severe auditory sensitivities, and at first I thought it was because the class was perhaps too noisy on that occasion, resulting in his behaviour.\u00a0 However, once I worked with the child and we explored coping strategies together, he revealed that he swiped the materials off the table as he was highly frustrated with how easy the work was which they had to do and that he felt the teacher was wasting his time.\u00a0 He was 5\u00bd\u00a0 at the time\u2026<\/p>\n

It can be hard for teachers, parents and even occupational therapists to spot intellectual boredom as a core reason for a child\u2019s unacceptable behaviours.\u00a0 This is especially tough when you consider that children with high learning potential and DME sometimes struggle with more mundane academic tasks such as simple adding and subtracting in class, yet at home in their spare time they like doing much more complex mathematics in their heads!\u00a0 At school they may sometimes show no interest in reading the age appropriate books which form part of the curriculum, leading teachers to believe that they are behind with their reading; whilst at home they have read the whole series of Harry Potter.<\/p>\n

It is understandable and quite common to hear educators say that it is impossible for a child to be \u201cbright\u201d or have a particular strength in a subject area when they have not seen any evidence of it in class.\u00a0 In fact, they may have only observed the opposite.\u00a0 The danger of\u00a0 continued misidentification of a child\u2019s true academic potential and ability by the significant adults in their life, is that the child develops a mistrust of these people or authority figures.\u00a0 This can lead to the child giving up trying to prove himself and his abilities or potential to achieve, disengaging from schoolwork and in extreme cases, becoming a school refuser.<\/p>\n

What Can You Do to Help?<\/h3>\n

First of all, let me say that I am not a teacher, so you probably have more ideas than I have.\u00a0 As a therapist I feel more comfortable highlighting the issue of intellectual boredom as a possible reason for unacceptable behaviour in class.<\/p>\n

My encouragement to you would be to be open to the idea that intellectual boredom could be a root cause for behaviour.\u00a0 If a child has already been identified as having high learning potential it will be easier to make the link.\u00a0 But if no formal testing has been done for a child who regularly has \u2018flashes of brilliance\u2019, then perhaps you could suggest this course of action to the child\u2019s parents and \/ or your school?<\/p>\n

To combat intellectual boredom, you can provide work that is much more involved or at a deeper level.\u00a0 I am aware that most teachers already present work at various levels of difficulty, such as in maths, and that may be all the stimulation a child needs.\u00a0 But there is the risk that the child with high learning potential and DME does not engage with this type of work, as he does not see its relevance.\u00a0 Providing greater context as to why the work is important now, or linking it to a special interest of the child, could be the motivational boost the child needs.<\/p>\n

I can highly recommend that teachers and schools get in touch with organisations such as Potential Plus UK, who have many advice sheets<\/a> on exactly this issue, and who also provide regular training to teachers on how to enrich lesson presentations.\u00a0 None of us have to go this alone, and my motto is to get good advice wherever it is available.<\/p>\n

Lastly, dare I say it, embrace the possibility that THAT child could possibly be smarter than all of us together.\u00a0 As a therapist working one-to-one with children with DME, I am acutely aware that the children I help are very smart, and have the potential to far succeed what I have achieved and will achieve in life.\u00a0 I am okay with that, and quite like the idea that I may be helping the greatest artist, surgeon, engineer, architect, code breaker, electrician or plumber the world has yet to discover, reach his or her potential.\u00a0 I hope you will see it this way too!<\/p>\n

Your specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist<\/p>\n

Mariza[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Mariza Ferreira is an independent specialist children\u2019s Occupational Therapist. Her motto is \u2018Change The World One Child At A Time\u2019. Mariza received the Above and Beyond Inspirational Therapist Award in 2019 for her work with children with high learning potential or dual or multiple exceptionality. Find out more about Mariza in her blog One Occupational Therapist\u2019s Journey into Dual or Multiple Exceptionality<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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