Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  2 questions 1)Biting 2)attention seeking behavior

    Posted 11-18-2022 03:22 PM
    1)What are strategies or products that would help a 1 year old child that bites? The child bites the inside of his check until it bleeds if another child is not around to bite.

    2)what resources or strategies would help a 3 year old teacher with a few kids that have experienced a lot of trauma in their life and then have extreme attention seeking behaviors all day in the classroom? What can be said that would help the teacher? It is not a teacher confidence issue. It is an issue if the teacher feeling drained because nothing seems to help.


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  • 2.  RE: 2 questions 1)Biting 2)attention seeking behavior

    Posted 11-19-2022 07:48 AM
    Hi Donna,
    Here are my answers to each of your questions:

    Q: What are strategies or products that would help a 1 year old child that bites? The child bites the inside of his check until it bleeds if another child is not around to bite.
    A: I imagine that teachers have already been offering a variety of teethers since this is an infant. If so, then I recommend early intervention to start. I'm not an occupational therapist but it sounds like it could be a sensory processing issue since the sensation seeking is so intense that it would cause the child to injure themselves and bleed. Early intervention would be able to connect the child with an OT if that's what they need. I would also recommend the child's family contact the pediatrician. There could be an underlying emotion processing or language development issue especially if this 1 year old is approaching 2 years. We should always be helping children to identify and process their emotions, and scaffold their communication with us and other children so I don't want to leave this unsaid. Regardless, it's worth reaching out to early intervention right away because it's likely this little one will need support beyond the teaching team. 

    Q: what resources or strategies would help a 3 year old teacher with a few kids that have experienced a lot of trauma in their life and then have extreme attention seeking behaviors all day in the classroom? What can be said that would help the teacher? It is not a teacher confidence issue. It is an issue if the teacher feeling drained because nothing seems to help.
    A: Teachers can build classroom environments, routines, and relationships that are supportive to all children, including those who have experienced trauma. This includes a robust social emotional curriculum, with tools for learning and teaching emotion processing and accessing coping strategies. However, I always remind my students that we are not equipped to provide everything a child who has experienced trauma needs in order to heal. We are not therapists. What we have the power and knowledge to do is advocate for children to have access to therapy. Do the children you asked about have therapeutic relationships? If not, when an experienced teacher feels drained after trying a number of strategies it's a sign that the child's team needs to get bigger. Depending on the family's access to insurance you may or may not need to work with public schools. It will be different depending on where they live. While all of that is being organized it would be beneficial to provide another staff person to the classroom so that the amount of attention the children can receive increases. Children need and deserve positive attention. If you wanted to share details about the type of attention seeking behavior I would be happy to provide some specific strategies for addressing it. I've shared this tool before, but in case you haven't seen it: Addressing Challenging Behaviors Tool. It might help the team determine next steps.
    If any of the children do have therapeutic relationships then see if the family is willing to connect the teacher with the therapists so that strategies can become a supportive network for the child by extending them into the classroom, and so the teacher will have access to another resource.

    Sincerely,
    Lauren




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    Lauren Stauble
    Consultant/Faculty
    Boston, MA
    feelthinkconnect.com
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  • 3.  RE: 2 questions 1)Biting 2)attention seeking behavior

    Posted 11-19-2022 11:41 AM
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    Lisa Buschmann
    Early Intervention Development Specialist
    Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities
    Oregon OH
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  • 4.  RE: 2 questions 1)Biting 2)attention seeking behavior

    Posted 11-20-2022 02:54 PM
    Donna, naming this behavior "attention seeking," may be a part of the problem. The problem could be anxiety. A one-year-old is still an infant, especially if they haven't had the close attention that infants need. If you have the staff available, more holding time is likely what is needed. Neurobiology suggests that almost always-available attention is needed until the aga of three, and that only if there has been adequate attention earlier. I know that agencies can't do this, but as close as they can to such attention is especially important with a child who is biting her tongue.

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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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