Supporting Students with BESD and Attachment
IssuesMarch 2013
Number of students on role diagnosed with Attachment Disorder?
Zero.
Number of students previously on role with a diagnosis of Attachment Disorder?
One.
In Ashlawn
Don’t focus on the diagnosis or ‘label’ Look instead at the behaviours your are
presented with and consider whether any of these strategies would be suitable.
Many of the strategies suggested will be successful with a range of BESD students.
So why learn about it?
Background to ‘attachment’
How did you learn how to behave?
Think for a moment…
Neglect Abuse Separation from/Changes of the primary caregiver Frequent moves and/or placements Traumatic experiences Maternal issues – depression, drugs, alcohol Undiagnosed painful illnesses – colic, ear infections Lack of connection between mother and child Young or inexperienced mother with poor parenting
skills
Potential causes ofAttachment Issues
Attachment Cycles – the basics
Attachment Cycles – the basics
Attachment Cycles – the basics
The chemical connections in the brain are forged in early years (0-6 months, then up to 2 years)
If a child does not receive these secure attachments in their early years, then they will not have learned the ability to feel empathy, compassion, trust and love.
It is not ‘hard-wired’ like ASD, but the wires are incredibly tangled!
What is ‘attachment disorder’
Two critical models of development
Developmental stage Examples of key tasksBeing (0-6 months) • Call for care
• Learn to trust caring adults
Doing (6-18 months) • Use all senses to explore• Get help in times of distress
Thinking (18mths – 3yrs) • Push against boundaries• Express anger and feelings
Identity and Power (3-6 yrs)
• Acquire info about the world, self, body and gender role
• Learn extent of personal power
Skills and Structure (6-12 yrs)
• Practice thinking and doing• Develop the capacity to cooperate
Integration (adolescence)
• Emerge as a separate independent person with own identity and values
• Be competent and responsible for own needs, feelings and behaviours
Cycles of development
Hierarchy of Needs
(1990s 8-stage model based on Maslow)
… students with attachment issues didn’t get (and aren’t getting?) that first bit!
But…
It would be unrealistic to focus solely on basic needs and early developmental stages, although it is important to pay particular attention to these in order that you can access some of the higher stages
What are Attachment Issues?
We all have them to a certain extent
They can range from anxiety and specific situation security to extensive social and behavioural difficulties
Many BESD children have attachment disorders to some extent
What are Attachment Issues?
Four main types of attachment
Reactive Attachment Disorders
(Sub-types to insecure attachments)
Why so ‘explosive’?
‘Breaking Point’
‘Balanced’ person
With Attachment issues
Characteristics – what we see
There is crossover with other Special Educational Needs
ASD…?
There is crossover with other Special Educational Needs
ADHD…?
There is crossover with other Special Educational Needs
The primitive brain needs structure and certainty
The emotional brain needs sensory stimulation, rewards and familiarity
The higher cortex is then available for choices and reflection
The whole brain
Routines No empty threats
This is a HUGE step!
Strategies for supporting students with BESD and
Attachment Issues
StructureClear ground rules and consequencesChallenge/RewardDown timeRegular review
RoutineFamiliar languageBe consistent with warnings
Effective strategies
TimeOne step at a timeOne instruction at a timeClear time frame – there must be an end in sightTake up timeWarning time
ModellingDo what you want them to
Effective strategies
Developmental stage Examples of key tasksBeing (0-6 months) • Call for care
• Learn to trust caring adults
Doing (6-18 months) • Use all senses to explore• Get help in times of distress
Creating opportunities for ‘being’
Special jobs and tasks Check in times Opportunities to share interests with an
adult Create ways to encourage a secure
attachment
Opportunities should be unconditional and not earned or used as a sanction
Creating opportunities to gain positive experience of success
Contrive opportunities that allow for success, including artistic, musical or physical expression
Reward effort with down-time Reward good behaviour with responsibility
Opportunities should be rule bound, time structured and earned by responsible behaviour.
We can support, we cannot cure Full attendance = 17% of a student’s time each
week Therefore, a lunch-time group is 1.56% of their
week Attention seeking Attention needing Familiar responses create routine
‘This always happens this way in this room’ Traditional ‘talk’ or ‘play’ therapies do not work with
these children, as this relies on the ability to develop a trusting relationship
Natural consequences, not lectures, work best. Their mind-set will be ‘you cannot hurt me any more than I already am’.
Lightbulb moments!
What aspect of your own behaviour do you need to change?
Take something away from this…
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