4 Ways To Spot Dysregulation
Understanding dysregulation is so important.
We cannot support a child’s sensory needs if we don’t know their needs.
Making note of what is causing a child to be dysregulated is so important.
But dysregulation can look different for each kid.
So how can we tell if a child is dysregulated??
Here are 4 Ways to Spot Dysregulation:
- Look at their body - What is their baseline level? Are they doing something different than usual? Just because a child is moving or fidgeting doesn’t mean a child is dysregulated. For some kids, moving a lot is their baseline. But if they are moving their body, or NOT moving their body in their usual way, that might point to signs of dysregulation.
- Look at their emotions - if you are seeing big emotions, that can mean the child is dysregulated. When kids are focusing on their emotions, it can be hard to focus on anything else.
- Look at their language - if they are not using any language or less complex language that could be a sign they are dysregulated. And if the child is a gestalt processor, you may see a child revert to using earlier stages of language development such as scripts or stage 1 gestalts when they are dysregulated.
- Look at their engagement - when kids are dysregulated, it’s very hard for them to engage with us. So if you are struggling to get a client engaged, it could be that they are dysregulated.
Want to know how to help a dysregulated child??
