Welcome back to our Self-Regulation Series where we have been covering the ins and outs of why we use self-regulation, why we want to teach it, and the best available frameworks for pursuing our students’ goals and long-term health and happiness. 

In Part 1 we looked at the ways we want to define - and the ways we don’t want to define - self-regulation in the classroom. In Part 2 we dove into some examples of self-regulation. In Part 3 we talked about finding a balance between acknowledging the importance of being proactive with challenging or harmful behavior while at the same time avoiding framing the curtailing of that behavior as the primary or sole goal of practicing self-regulation, and to round out our series we will talk about a few ways we can teach self-regulation. 

As with many internal processes, self-regulation covers a wide variety of needs and situations from sensory input to personal conflict to high emotion moments. It therefore stands to reason that there are lots of different approaches to self-regulation. Let’s take a closer look at a few of them to see how they can help.

One great challenge for many students who struggle with getting overwhelmed or falling into harmful behavior is that it’s not always easy to tell when such a situation is imminent. 

Many Autistic people struggle with interoception, or perceiving what is going on with their bodies, and may not perceive a problem until it is already a big deal. 

But just because we might not notice the signs doesn’t mean that they’re not there or that we can’t try to identify them! It is worth exploring the potential signs of an overwhelming moment because in some circumstances you may recognize it while it is still a small and easily managed issue. 

One great opportunity to consider when looking back on those challenging moments with your student is to talk about what it felt like and trying to identify those signs. The aim is not so much to figure everything out right away, but to consider the possibilities and see what helps down the line. But learning to self-evaluate in those moments is a valuable tool in its own right!

One great way that many people are able to either self-regulate or begin to seek out ways to self-regulate in challenging moments is to find an anchor point they can attach themselves to. 

Social stories are a great way to proactively work on creating that anchor point by identifying an established procedure that a student can think to when they are beginning to feel overwhelmed. Not only can social stories be customized to fit specific student needs, they can be read and reread before a challenging moment and can be there during those moments if needed.

One common situation in which a given student might feel overwhelmed is during a disagreement or conflict, when the tension between two individuals gets out of hand and emotions start running higher rather than approaching a point of agreement. 

Learning about different methods of mediation, whether it’s finding a neutral mediator, establishing a system for each person calmly sharing their point of view, or consciously choosing to postpone the discussion until the tension comes down a little bit are just a few of the ways one might try to mediate a discussion that is getting out of hand. 

While it is not always possible to set parameters around potential future arguments, establish some basic mediation protocol in group or teamwork settings can also make a big difference in keeping disagreements from spiraling out of control!

When we talk about meditation we are not so much talking about transitioning to a meditative state when your emotions are running high. If we could calm down that easily in those situations then self-regulation practice might not be necessary! 

Rather, we can use some tools related to meditation to begin to try to decompress and come down from a heightened state. One great component of meditation is seeking out a low sensory input space. Another is focusing on a singular mantra and repeating it to draw your focus away from other things. 

This mantra can be anything whether it’s directly related to the situation or something familiar to you. Even practicing controlled breathing can have a calming effect in a tense moment and give someone the space to make decisions. These are the types of tools that are helpful to have ready to go when those tough moments arise!

We hope our series on self-regulation has helped with creating a positive, student- centered framing for practicing self-regulation skills while still bearing in mind the importance of seeking long-term solutions to actively harmful behavior. If you would like to see us cover another self-regulation topic more in-depth then we would love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com and we will be back next week for a new series on transportation!