Behavioural, Educational & Life Skills Library by Little Wooden Toybox

Advocating for kids who see, process and experience the world differently

Autism | ADHD | PDA | Anxiety

Empower parents and educators to

• gain a deeper understanding of children’s needs, including their strengths and weaknesses
• break the cycle of past trauma including breaking away from how we ourselves may have been taught/parented and instead facilitating attachment style parenting
• understand behaviours that challenge and more importantly that all behaviours are a form of communication
• understand that the big behaviours that we see are the tip of the iceberg – we want to learn to look a little deeper to see why these behaviours are happening
• understand how you yourself stay emotionally regulated in order to model and help your kids stay well regulated
• give you tools, tips and strategies to make home life calmer and more enjoyable – for both you and your kids

When we don’t understand kids’ behaviours, we often get frustrated and angry.

When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.

– L. R. Knost

Either we spend time meeting children’s emotional needs by filling their cup with love or we spend time dealing with the behaviors caused from the unmet needs. Either way we spend the time.

– Pam Leo

Behaviour Iceberg:

There are so many different reasons why kids act out, opt out, shut down or meltdown, including

• not understanding or comprehending what you are saying/asking/expecting of them
• demands are too high and therefore it’s easier to opt out
• sensory overwhelm
• emotional overwhelm
• not understanding prepositions/instructions words and therefore can’t follow instructions
• not having the skills (fine motor skills or gross motor skills) to complete a task therefore frustration & task avoidance kicks in
• poor executive functioning skills to organise themselves and their time to complete a task
• poor short term memory making it hard to remember instructions or steps to complete a task
• easily stimulated and overwhelmed by their environment making it hard to stay calm and focussed
• need more proprioceptive feedback to help keep them calm and focussed
• not interested or engaged

On the flip side, there are loads of things that we can do to help keep our kids engaged, focussed, on task and ways that we can communicate in a way that they understand, including

• regular movement breaks to give proprioceptive feedback to stay calm and regulated
• fidgets and sensory tools to help stay focussed
• using routines, visual schedules and picture strips to help them remember steps and sequence when completing everyday tasks
• teaching fine motor skills and gross motor skills through play
• teaching educational and life skills in ways that are fun and interactive and that don’t rely on pen and paper (fine motor skills)
• teaching prepositions and directional instructions words like on/off, up/down, left/right, next to/behind/on top of and therefore setting kids up for success when giving and following instructions

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