5 Back-to-School Struggles of Children with Special Needs (And How We Can Help!)
“My most important back-to-school supply doesn’t fit in a backpack, and it can’t be ordered online… It’s empathy.” ~Homa Sabet Tavangar
Whether your kids will be returning or starting the process for the first time, being back in school can be daunting for you and your child. Knock on wood, you hope there would be no phone calls from the school and no out-of-school meltdowns. But your child goes through so much more along the way.
1. Refusing to go to school
Going back to school is an anxiety-provoking thought for children with special needs. Your child has got used to having you around during the holidays, which could cause separation anxiety if their habits are not properly modified for the school days.
How we can help: A 1-hour session of the Tomatis® Method every day for 2 to 3 weeks helps relax the brain-body connections while keeping them positively energized during the day and get a sound sleep at night!
2. Hate wearing clothes
Children who hate wearing clothes is a sign of a sensory processing disorder. They often complain about the texture of the material (i.e. hem of the pants, the colour of their shirt, the surface of the socks) because their brain gets easily overwhelmed by constant stimulation. They have difficulty realizing and understanding what they feel, which then sparks the tantrums and meltdowns.
How we can help: By stimulating the brain and body through specific frequencies of filtered music, neural pathways via the vestibular system are activated developing the nervous system keeping the brain alert to take on the information that reaches it and to better process it.
The neurosensory approach of the Tomatis® Method to rewire the ear-brain-body connections change your child into an active learner who could successfully receive and respond to the information coming from his/her senses! Thus, it makes a difference for you and your child’s way of living!
3. Behaviour problems
This is possibly the most common of all. Behaviour problems can range from yelling and swearing to violent outbursts like throwing chairs/tables, hitting. Kicking and self-injury. Children showing disruptive/unruly behaviour roots from the inability to understand the situation and instruction in a classroom setting or in the home environment and to express in words the frustration.
How we can help: By training the ear-brain-body networks via the Tomatis® Method, it develops your child’s ability to learn, control his/her emotions, and behave properly at school and at home!
4. Bullying
In this sense, it is possible that your child can be the bully or the one being bullied. Children with special needs commonly have communication and social difficulties to start with.
This keeps them from getting into their preferred circle of friends and being left out and unable to express themselves, they either become the “easy target” or they become a bully, somewhat unconsciously, since they do not know how to properly approach the situation and express him/herself.
How we can help: By improving his/her auditory processing and other processing centres in the brain, your child actually learns how to learn and un-learn the what-not in a social setting. They learn how to express their feelings appropriately, gain a circle of friends, and eventually avoid misunderstandings along the way. These may be huge milestones to achieve but with the Tomatis® Method all the way, nothing is impossible!
5. Isolation
Children with special needs are often not able to interact with other people because they have a hard time understanding and expressing him/herself. They easily get overwhelmed with too much noise or stimulation when they suffer from sensory disorder (i.e. classroom noise, the noise of the fan or air con, too many distracting visuals).
How we can help: With the energising and therapeutic effects of sound through the use of the Tomatis® Method, it can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with the overwhelming sensory information and thus, help them cope with the daily challenges of life and school!
Let your young learner be school-ready! Contact us for more information on how your child can start his/her Tomatis® Program today!
Françoise Nicoloff
Official Representative of Tomatis Developpement SA in Australia, Asia and South Pacific, Director of the Australian Tomatis® Method, Registered Psychologist, Certified Tomatis® Consultant Senior, Tomatis® International Trainer and Speaker, Co-author of the Listening Journey Series, 40 Years of Experience, Neurodiversity Speaker
