Discussed in this Podcast:

✅ Stop, Scan, Choose: I taught a boy who flitted between activities to stop at the door, scan the room with me, hear who was doing what, then choose and point to where he was going next.

✅ Add a Sensory Anchor: While he stood at the door scanning, I gave him a weighted sensory tool to hold so he could regulate while we talked through his choices.

✅ Narrow the Choices: Instead of asking an open “what do you want to do?”, I explained it works better to offer two clear options, such as “do you want the Play-Doh or the painting?”

✅ Show, Don’t Just Tell: I shared that showing a child the two activities so they can see them kinesthetically works better than only naming them.

✅ Use Now/Next/Later Visuals: I talked about never underestimating the importance of now/next/later visuals to help a child transition and refer back to what’s coming.

✅ Offer Two Clear Spots: Rather than “where are you going to sit?”, I suggested pointing to two mats and asking “are you going to sit here or here?” to limit the problem-solving.

✅ Teach the Swap: I explained that children need to be explicitly taught how to ask “can I swap?” or “can I have that instead?” when they’ve chosen something they don’t want.

✅ Replace Hitting With a Gesture: I described teaching a child to tap, tap, and hold out a hand to ask for a turn, replacing hitting with a clear, kinesthetic request.

✅ Reteach Across Every Setting: I reminded everyone that a skill learned with one person in one place doesn’t automatically transfer, so it has to be retaught with a range of people across a range of settings.

✅ Build in Movement: For a child struggling to sit at circle time, I said I’d incorporate more movement breaks so I’m the one managing the behaviour, not just reacting to it.