| From the Founder |
One common mistake teachers make is to direct children to “Sit still and listen.” Without getting into the technicalities of nervous system structure and function, let me explain briefly why, for some children, those are two contradictory statements. There are actually several explanations, depending on the nature of the movement the child is exhibiting.
ONE SCENARIO:
The behaviors you see: The child is stretching, yawning, pushing off from the table, bouncing her head around, rocking from side to side in her chair, getting up and jumping from time to time, or engaging in other fast and sudden movements. She is telling you something important.
What this might mean: This child is saying that her vestibular functions are too weak to simultaneously serve awareness of body in space, looking, and listening. She knows that what you really want and what is important for her to learn is that she listen. And so she moves and bounces to keep her vestibular system alert, energized, so she can listen. If she were to heed the first part of the direction and sit still, then she would tune out, and miss the learning that is taking place.
What you can do: If the movements are truly bothersome to the class (not just to the teacher), then build in some form of movement before and during any activity that requires sustained listening. The children might jump to their seats from the doorway or from work at various centers in the room. Rhythmic body response might be built into the lesson, or you might simply request from the child to nod or shake her head vigorously every time she agrees or disagrees with a statement. You should also probably refer the child for sensory-integration therapy or to a program that will provide her activities that will strengthen her weak vestibular functions.
A SECOND SCENARIO:
Behaviors you see: The child just can’t sit still. He is always squirming in his chair, and more frequently than not has only the slightest bodily contact with the chair. Occasionally he appears to sit on the chair, and then immediately puts one leg under him. He then periodically shifts the leg underneath him, as it begins to fall asleep from his body pressure. He probably also keeps playing with his clothes. All his teachers complain that he can’t sit still. Yet if he stretches out to listen to a story or watch a program on television, he is quiet.
What this might mean: This child probably can’t sit still because he is hypersensitive to touch, particularly in the area along his sciatic nerve (buttocks and legs). The fabric of his clothing rubbing against the chair and into the back of his leg (especially behind his knee) is downright ticklish. He may not even realize this, since he has been trying to block that sensation and pay attention to the lesson for most of his life. He might be able to sit a little stiller on some days--maybe he is wearing softer or tighter clothing, maybe his diet has not aggravated an allergic skin response, etc.
What you can do: If the child has no serious problems of visual or auditory acuity, “seat” him in the back of the room, and allow him to stand, or to move in his seat as needed. That will minimize the distraction of his activities for the rest of the class. Suggest that his family get help to desensitize him through diet control, comfortable clothing, special massage, etc.
A THIRD SCENARIO:
Behaviors you see: The child is sitting relatively still, but her hands are not. They are frequently drumming on the table, clicking retractable pens, in her mouth, pulling on her face near her mouth. It is disturbing to those around her, and her books and papers are always a mess since her hands move directly from inside her mouth onto the papers.
What this might mean: This child is telling us that she is being sensorily overloaded by the listening activity. She wants to sustain listening so that she will learn, and so that she will be part of the group. Her body is seeking a means to balance the sensory over-load. It is providing her intense sensory-cortex stimulation through the highly represented areas of finger tips and mouth. This is counter-balancing the intense auditory stimulation, and allowing her to stay with the lesson.
What you can do: Allow the child to use an agreeable fidget toy, such as digging holes with her fingers in an eraser, using silly putty on the surface of her desk, engaging two paper clips in various ways. Also allow her to chew something (a small wad of cloth might do if gum is disallowed). Try to punctuate the discussion with brief periods of writing or drawing so that her system can unwind. Discuss the phenomena with her parents. There are a number of new therapies that help vestibular functions not get into overload, and some that deal specifically with concerns of auditory overload.
A FOURTH SCENARIO:
Behaviors you see: Another child can’t sit still for long. Some time into the lesson he begins to rock back and forth in his chair. Sometimes he is rocking hard enough that his chair makes noise. You even fear that he may fall over backwards in the rocking. He seems to be tuned out while he is rocking and for a short period afterwards.
What this might mean: This child is exhibiting another reaction to auditory overload. His systems are not satisfied with finding a sensory balance through tactility, as the previous child. Or perhaps, he views those behaviors as bad. In any case, after listening for a while, he becomes overloaded. He rocks back and forth, since that is the only movement that is calming to the vestibular system. He may in fact rock enough that he tunes out, both from his listening and from his attention to body in space. If he falls over, that is a certain indication that he has lulled his vestibular system “to sleep.” He might be able to sit still and listen a little longer on some days -- maybe his diet has not aggravated his systems, maybe he has had more sleep, or maybe he has had more quiet in other classes prior to yours.
What you can do: If the child has no serious problems of visual or auditory acuity, seat him in the back of the room, and allow him to rock in his seat as needed, being sure that the wall behind him keeps him from falling over. Understand this child’s needs, and allow him to tune out on occasion, without embarrassing him by calling his name to answer a question, etc. Try to present a synopsis of the lesson at the beginning of extended listening, so if he tunes out, he will be missing embellishment and not main points. This child also would probably benefit from treatment, similar to the child above.
A FIFTH SCENARIO:
Behaviors you see: The child just can’t sit upright for long. She almost always starts to lean back in her chair, and stay there, balanced precariously until her chair clunks back down forward. She keeps leaning back in it, sometimes even inserting the toes of her shoes under the front of the chair to help balance it.
What this might mean: This child is telling us that her muscle tone is particularly weak. She does not have a strong enough vestibular system to support muscle tone and body-in-space, and at the same time look and listen. She decides that if she is to be a learning member of the group, listening and looking are the priorities. Therefore she conserves her energy by tipping the chair in order to support her large muscles almost effortlessly (the “lazy boy”).
What you can do: Allow the child to sit as she needs. In fact, you might even have tips put on the front legs of her chair so it leans back securely without her needing to try to balance it. If the child has no serious problems of visual or auditory acuity, “seat” her in the back of the room, if her sitting posture is truly distracting to others. Encourage the family to check on nutritional reasons why muscle tone may be weak. Also encourage them to consider sensory-integration or similar therapies to work on muscle tone through vestibular strengthening and special massage.