Chapter 3 - Social-Emotional Regulation
Examples of general regulatory strategies…
Depending on your child’s interests and what you have noticed that helps them find a state of calm, these general regulatory strategies may help support your child in managing their emotions and adopting a more calm presence:
breathing exercises
taking a walk outside
listening to music
proprioceptive activities (animal walks/crawls, heavy work)
vestibular input (swinging, spinning)
Explore different concepts and methods of emotional and self regulation facilitated by occupational therapists below:
Zones of Regulation
-
The Zones of Regulation was developed to provide a simple way to understand and discuss and sort emotions experienced in life into four zones.
The figure above was adapted from the Zones of Regulation website. Click here to visit their website and dive deeper into how you can support your child with this method.
-
This tool was designed to support your child in identifying and expressing their emotions in a simpler way (divided into four zones). This approach can be used in all settings (home, daycare, school, community).
For instance, prior to your child starting an activity at school, you can help your child pinpoint which zone they feel that their body is in. If your child is not ready to start that activity, use a regulatory strategy to get them there. If they are in the blue zone, you can stimulate them with high-energy demanding activities. If they are in yellow or red, you can help their body slow down with proprioceptive activities such as heavy work.
How is my Engine Running?
-
How is My Engine Running, also known as The Alert Program, was developed to provide an easier way for Autistic children to identify and change how alert they feel and to teach adults how to better support them.
The figure above was adapted from The Alert Program website. Click here to visit their website and dive deeper into how you can support your child with this method.
-
This tool was designed to support your child in identifying how alert they are in order to better engage in their activities of daily living (ADLs).
For instance, if you are trying to teach your child how to brush their teeth, they need to be in an optimal state (attentive and focused) to learn. However, if they are in a high alert state (hyper) or a low alert state (sleepy), it will be much more challenging to do so.
Once you and your child have identified what alert state they are in, you can implement regulatory strategies to alter the state they are in to best support them in the activity that they are engaging in. If they are in a high alert state, you can implement proprioceptive strategies such as exercise and heavy work to bring them to a low alert state. If they are in a low alert state, you can promote vestibular input (jumping, swinging, spinning) to bring them to a high alert state.
Autism Level Up Energy Meter
-
The Autism Level Up Energy Meter was developed to support individuals in identifying their internal energy and the energy needed to engage in a set activity. It is free of emotional labels, which is very helpful for individuals who struggle with identifying and expressing their emotions.
The figure above was adapted from the Autism Level Up website. Click here to visit their website and dive deeper into how you can support your child with this method. Their website also provides other very helpful tools and guides for your Autistic child!
-
Click here to watch a brief explanation video of how to use the Autism Level Up energy Meter tool to better support you kids.
This tool is designed to provide clear and visual feedback of energy expectations for an activity and where the individual feels that their energy is at. If there is a mismatch between the energy expectation of the activity and the energy level that the individual is at, a regulatory strategy must be implemented to meet the energy expectation.
In order to up-regulate your child’s energy, you can facilitate activities that require high energy (swinging, spinning). In order to down-regulate your child’s energy, you can facilitate activities that require heavy work (pushing objects, climbing, animal crawls/walks, and more).
SELF Toolkit
The Kelty Mental Health Organization has developed a tool to support parents and or caregivers, educators, and healthcare providers in aiding a child in their emotional regulation. The toolkit will help identify a child’s stressors, warning signs, and tools to make the child feel better (in other words, regulate emotionally). Click the top “Download pdf” button to download a kid’s version and the bottom “Download pdf” button to download an adolescent’s version of the toolkit.