A Critical Childhood Skillset: The Importance of Being Able to Self-Regulate

From a very early age children begin to employ instinctive methods of self-soothing. It may be something as simple as sucking on a thumb, holding their breath, or looking away (eye aversion) – but it is important to note that these seemingly insignificant examples portray the earliest forms of self-regulation.

What is Self-Regulation?

In its simplest sense, self-regulation is the amalgamation of various techniques, practices, and skills that people utilize to change how alert they are in their day-to-day affairs:

• Learning how to cope and develop better process sensory information in the midst of sensory overload
• Cognizing alertness levels and affecting changes to increase attentiveness
• Using calming and alerting strategies effectively through the day
• Building daily routines that utilize modulating sensory strategies (sensory diets)

How Do Adolescents Learn to Self-Regulate?

Children who have difficulty using sensory strategies and developing their own sensory diet to alert and calm themselves through the day can learn the concepts of self-regulation through a multitude ways.

Utilizing sensory strategies help children to learn how to self-regulate understand the salient advantages associated with generating the appropriate behavioral and sensory responses to a multitude of everyday situations and common environments – thereby making life much easier!

How Do I Know If My Child is struggling with Self-Regulation?

Below are some common indicators that your child might be having trouble self-regulating:

• Becomes over stimulated and can’t "settle down"
• Impulsive grabbing, touching, and clutching or avoids being touched, doesn’t like certain types of clothes and/or cuddling with parents
• Social issues, such as speaking too loudly or invading personal space.
• Seems to be overly active in a high alert state when peers are calm and focused in similar activities.
• Or is commonly in a low state of alertness and avoids interacting with peers, playing on playground equipment, and seems to be "sluggish" when others are alert and focused.
• Difficulties with focusing or learning

If you wonder if your child is having difficulty making sense of their senses (sensory processing) or you think your child might have self-regulation challenges, you can learn what you can do at home to support your child by consulting with an occupational therapist and learning more through a self regulation program online.

How Can These Online Programs Help?

If you partner with a reputable, AOTA Approved Provider, you will be able to learn from occupational therapists specializing in sensory processing and self-regulation to begin addressing how to best support your child’s states of alertness and sensory processing issues.

Through a careful progression of easy-to-understand games, songs, books, and other learning materials, an occupational therapist who has taken self-regulation courses from an AOTA approved continuing education can affect positive changes with regard to your child’s attentiveness, self-regulation, social interaction skills and problem-solving abilities – look for a self-regulation approach that is clinically proven, scientifically valid, and produces positive, noticeable results (with evidence-based practice and research).

So regardless of whether you happen to be a loving parent, creative teacher, or a private counselor, it is in your best interest to create a tight-knit relationship with a time-tested expert in this important area of practice– you will gain a valuable, AOTA-certified partner to help learn self-regulation techniques that will be effective approach to affecting constructive behaviors in for people of all ages.

The author of this article specializes in offering self regulation program online. For more details, visit https://www.alertprogram.com/

The Alert Program® has boiled down complex theory to create simple, practical solutions you can incorporate into your everyday living.