Trainings for Professionals
Interested in scheduling an individualized workshop or training for your school or organization?
If your school/organization is interested in its own specific targeted workshop, please contact us directly and we can arrange dates, times and content that work for you. Trainings could be virtual or in person.
Want to hear how some educators are incorporating these concepts into their setting? Go here!
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF UPCOMING AND PAST SPEAKING EVENTS.
Why are Declarative Language & Co-Regulation important for engagement and learning?
Often, individuals with social learning differences do not feel competent. Many aspects of life, interactions and learning are challenging in a world not built for them, and as a result they shut down, may exhibit challenging behaviors, or do not respond to our communicative bids. When we engage our learners using declarative language and co-regulation, we create a feedback loop where we become better able to read their cues in the moment, and more confident adjusting what we are doing to support their competence and continued engagement.
As a result:
our students feel safe
our students respond to our communicative bids and join more easily
our students stay engaged for longer periods of time
we all feel authentically and positively connected
we become better able to handle breakdowns and repairs
challenging behaviors decrease
our students become more open to novelty, challenge, and change
our students become more active participants in their own learning journey (i.e., increase in their personal agency)
our students become more aware of their own learning style, strengths and vulnerabilities and as a result, are better able to self-advocate
and
skills develop because our students feel competent, connected, and understood.
As we take the time to establish this type of positive learning environment, that is inviting and helps our learners experience competence, they engage more fully because they trust challenge will be introduced at a pace they can handle, they learn more about themselves, and they become more open to learning about others and the world.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF UPCOMING AND PAST SPEAKING EVENTS.
Planning Your Training
The structure of your training will be individualized for your setting.
Virtual and/or in-person, formal and/or informal trainings are offered.
Informal trainings include your own case studies, discussions, and Q&A around how to incorporate these concepts on the ground, in your setting.
If planning more than one training, a combination of formal and informal trainings is recommended for optimal success. The individualized conversations that take place during informal meetings are how everyone become skilled, thoughtful and comfortable with these concepts and new communication style. During conversations specific to your team, your educators will learn how to navigate troubleshooting moments, and dynamically scaffold based on a students’ needs in the moment .
Hear from some other educators who have completed trainings!
Formal Training Topics
Training 1: Declarative Language: Using a Thoughtful Language Style to Help Individuals with Social Learning Differences Feel Competent, Connected and Understood
Each time we speak, we have the opportunity to choose our words. Speaking in a thoughtful way means that we are choosing words that will invite and empower individuals with social learning differences to feel connected, feel competent, and feel understood while learning and being guided outside their comfort zone, at a pace that is manageable to them. When we pause to think about what we say and how we say it, our learners in turn stop to think about what they say or do in response. In this training, participants will be shown a speaking style called declarative language that can be naturally used within social interactions to encourage connection and learning across areas of perspective taking, flexible thinking, problem solving, and experience sharing.
Training 2: Co-Regulation: Creating Competence, Balance and Positive Connection Through the Ups and Downs of Learning
In this session, participants will learn about a teaching process called Guided Participation, which uses co-regulation to create authentic partnerships between the teacher and student, therapist and client, or caregiver and child. When practicing co-regulation, the guide thoughtfully crafts competent, contingent roles for their student in an ongoing way, and responsibility is transferred over time, at a pace that is just right for each learner. This leads to positive social connection, true reciprocity, and increased opportunities for engagement, growth, and continued learning.
Training 3: Declarative Language & Troubleshooting: What to Think About and/or Do When it Doesn’t Seem to Work
Declarative Language does NOT work every time you use it! This is expected. In this next session, common reasons for breakdowns will be explored, along with tools to navigate these breakdowns in the moment. Several video clips will be shared to show what this looks like in action.
Training 4: Going Deeper with Co-Regulation: Frameworks and Adjusting Complexity
In this training, we will take the time to explore different co-regulatory frameworks and how to adjust the complexity of any engagement ahead of time, or in the moment, so that the student stays competent and challenged at a level that is just right for them. Adjusting complexity means, considering all the elements of an activity, from the materials used to the number of people involved, in relation to each learner’s attention, processing style, and ability to self-regulate. It is an important consideration when creating competent roles, and one that is often overlooked. These topics are discussed in Chapter 6 and 7 of Co-Regulation Handbook, and as we get comfortable with each, we can better set our students up for success.
Training 5: Creating Positive, Successful Peer Interactions
Now that you have the tools, how can we apply these to help kids have successful interactions with each other, develop positive relationships, form friendships, and learn together? Specific topics covered include a framework for how to approach and think about peer interaction through this relationship-based lens, example natural environment and more structured activity ideas, and ways to introduce and include kids in competitive games so that they stay engaged and successful.
Training 6: A Case Study in Disruptive Behavior: Three Special Boys Through a Different Lens
In this training, three 10-year old boys, whose social differences are subtle but significant, will be introduced in the context of their social group. Over the years, these fast paced, intelligent, boys with a great sense of humor, have received diagnoses including ADHD, High Functioning Autism, and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. Placed in regular education settings, each boy has found themselves in trouble at school for “disruptive behavior.” When these challenges have been addressed using purely behavioral methods, it has affected their self-esteem and left them feeling misunderstood. These are the types of students who usually know what is expected of them but cannot consistently apply their knowledge in the moment. This presentation will share how their challenges can instead be viewed and addressed through an emotional regulation lens, and subsequently help them feel good about themselves while on their social learning and self-regulation journey. These boys are unique and fun to watch! Attendees will enjoy some laughs with these three special boys and walk away with ideas on how to support this more challenging profile.
Training 7: Thinking Beyond Eye Contact
Having students “make eye contact” is not helpful to individuals with social and sensory learning differences. In fact, this practice can negatively impact interactions and as a result interfere with the development of trusting, guiding relationships that are needed for learning. Yet, at times, it is important for our students to look, so they can learn what we are teaching. In this training, we will discuss the idea of “eye contact” vs. “visual referencing”, and explore respectful, sensitive, and natural ways to support the development of observation skills and nonverbal communication.
Training 8: Appreciating Opinions, Considering Perspectives & Managing Mistakes: How to Approach These Sensitive Areas of Learning in a Way That Keeps Our Students Open and Our Connection Strong
In this workshop, a framework for understanding how to approach sensitive topics such as sharing opinions and making mistakes will be discussed, along with concrete example activities to bring back to your own educational settings.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF UPCOMING AND PAST SPEAKING EVENTS.
Thank you for your interest! We’d love to meet you and your team!