Helping Children with Special Needs Cope with Fears, Anxieties, and Worries A guide for parents and teachers
Jan 25, 2015
Helping Children with Special Needs Cope with Fears, Anxieties,
and Worries
A guide for parents and teachers
This presentation
is for adults who help
children
through their hard times;
their anxiety, worries, &
fears.
It is meant to be a
stand-alone presentation
to help parents and
teachers work with
children to cope
with those feelings
that interfere with daily
life.
The ideas for this presentation
come from years of experience
in schools and community
settings from Susan Hepburn,
Judy Reaven,
and Audrey Blakeley-Smith;
all Clinical Psychologists at
JFK Partners, University of
Colorado.
Susan Hepburn, PhD
Judy Reaven, PhD
Audrey Blakeley-Smith, PhD
OverviewOverviewfor this presentation
Signs to help determine if a child’s behavior is typical or a concern.
Strategies to help children cope with anxiety.
Selecting the best approach.
Words parents and teachers can say to help children. Ideas for prevention of anxiety, worry, or fear.
How do you know
if a child’s behavior
is typical or a
concern?
Avoids new
experiences
Resists change
Irritable
Dreads future events
Signs of anxietySigns of anxiety
Sleep problems
Narrow focus of
interest
Difficulty
concentrating
Withdrawn
Many children experience anxiety, worry, and fear in their daily lives but are unable to verbalize their feelings. Instead, you might see some of these signs.
Many of these
signs
are typical
signs of anxiety
that
most children go
through.
Experiencing
anxiety, fear, and
worry
is part of growing
up.
The problem is
when these signs
turn into excessive,
persistent, ongoing
issues…
When anxieties,
worries, and fears
interfere with
daily activities.
Anxiety is
common for
children with
developmental
disabilities,
especially
children with
autism.
HowHow can we help?
Most children prefer to
avoid facing their fears,
worries, or anxieties.
When a child avoids a
difficult situation, he or
she does not have the
opportunity to learn to
cope with that situation.
As a result, when facing
with the same situation in
the future, anxiety will
likely continue.
Understanding the
Cycle of Anxiety
and teaching the
concept to children
with anxiety, will help
them understand
why it’s important to
face their fears.
AvoidanceAvoidanceThe cycle of
cycle
starts here
The Cycle of Anxiety usually begins with physical reactions to fear, anxiety, or worry such as increased breathing, racing heart, sweating, or dizziness.
AnxietyAnxietyThe cycle of
cycle
starts here
Negative thoughts like, “I can’t do this!” or exaggerated thoughts like, “That snake is going to bite me!” when the snake is behind a glass window can take over.
AnxietyAnxietyThe cycle of
cycle
starts here
Behaviors may become explosive suddenly, and irritation and upset may appear.
AnxietyAnxietyThe cycle of
cycle
starts here Children become distracted by the physical reactions, negative thoughts, & behaviors. As a result, there is decreased learning and coping and more anxiety if avoidance continues.
How we can helpHow we can help
Awareness that when children experience physical reactions, negative thoughts, or difficult behaviors, it might be because they are afraid, anxious or worried about something.
Increasing awareness helps children understand their feelings better.
Help children become aware
Help children become aware
How we can helpHow we can help
Many times, children may need to name their fear in order to understand it.
For example…“I get shaky and sweaty when I see snakes because I’m afraid of them.”
Help children put a name to itHelp children put a name to it
How we can helpHow we can helpTeach children to breathe
slowly and deeplyTeach children to breathe
slowly and deeply
• Breathe in slowly through your nose.
• Hold it.
• Exhale through your mouth.
• Feel your stomach go up and down as you breathe.
• Repeat for at least 3 breaths.
How we can helpHow we can helpTeach children to relax their
bodyTeach children to relax their
bodyShake out their arms.
Relax their shoulders.
Let go of stiffness in their body.
How we can helpHow we can helpTeach children positive
self-statementsTeach children positive
self-statementsModel positive statements like, “I know you can do this.”
Practice positive statements they could use in the future like, “This is no big deal.” “I can handle this!” “I’ve done it before, I can do it again!”
How we can helpHow we can helpFind the teachable momentsFind the teachable moments
Avoid teaching children how to cope better in the moment of their fear, but instead wait for a time when they are calm to reflect on how they might handle that same situation differently next time.
How we can helpHow we can helpEncourage brave behaviorsEncourage brave behaviors
Provide examples of how they could cope with their fear, anxiety, or worry next time.
Coach them through practicing their brave behaviors.
How we can helpHow we can helpReward brave behaviorsReward brave behaviors
Give encouragement for their brave behaviors.
Use frequent, small, yet meaningful rewards specific to each child.
Brave BehaviorsBrave Behaviors
Brave behaviors are any attempt to face a fear, worry, or anxiety.
They are different for every child and every situation.
What are they?
Brave BehaviorsBrave Behaviors
Start with easy tasks and move to more difficult.
Encourage partial success or attempts of brave behavior.
Brave behaviors build confidence so the more they try brave behaviors, the more confident they’ll be.
How to encourage them
Brave BehaviorsBrave BehaviorsExample: Chris is afraid of cats. Example: Chris is afraid of cats.
Easy task – Look at pictures of cats.Less easy – Look at cat through window.More difficult – Look at cat 10 feet away.More difficult – Look at cat 5 feet away.Harder – Walk closely past a real cat.Even harder – Touch a cat.Hardest – Pet a cat.
Easy
Hard
More difficult
Brave BehaviorsBrave Behaviors
Allow children to decide when to go to next task.
Try brave behaviors daily in small steps.
Encourage children to stay in feared situation until anxiety goes down.
How to Select the How to Select the Best ApproachBest Approach
Try strategies you think your child will best respond to.
Ask your child what works best for him or her.
Repeat coping strategies that work best will help children remember what to do under stress.
WhaWha
tt can parents and teachers say?
Words We Can SayWords We Can Say
Ever stuck for what to say or do when children are very upset?
Here are some ideas that might work for you…
Not that…
Say this …“I know this must feel scary.”
“You don’t need to be afraid of that.”
Validate FeelingsValidate Feelings
Not that…
Say this …“It’s a little scary.”
“It’s the scariest thing ever.”
Avoid ExaggeratingAvoid Exaggerating
Not that…
Say this …“You can handle it.”
“I’ll handle it for you.
Express confidenceExpress confidence
Realistic Realistic
ReassurancesReassurances
Anxiety always goes away.
Everyone feels worried sometimes.
Missing one night of sleep isn’t a disaster.
You’ll bounce back!
Can we prevent anxiety,
worry, fear?
HowHow
PreventionPreventionMake sure children get plenty of exercise and sleep.
Limit caffeine.
Practice coping strategies with children.
Narrate when you or others demonstrate coping.
Post schedules to increase predictability.
Identify heroes and how they cope with adversity.
Identify when family members are coping.
PreventionPrevention
ConclusionConclusion
We hope this presentation has helped spark ideas you can use with the children in your life needing help learning how to cope with their anxieties, worries, and fears.
In ReviewIn Review
Signs of Anxiety
How We Can Help
Words to Say Prevention
Examples: AvoidanceWithdrawnNarrow focusIrritable
Cause for concern when signs are:PersistentOngoingInterfere with daily life
Understand & teachCycle of Avoidance
Help kids become aware of their reactions to anxiety & name it
Teach to relax body & breathing
Positive statements
Encourage brave behaviors
Determine best approach
Validate feelings
Avoid exaggerating
Express confidence
Provide realistic assurances
Exercise daily
Get enough sleep
Practice coping skills
Identify when others are coping
Post schedule to increase predictability
ResourcesResources
Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child (2nd Edition) Katharina Manassis, MD, FRCP
Helpful websites:www.jfkpartners.org www.telecopes.org www.childanxiety.org www.myanxiouschild.com
Coming soon:Facing Your Fears Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (Brookes Publishing)Judy Reaven, PhD, Audrey Blakeley-Smith, PhD, Shana Nichols, PhD, and Susan Hepburn, PhD
Photographs used in this presentation are from:
Microsoft Office and
Fotolia
Photo AttributionPhoto Attribution
Content Experts:Susan Hepburn, PhD, Judy Reaven, PhD, Audrey Blakeley-Smith, PhD, all Clinical Psychologists and Kristen Kaiser, Parent Liaison, JFK Partners, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Grant funding supporting this work:TeleCopes: Telehealth for Families of Children on the Autism Spectrum with Anxiety, Health Services Resource Administration, Award #1R40MC15593, Sept 2009 - Aug 2011.
Training Clinicians to Deliver Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Children with High-Functioning ASD and Anxiety Grant, National Institute of Health, Award #1R21MH089291-01, Oct 2009 – Sept 2013.
Produced by:Dina Johnson, Training CoordinatorJFK Partners, University of Colorado School of MedicineFeb/Mar 2011
AppreciationAppreciation