• Jettproof Sensory Clothing
• Balance board (have them pretend they're surfing)
• Wooden balance board (great for cradling small children)
• Pool noodles (great for safely letting out the energy from big feelings)

• Sam the Lamb Sleep Trainer light

• As a result, they may become overly sensitive to some experiences (e.g., they might react to the slightest discomfort caused by a sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation or visual cue such as light),
• They may not be able to process some senses at all (e.g., a child may not experience pain when they injure themselves),
• Or they may be somewhere in between.
• It's important to note that we're not just talking about the five outward senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
• There are internal senses that are affected, including:
  • Proprioception - the sense of pressure in our muscles,
  • Vestibular - the sense of balance and where we are in space, and
  • Interoception - the sense of what's going on within our body.

Physiological Strategies

• Drink lots of water (provide a bottle)

• Food available as needed and meals/snacks every 2 hours

• Calming techniques

• Sleep routine and naps

• Physical/sensory activity every 2 hours

Environmental Strategies

• Transition preparation (time warnings, etc.)

• Routines, schedules

• Rituals (bedtime, etc.)

• Physical reminders of family and safety

• Regulation checks (e.g., “engine plate”)

• Remember, early traumatic experiences can interrupt healthy development, so a 16-year-old may behave more like an 8-year-old and have the developmental needs of a child that age.
• Of course, we don't patronise teens and treat them like babies, but we find age-appropriate ways to respond to their needs in connecting, empowering and correcting ways.

• The Connecting principles includes mindfulness and engagement strategies to help you build a secure attachment relationship with the child.
• The Empowering principles includes physiological and ecological strategies to help the child feel safe and cope with overwhelming feelings.
• The Correcting principles includes proactive and responsive strategies for teaching appropriate behaviour and responding to escalations.

• We use the expression "from hard places" because a child doesn't have to be exposed to abuse or neglect for them to experience these effects.
• A stressful pregnancy, difficult birth or early hospitalisation can be enough to cause developmental challenges for the child or young person you care for.
• When a child has come from "hard places," they can be developmentally less than half their chronological age, meaning a 14-year-old may behave more like a 7-year-old and need the kind of nurturing care that you would give a child of that age.

• STAY CALM no matter what.
• SEE THE NEED behind the behaviour.
• MEET THE NEED, find a way.
• DON'T QUIT! If not you, then who?

• It makes sense, then, that touch is one of the most important senses that our bodies develop.
• When children are not picked up, cuddled, or played with, or when they are physically or sexually harmed by others, touch can become a source of fear and pain.
• That fear can last a lifetime without careful, sensitive and appropriate intervention.
• This video introduces some simple strategies for introducing safe touch into your relationship with children so that they can learn to set proper boundaries and feel nurtured through touch.

• Through play we learn how to socialise, negotiate with others and set proper boundaries.
• Play is essential to healthy development and helps us see others and the world around us as safe and nurturing.
• Sadly, many children from hard places did not have regular safe opportunities to play with others and instead were fearful of harm from people who should have protected them.
• One of the most effective and reliable ways to help a child feel safe and trusting towards us is to play with them, and the best kind of play is where they are in charge!
• This also takes the pressure off us to come up with something to do.
• Let their imagination run wild, and let your inner child get lost in the moment, even if it's only for a few magical minutes each day.

• Attachment is much more than meeting physical needs (e.g., food, shelter, clothing, etc.) but also includes the way we meet the child's emotional needs.
• In fact, helping any child, not just those from hard places, to recognise, feel and cope with difficult emotions is one of the most important things we can do to help them to thrive in life.
• Often the way we were parented lays the foundation for how we connect with others, and in our work as carers we should be striving to develop a "secure" attachment style.

Mindfulness Strategies

• Caregiver self-care

• Caregiver awareness of their own history

• Model self-regulation and provide co-regulation

Engagement Strategies

• Warm eye contact

• Appropriate touch

• Playful voice and authoritative voice

• Child-led play

• Behaviour matching

Do not force engagement or use these strategies to meet your own needs (i.e., offering a hug because it's what you would want if you were the child)—offer these strategies to meet the needs of the child or young person.

• Give “yesses” through choices and compromises
• Offer and invite “re-do’s”
• Develop a list of “life value terms” and praise the child when they succeed

• IDEAL Response - Immediate, Direct, Efficient, Action-based, and Levelled at Behaviour (not the child)
• Levels of Response
  • Level 1 – Playful
  • Level 2 – Choices
  • Level 3 – Calming
  • Level 4 – Protective