Breaking Session Ruts

Ruts happen, but it is also our responsibility to get out of them. We support caregivers and providers that can recognize the rut, but are unsure of how to break it. Often, the temptation is to just keep going - push through - or to tell the student that they need to figure it out, especially when the student is an adult.

Stims, elopement, lack of participation and other behaviors are all communication that some need is unmet and they are dysregulated, though. They are responding to their environment, both internal and external, and generally a rut means that past experience is influencing them before you even start this session.

One student pointed out that it is unfair to expect them to change when the environment stays the same.

We agree.

We also recommend not blaming either. The student and caregiver are both doing their best - safest assumption at least - so let's help them both.

We often talk about how there is no set solution, no "do this and then" answer that is guaranteed, and this also applies to session ruts. We can only share tools - options for caregivers to try - and our experience with how and when to use them, including when to try something different.

So how do you break the rut?

It will always vary, but there is a general theme: do something different.

Soma talks about this as encoding. The student encodes the environment differently than we do. This encoding influences their behavior so to change their response, we need to change what they are encoding in the environment. We highly recommend reading Soma's books to learn more about encoding.

If we think about stimulus-response relationships, this makes sense. We do something and they respond. So change the stimulus.

This seems simple, but it works in reverse, too. The student can be the stimulus which changes our response and we have to work especially hard to overcome our reactions. It is a cycle that is difficult to break.

It can be even more complicated when we consider anxiety, stress, trauma, dysregulation, and other internal factors - all things that influence encoding, but the same basic principle applies:

Nothing will change unless we make a change.

How do I know what to change?

Start with the easiest thing to change and preferably something to change before you even start the session. The earlier you make the change in the session, the sooner the session can take a different path. This also reduces any anticipation or anxiety responses.

That will be different for everyone, but can include:

1. Setting of the lesson

   1. Move to a different room or time of day

   2. Rearrange furniture to create a different space

   3. Meet students at their car and start as you walk to ease the transition

   4. Go to the library or work in the car

2. Your own affect or regulation

   1. Play a part that is different from your normal - be more cheerful or be more sedate

   2. Do a quick activity prior to starting to change your own regulation

3. Mode of communication

   1. Use a different board (color, layout, size, etc)

   2. Use no board at all - work on speech, handwriting, pointing on visuals

4. Goal of the 'session'

   1. Work on something besides communication

   2. Do something you both enjoy to just reconnect - this particularly works when you have become the stimulus.

5. Session material

   1. Subject - do math or science or a special interest

   2. Presentation - use music, visuals, book, etc

   3. Style - Discussion/creative, research together, student asks questions, game, tangents

   4. Types of performance - opinions, predictions, questions,

Generally, it will take multiple strategies to restart on a path outside the rut. These changes can cause stress, too, though so consider how they might impact both the provider/caregiver and the student.

1. Make sure you are able to support their regulation and needs before beginning any session.

2. Keep it short and within your own tolerance levels.

3. Be prepared to have to revert some aspects back to normal and change the approach as you go.

4. Pay attention to their reaction and mentally take notes on what worked. It helps to record so you can go back to review what worked and what did not work.

5. Remember that the goal is make any progress at all versus to behave in a specific way.

6. Appreciate any wins and learn from them so you can improve the next session.

You might make all the changes and it can still have little impact - that's okay. The longer the rut or the more extreme the stress, the longer it takes to change it.

What other suggestions do you have for breaking session ruts?