How to Improve Emotional Self-Regulation Among Children with Autism and Attention Disorders _ Pepperdine Online California

Menu Begin Your Application open_in_new
Summarize
Online Graduate Programs / Blog
Chat With This Website
How to Improve Emotional Self-

Regulation Among Children with
Autism and Attention Disorders
December 3, 2018
Does your child get distracted easily and need to be repeatedly reminded to
complete a simple task? Does their room look like it’s been hit by a tornado
and they are constantly misplacing personal items? Do they have emotional
outbursts when plans suddenly change?
For parents, many of these behaviors may seem familiar. But many typically
developing children are able to improve their self-management skills, or
executive functions, as they grow older and take on more responsibility. Some,
including children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, traumatic brain injury and other
learning disabilities, have a harder time and may face executive function
deficits.
What Is an Executive Function?

Traditional definition: The chief operating system located in the prefrontal
region of the brain used to engage in cognitive processes required for goal-
directed behavior.
What this actually means: Everything that you do every day to manage your
own behavior.
Common executive function processes for goal-

directed behavior include:
• Working memory
• Task initiation
• Sustained attention
• Inhibition
• Flexibility
• Planning
• Organization
• Problem solving
Although executive functions are often thought of as brain functions, Dr. Adel
Najdowski, director of the Master of Science in Behavioral Psychology program
at Pepperdine University, says all executive functions involve behavior.
Therefore, individuals with deficits may be able to learn specific behaviors to
improve their executive function performance. In her recently published
manual, “Flexible and Focused: Teaching Executive Function Skills to
Individuals with Autism and Attention Disorders,” Dr. Najdowski, who
also teaches with the OnlinePsychology@Pepperdine program, outlines
principles, procedures and activities that practitioners, educators and parents
can use to improve the executive function skills of learners with deficits. This
lesson is an adaptation of one section in her book on emotional self-
regulation. For more detailed explanations on each lesson, read Flexible and
Focused: Teaching Executive Function Skills to Individuals with Autism and
Attention Disorders
What Is Emotional Self-Regulation and
Why Is It Important?
Emotional self-regulation is the ability to adapt behavior when engaged in
situations that might provoke emotions such as stress, anxiety, annoyance and
frustration. A person with strong emotional regulation skills can:
• Notice when they become emotionally charged.

• Consider the consequences of their response.
• Engage in activities that move them toward their goal, even if they are
feeling negative emotions.
Alternatively, a person who lacks emotional self-regulation may:
• Overreact to situations when compared to same-age peers.

• Experience negative emotions for a longer amount of time than same-
age peers.
• Have a short temper and engage in emotional outbursts.
• Have mood swings.
Lesson: Teaching Emotional

Self-Regulation
Before beginning the lesson, it’s important to note that the child should
already be capable of identifying and labeling emotions. The activities should
be initiated when a child is in a good mood. This lesson is also meant to be
taken in stages with the child moving to the next step after they have
successfully developed a mastery of the preceding step.
1. Create an emotional levels chart.

Create a visual aid that depicts the different levels of emotions that a child
may feel, allowing the child to create their own labels for each level. For
example, levels can be labeled “feeling good,” “a little upset,”
“upset” and “very upset.” The chart should have two columns with the
emotional levels in one column. Title the other column, “I feel this way
when…” and leave the rows blank for the child to fill in.
2. Teach the child to assign emotional levels to certain

situations.
The person working with the child can prompt them in a number of ways.
Ask the child to write down different situations that make them feel
specific emotional levels. Another option is to present a scenario and ask
the child to identify how that situation would make them feel. For
example, ask the child how she would feel if she wasn’t allowed to wear
her favorite shirt and instruct her to fill in the blank space next to the
corresponding emotion.
3. Talk to the child about what appropriate reactions

should be to different scenarios.
Use the scenarios in the emotional levels chart to identify what should be
treated as a big deal and what should be brushed off. For example, talk to
the child about how not being able to wear your favorite shirt should
make you a little upset, rather than very upset.
Download a blank emotional levels chart. (PDF, 130 KB) open_in_new
4. Teach the child coping strategies.

Identify strategies that children can use when they are feeling upset or very
upset and practice the strategies. Give the child hypothetical situations and
role-play how to use those strategies.
Coping Strategies
Taking deep breaths
Counting to 20
Asking for help
Talking to a friend
Thinking of a compromise
Walking away
Letting it go
Thinking of something that makes the learner happy
6. Practice coping strategies in a natural environment.

After the child has learned how to cope with a situation with advanced notice,
ask them what they will do if the situation arises in real life. Remind them that
they should always be prepared for the possibility that a situation will arise.
7. Measure the effectiveness of the intervention.

Use a graph to plot how often the child provides the correct response over
time. The criteria for success may be different at each stage. For example, in
the first stage, you may measure how often the child correctly identifies
situations that make a child feel a specific emotional level. Once the child is
able to score at least 80 percent across multiple sessions, you may begin the
next stage. Measure for the following criteria:
Criteria to measure for:
• Correctly identifies situations that make the child feel an emotional level
• Correctly identifies situations that make the child feel an emotional level
—across two to three sessions.
• Correctly identifies situations that are a big deal versus not a big deal—
across two to three sessions.
• Correctly role-plays coping mechanisms—across two to three sessions.
• Successfully implements coping mechanism when warned about a
difficult situation—across three to five sessions.
• Successfully implements coping mechanism when not warned about a
difficult situation—across three to five sessions.
Remember:
This lesson is not meant to replace meaningful consequences for a
child’s behavior. Children who react negatively to situations should
not get what they want. Children who are able to use the discussed
coping mechanisms should gain access to reinforcers. Reinforcers
vary from child to child and can include praise or more tangible
assets like candy or stickers. Children should not have regular access
to reinforcers throughout the day, and you should make certain the
child wants to earn the reinforcer and has not become bored with it.
If the child is not responding to the reinforcer, you may also
consider whether you need more continued reinforcement or
whether you should be reinforcing more quickly after a positive
response.
Citation for this content: OnlinePsychology@Pepperdine, the online Master of

Science in Behavioral Psychology program from Pepperdine University.
REQUEST INFO
Law
Business
Psychology
Blog
Contact Us
2U, Our Program Partner

Legal
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Your Privacy Choices
Terms of Use
COVID-19 Resources
Sitemap
© 2023 Pepperdine University

How to Improve Emotional Self-Regulation Among Children with Autism and Attention Disorders _ Pepperdine Online California

Uploaded by

Document Informationclick to expand document information

Document Informationclick to expand document information

Copyright:

Available Formats

How to Improve Emotional Self-Regulation Among Children with Autism and Attention Disorders _ Pepperdine Online California

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

How to Improve Emotional Self-Regulation Among Children with Autism and Attention Disorders _ Pepperdine Online California

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Menu Begin Your Application open_in_new

How to Improve Emotional Self-

What Is an Executive Function?

Common executive function processes for goal-

• Notice when they become emotionally charged.

Alternatively, a person who lacks emotional self-regulation may:

• Overreact to situations when compared to same-age peers.

Lesson: Teaching Emotional

1. Create an emotional levels chart.

2. Teach the child to assign emotional levels to certain

3. Talk to the child about what appropriate reactions

4. Teach the child coping strategies.

Taking deep breaths

Thinking of something that makes the learner happy

6. Practice coping strategies in a natural environment.

7. Measure the effectiveness of the intervention.

Criteria to measure for:

Citation for this content: OnlinePsychology@Pepperdine, the online Master of

2U, Our Program Partner

Your Privacy Choices

© 2023 Pepperdine University

You might also like