not, it is perceived as stress – a possible threat
- and signals are sent from the thalamus to the
hypothalamus to the pituitary gland ultimately
triggering the cascade of the fight, flight, fright
response of the Sympathetic Nervous System.
We learned that sensory input must be meaningful, other wise it is simply stress and the lid
closes. (Alsop, 2002; Bluestone, 2004.) Stress
reduces engaged learning.
Health and Physical Comfort
Dylan began having abdominal migraines when
he was 4 months old. He had food intolerances and inflammation of the GI tract and often
had severe constipation. These physical factors also caused Dylan to withdraw into his
box. For some students pain can also cause
children to flare up outside of their box and
what is often looked at as "behaviors" might
worsen.
I recognized that stress — caused by either internal or external factors — was the primary factor in determining if Dylan used his key to open
his lid to allow me in, or to come out and engage with the world and me or if he needed to
close the lid for his own comfort, safety, and
survival. Although Dylan had the key to open
the lid, I found I had 3 external factors that I
could adjust that helped him feel safe enough
to use the key.
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Relationship
The first thing I had was our relationship. I was
Dylan's first intervener. Dylan learned through
our relationship. He learned he could trust me
to keep him safe. He knew he could try new
things with my encouragement and support.
He learned that I responded to his cues, such
as holding him facing out instead of over my
shoulder, or sitting next to him and touching
