Does your child also have such a hard time in the classroom? Do you also notice that it takes your child effort to stimulate in the classroom. As a parent, we would like to give you tips on what your child can do, but also tips for the teacher on how to deal with his students where there is overstimulation or understimulation.

What is overstimulation?

Overstimulation means that your senses receive too many signals or stimuli. Stimuli include everything you see, taste, hear, feel, your balance system, the feeling in the muscles and joints and pain or temperature or hunger or when you have to go to the toilet. All these signals come in people with autism, ADHD and high sensitivity simultaneously and unfiltered. It is difficult for their brain to distinguish which are important stimuli or information and which are not. You could say that their filter is not working properly. This creates, as it were, a short circuit that is also called ‘overstimulation’.

Overstimulation in ADHD, autism or high sensitivity

In people with autism, ADHD, high sensitivity and sensory problems, all stimuli come in at the same time and equally hard. It’s a big mess, chaos. It takes a lot of effort for the brain to sort and prioritize all that information.

Overstimulation can also affect behavior, but I’ll describe that further below in the article. overstimulation can also be what you feel or others. thoughts emotions of yourself or others…

Chaos in your head

When you receive more stimuli than your brain can process, there are also unprocessed stimuli in the traffic jam. It can lead to a traffic jam of stimuli in the brain. Your nervous system is working overtime to give all the sound, images, smells, movements and thoughts a place. The chaos that this causes can be compared to the crowds and noises during the morning rush hour on the highway, which is suddenly not a highway but a country road. Then your passenger starts talking to you, the chaos is complete. And then it’s nice if you have ways to de-stimulate.

Too many sensory stimuli at the same time

A multitude of stimuli simultaneously, turning on television and having a conversation, becomes difficult. Thinking, concentrating, acting, it becomes more difficult. Reducing stimuli is the only option for not getting into a state of exhaustion. And let that be just as important in a classroom. Just think, children whispering, a teacher giving explanations, chairs sliding, and I’m just talking about the auditory stimuli. Because often such a classroom is also full of drawings, posters, letters, rules. You can imagine that going to school for some children is absolutely no fun that they need tips and space to stimulate in the classroom!

Overstimulation and/or understimulation in children

Every child is unique. Children are also very different in behaviour and stimulus processing. One child is a dreamer and literally struggles to keep up with the lesson and other children become extremely busy and always have to move or fidget with the hands or wiggle their legs… fortunately, we have tools for this.

Overstimulated child

Everyone gets a lot of stimuli during the day, but not everyone can deal with this easily or well. this is not a matter of not wanting or being stubborn, this is powerlessness. The stimuli flood them and they literally don’t know what to do with themselves anymore. You see these children at home, but also in the classroom, showing disturbing behavior, they interrupt others with talking and move a lot.

Often there is a stimulus processing problem in these children. The filter is not properly adjusted and those stimuli then enter the child’s head like a storm. We are talking about an overstimulated child.

Understimulated child

You also have children who are quiet and dreamy despite the stimuli, who stare outside in class. With them, no stimulus comes in so that it wanders in thoughts and needs stimulating stimuli to get anything at all of what happens in the classroom. In this type of child we speak of understimulation. Unfortunately, this is less known. It is often the dreamy children, children with, for example, ADD. Fidgeting material/toys can then help to be more alert and get better concentration. For example, place an understimulated child by the window or door (this way the child still has all the stimuli to stay alert and can choose when and how many stimuli the child needs (for example, looking out the window).

How can you de-stimulate overstimulated child in the classroom?

Destimulating is another word for unwinding, see it as a way to process stimuli. Read here our 10 tips to let your child de-stimulate in the classroom:

Use headphones in the classroom

Please note! if you give your child headphones for a whole day or hours at a time, the child will get used to this and it may be that they become more sensitive to sound, especially if your child uses the headphones for too long. It is best to use the headphones, for example, every hour or during difficult lessons.

Ensure a quiet workplace

Offer the child a quiet workplace. A separate table, or a shielded spot by a cupboard or with a concentration screen this helps to shield your child from stimuli such as visual and sound stimuli.

Use friemel toys and materials

Fidgeting helps overstimulated children to relax. For children who are dreamy, fidgeting helps to wake up their brains and concentrate more.

Breathing exercises

Help your child practice breathing exercises at home, who can then do it independently at school to unwind at tense moments (shouldn’t be difficult).

Chewing on a Chewing Chain

Some children chew on un pencils, erasers or clothes when understimulated, but also when understimulated. These children can best be given a safe alternative in the form of a bite chain. Read our tips for buying a bite chain here.

Use Aromatherapy

Aroma and aromatherapy has a positive effect on body and mind. Take advantage of this. Use a diffuser, or an aromatherapy necklace. There are also cuddly toys with, for example, lavender scent.

Listen to music

Music, like smell, actually influences the state of mind. Discuss with your child what music calms him or her down. Consult with the teacher whether your child can listen to music at times to relax and to close himself off from others and the snuggly rascals headphone headband is very nice. This sometimes works better than muting headphones.

Looking at a drip track or hourglass with oil

For sensitive children, the transition moments in the classroom are often unclear and provide extra stimuli. Let your child do something soothing at his table in those moments. Like looking at a drip track or magic wand.

Picto help card

Make a card for your child with an image that your child understands. Have your child place the card on the table in case of imminent overstimulation. The teacher can then offer your child a me-time moment in a snoezelhoekje, quiet place or a round outside in the schoolyard. You can also use the chewigem emotion bracelet for this.

Offer your child weighting products

In class, you can give your child a weighting pillow for your lap. This allows your child to feel his body better. The pressure helps the body to calm down. A pressure vest such as squease or a weighted cuddly toy is also recommended.

Elastic for around the desk or chair legs

If your child is very mobile, tie an elastic band around the chair or table legs. This way your child can wiggle with feet and legs without disturbing others! (also stimove has a very nice foot roller!)

How do you help de-stimulate an overstimulated student at school?

Above I have given you tips that your child can do himself to relax in the classroom. But what can others do to de-stimulate your child in the classroom (such as teachers)?

Quiet workplace

As a teacher, discuss with the child and the parents what kind of place in the classroom can be quiet. Use partitions such as a concentration screen. Provide a tidy classroom, where everything has its fixed place. Also on the walls where the student looks on do not offer too many visual stimuli.

For this student, changing the spots in the classroom on a regular basis is stressful. If necessary, prepare this with the student.

Be patient

Children who are quickly out of balance need a calm and understanding approach. Be clear in your expectation but be careful with emotion in your voice. Use fine intonation to prevent further overstimulation.

Tasks in the classroom

Give the child switching or puzzle time in assignments or tasks (they must be able to store, organize and process the amount of stimuli and this takes more time and energy for the child! Divide large tasks into small tasks (for example, 1 large test is divided into 5 small short questions or papers). This is also the case with calculations. If necessary, make copies of a sheet from the book with only 10 sums that need to be made, then the book that has a lot of distractions such as pictures.

Sometimes let the child move between classes

It has been scientifically proven that this movement has a very good effect on classroom behavior and concentration! So don’t just let the over- or understimulated student move, but do something with the whole class right away. Think of the so-called energizers.

Icon card or Emotion bracelet

Make a picto card that the child understands himself, if the child is in danger of being overstimulated, this card can, for example, be placed on the table to show to a teacher. This way your child does not have to talk and can still say what he needs non-verbally!

Time – out spot / quiet place

Set up a corner of the classroom as a quiet place, or perhaps there is room next to the classroom for a resting place. With a beanbag, some fidgeting material and a booklet, a child can stimulate there.

Talking to child and parents

Discuss with the parents and the child what tools can help the child in the classroom. If necessary, consult with the SI therapist or occupational therapist if they are involved with the family which aids help to stimulate the child in the classroom.

Tasks in the hallway

For example, have the child do tasks such as taking books to another class to be out of the stressful class for a while. Books are also heavy and provide deep pressure, which can help to relax.

How do you help an understimulated student in the classroom?

Here are some tips to deal with understimulation (for example, if the student receives too few stimuli or loses his concentration in class or is dreamy and misses half of the lesson …).

Fidgeting material

Fidgeting with aimless material helps understimulated children to activate and concentrate themselves. Note that it is also real material that they can not do tricks with or make a final product, then the focus goes to the frying toys instead of to the lesson. Examples of aimless fidgeting material are the tangle, osm toys, spinning cube, stress ball.

Chewelry

Chewing on a bite chain helps children who are understimulated to activate themselves, to concentrate again. Chewing releases more oxygen and the jaw movements also help to activate the brain. You can also offer chewing gum or hard snacks.

Place in the classroom

For example, you place an understimulated student at a desk close to a door that opens and closes or in a group with children who are a little less quiet. This way you help to ”keep the child awake” and he gets enough visual stimuli.

Movement

Give the child tasks where he can and may move a lot in the classroom, for example handing out tests, or having the child work standing at a desk. Here too you can offer a foot roller on the table or chair legs.

What to do in case of overstimulation (meltdown) in the classroom?

I will try to briefly explain what a meltdown is: a meltdown is a more difficult word for overstimulation / crisis in a child. The child may exhibit disruptive and difficult behavior, but this is not that they don’t want something or don’t get something unlike other children who get a crisis if they don’t get candy in a store, a meltdown is being totally overstimulated! Read more about a meltdown here

Below some tips

Ensure safety

When the child starts kicking and hitting, first make sure for the child itself and the environment (the class) that the child or others in the class are safe and not injured (make sure they can’t throw glass or get hold of something sharp)!

Stay calm in all situations

Use little language, the necessary language you make to the child should be in a calm way. Do not get angry or show as few emotions as possible (these are extra disturbing stimuli, the child is out of his mind and does not know what he is doing anymore!).

Talking to the child during a meltdown makes no sense, the child is in survival mode. Offer the child a safe feeling or make sure that he is helped out of that difficult environment or situation, should there be danger for you, the child, or others!

Create an emergency package or a survival package

This includes, for example, headphones or equipment to relax such as friemel toys or other helping items such as weighting aids. You can offer this at a time-out or resting place to support the child.

After discussing meltdown

Afterwards, if your child remembers why he had a meltdown, talk (quite a day after or so) about why your child was struggling and say that you understand your child! This is very important that the child feels heard and safe. Both parents and teachers enter into this conversation.

Rely on your own experience

As a parent or teacher, do not care about what others think or say, You know the child best and know what it needs at a moment of overstimulation or meltdown to de-stimulate in the classroom! Remember that a meltdown is powerlessness and not stubborn behavior! The child is in survival mode.

Maybe you like to read this?

• Calming strategies for the classroom
• A Chewing Chain in the Classroom
• 7 proprioceptive activities for the classroom
• 15 tips to de-stimulate