It’s amazing how we go through life, just doing what we do, not knowing what we don’t know. I was a victim of childhood trauma (several ACEs-Adverse Childhood Experiences). But it was the 1970s, and no one really did anything about it. I was just expected to “get over it.” Yes, I did eventually “get over it,” but I made many poor decisions along the way.
Perhaps had someone reached out to help, I could have progressed quicker. For example, I had a tremendous amount of trouble “getting my sh!t together” as a young adult, and it took me almost 7 years to complete my Bachelor’s degree.
This isn’t because I wasn’t intelligent enough or lacked the ability. I lacked interpersonal and life skills due to my childhood upbringing. That’s a lot of tuition money and time I wasted.
Trauma and Kids and Learning is a concept that has recently been getting much more attention. But, I find that many schools have a long way to go in recognizing and acknowledging trauma and appropriately address it. Too often, a traumatized child is viewed through the lens of “won’t” instead of “can’t.” You may also hear this referred to as ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experiences.
The brain of a child who has endured chronic trauma is not open and available for learning. These children’s thoughts are in the lower, more primitive areas of their brains that control survival. While we as adults know that the child is generally safe at school, these children are consistently terrified unless certain actions are taken to make them feel safe so that the higher parts of their brains may be turned on for learning.
Defining Childhood Trauma
First, the adults in a child’s life need to knock down the mental boundaries of our personal definition of trauma. Too many have a narrow view of trauma, limited to physical and sexual abuse.
While those things are traumatic, there is much more that can occur.
- Sexual or physical abuse, not just limited to rape, could be something that was a “game” between peers that involved disrobing or sexting.
- Natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods.
- Car crashes, household accidents.
- Yes, the pandemic!
- Public embarrassment or shaming, including social media bullying
- Living in Poverty and/or Homelessness, parents’ joblessness.
- Adoption/Foster Care Situations
- Death of parent or sibling or close relative/friend.
- Food Insecurity
- War (international adoptions)
- Witnessing a death, murder, or suicide (or attempt)
- Witnessing domestic abuse
- Witnessing a loved one’s severe illness, hospitalization, cancer treatment, or seizures
- Being Raised with Addiction in the home
- Kidnapping
- Rape
- Shootings (Drive-by shootings, school shootings, neighborhood)
- Incest
- Racial trauma (also known as RBTS for Race-Based Traumatic Stress)
- Neglect
- Violence in the home (parent or sibling)
- Hostage situations
The good news is that, unlike some medical conditions or disabilities where a set of lifelong accommodations is needed, people can heal from trauma and learn how to manage the symptoms associated with it and overcome it.
The bad news is that I see so, so many kids have their traumatic experiences dismissed and not addressed. And that will make the situation worse. The child already has trust issues with adults and needs help. Then, they are essentially gaslighted all day, every day, surrounded by school staff who are supposed to be helping.
The child is likely often told, “We’re trying to help you,” but it doesn’t feel like help, so it exacerbates a situation. This is particularly true when a child is disciplined or isolated for negative behaviors that manifest the trauma experience.
Evaluating for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Start with the school social worker, guidance counselor, or school psychologist. Depending on the child, the ACE, and the supports available outside of school, a brief 504 plan may be all that is needed.
However, in more severe situations (no trusting adult in the child’s life, bounced around in foster homes) more intense therapy and instruction may be needed.
Whatever you do–if you, as an adult in a child’s life, have taken it on to help them heal from this trauma, make sure you can do this. You cannot abandon a child while trying to heal, especially if you have told them you would help. That will worsen the situation. I say this to the school staff or community members who wish to help. You don’t have to be a parent to help, but you are committing. Recognize the seriousness of that commitment.
Depression, Trauma and PTSD
When a child has been the victim of a trauma, it can manifest itself differently. PTSD 504 accommodations need to be followed consistently. I don’t mean to be flip by lumping these 3 conditions together, but they often manifest similarly.
Quite often, it is attributed to other things, such as learning disabilities or mental illness, when in fact, the learning disability or mental illness may resolve itself because it is secondary to the adverse childhood experience.
- Anxiety, panic attacks, chronic anxiety.
- Withdrawn from others, no real friends.
- Behaviors at school, particularly those that do not respond to rewards or discipline.
- Lack of social awareness and personal boundaries.
- Constantly alert, hypervigilance.
- Impulsive decisions or no decision at all, avoidance.
- Re-enactment of the situation with various objects, playing games, or ‘scripting‘ related to a specific incident or scenario.
- Irritability
- Difficulty sleeping
- Lack of energy or inability to calm down and turn things off at the end of the day.
- Lack of Executive Functioning Skills (because the brain is trapped in primitive problem-solving)
- Inability to concentrate (often mistaken for ADHD)
- Amnesia
- Lying, telling extraordinary stories and tales.
- Stealing, hoarding, food hoarding.
- Poor self-image
- Poor personal hygiene
- Self Injurious Behavior
- Bedwetting and other toileting issues.
- Guilty feelings
- Shows signs of obsessive or compulsive behaviors
- Recurrent nightmares, flashbacks
- Shyness
- Avoidance of situations similar to the traumatic event
- Feels pain, complains of pain, with no injury or illness.
- Cutting/Self Harm
- Inability to give or receive proper love and affection
Typical strategies do not work with traumatized kids and 504 accommodations for PTSD. Rewards and punishment do not work. Typical classroom management does not work.
Waiting for food and hydration for several hours kicks their brains into survival mode. Trauma triggers switch them into a fight, flight, or freeze. Therefore, their IEPs or 504 plans at school need a different approach.
If the child has a 504 plan for PTSD or trauma, then no IEP goals would be needed.
Language and approach are important. The language of the IEP or 504 should come across as team efforts to assist the child in need and is not directed at the child as a problem. Support, not punishment.
When I began to compile a list of IEP goals that would address trauma needs, I found that the list was redundant with other lists of IEP goals on this website.
That’s because trauma will manifest itself as other disorders. For example, anxiety. So I will direct you to those other lists of IEP goals. I have IEP goals for Anxiety, Working Memory, Social Skills, Behavior IEP Goals, and several other subjects.
- Make teaching a priority. Do whatever it takes to get the child help. If a traumatized kid does not learn the basics of relationships and life skills, no amount of math and reading will benefit them. Without interpersonal skills, academics will not help them necessarily hold down a job or maintain satisfying friendships or relationships. If we help them heal the trauma during childhood, we can then ensure that they understand how to interact with, communicate with, work with, and live with others. And if they need a few extra years to catch up on academics, so be it!
- Accommodations alone will not cut it. See the point above. But I’m serious! Too often, when a child struggles with a particular scenario, all the adults in the life overextend themselves– trying not to have that child experience that particular scenario. We have to teach them through it. Yes, remove the expectation that the child completes that skill if they do not have that skill set. But teach them the skill! Teach and accommodate!
Should Your Child have an IEP or 504 for this?
My answer is the same for most disabilities. It depends on the child.
I get it–you were hoping for something more concrete. But, with the exception of dyslexia (which in my opinion always needs an IEP to teach the child to read), most other disabilities will vary based on the child. Fact is, all disabilities are a spectrum, not just autism.
A critical part of understanding eligibility is the difference between adversely impacts and substantially limits. These terms define the thresholds for qualifying under IDEA (for an IEP) versus Section 504.
Under IDEA, a child qualifies for an IEP if their disability adversely impacts their educational performance and they require specialized instruction to access the curriculum. Adversely impacts means the disability significantly affects academic or functional performance, often in ways that are measurable through standardized testing or other assessments. This is a stricter standard compared to Section 504.
For a 504 plan, the standard is whether the disability substantially limits a major life activity. Substantially limits is intentionally broad and can include conditions that may not directly impact academic performance but still create significant challenges. For example, a child with ADHD may perform well academically but struggle with concentrating or sitting still for extended periods. This distinction allows for more inclusive eligibility under Section 504.
Academic Accommodations
- No Homework (not forever!). Homework often drives a wedge between parents/caregivers and kids, and until the relationship is solid, you need time at home to work on relationships. Not math worksheets.
- Extended time on test and other assignments
- Alternative assignments (include creative assignments)
- Exemption from all homework (possibly for a pre-determined amount of time)
- Extended time
- No timed tests
- Alternate format to meet the child’s specific needs (voice-to-text apps, etc.)
- Scribe to write for the student (or text to voice app
- Shortened tests
- Tests and Assignments are completed in a small group
- Activities are broken down into smaller assignments, chunked.
- Limit the number of problems on a page; increase white space to decrease overwhelm and stress.
- Shortened assignments, essential concepts only.
- Advance notice of any change in expectations.
- Allow the parent or peer/aide to transcribe the student’s work
- Reduce the amount of written work required.
Classroom Environment Accommodations
Building a 504 plan for PTSD or Depression is more than just getting it written down. If the plan is not followed consistently, it will ruin trust with the child and possibly worsen the condition.
- Frequent breaks with check-ins
- Sensory breaks, gross motor.
- “Cool Off Card” that child can use when feeling overwhelmed
- Access to a water bottle at all times
- One-on-one aide, para.
- Assistive technology (voice recorder, smartpen, etc.)
- Access to noise-canceling or noise-reducing headphones
- The student determines preferential seating (by the door to allow breaks, by the teacher in front of the class to minimize distractions, in the back of the room to decrease feelings of threat from people behind, away from distractions like air conditioners, etc.)
- Allow the student to stand at the desk.
- Seated on a fitness ball or wiggle seat; bands around chair legs for resistance.
- Reduced visual and auditory stimuli around the classroom
- Reading tracker for reading
- Keep groups small (no more than 4 students) for activities
- Give tasks, directions, or assignments one at a time to prevent stressing and overwhelming the student.
- Assign a study buddy
- Allow the student to help another student in an area in which they excel to help bolster confidence.
- Access to sensory or self-regulation tools (stress ball, chewing gum, fidgets, etc.)
- Shortened assignments
- Advance notice and preparation time for transitions
- Adult or peer to aid in transitions
- Advance notice and preparation time for changes in the daily routine, field trips, etc.
- Visual schedule for the student to carry
- Post the daily schedule in the classroom
- Access to mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks (ideally, food—protein—offered every two hours)
- Movement or sensory activities at least every two hours
- Extended response time, or if being called on increases anxiety, not to call on a child unless they raise their hand.
Lunch and Recess Accommodations
- Let the child be the guide for this–what do they want
- An alternative location to eat rather than the cafeteria
- Safe adult to eat with?
- Or in the cafeteria with peers, but guaranteed not to sit alone
- Smaller area to play in; preferred area and activities
- Adult Supervision as necessary–may need guided playtime or protection from bullying.
Discipline and Trauma
- Absolutely! No use of seclusion or restraint is written into IEP or 504.
- Time-ins (with the teacher or trusted adult) versus time-outs.
- All Behavior Tells You Something! View all behavior as a message communicating a need and look for a way to meet the need. View as “can’t” rather than “won’t.”
- Teach the child the appropriate skills to handle that situation.
Lastly, I found a great booklet online for you to read or print.
