Supports need to remain in place for
progress to be sustained.
Don't misread lowered anxiety due to
PDA strategies with a newly developed ability to cope with anxiety.
They are not the same thing.
PDA strategies support my son by
reducing anxiety so that he is enabled to function. So that he does
not have to shut down to cope. So that he does not have to meltdown
to cope. But once he is coping, it is very easy to forget that it is
a challenge for him. That his low anxiety levels must be maintained.
It is very easy to forget that his anxiety remains, that his PDA is
not gone. He is simply able to manage his PDA due to reduced
anxiety.
In my son's mainstream school, a very
individualised supported approach helped him return to school in 6th
class. I've written about the strategies used in a previous post
here. He went in daily at lunchtime and stayed til the end of the
school day. He was looking at secondary schools, and he managed to
attend assessment tests there.
At one of the then regular meetings of
parents, school and HSE staff, in advance of a secondary school test,
I relayed that my son had mentioned that he had never done long
division (he was never in school during maths time). The class
teacher said he would go over it, he would be going over these things
with the whole class. 'Great', I thought. Going over it because the
whole class needed the revision was the way to go. Taking the
indirect approach of teaching it to my son without targeting him
directly would give him to opportunity to learn.
Except the teacher didn't go over long
division with the whole class. He did it one to one with my son in
front of the class, while everyone else worked away quietly. This
was in spite of clear information throughout the year that no one to
one work would be tolerated by my son. This was in spite of clear
agreement that he would not be able to cope with being singled out.
This was in spite of training in PDA that staff had been given. But
somehow, this teacher thought he knew better. He thought, because
things were going well, because he couldn't recognise my son's
anxiety, that it was not there.
What was the outcome for my son? He
was never able to go back to school. He was not able to explain why,
but that long division day was his last. He subsequently did the
secondary test, so it was not the cause. But the primary school
classroom never saw him again.
.
When PDA strategies are working,
anxiety is lowered and becomes less visible. We need to remember
that the strategies have to be maintained in the background for this
to continue. Anxiety is lowered because of the strategies. The
child has not learnt to manage his anxiety, you, his parents and
professionals have lowered it for him. This is your job.
Over time
(a long time) with anxiety lowered, you may be able to work on
anxiety reducing strategies the child can use for themselves. But
not within a few weeks or a few months. You risk undoing all of the
progress you have made if you remove supports.
It happens too often. I hear too often
from other parents that supports that are working are reduced or
removed as their child copes better. And then their child's progress
is undone, or they revert, or meltdown. Or mask, and meltdown at
home. Or shut down, as my son did, and become unable to function.
Once you blow it in this way, as parents and professionals, the road
back is much harder for the child.
Remember, just because the anxiety may
not be so obvious does not mean that it is not there. Just because
supports are working, does not mean that they are no longer needed.