Last week we posted about #SelfAdvocacy skills for preschool and early elementary school children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This week, it is much of the same, but with more complexity. Remember, The first step in #SelfAdvocacy is Self-Awareness; being able to recognize and express emotions, explaining his/her hearing loss and what accommodations work for him/her, and knowing constructive ways to manage feelings. If your child is 14 but hasn’t mastered these “earlier” skills, start here. If these have been mastered, go to the next level.
Review from last week: Early (typically preschool):
- Identifies one’s likes, dislikes, needs, wants, strengths and challenges.
- Recognizes and labels emotions/feelings
- Describes the situation that causes various emotions, such as a birthday party, someone taking your toy, etc.
Emerging (early elementary):
- Distinguishes range of emotions
- Describes physical responses to emotions
- Recognizes and discusses how emotions are linked
New skills for older children:
Intermediate (late elementary):
- Recognized negative emotions
- Links negative emotions to situations in need of attention
- Analyzes emotional states that contribute to or detract from personal problem solving/decision making
- Explains possible outcomes/results associated with expressing personal emotions
Advanced (completed by the end of high school):
- Distinguishes own feelings verses expressing/accepting what other “expect” them to feel
- Describes event or thought process that causes an emotion
- Understands the effects of self-talk on emotions
- Describes how this interpretation of an event may alter feelings about it
The most important part of all of this, is PARENTS AND TEACHERS HAVE TO USE THE LANGUAGE OF EMOTIONS. I can not stress that enough; for a child to have “typical” social-emotional interactions, he/she MUST have lots of experiences. If you have all these words from Emotions and Feelings then go to the next level. From Dr. John Luckner 2017 presentation, the next level of emotional labeling should include these variations of the core emotions. Post these around the house and get talking/signing!