By Tara Carman-French
Try This Month: Support Regulation Before Expecting Performance
We often expect focus, cooperation, or learning before the body and brain feel safe. For ADHD and learning disabilities, regulation is the foundation—not a reward.
This month, we pause before performance.
Try this month:
Before a challenging task, add one regulation support:
- Movement
- A sensory break
- Quiet time
- Predictable routines
- Emotional check-ins
Even a minute or two can help.
This isn’t spoiling or lowering standards. It’s acknowledging biology. A dysregulated nervous system can’t access executive function, memory, or language effectively.
If you’re supporting a child, notice whether meltdowns or shutdowns come before demands—not after. Prevention is far more effective than correction.
This builds on learning strategies by recognizing that no tool works when the system is overwhelmed.
Next month, we’ll talk about something just as important: naming effort—even when outcomes don’t look “successful.”
I would love to hear how this Try This Month worked or didn’t work for you. Drop us a comment on our social media or connect with us directly at [email protected].
