Case Study: Emotional Regulation Impacting Academic Development in Secondary School

In the interest of safeguarding, the child has been referred to as Callum throughout the case study.

Our therapist, Orla, has been working with Callum to support the impact of his emotional regulation skills on his academic development, with difficulties around communication. He has been receiving intervention for the last 10 months with Chatterbug. We have been working within Callum’s education setting since September 2021.

Background – the impact of Emotional Regulation

Callum received a diagnosis of autism in primary school and has continued to receive specialist intervention throughout secondary school. He is now in Key Stage 4 and has been experiencing difficulties with communication and emotional regulation.

Unfortunately, these difficulties have had a significant, negative impact on both his academic success and attitude to learning. Due to his inability to effectively regulate his emotions, Callum was regularly becoming distracted and interrupting whole-class learning. As result, he was often removed from the classroom or sent to isolation, causing him emotional outbursts and refusal to engage with his learning.

How did we help Callum?

Orla created tailored sessions to support Callum through his emotional regulation and engagement. This came in a variety of intervention methods! 

Most frequently, Callum and Orla worked together in 1-to-1 specialist input. To do this, Orla ensured that the therapy implemented catered to his specific likes and interests to help with his engagement. She did this by using his favourite tv shows, such as The Big Bang Theory and his favourite therapy games, like puzzles and board games!

Naturally, social communication skills and working within a group environment are equally important. This allows him to engage and participate as a group, much like he would in classroom settings. For this reason, our therapist also trialled group therapy sessions to demonstrate this for him.

To ensure that the intervention was successful across the board, the staff at Callum’s school also needed to be involved! By having support in the classroom, his intervention was consistent and could be implemented on a daily basis. To do so, Orla ensured that all the staff that interacted with Callum understood his therapy programme and that she was available to support them. 

What is Callum’s progress to date?

Since receiving intervention, Callum has learnt new strategies to help with his emotional regulation! Additionally, Orla has helped him develop a wider range and knowledge of vocabulary surrounding emotions. This helps him not only improve his ability to understand and recognise his emotions but also to indicate to others and communicate how he is feeling.

As result, he is no longer being constantly removed from lessons, improving his academic performance and attitude to learning. As he is now better able to express himself, the school can understand and provide appropriate support.

Most exciting of all, Callum, with Orla and Chatterbug’s support, has been discharged from specialist input. This means Callum’s speech, language and communication skills are now appropriate for targeted intervention groups or universal support in classroom settings.

What does Callum have to say about his therapy? 

Callum is delighted that he is now more able to express himself and be part of whole class learning!

Get in touch

Interested in how Chatterbug can help you in a secondary school setting? View our services here.

Get in touch on:

Phone: 0113 240 8510             Email: [email protected]

Or fill out the form below: