A Moment of Plan B

A Moment of Plan B

Background: This girl, about 10 years old, had a meltdown the week prior when pulled out of a class at school for a therapy appointment. She usually enjoys being pulled and uses the therapy time well. She does have trouble with expressing herself when upset, usually loses her ability to communicate in words, shuts down with her head on her desk, and often tosses her notebook or tips her desk over, necessitating a room clear. That is what happened last week when her therapist came to pull her: her head hit the desk, the binder flew, the class left, and the principal was called. Below is something pretty close to a Plan B conversation with the student a few days later.

Empathy:

Therapist: You remember last week when I came to pull you? That seemed really hard, what was up?

Kid: I really like that class.

Therapist: You really like that class?

Kid: Yeah, we do cool stuff in there. I don't like to miss it.

Therapist: So the deal was you just didn't want to miss that class?

Kid: Yeah.

Therapist: Hmmmm. That's it?

Kid: Yup.

Define the Problem: 

Therapist: O.K. So you really like that class and my concern is that I need to do my job by meeting with you and I want you to stay safe.

Invitation:

Do you have any ideas about how we could work this out?

Kid: Well, you could get me during math. Except you should check 'cause sometimes we do some experiemnts in there that I don't want to miss.

Therapist: O.K. So, you'd like me to pull you during math and to check first to see if there is anything really impiortant going on that you don't want to miss?

Kid: Yeah.

Therapist: Well, that time, math, would work for me. The only problem I see is that if the time did not work for you, if you decided against going with me at that time, I might not be able to reschedule you for later in the day or later in the week. What if we were not able to reschedule for the week? Do you think that would be OK with you?

Kid: I guess, yeah.

Therapist: OK, lets give that a try next week. We can check back in and see how it's working.


Content note: References to families, teens, or kids are composites with changed details for illustration and do not represent any one child or family.