SHEMESH IN ACTION

Benny was an energetic and fun-loving three-year old. He loved his teachers, his classmates and going to school. His enthusiasm however, often resulted in pushing, shouting and grabbing. He had little control over his “big feelings” and his teachers and classmates were getting tired of his outbursts. The SHEMESH consultant observed him in the classroom, at rest time, and in the playground and concluded that Benny needed more sensory input than he was receiving. She developed a plan to teach him how to identify his feelings and the degree to which he was feeling them as well as strategies for managing those feelings in ways that could replace the behaviors that were getting him in trouble. She demonstrated the program for the teachers and modeled how they could cue Benny.  After several weeks and tweaks, Benny’s behavior began to improve. He had fewer notable outbursts and was showing some independence using his chart. Benny still has a way to go but with SHEMESH’s continued support, his teachers are confident he will get there!