Eeeeek! Last post was 24 April.....I'm not keeping up with myself. We've been busy applying for a loan for the school so that we can get our full staff contingent in place now rather than having to wait until we have enough pupils generating sufficient fees. Plus I've been writing another grant application for funding for some development work around raising awareness of the potential of mindful guiding in different settings. Oh and another application for a grant to fund a bespoke programme for a teenager whose family I'm working with...basic maths and English on the academic side plus RDI to work on social and emotional development so that the young person can access the further education opportunities that she's currently excluded from. Another family where health, education and social care services have totally let them down because none of the services truly understand the impact of autism on the whole family.
Then there were the mouth ulcers....Philip's, not mine. He currently has 4 of them and I feel like I need to go back to Mumschool because I've let his programme of nutritional supplements slip over the last few months and now we're living with the fallout. Mouth ulcers are a big red flag for a run down immune system, so lots of work to do there.
Time for all of us to 'get back on the horse' looking after ourselves actually, hence the clip of me and Philip doing some juicing. Juicing is great for detox and immune boosting as it contains lots of anti-oxidants. Also I'm told that if the juice is primarily made out of vegetables, it helps to restore the body's ph balance. Veggies are alkaline and our body's overall ph needs to be alkaline in order to be at its functional best. Yeast such as candida and other nasties in the gut thrive in an acidic environment (meat and fruit are acidic) and the gut is something like 70% of our immune system.......so it makes sense to look after it. Here is our juicing footage:
Here I'm just working on basic co-regulation with Philip (3 min clip).
0.07 I gesture for Philip to flip the switch
0.12 I gesture for him to flip the switch to off
0.15 I spotlight his good work (this is the first time he has stayed near the juicer - he doesnt like the loud noise it makes, hence the ear defenders)
0.24 I hold up the pepper and wait
0.34 I model how to cut the pepper and narrate what I'm doing as a scaffold - cutting the pepper can be a bit tricky and I want to avoid feelings of incompetence
Philip has a joke about me being forgetful :)
1.00 Philip says 'lick it' and looks to me for my emotional reaction. I anticipate that he was wanting to play a joke on me, as he was expecting the pepper to be hot tasting, like a chilli
1.04 I show Philip that the pepper isnt hot by licking it
1.06 There is some good emotion-sharing here from Philip: he smiles after I've licked the pepper
1.10 Philip has a go at licking the pepper himself and looks to me to share emotion about this (his knowing smile says 'oh yeah! Its not hot!)
1.20 I say 'uh uh' as he prematurely goes to the juicer and at
1.21 He checks in with me as he comes away from the juicer to make sure he is doing the right thing.
1.43 Philip moves his arm towards the juicer and looks to me to check he is doing the right thing. I nod.
1.46 The pepper gets stuck. I say 'Ahhhh!' to spotlight the challenge - the moment of productive uncertainty.
1.47 He references me.
Here I'm thinking that we'll need to take the pepper out and cut it up in order to resolve the challenge but Philip is ahead of me and at
1.52 he just bashes it down
1.53 he references me to make sure this is ok
Referencing is where we use our gaze to read the non-verbal communication of the other person to see if our action in the communicative dance (towards our common goal) is on track. If we are referencing and adjusting our actions according to the non-verbal feedback we are getting from our partner, then we are co-regulating.
1.54 I spotlight his competence
2.01 he references me, shares a joke and also shares emotion with me at the joke
2.37 I hold up a bit of stray pepper
2.44 Philip solves the problem by lifting the smasher for me - again, co-regulation....his action is contingent on my action and we can only reach our goal (dealing with the stray pepper) if we work together.
2.46 I spotlight Philip's competence in co-regulating
2.49 I hold up the beetroot and Philip gets his beetroot
2.55 Philip larks about by putting the beet on his skin (I have previously remarked that beetroot stains easily). He is teasing me here and shares emotion around this.
Simple co-regulation starts as early as 16 - 24 weeks in babies. According to Alan Fogel, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Utah, a co-regulated social encounter is the prototype for all future relationships. The communication partners are working towards a common goal (here with me and Philip the goal is making the juice), they are working inside a framework (our framework is the two of us, the veg and the juicer and our pattern of actions which are either turn-taking or 'same thing same time' as in getting a veggie and chopping it together) and they are adjusting their actions in response to each other's prior actions.
Right - time to go make the tea and then get ready to throw some shapes on the dance floor with my girlie mates later tonight in an unprecedented night out.........
