Assignment Prompt & Instructions
great supporting docs
– ## Untitleddocument12.docx
– ## HowTraumaAffectsKidsinSchool_childmind.org.pdf
– EffectiveSchoolCommPartnershipstosupportSMH_NASP.pdf
– CCSSO_SEL_MTSS_Toolkit.pdf
– PromotingMentalHealthandWell-BeinginSchools_CDC.pdf
**## Untitleddocument12.docx**
##### **Policy & Partnership Brief: Mental Health + Schools**
**Assignment Instructions:** Write a
**2-page brief** addressing this prompt:
Schools are increasingly expected to meet students' mental health and behavioral needs. Describe how school-community partnerships can improve mental health supports for students with disabilities. Include:
· One real agency you would collaborate with
· 2 barriers to mental health access in schools
· At least one connection to the readings/resources this week
· 1 strategy schools can implement to build or formalize partnerships
#### **Group Discussion Prompt (at least two full paragraphs/1page)**
Think about your current or future role as an educator. What community partnerships or agencies are essential to support students with disabilities and their families?
Share one local organization (real or fictionalized) that addresses a mental health, behavioral, or family need, and describe how educators could connect families to it.
**## HowTraumaAffectsKidsinSchool_childmind.org.pdf**
1/9
How Trauma Affects Kids in School
childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school
Signs of trauma and tips for helping kids who've been traumatized
Writer: Caroline Miller
Clinical Expert: Jamie Howard, PhD
Listen to this article
9 min
We tend to think of trauma as the result of a frightening and upsetting event. But many children experience
trauma through ongoing exposure, throughout their early development, to abuse, neglect, homelessness,
domestic violence, or violence in their communities. And it’s clear thatchronic
trauma can cause serious problems with learning and behavior.
Trauma is particularly challenging for educators to address because kids often don’t express the distress
they’re feeling in a way that’s easily recognizable — and they may mask their pain with behavior that’s
aggressive or off-putting. As Nancy Rappaport, MD, a child and adolescentpsychiatrist
who focuses on mental health issues in schools, puts it, “They are masters at making sure you do not see
them bleed.”
Identifying the symptoms of trauma in the children can help educators understand these confusing
behaviors. And it can help avoid misdiagnosis, as these symptoms can mimic other problems, including
ADHD and other behavior disorders.
In brief, the obstacles to learning experienced by these children include:
Trouble forming relationships with teachers
Poor self-regulation
Negative thinking
Hypervigilance
Executive function challenges
Trauma and trouble forming bonds
0:00
[https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/](https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/](https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146](https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/](https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/](https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/)
2/9
Children who have been neglected or abused have problems forming relationships with teachers, a
necessary first step in a successful classroom experience. They’ve learned to be wary of adults, even those
who appear to be reliable, since they’ve been ignored or betrayed by those they have depended on.
“These kids don’t have the context to ask for help,” notes Dr. Rappaport, a school consultant and associate
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “They don’t have a model for an adult recognizing
their needs and giving them what they need.”
Many of these children haven’t been able to develop secure attachments to the adults in their lives, adds
Jamie Howard, PhD, a clinical psychologist and head of the Trauma and Resilience Service at the Child
Mind Institute. They need help to let other adults into their lives. “Kids who’ve never developed that early
template that you can trust people, that you are lovable and that people will take care of you,” Dr. Howard
explains, “need support to form that kind of relationship.”
One of the challenges in giving that support is that when kids misbehave, our schools often use disciplinary
systems that involve withdrawing attention and support, rather than addressing their problems. Schools
have very little patience for kids who provoke and push away adults who try to help them.
Instead of suspending children, Dr. Rappaport argues, schools need to work with them on changing their
behavior. When a student is acting up in class, she explains, teachers need to recognize the powerful
feelings they are expressing, if inappropriately.
Rather than jumping right into the behavior plan — deducting points or withdrawing privileges or
suspending — Dr. Rappaport stresses the importance of acknowledging the emotion and trying to identify
it. “I can see that you are REALLY angry that Andrew took the marker you wanted!” she suggests. “If
you’re wrong about what the student is upset about, he’s likely to correct you.”
Acknowledging and naming an emotion helps children move towards expressing it in a more appropriate
way. Communicating that you “get” them is the necessary first step, she explains, to helping kids learn to
express themselves in ways that don’t alienate and drive away people who can help them.
Poor self-regulation
Traumatized children often have trouble managing strong emotions. As babies and toddlers, children learn
to calm and soothe themselves by being calmed and soothed by the adults in their lives, Dr. Howard notes.
If they haven’t had that experience, because of neglect, “that lack of a soothing, secure attachment system
contributes to their chronic dysregulation.”
In the classroom, teachers need to support and coach these children in ways to calm themselves and
manage their emotions. “We need to be partners in managing their behavior,” Dr. Rappaport explains. “Co-
regulation comes before self-regulation. We need to help them get the control they need to change the
channel when they’re upset.” They need coaching and practice at de-escalating when they feel
overwhelmed, she adds.
Negative thinking
Another challenge to traumatized kids is that they develop the belief that they’re bad, and what’s happened
to them is their fault. This leads to the expectation that people are not going to like them or treat them well.
As Dr. Howard puts it, “I’m a bad kid. Why would I do well in school? Bad kids don’t do well in school.”
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/](https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
3/9
Traumatized kids also tend to develop what Dr. Howard calls a “hostile attribution bias” — the idea that
everyone is out to get them. “So if a teacher says, ‘Sit down in your seat,” they hear it as, ‘SIT DOWN IN
YOUR SEAT!’” she explains. “They hear it as exaggerated and angry and unfair. So they’ll act out really
quickly with irritability.”
As Dr. Rappaport puts it: “They see negative where we see neutral.” To counter this negative thinking,
these students a narrative about themselves that helps them understand that they’re not “bad kids.” And
learning to recognize their negative patterns of thought, like black and white thinking, is a step towards
being able to change those patterns.
Dr. Rappaport notes that children from abusive homes are sometimes unable to participate in classroom
activities because they are paralyzed by fear of making a mistake, and that can make them appear to
beoppositional.
“A mistake that might seem trivial to us becomes magnified,” she explains, “if their experience has been
that minor mistakes incurred adult anger or punishment.”
They need not only support to have incremental successes they can build on in the classroom, but help to
see that in this setting, making a mistake is considered a necessary part of learning.
Hypervigilance
One of the classic symptoms of trauma is hyper-vigilance, which means being overly alert to danger. “It’s
physiological hyper-arousal,” explains Dr. Howard. “These kids are jumpy, they have an exaggerated
startle response. They can have some big, out-of-control seeming behaviors, because their fight or flight
response has gone off.”
This can look like hyperactivity, she adds, leading kids who have been traumatized to be misdiagnosed
with ADHD. Being chronically agitated can lead to difficulty with sleeping and chronic irritability.
In workshops, Dr. Rappaport coaches teachers on how to help kids to settle down when something in the
classroom triggers an emotional outburst. When a child is escalating, the key, she says, is to “match their
affect, but in a controlled way.”
The goal is to connect to their big feeling. “If you can connect with what they’re trying to tell you, they
may settle. It can work even if you just make a guess — you don’t have to be right, they can correct you.”
Executive function challenges
Chronic trauma affects children’s memory, their ability to pay attention, plan, think things through, and
other executive functions. Kids who haveADHD
as well as trauma may be especially impaired in these skills.
Difficulty planning impacts not only completing tasks in school, but a child’s ability to plan his behavior,
rather than acting impulsively, and deciding on the best way to communicate his needs and feelings.
One of the things that tends to upset kids who’ve been traumatized is difficulty predicting the future — not
knowing what is coming is unsettling for children and creates anxiety. These kids can benefit, Dr.
Rappaport notes, from repeated dry runs of what’s coming up and what they should expect.
[https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/](https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/](https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/)
4/9
Another executive function that may be weak is the ability to self-narrate — to mentally talk themselves
through what they need to do as they are carrying out a task. It’s a skill young children learn from listening
to their parents talk to them when they are babies, and, she notes, if they haven’t had the experience they
may need help developing the skill.
Focus on positive attention
In addition to connecting with kids who’ve been traumatized, and helping them build missing skills, Dr.
Rappaport emphasizes the importance of giving them as much positive attention as possible.
Kids who have experienced chronic neglect tend to be better at getting attention by provoking the adults
they depend on than by complying with expectations. “Negative attention is fast, predictable and efficient,”
she notes. “We need to make positive attention as fast, predictable and efficient.”
But she adds that positive attention includes not only praising them for desired behavior but expressing
warmth and kindness that aren’t necessarily earned.
Surprising kids with “random acts of kindness” can help wean them from habits of acting out to get
attention. “When a kid is acting out and sucking the oxygen out of a classroom,” she notes, “some teachers
have found it works to set their phones to buzz every 5 minutes to give the kid positive attention.”
Dr. Rappaport offers tools for understanding ahd managing disruptive behavior in the classroom in her
book, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging
Students, written with behavioral analyst Jessica Minahan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does trauma affect behavior in kids?
Trauma can affect behavior in kids by causing hypervigilance, trouble managing emotions and forming
relationships with other people, and difficulty with executive functioning.
This article was last reviewed or updated on June 5, 2025.
Related Reading
[http://nancyrappaport.com/](http://nancyrappaport.com/)
5/9
Signs of Trauma in Children What to watch for in the weeks and months after an upsetting event
What Makes an Event Traumatic for a Child? Experiences before and after affect how severe the
injury will be
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/](https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/)
6/9
Quick Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What Is Complex Trauma? How ongoing traumatic experiences affect
children
Is It ADHD or Trauma? Why the symptoms are often confused, and
how to avoid a misdiagnosis
CBITS: Trauma Treatment for Kids in School How a therapy called
CBITS helps children who have experienced trauma
Treatment for PTSD There are several evidence-based therapies for
young people with PTSD
[https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/](https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
7/9
Complete Guide to Managing Behavior Problems When children struggle with their behavior, it can
have a negative impact on everyone in the family. Parents know they need to respond, but they…
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/](https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/)
8/9
77 Children’s Books About Mental Health Best books for helping kids understand emotional and
learning challenges
Supporting Trans and Nonbinary Kids at School Why gender affirmation at school matters, and how
[https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/](https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/)
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
9/9
families can help
Back-to-School Anxiety How to help kids manage worries and have a successful start to the school
year
More Related
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/](https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/)
**EffectiveSchoolCommPartnershipstosupportSMH_NASP.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/effectiveschoolcommpartnershipstosupportsmh-nasp-pdf)
**CCSSO_SEL_MTSS_Toolkit.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/ccsso-sel-mtss-toolkit-pdf)
**PromotingMentalHealthandWell-BeinginSchools_CDC.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/promotingmentalhealthandwell-beinginschools-cdc-pdf)
**PromotingMentalHealthandWell-BeinginSchools_CDC.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/promotingmentalhealthandwell-beinginschools-cdc-pdf)
**## Untitleddocument12.docx**
##### **Policy & Partnership Brief: Mental Health + Schools**
**Assignment Instructions:** Write a
**2-page brief** addressing this prompt:
Schools are increasingly expected to meet students' mental health and behavioral needs. Describe how school-community partnerships can improve mental health supports for students with disabilities. Include:
· One real agency you would collaborate with
· 2 barriers to mental health access in schools
· At least one connection to the readings/resources this week
· 1 strategy schools can implement to build or formalize partnerships
#### **Group Discussion Prompt (at least two full paragraphs/1page)**
Think about your current or future role as an educator. What community partnerships or agencies are essential to support students with disabilities and their families?
Share one local organization (real or fictionalized) that addresses a mental health, behavioral, or family need, and describe how educators could connect families to it.
**## HowTraumaAffectsKidsinSchool_childmind.org.pdf**
1/9
How Trauma Affects Kids in School
childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school
Signs of trauma and tips for helping kids who've been traumatized
Writer: Caroline Miller
Clinical Expert: Jamie Howard, PhD
Listen to this article
9 min
We tend to think of trauma as the result of a frightening and upsetting event. But many children experience
trauma through ongoing exposure, throughout their early development, to abuse, neglect, homelessness,
domestic violence, or violence in their communities. And it’s clear thatchronic
trauma can cause serious problems with learning and behavior.
Trauma is particularly challenging for educators to address because kids often don’t express the distress
they’re feeling in a way that’s easily recognizable — and they may mask their pain with behavior that’s
aggressive or off-putting. As Nancy Rappaport, MD, a child and adolescentpsychiatrist
who focuses on mental health issues in schools, puts it, “They are masters at making sure you do not see
them bleed.”
Identifying the symptoms of trauma in the children can help educators understand these confusing
behaviors. And it can help avoid misdiagnosis, as these symptoms can mimic other problems, including
ADHD and other behavior disorders.
In brief, the obstacles to learning experienced by these children include:
Trouble forming relationships with teachers
Poor self-regulation
Negative thinking
Hypervigilance
Executive function challenges
Trauma and trouble forming bonds
0:00
[https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/](https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/](https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146](https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/](https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/](https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/)
2/9
Children who have been neglected or abused have problems forming relationships with teachers, a
necessary first step in a successful classroom experience. They’ve learned to be wary of adults, even those
who appear to be reliable, since they’ve been ignored or betrayed by those they have depended on.
“These kids don’t have the context to ask for help,” notes Dr. Rappaport, a school consultant and associate
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “They don’t have a model for an adult recognizing
their needs and giving them what they need.”
Many of these children haven’t been able to develop secure attachments to the adults in their lives, adds
Jamie Howard, PhD, a clinical psychologist and head of the Trauma and Resilience Service at the Child
Mind Institute. They need help to let other adults into their lives. “Kids who’ve never developed that early
template that you can trust people, that you are lovable and that people will take care of you,” Dr. Howard
explains, “need support to form that kind of relationship.”
One of the challenges in giving that support is that when kids misbehave, our schools often use disciplinary
systems that involve withdrawing attention and support, rather than addressing their problems. Schools
have very little patience for kids who provoke and push away adults who try to help them.
Instead of suspending children, Dr. Rappaport argues, schools need to work with them on changing their
behavior. When a student is acting up in class, she explains, teachers need to recognize the powerful
feelings they are expressing, if inappropriately.
Rather than jumping right into the behavior plan — deducting points or withdrawing privileges or
suspending — Dr. Rappaport stresses the importance of acknowledging the emotion and trying to identify
it. “I can see that you are REALLY angry that Andrew took the marker you wanted!” she suggests. “If
you’re wrong about what the student is upset about, he’s likely to correct you.”
Acknowledging and naming an emotion helps children move towards expressing it in a more appropriate
way. Communicating that you “get” them is the necessary first step, she explains, to helping kids learn to
express themselves in ways that don’t alienate and drive away people who can help them.
Poor self-regulation
Traumatized children often have trouble managing strong emotions. As babies and toddlers, children learn
to calm and soothe themselves by being calmed and soothed by the adults in their lives, Dr. Howard notes.
If they haven’t had that experience, because of neglect, “that lack of a soothing, secure attachment system
contributes to their chronic dysregulation.”
In the classroom, teachers need to support and coach these children in ways to calm themselves and
manage their emotions. “We need to be partners in managing their behavior,” Dr. Rappaport explains. “Co-
regulation comes before self-regulation. We need to help them get the control they need to change the
channel when they’re upset.” They need coaching and practice at de-escalating when they feel
overwhelmed, she adds.
Negative thinking
Another challenge to traumatized kids is that they develop the belief that they’re bad, and what’s happened
to them is their fault. This leads to the expectation that people are not going to like them or treat them well.
As Dr. Howard puts it, “I’m a bad kid. Why would I do well in school? Bad kids don’t do well in school.”
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/](https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
3/9
Traumatized kids also tend to develop what Dr. Howard calls a “hostile attribution bias” — the idea that
everyone is out to get them. “So if a teacher says, ‘Sit down in your seat,” they hear it as, ‘SIT DOWN IN
YOUR SEAT!’” she explains. “They hear it as exaggerated and angry and unfair. So they’ll act out really
quickly with irritability.”
As Dr. Rappaport puts it: “They see negative where we see neutral.” To counter this negative thinking,
these students a narrative about themselves that helps them understand that they’re not “bad kids.” And
learning to recognize their negative patterns of thought, like black and white thinking, is a step towards
being able to change those patterns.
Dr. Rappaport notes that children from abusive homes are sometimes unable to participate in classroom
activities because they are paralyzed by fear of making a mistake, and that can make them appear to
beoppositional.
“A mistake that might seem trivial to us becomes magnified,” she explains, “if their experience has been
that minor mistakes incurred adult anger or punishment.”
They need not only support to have incremental successes they can build on in the classroom, but help to
see that in this setting, making a mistake is considered a necessary part of learning.
Hypervigilance
One of the classic symptoms of trauma is hyper-vigilance, which means being overly alert to danger. “It’s
physiological hyper-arousal,” explains Dr. Howard. “These kids are jumpy, they have an exaggerated
startle response. They can have some big, out-of-control seeming behaviors, because their fight or flight
response has gone off.”
This can look like hyperactivity, she adds, leading kids who have been traumatized to be misdiagnosed
with ADHD. Being chronically agitated can lead to difficulty with sleeping and chronic irritability.
In workshops, Dr. Rappaport coaches teachers on how to help kids to settle down when something in the
classroom triggers an emotional outburst. When a child is escalating, the key, she says, is to “match their
affect, but in a controlled way.”
The goal is to connect to their big feeling. “If you can connect with what they’re trying to tell you, they
may settle. It can work even if you just make a guess — you don’t have to be right, they can correct you.”
Executive function challenges
Chronic trauma affects children’s memory, their ability to pay attention, plan, think things through, and
other executive functions. Kids who haveADHD
as well as trauma may be especially impaired in these skills.
Difficulty planning impacts not only completing tasks in school, but a child’s ability to plan his behavior,
rather than acting impulsively, and deciding on the best way to communicate his needs and feelings.
One of the things that tends to upset kids who’ve been traumatized is difficulty predicting the future — not
knowing what is coming is unsettling for children and creates anxiety. These kids can benefit, Dr.
Rappaport notes, from repeated dry runs of what’s coming up and what they should expect.
[https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/](https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/](https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/)
4/9
Another executive function that may be weak is the ability to self-narrate — to mentally talk themselves
through what they need to do as they are carrying out a task. It’s a skill young children learn from listening
to their parents talk to them when they are babies, and, she notes, if they haven’t had the experience they
may need help developing the skill.
Focus on positive attention
In addition to connecting with kids who’ve been traumatized, and helping them build missing skills, Dr.
Rappaport emphasizes the importance of giving them as much positive attention as possible.
Kids who have experienced chronic neglect tend to be better at getting attention by provoking the adults
they depend on than by complying with expectations. “Negative attention is fast, predictable and efficient,”
she notes. “We need to make positive attention as fast, predictable and efficient.”
But she adds that positive attention includes not only praising them for desired behavior but expressing
warmth and kindness that aren’t necessarily earned.
Surprising kids with “random acts of kindness” can help wean them from habits of acting out to get
attention. “When a kid is acting out and sucking the oxygen out of a classroom,” she notes, “some teachers
have found it works to set their phones to buzz every 5 minutes to give the kid positive attention.”
Dr. Rappaport offers tools for understanding ahd managing disruptive behavior in the classroom in her
book, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging
Students, written with behavioral analyst Jessica Minahan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does trauma affect behavior in kids?
Trauma can affect behavior in kids by causing hypervigilance, trouble managing emotions and forming
relationships with other people, and difficulty with executive functioning.
This article was last reviewed or updated on June 5, 2025.
Related Reading
[http://nancyrappaport.com/](http://nancyrappaport.com/)
5/9
Signs of Trauma in Children What to watch for in the weeks and months after an upsetting event
What Makes an Event Traumatic for a Child? Experiences before and after affect how severe the
injury will be
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/](https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/)
6/9
Quick Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What Is Complex Trauma? How ongoing traumatic experiences affect
children
Is It ADHD or Trauma? Why the symptoms are often confused, and
how to avoid a misdiagnosis
CBITS: Trauma Treatment for Kids in School How a therapy called
CBITS helps children who have experienced trauma
Treatment for PTSD There are several evidence-based therapies for
young people with PTSD
[https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/](https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
7/9
Complete Guide to Managing Behavior Problems When children struggle with their behavior, it can
have a negative impact on everyone in the family. Parents know they need to respond, but they…
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/](https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/)
8/9
77 Children’s Books About Mental Health Best books for helping kids understand emotional and
learning challenges
Supporting Trans and Nonbinary Kids at School Why gender affirmation at school matters, and how
[https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/](https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/)
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
9/9
families can help
Back-to-School Anxiety How to help kids manage worries and have a successful start to the school
year
More Related
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/](https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/)
**EffectiveSchoolCommPartnershipstosupportSMH_NASP.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/effectiveschoolcommpartnershipstosupportsmh-nasp-pdf)
**CCSSO_SEL_MTSS_Toolkit.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/ccsso-sel-mtss-toolkit-pdf)
**PromotingMentalHealthandWell-BeinginSchools_CDC.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/promotingmentalhealthandwell-beinginschools-cdc-pdf)
**## Untitleddocument12.docx**
##### **Policy & Partnership Brief: Mental Health + Schools**
**Assignment Instructions:** Write a
**2-page brief** addressing this prompt:
Schools are increasingly expected to meet students' mental health and behavioral needs. Describe how school-community partnerships can improve mental health supports for students with disabilities. Include:
· One real agency you would collaborate with
· 2 barriers to mental health access in schools
· At least one connection to the readings/resources this week
· 1 strategy schools can implement to build or formalize partnerships
#### **Group Discussion Prompt (at least two full paragraphs/1page)**
Think about your current or future role as an educator. What community partnerships or agencies are essential to support students with disabilities and their families?
Share one local organization (real or fictionalized) that addresses a mental health, behavioral, or family need, and describe how educators could connect families to it.
**## HowTraumaAffectsKidsinSchool_childmind.org.pdf**
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How Trauma Affects Kids in School
childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school
Signs of trauma and tips for helping kids who've been traumatized
Writer: Caroline Miller
Clinical Expert: Jamie Howard, PhD
Listen to this article
9 min
We tend to think of trauma as the result of a frightening and upsetting event. But many children experience
trauma through ongoing exposure, throughout their early development, to abuse, neglect, homelessness,
domestic violence, or violence in their communities. And it’s clear thatchronic
trauma can cause serious problems with learning and behavior.
Trauma is particularly challenging for educators to address because kids often don’t express the distress
they’re feeling in a way that’s easily recognizable — and they may mask their pain with behavior that’s
aggressive or off-putting. As Nancy Rappaport, MD, a child and adolescentpsychiatrist
who focuses on mental health issues in schools, puts it, “They are masters at making sure you do not see
them bleed.”
Identifying the symptoms of trauma in the children can help educators understand these confusing
behaviors. And it can help avoid misdiagnosis, as these symptoms can mimic other problems, including
ADHD and other behavior disorders.
In brief, the obstacles to learning experienced by these children include:
Trouble forming relationships with teachers
Poor self-regulation
Negative thinking
Hypervigilance
Executive function challenges
Trauma and trouble forming bonds
0:00
[https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/](https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/](https://childmind.org/bio/caroline-miller/)
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146](https://beyondwords.io/?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fchildmind.org&utm_medium=player&utm_campaign=8146)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/](https://childmind.org/article/breaking-behavior-code/)
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/](https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/)
2/9
Children who have been neglected or abused have problems forming relationships with teachers, a
necessary first step in a successful classroom experience. They’ve learned to be wary of adults, even those
who appear to be reliable, since they’ve been ignored or betrayed by those they have depended on.
“These kids don’t have the context to ask for help,” notes Dr. Rappaport, a school consultant and associate
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “They don’t have a model for an adult recognizing
their needs and giving them what they need.”
Many of these children haven’t been able to develop secure attachments to the adults in their lives, adds
Jamie Howard, PhD, a clinical psychologist and head of the Trauma and Resilience Service at the Child
Mind Institute. They need help to let other adults into their lives. “Kids who’ve never developed that early
template that you can trust people, that you are lovable and that people will take care of you,” Dr. Howard
explains, “need support to form that kind of relationship.”
One of the challenges in giving that support is that when kids misbehave, our schools often use disciplinary
systems that involve withdrawing attention and support, rather than addressing their problems. Schools
have very little patience for kids who provoke and push away adults who try to help them.
Instead of suspending children, Dr. Rappaport argues, schools need to work with them on changing their
behavior. When a student is acting up in class, she explains, teachers need to recognize the powerful
feelings they are expressing, if inappropriately.
Rather than jumping right into the behavior plan — deducting points or withdrawing privileges or
suspending — Dr. Rappaport stresses the importance of acknowledging the emotion and trying to identify
it. “I can see that you are REALLY angry that Andrew took the marker you wanted!” she suggests. “If
you’re wrong about what the student is upset about, he’s likely to correct you.”
Acknowledging and naming an emotion helps children move towards expressing it in a more appropriate
way. Communicating that you “get” them is the necessary first step, she explains, to helping kids learn to
express themselves in ways that don’t alienate and drive away people who can help them.
Poor self-regulation
Traumatized children often have trouble managing strong emotions. As babies and toddlers, children learn
to calm and soothe themselves by being calmed and soothed by the adults in their lives, Dr. Howard notes.
If they haven’t had that experience, because of neglect, “that lack of a soothing, secure attachment system
contributes to their chronic dysregulation.”
In the classroom, teachers need to support and coach these children in ways to calm themselves and
manage their emotions. “We need to be partners in managing their behavior,” Dr. Rappaport explains. “Co-
regulation comes before self-regulation. We need to help them get the control they need to change the
channel when they’re upset.” They need coaching and practice at de-escalating when they feel
overwhelmed, she adds.
Negative thinking
Another challenge to traumatized kids is that they develop the belief that they’re bad, and what’s happened
to them is their fault. This leads to the expectation that people are not going to like them or treat them well.
As Dr. Howard puts it, “I’m a bad kid. Why would I do well in school? Bad kids don’t do well in school.”
[https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/](https://childmind.org/bio/jamie-howard-phd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/](https://childmind.org/article/improving-behavior-classroom/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
[https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/](https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/)
3/9
Traumatized kids also tend to develop what Dr. Howard calls a “hostile attribution bias” — the idea that
everyone is out to get them. “So if a teacher says, ‘Sit down in your seat,” they hear it as, ‘SIT DOWN IN
YOUR SEAT!’” she explains. “They hear it as exaggerated and angry and unfair. So they’ll act out really
quickly with irritability.”
As Dr. Rappaport puts it: “They see negative where we see neutral.” To counter this negative thinking,
these students a narrative about themselves that helps them understand that they’re not “bad kids.” And
learning to recognize their negative patterns of thought, like black and white thinking, is a step towards
being able to change those patterns.
Dr. Rappaport notes that children from abusive homes are sometimes unable to participate in classroom
activities because they are paralyzed by fear of making a mistake, and that can make them appear to
beoppositional.
“A mistake that might seem trivial to us becomes magnified,” she explains, “if their experience has been
that minor mistakes incurred adult anger or punishment.”
They need not only support to have incremental successes they can build on in the classroom, but help to
see that in this setting, making a mistake is considered a necessary part of learning.
Hypervigilance
One of the classic symptoms of trauma is hyper-vigilance, which means being overly alert to danger. “It’s
physiological hyper-arousal,” explains Dr. Howard. “These kids are jumpy, they have an exaggerated
startle response. They can have some big, out-of-control seeming behaviors, because their fight or flight
response has gone off.”
This can look like hyperactivity, she adds, leading kids who have been traumatized to be misdiagnosed
with ADHD. Being chronically agitated can lead to difficulty with sleeping and chronic irritability.
In workshops, Dr. Rappaport coaches teachers on how to help kids to settle down when something in the
classroom triggers an emotional outburst. When a child is escalating, the key, she says, is to “match their
affect, but in a controlled way.”
The goal is to connect to their big feeling. “If you can connect with what they’re trying to tell you, they
may settle. It can work even if you just make a guess — you don’t have to be right, they can correct you.”
Executive function challenges
Chronic trauma affects children’s memory, their ability to pay attention, plan, think things through, and
other executive functions. Kids who haveADHD
as well as trauma may be especially impaired in these skills.
Difficulty planning impacts not only completing tasks in school, but a child’s ability to plan his behavior,
rather than acting impulsively, and deciding on the best way to communicate his needs and feelings.
One of the things that tends to upset kids who’ve been traumatized is difficulty predicting the future — not
knowing what is coming is unsettling for children and creates anxiety. These kids can benefit, Dr.
Rappaport notes, from repeated dry runs of what’s coming up and what they should expect.
[https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/](https://childmind.org/blog/how-trauma-can-be-misdiagnosed-as-adhd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/](https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/)
4/9
Another executive function that may be weak is the ability to self-narrate — to mentally talk themselves
through what they need to do as they are carrying out a task. It’s a skill young children learn from listening
to their parents talk to them when they are babies, and, she notes, if they haven’t had the experience they
may need help developing the skill.
Focus on positive attention
In addition to connecting with kids who’ve been traumatized, and helping them build missing skills, Dr.
Rappaport emphasizes the importance of giving them as much positive attention as possible.
Kids who have experienced chronic neglect tend to be better at getting attention by provoking the adults
they depend on than by complying with expectations. “Negative attention is fast, predictable and efficient,”
she notes. “We need to make positive attention as fast, predictable and efficient.”
But she adds that positive attention includes not only praising them for desired behavior but expressing
warmth and kindness that aren’t necessarily earned.
Surprising kids with “random acts of kindness” can help wean them from habits of acting out to get
attention. “When a kid is acting out and sucking the oxygen out of a classroom,” she notes, “some teachers
have found it works to set their phones to buzz every 5 minutes to give the kid positive attention.”
Dr. Rappaport offers tools for understanding ahd managing disruptive behavior in the classroom in her
book, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging
Students, written with behavioral analyst Jessica Minahan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does trauma affect behavior in kids?
Trauma can affect behavior in kids by causing hypervigilance, trouble managing emotions and forming
relationships with other people, and difficulty with executive functioning.
This article was last reviewed or updated on June 5, 2025.
Related Reading
[http://nancyrappaport.com/](http://nancyrappaport.com/)
5/9
Signs of Trauma in Children What to watch for in the weeks and months after an upsetting event
What Makes an Event Traumatic for a Child? Experiences before and after affect how severe the
injury will be
[https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/](https://childmind.org/article/signs-trauma-children/)
[https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/](https://childmind.org/article/makes-event-traumatic-child/)
6/9
Quick Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What Is Complex Trauma? How ongoing traumatic experiences affect
children
Is It ADHD or Trauma? Why the symptoms are often confused, and
how to avoid a misdiagnosis
CBITS: Trauma Treatment for Kids in School How a therapy called
CBITS helps children who have experienced trauma
Treatment for PTSD There are several evidence-based therapies for
young people with PTSD
[https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/guide/quick-guide-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/what-is-complex-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/](https://childmind.org/article/is-it-adhd-or-trauma/)
[https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/](https://childmind.org/article/trauma-treatment-for-kids-in-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
7/9
Complete Guide to Managing Behavior Problems When children struggle with their behavior, it can
have a negative impact on everyone in the family. Parents know they need to respond, but they…
[https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/](https://childmind.org/article/treatment-for-ptsd/)
[https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/](https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-problem-behavior/)
8/9
77 Children’s Books About Mental Health Best books for helping kids understand emotional and
learning challenges
Supporting Trans and Nonbinary Kids at School Why gender affirmation at school matters, and how
[https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/](https://childmind.org/article/best-childrens-books-about-mental-health/)
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
9/9
families can help
Back-to-School Anxiety How to help kids manage worries and have a successful start to the school
year
More Related
[https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/](https://childmind.org/article/supporting-trans-and-nonbinary-kids-at-school/)
[https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/](https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/)
**EffectiveSchoolCommPartnershipstosupportSMH_NASP.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/effectiveschoolcommpartnershipstosupportsmh-nasp-pdf)
**CCSSO_SEL_MTSS_Toolkit.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/ccsso-sel-mtss-toolkit-pdf)
**PromotingMentalHealthandWell-BeinginSchools_CDC.pdf**
This file is too large to display. [View in new window](https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/promotingmentalhealthandwell-beinginschools-cdc-pdf)
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