{"id":3161,"date":"2021-03-29T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T18:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.columbusspeech.org\/?p=3161"},"modified":"2021-03-29T14:00:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T18:00:10","slug":"tantrums-vs-meltdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/tantrums-vs-meltdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Tantrums Vs. Meltdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By: Natalie Day, M.S., CCC-SLP<\/p>\n

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Three of our talented speech therapists, Sarah Denman, Eileen Adamo, and Joelle Umstead, shared a presentation with our speech staff at a recent staff meeting! They taught us about tantrums versus meltdowns: how to recognize the difference, how to know when one is coming, and some strategies to prevent them from happening. Here are some highlights and helpful takeaways!<\/p>\n

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Tantrums vs. Meltdowns: What\u2019s the difference?<\/em><\/p>\n

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Tantrums<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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  • An intentional change in behavior to get a desired result<\/li>\n
  • Require cognitive functioning (i.e. the child is thinking about and choosing to behave this way)<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Children often check in to make sure they have an adult\u2019s attention<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    Meltdowns<\/h4>\n
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    • An involuntary reaction to overwhelming stimuli<\/li>\n
    • Could be a sensory-related response<\/li>\n
    • Could be a response to an overwhelming cognitive load or demand<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      How can I know when my child is going to have a meltdown? Some (but not all) warning signs of an oncoming meltdown are:<\/h5>\n

      1. Pacing back and forth or in circles<\/p>\n

      Increasing self-stimulatory behaviors (flapping, self-talking)<\/p>\n

      3. Perseverating on one topic<\/p>\n

      4. Extreme resistance to stopping a ritual or routine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      What can I do to help prevent meltdowns from happening?<\/h5>\n
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      1. Have clearly defined physical areas to help the child understand expectations (e.g. eat dinner at table, then play in living room). Structured, predictable environments are comforting.<\/li>\n
      2. Allow the child to keep a security item, like a small toy or comfort object, if it helps them feel calm when difficulties arise.<\/li>\n
      3. Address any sensory needs the child might have and teach them how to ask for a break if\/when they become overstimulated, and manage the child\u2019s anxiety with things like deep breathing, breaks\/walks, or calming boxes.<\/li>\n
      4. Provide clear expectations about routines and schedules, and keep them as predictable as possible.<\/li>\n
      5. Use visual supports and schedules to help provide predictability. A special picture can be used for when the routine unexpectedly changes; the plan will change but the picture will be familiar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The most important thing to do is to use these strategies during calm times so they can be effective to avoid meltdowns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        By: Natalie Day, M.S., CCC-SLP Three of our talented speech therapists, Sarah Denman, Eileen Adamo, and Joelle Umstead, shared a presentation with our speech staff at a recent staff meeting! They taught us about tantrums versus meltdowns: how to recognize the difference, how to know when one is coming, and some strategies to prevent them…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbusspeech.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}