Kasey Ferra, MS, CCC-SLP and Nicole Braga-O’Neill, MS, OTR/L
Foundation For Communication
Asking for help, answering questions, joining a conversation, and sharing ideas are all aspects of communication we strive to see students achieve. While communication may be a challenge for many Complex Learners, given the right supports, their communication skills and confidence can blossom. As a Speech Therapist (Kasey) and an Occupational Therapist (Nicole), we know first-hand that we cannot work on communication skills without attention and engagement from these students.
This is where regulation comes in because effective communication begins with a regulated nervous system.
The Sensory Scale Within
We often describe regulation as a scale within each student. This internal scale can easily tip off balance depending on sensory input throughout the day.
That imbalance may come from:
- Unmet physiological needs (hunger, fatigue, need for movement)
- Environmental stressors (bright lights, loud spaces, uncomfortable clothing)
- Language demands (missing auditory directions, processing too much verbal information at once)
When a student’s nervous system is balanced, they feel safe, comfortable, and grounded, allowing their brain to be available for learning, thinking, and connecting. This “ready-to-learn” state allows students to access higher-level skills like reasoning, problem-solving, flexible thinking, and more complex language.
When the scale tips, however, students may feel unsafe, leading to communication becoming much harder.
Regulation First
Regulation lives in the most primitive parts of the brain, the areas responsible for safety and survival. If a student feels overwhelmed, threatened, confused, or physically uncomfortable, the brain shifts into protection mode (fight (confront), flight (escape), freeze (immobilize), fawn (appease)). As adults, many of us have experienced this shift in our own brains during moments of high stress. While the cause for Complex Learners may be different than our own, the response is the same. Imagine being asked to take part in a group lesson calmly or actively participate in a conversation while your body was in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode. It would be incredibly difficult! That’s because in these moments:
- Language processing decreases
- Word retrieval becomes more difficult
- Auditory comprehension drops
- Social problem-solving stalls
- Emotional expression may escalate
From the outside, for Complex Learners, this might look like refusal, avoidance, shutdown, or behavioral outbursts. From the inside, it is a nervous system asking for support.
This is why we say: regulation before expectation. You cannot expect your child to be able to rise to the occasion when their body and brain are actively telling them not to.
Co-Regulation: Where It Begins
Self-regulation for children, especially Complex Learners, does not appear overnight. It develops through co-regulation. Co-regulation is when a regulated adult lends their nervous system to a student. Through calm presence, predictable routines, adjusted language, supportive tone, sensory tools, and validation of feelings and experiences, we help a student return to balance.
An OT may:
- Modify the environment
- Provide movement or deep pressure input
- Adjust seating or lighting
- Offer sensory supports
An SLP may:
- Simplify language
- Offer extended processing time
- Pair visual supports with verbal information
- Support social and emotional related language
Together, we create safety.
Repeated experiences of co-regulation allow students to internalize those strategies. Over time, they begin to recognize their own body cues, request support, and independently access tools. That is the bridge to self-regulation.
Regulation and Communication Are Intertwined
In 2019, Jessie Ginsburg, a leader in combining sensory regulation with speech therapy, describes the connection between regulation and language development like a staircase. Think of a child’s language development like climbing a staircase. The first steps are feeling regulated (calm, safe, and connected), the middle steps are basic words and communication, and the top steps are more advanced thinking and language skills — and their own motivation is the handrail that helps them move up safely and confidently.
Communication is complex and requires children to feel safe, attentive, and connected in order to be effective. All of these factors rely on a regulated nervous system. When a student is dysregulated, they are not choosing not to communicate. Their system is prioritizing safety over language.
As OTs and SLPs, our collaboration is intentional. We do not separate sensory processing from communication because the brain does not separate them.
We ask:
- What is the body experiencing?
- What is the nervous system signaling?
- How can we support regulation so communication can emerge?
Building Toward Independence
Our ultimate goal is independence, but independence is built on support, not pressure. Through consistent co-regulation, environmental supports, and explicit instruction in emotional language and problem-solving, students begin to:
- Identify internal states
- Use language to describe and express needs
- Request movement or breaks
- Advocate for sensory preferences
- Repair communication breakdowns
- Navigate peer interactions
Regulation becomes the foundation. Communication becomes the outcome. Children who feel safe and connected become the result.
What You Can Do at Home to Support Regulation and Communication:
- Observe where your child’s nervous system is at.
- How are they behaving and feeling? What is their engagement with you like?
- Do they seem regulated? Dysregulated?
- Consider your own nervous system status (this is the co-regulation piece).
- Are you stressed or feeling overwhelmed? Use a strategy like taking a moment alone to help yourself regulate.
- Notice any triggers. Can they be minimized, or eliminated if possible?
- Are the kitchen lights too bright? Can they be dimmed?
- Do they have high arousal as soon as they wake up? Can they have time to play outside before breakfast?
- Monitor your own communication.
- Can what you’re saying be simplified to reduce processing demands?
Resources
Ginsburg, J. (2019) Focus on Fun: Words Will Follow. The ASHA Leader.
Ginsburg, J. (2023). Sensory + communication guidebook for SLPs. Sensory SLP Workbook.
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