Interventions for Meeting the Student’s
Cognitive Needs

Children from generational poverty come to school with their brain (computer) intact, but what they do not have is the "software" or experiences they need. Early intervention programs (such as Head Start), which focus on family resources as well as early education, help immensely with school readiness and family stability. Teachers must be aware of this lack of exposure to information and experiences, and be ready to teach the basics as well as enrich the environment of the classroom. Language is an area that particularly shows differences, not only in lags in development, but also in the casual, grammatical use of language versus the more formal type of language expected at school and work. Language enrichment activities should include not only lots of books, pictures, storytelling, etc. but also field trips into the surrounding community to expose students to different experiences.

Students who come from abusive and neglectful homes frequently have developmental lags. When enrichment opportunities and early intervention have not eradicated these developmental lags, then it is necessary to refer the student for further assessment. Delays in fine and gross motor skills may affect a student’s perceptual-motor coordination. Delays in language may affect the student’s reading and language arts skills as well as affect them socially and emotionally. Delays in their cognitive skills may become more evident as the curriculum becomes more challenging and more independent work is expected. Therefore, teachers must monitor the progress of these children and find them the help they need. Often this means a referral for a special education assessment. Children who are neglected or abused and/or come from low-income families comprise a high percentage of the special education population. Often these students have normal intelligence but are not performing at their expected level, and therefore, qualify as learning disabled.

Poverty and neglect can actually rob a child of his potential IQ so the student may qualify as mildly retarded. Programs such as Title 1 or LAP for reading and math assistance, after school tutoring programs, summer school, etc. provide remedial learning supports for these students. It is imperative to remember that students who have experienced abuse and neglect often have built their memory patterns through random experiences. When you live in a dysfunctional family where chaos is the norm, your brain is organized differently. These students have difficulty planning, have trouble identifying cause and effect, and are impulsive in their behaviors.

An important intervention is for the educator to directly teach the strategies that a student is lacking. Study skill instruction is a necessity if these students are to be successful in school and life. Techniques such as backwards planning of assignments to lay out the steps necessary to get to completion, Stop Light techniques (red=stop & think; yellow=make a careful plan; green=go try your plan), providing homework calendars, visual picture cue cards showing the steps necessary or the routine of the day, and Plan, Do and Review strategies, all teach students to slow down, to plan and to input data in a more organized fashion. Some junior high schools use a binder format through which they teach their students the organizational skills needed for high school.

Students who have been abused or neglected frequently come from homes where communication is not clear. Their parents expect them to know what is expected without explanation and they are punished if they do not follow the unspoken rules. This leads to a child who is constantly on alert, trying to second-guess the adults.

In the next chapter, we will learn more about the state of hyper-arousal. For now, just remember that these children’s brains remain in hyper-arousal almost constantly. When a student is in a state of hyper-arousal, they will not be using the same levels of their brain that their classmates will be utilizing. They will be thinking and reacting with their midbrain and limbic systems rather than with the cortex of their brain. Teachers need to understand this and make sure they adapt their teaching methods to include these levels of thinking. Teachers need to purposefully arrange the classroom climate so these students’ brains can achieve a state of "attentive calm," so they are available to learn new material. 

In an emotionally safe environment, the student can relax and begin to use the higher levels of their brain. In order to provide an emotionally safe environment at school, teachers need to be clear in their expectations. Classroom rules need to be consistent and enforced. Assignments need to be clearly explained, and students given lots of clarifications.  Teachers need to encourage questions and give these students more time to process ideas. If you pause to give everyone time to think before calling on someone to answer, it raises participation rates from students. 

Another idea is to have everyone raise their hand using a closed fist. This means "I’m still thinking," and an open fist to mean, "I’m ready to answer." Techniques such as these not only provide more time for students to organize their thinking process, but also build their self-confidence. When teaching students who have been abused or neglected, teachers need to use a concrete mode of presentation instead of an abstract mode. As discussed earlier in this chapter, students who live in poverty, neglect, or who are abused usually function in the present or past, not the future. They are concrete, black and white thinkers who cannot see the shades of ideas or extrapolate abstract concepts from information. 

Since they are not focused on the future and may believe that their destiny is an act of fate, planning for the future, including vocational skills, may be foreign to them. Schools need to offer vocational training skills for high school students. Teachers need to teach how their choices today will affect the consequences and outcomes of tomorrow. Discussions in literature about how a character’s choices affected his future can help a student understand this process in a nonthreatening manner. By helping students learn to plan for the future and challenging their negative, regimented thinking, we expand their thinking patterns a little at a time.

Another way to expose these students to logical thinking is to teach problem solving techniques for both social and academic problems. The problem solving method has six steps:

1. What is the problem?
2.  Brainstorm solutions (any idea is ok at this stage).
3. For academic problems, ask if each solution will work and is safe. For solutions to social problems add the questions: "Is it fair?" and "How will it make everyone feel?"
4. Evaluate the solutions. Cross off the ones that do not meet the criteria in #3. Then choose one of the remaining solutions.
5. Try it.
6. Evaluate if it worked. If it did not work, then go back to step 4 and try another solution. 

Although this process seems cumbersome at first, it teaches students that there is always more than one way to solve a problem. For social situations, it also teaches that problems can be solved in a nonviolent manner. As mentioned in Chapter 6, these students are often impulsive thinkers. The problem solving process teaches students to analyze the problem before reacting to it and to make conscious choices and decisions that reduce impulsivity.

At our school, we use this process whenever a child needs to reflect on his or her behavior and choices, to help solve problems on the playground (it almost eliminates tattling because the adult refuses to solve their problem!), and for situations in the classroom, such as not understanding how to get started on an assignment or not having the necessary supplies. Once students get used to the process, it almost becomes automatic. Since students who are neglected or abused are frequently distracted and can’t do their schoolwork because they are thinking about their problems, teachers need to find ways to get them actively engaged in learning. We need to find out what they enjoy and are excited about. For these students, it is important to present information through their learning style. 

This means that teachers must challenge themselves to present information through a multitude of learning styles to meet the needs of all students. Teachers should also teach students about the concept of learning styles so they can understand and accept their own unique way of learning. Understanding how they learn will encourage students to develop their special talents and not get so discouraged about their struggles. When planning for meeting the cognitive needs of the abused or neglected student, it is important that the teacher remember that neglect and abuse are not just physical entities. Neglect can also be the failure to meet the child’s cognitive, social, and emotional needs.

If stimulation is lacking in the home, the neural pathways that we would normally expect in a student’s thinking process, may not exist or may be different than normal. The brain may not have grown to its potential size or capability.

Early intervention needs to occur in order to stimulate these pathways. In the school setting, certain study and organizational skills need to be taught; students need to be exposed to enriching experiences and; interventions for deficits must occur. Research has shown that children do not just "get over" neglect and abuse. There will be learning deficits and without our intervention, their cognitive and social-emotional potential may be diminished.