This should hopefully be a large component of your training — but in brief: do not judge, shame, or…

This should hopefully be a large component of your training — but in brief: do not judge, shame, or punish, rather try to offer viable alternatives, ask questions, and keep your cool as much as possible. Keep an eye out for thoughts/reactions that put blame on a child, or that involve seeing them as being more intentional or malicious than kids are really capable of being. For example, thinking that a kid is acting up specifically to “punish” you for something, or because the child is malicious, or cruel, or petty — sometimes it can be easy for a pattern of behavior in a child to remind us of the behavior of adults who have hurt us, and then we can see those kids as more responsible and more blameful than they truly are. And please, do everything you can to learn about learning disabilities and mental illness in kids — not just writing from psychologists or psychiatrists, but writing, videos, vlogs, and blogs by people with those same conditions. It will make it so much easier for you to take the perspective of someone struggling. Good luck!