Childhood Fears

[bexm30]

So.. I have a student who is scared of dogs. She has never been hurt or knocked down by one. She now is staring to be afraid of cows (?) and other animals. When we watch educational videos in the class with animals in them (frogs, wolves, penguins, anything) she gets a little nervous. She watches every second of the videos but does cover her ears.

Comments

scared

[anonymous]

I think your first reaction is the right one - to not make too big a deal out of it either way. I agree that if it's forced on her and made a big deal out of, it may make the situation much worse. She just needs exposure in a normal supportive environment, like your class watching a video.

[bexm30]

Well, knock on wood, it is now the end of March and she is doing well. She is still nervous about watching videos with animals but apparently she is just worried about a loud animal noise. Students like her (on the autism spectrum) are often sensitive to noises. She is less freaked out by animals overalll, and even mentions my dog Bailey just for fun, which is cool. She even claims she wants to meet him!!

Education

[akktri]

Unless you're doing kindergarten, they should see a therapist or do that stuff at home. They should take the kid to a farm or something. Get the kid to watch Babe and other stuff about cute cows and other animals, then take them to a petting zoo or whatever.