USING CALOOSHA AS A TOOL TO INVESTIGATE ONE CHILD’S TRIGGERS
Investigating a Pattern
It is always exciting when therapists tell me stories of how they are using Caloosha as a tool to better understand their kiddo’s behavior. This one was novel but upon reflection makes perfect sense. One current Caloosha user, a school psychologist in a large urban school district, has been working with an 8-year-old, 3rd grader diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The beginning of the year was proving to be extraordinarily difficult and this therapist thought that there may be a pattern emerging. Eager to get the school year running more smoothly, she decided to use Caloosha to investigate her hypothesis.
The Plan
As with nearly all of the children she works with, there was a team assigned to work with this child including various developmental and performance concerns. This team included three different in-class Teacher’s Aides and it was her suspicion was that this child was not engaging well with, and being triggered by, one of those Aides. After discussions with the team— including the Aides – they agreed on a plan to vary when each of the Aides would be present in the classroom and to note the times and days. Caloosha was used to monitor the times of day and number of heart rate events this child was experiencing in the classroom during those days.
What the Data Suggested
The team did see a pattern beginning to emerge – a correlation with more heart rate elevations and one particular Aide – however since the observations were carried out for only a week before the team met again, no further data was collected. However, what was observed using the Caloosha wearable and web app inspired a conversation among the team and the particular Aide made some minor adjustments to her interactions with this child.
Real-time Decisions
This case study was borne out of a need to quickly and effectively address a problem that seemed to be escalating. It nevertheless demonstrates another way in which Caloosha can provide insights and understanding. With the help of this creative therapist, a child’s team of therapists and support staff and continue to learn and refine their intervention. And as for this particular therapist, she continues to think innovatively. Her current plan is to put a Caloosha watch on a kindergartener who has been diagnosed with level 3 autism. Her plan is to s simply teach this child to do deep breathing. He will not be able to do the emoji check-in as this is far too advanced for him at this point but the deep breathing is a starting point.
