Student behavior neuroscience, trauma-informed FBA, and why knowing a rule is not the same as being able to follow it - Karen Mayer Cunningham sits down with Rick and Doris Bowman of Bowman Consult Group for one of the most important conversations in special education.
If a child is throwing a chair, they are not choosing to ruin your day. Their nervous system is on fire. And until educators understand that, behavior management will keep failing the kids who need the most support.
What you will learn in this episode:
- Why a student can recite the rule, tell you the exact consequence, and still not be able to stop the behavior - and why that is a neuroscience issue, not a defiance issue
- The difference between knowledge and skill in behavior - and why we keep confusing the two
- Regulate, relate, reason: Dr. Bruce Perry's framework for how the brain actually processes information from the bottom up
- Why the teacher's regulated emotional state is the most powerful behavior tool in any classroom - more than any plan, chart, or consequence
- The clip chart conversation that makes adults cry in every training room - including a five-year-old who wanted to kill herself after being moved from green to yellow
- Private logic: how children form beliefs about themselves through their school experiences and carry them for decades
- Why professional development is lagging years behind the neuroscience - and what has to change
- The Bowmans' full training catalog: Trauma-Informed FBA, I'm a Teacher Not a Therapist, Truly Trauma-Informed, and a resilience approach used by Navy SEALs and Olympic athletes
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Welcome - Karen Mayer Cunningham with Rick and Doris Bowman
2:00 How Doris Got Placed in a Behavior Classroom by Accident
5:00 Why Behavior Is So Hard to Teach Compared to Academic Skills
8:00 Adults Treat Children Like Little Adults - The Developmental Problem
10:00 The Neuroscience - Why the Nervous System Drives Behavior
13:00 Knowledge vs Skill - The Driving Analogy
16:00 Regulate Relate Reason - Dr. Bruce Perry's Framework
20:00 Why Can a Student Know the Rule and Still Break It?
24:00 The Window of Now - What Happens During Escalation
27:00 You Are the Intervention - The Teacher's Regulated State
30:00 Shame Leads to Blame - Why Adults Post Those Videos
33:00 The Clip Chart Conversation That Stops Every Room
38:00 Private Logic - How Children Form Beliefs About Themselves
42:00 Why Professional Development Is Lagging Behind Reality
47:00 Islands of Competence - Every Student Needs a Bright Spot
50:00 The Bowmans' Training Catalog and New Book
54:00 When We Get It Right for the Child We Get It Right for Everyone
RESOURCES:
Bowman Consulting Group: https://BowmanConsultingGroup.com
Email Rick and Doris: team@BowmanConsultingGroup.com
New Educator Book - available now at Bowman Consult Group
Trauma-Informed Neuroaffirming FBAs - Book by Rick and Doris Bowman
Special Education Academy: https://specialeducationacademy.com/training
Epic IEP Book Bundle: https://theepiciep.com
Email Karen's team: advocate@specialeducationacademy.com
ABOUT RICK AND DORIS BOWMAN
Rick and Doris Bowman are behavior specialists and founders of Bowman Consulting Group. With more than 20 years training school districts, families, and clinicians in trauma-informed neuroscience-aligned behavior support, they are two of the most trusted voices in this field. Rick's background is in clinical psychology. Doris spent 20-plus years running district programs for students with the most significant social, emotional, and behavioral needs.
ABOUT KAREN MAYER CUNNINGHAM
Karen Mayer Cunningham is the Special Education Boss - a nationally recognized advocate, trainer, and bestselling author of the Epic IEP book series. She trains everyone at the 504 and IEP table: parents, teachers, paras, and administrators.
Subscribe and never miss a live session - every Monday at 8PM inside the Special Education Academy.
#SpecialEducation #StudentBehavior #TraumaInformed
If a child is throwing a chair, they are not choosing to ruin your day. Their nervous system is on fire. And until educators understand that, behavior management will keep failing the kids who need the most support.
What you will learn in this episode:
- Why a student can recite the rule, tell you the exact consequence, and still not be able to stop the behavior - and why that is a neuroscience issue, not a defiance issue
- The difference between knowledge and skill in behavior - and why we keep confusing the two
- Regulate, relate, reason: Dr. Bruce Perry's framework for how the brain actually processes information from the bottom up
- Why the teacher's regulated emotional state is the most powerful behavior tool in any classroom - more than any plan, chart, or consequence
- The clip chart conversation that makes adults cry in every training room - including a five-year-old who wanted to kill herself after being moved from green to yellow
- Private logic: how children form beliefs about themselves through their school experiences and carry them for decades
- Why professional development is lagging years behind the neuroscience - and what has to change
- The Bowmans' full training catalog: Trauma-Informed FBA, I'm a Teacher Not a Therapist, Truly Trauma-Informed, and a resilience approach used by Navy SEALs and Olympic athletes
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Welcome - Karen Mayer Cunningham with Rick and Doris Bowman
2:00 How Doris Got Placed in a Behavior Classroom by Accident
5:00 Why Behavior Is So Hard to Teach Compared to Academic Skills
8:00 Adults Treat Children Like Little Adults - The Developmental Problem
10:00 The Neuroscience - Why the Nervous System Drives Behavior
13:00 Knowledge vs Skill - The Driving Analogy
16:00 Regulate Relate Reason - Dr. Bruce Perry's Framework
20:00 Why Can a Student Know the Rule and Still Break It?
24:00 The Window of Now - What Happens During Escalation
27:00 You Are the Intervention - The Teacher's Regulated State
30:00 Shame Leads to Blame - Why Adults Post Those Videos
33:00 The Clip Chart Conversation That Stops Every Room
38:00 Private Logic - How Children Form Beliefs About Themselves
42:00 Why Professional Development Is Lagging Behind Reality
47:00 Islands of Competence - Every Student Needs a Bright Spot
50:00 The Bowmans' Training Catalog and New Book
54:00 When We Get It Right for the Child We Get It Right for Everyone
RESOURCES:
Bowman Consulting Group: https://BowmanConsultingGroup.com
Email Rick and Doris: team@BowmanConsultingGroup.com
New Educator Book - available now at Bowman Consult Group
Trauma-Informed Neuroaffirming FBAs - Book by Rick and Doris Bowman
Special Education Academy: https://specialeducationacademy.com/training
Epic IEP Book Bundle: https://theepiciep.com
Email Karen's team: advocate@specialeducationacademy.com
ABOUT RICK AND DORIS BOWMAN
Rick and Doris Bowman are behavior specialists and founders of Bowman Consulting Group. With more than 20 years training school districts, families, and clinicians in trauma-informed neuroscience-aligned behavior support, they are two of the most trusted voices in this field. Rick's background is in clinical psychology. Doris spent 20-plus years running district programs for students with the most significant social, emotional, and behavioral needs.
ABOUT KAREN MAYER CUNNINGHAM
Karen Mayer Cunningham is the Special Education Boss - a nationally recognized advocate, trainer, and bestselling author of the Epic IEP book series. She trains everyone at the 504 and IEP table: parents, teachers, paras, and administrators.
Subscribe and never miss a live session - every Monday at 8PM inside the Special Education Academy.
#SpecialEducation #StudentBehavior #TraumaInformed