2026 Education and FASD International Conference • Oct 23, 2026

Applied Self-Reg for Education Assistants and other Support Roles

11:15AM to 11:55AM PDT / 40min

Supporting students with FASD can be complex, particularly when behaviours are misunderstood as intentional, oppositional, or simply a lack of self-control. A Self-Reg lens offers a different way of understanding behaviour—one that begins with curiosity about stress and recognizes the important role relationships and regulation play in learning, participation, and connection.

This practical, interactive session will explore how the five domains of stress can help education assistants and other support staff better understand what may be driving a student’s behaviour and identify ways to reduce stress rather than simply respond to its outward signs.

We will consider how FASD can affect regulation, including differences in sensory processing, attention, executive functioning, communication, and the ability to recognize or respond to stress. Participants will explore how these differences can influence a student’s capacity to engage, transition, communicate, and participate successfully in everyday school experiences.

Just as importantly, we will turn the Self-Reg lens toward ourselves. Supporting students who experience significant stress can be demanding, and our own state of regulation influences the students we support. We will explore practical ways staff can recognize their own stress, support their own regulation, and use co-regulation to create safer, more predictable, and more responsive environments.

Participants will leave with practical strategies for reframing behaviour, reducing stress, strengthening connection, and supporting students with FASD—and themselves—with greater curiosity, compassion, and intention.