The Brain State Hierarchy Every Teacher Must Understand

Welcome back to Part Two of my S5E25 ⁨@schoolutionspodcast⁩ conversation with Dr. Courtney Bishop. Courtney shares a collaborative approach during an IEP special education meeting. This video offers essential IEP tips for parents and special education advocates to effectively support children with special needs.

What You'll Discover:
✅ How to prepare for your first IEP meeting with confidence
✅ The mindset shift that changes everything for educators AND parents
✅ What data to track and how to notice patterns
✅ The brain states framework every adult needs to understand
✅ Professional development that actually transforms practice
✅ How to give yourself grace in the journey

This episode reveals the neuroscience behind regulation and executive functioning, showing why adults must regulate FIRST before children can learn. Perfect for parents, teachers, instructional coaches, school counselors, mentor teachers, new teachers, school administrators, and anyone committed to student success, family partnerships, and home-school connection.

🧠 Essential Framework: Conscious Discipline Brain States
🎯 Focus: IEP advocacy, data collection, caregiver-educator partnerships

💫Check out Part One

Chapters
0:00 Introduction - Your IEP Advocacy Toolkit
1:00 Welcome Back - Part Two with Dr. Courtney Bishop
2:00 First IEP Meeting - What Every Caregiver Should Know
3:00 Assuming Best Intent on All Sides
4:00 Communicating Your Child's Needs Effectively
6:00 Notice and Name - Sharing Observable Behaviors
7:00 Building Team Child - Transparent Communication
8:00 What Data Should Caregivers Track?
9:00 Tracking Patterns and Regulation Tipping Points
10:00 Essential PD - Understanding Brain States
11:00 The Brain State Hierarchy Explained
12:00 Connection Before Correction - The Key to Learning
13:00 Parting Words - Grace for Neurodivergent Journeys
15:00 Celebrating Neurodivergent Strengths
16:00 Next Week - Play Deprivation Crisis in NYC Schools
17:00 Closing - Choose Connection Over Compliance

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child.

🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators! h

Next Week: Dr. Beverly Falk and Dr. Nancy Cardwell from CCNY reveal a shocking trend: NYC pediatricians are now diagnosing kindergarteners with play deprivation-induced anxiety and depression. These veteran educators expose how scripted curricula are creating a public health crisis and share their six-point proposal they're bringing to Mayor Mamdani to save early childhood education. 

#schoolutions #schoolutionspodcast #schoolutionsteachingstrategies #forevergettingbetter #IEPAdvocacy #NeurodivergenteSupport #ParentPartnership #InclusiveEducation #SpecialEducation #TeacherTraining #SchoolLeadership #FamilyEngagement #BrainScience #StudentSuccess #ProfessionalDevelopment #InstructionalCoaching #HomeSchoolConnection #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #WholeChild #EmpoweredEducators #EducationTransformation #ProKidMindset #IEP #specialeducation #neurodivergent #parentadvocacy #teachers #inclusiveeducation #ADHD #autism

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] Picture this, you walk into that IEP meeting with your heart racing, a stack of articles and one goal, make them finally see your child. But what if the way you're advocating is actually making it harder for your child's needs to be heard? Dr. Courtney Bishop, neurodivergent mom and former educator shares the data you should be tracking: the exact language that shifts school teams from defensive to collaborative, and while understanding brain states might be the most important professional learning anyone in education could ever receive, this is your advocacy toolkit.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers [00:01:00] to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

I am Olivia Wahl and I am so happy to jump into part two of my conversation with Dr. Courtney Bishop. If you have not listened to part one, pause this episode, go back, it's right below this, and then come back to the part two conversation. Courtney, I wanna dive right back in with you. Um, part one, we talked a lot about systems, structures when it comes to supporting children with neurodivergence and also caregivers with neurodivergence.

What I'd like to jump into now is talking more about the caregiver dilemma, I will call it. Making sure that you know how to advocate for your children in a way that you can be seen and heard. Your kids can be seen and heard. So let's jump in, advice for caregivers. You know, what should every adult know going into their first [00:02:00] IEP meeting? What would you recommend? 

Courtney: This is a challenging one. I, first of all, I think I wanna validate how challenging that is, how challenging it can be to be a neurodivergent caregiver who is raising neurodivergent humans because oftentimes, as you are learning more and more about your child's needs, you're learning to reparent yourself and you're, you're growing, on your own, alongside your child. Um, and that's some of the hardest work that you'll ever go through. Um, but I do think coming to the table with the mindset of these are professionals who are extremely knowledgeable and they are coming to the table because they want to meet the needs of my child. So that could be a mindset that the parent comes to the table with.

And then I think on the flip side, for the educators to come to the table knowing that this [00:03:00] child is, that parent's, everything, everything, that's their whole world. And that is the, I said this in the first one, but it's the best they have. They're not saving another version at home and like withholding them from us and I think that changes inside of you as an educator once you're a parent yourself. 

Olivia: Totally agree.

Courtney: Especially as, as you're a parent who, who is late diagnosed neurodivergent and you're re-parenting yourself as you're parenting your child. 

Olivia: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I can't, I I can actually remember the moment. Um, and I, I've always loved children I, I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I think when I was six years old. It's what I've always wanted to do, and I will say once I became a parent myself, it really did help me pause more intentionally and ask myself, no matter what is behind [00:04:00] this child's behavior um, they are someone's baby. They are someone's everything, and they should be my everything if I get to hang out with them for a year and learn from them in my classroom.

Courtney: Yeah. 

Olivia: So I appreciate that idea of, you know, assume best intent on all sides for everyone around that table. And then how as a caregiver to neurodivergent children, do you communicate their needs in a way that is seen and heard, because that's also really important. 

Courtney: Yeah, I think that's critical. Uh, and and honestly, I think it's the pinnacle of the work that we do to support kids. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Courtney: Because the reality is if my perception is that the school is not doing enough, or they could or should be doing something else. And that's my tone when I'm communicating with them or I'm making assumptions that they should have been doing it better or I think they could do it better, um, then that's gonna be, that's gonna come through my [00:05:00] words and it's gonna come through my actions and the conversations I'm, I'm choosing to lean into maybe even around my child, and then the narrative I'm creating for them of, of the educator professional in their space.

Olivia: So it's also then very important that as a caregiver, you're able to clearly communicate your children's needs so that it, they're heard and they're seen and they're felt in a way for that forward motion. How do you do that? 

Courtney: Yeah, so I, I like to go back to just how are we describing what's happening? So how are we noticing and naming these are the observable behaviors that are being seen either in the educational setting or at a home setting. Very factual, um, notice and name the actions that have been done. Right. I noticed that, you know, you tried to pull them aside and come up with a secret system, you know, to, to help them when they needed to move, or, I noticed that you reached out to me and that really meant a lot because I didn't even know that behavior was happening.[00:06:00] 

Um, I think it's all about how we say it and what our tone is. If the tone is always, hey, I wanna share this information, like we have some new information and I wanna share it with you because I believe that it may also impact them in the school setting, and I think it'll be very invaluable for you to know as you're processing with them or we learned this new strategy in therapy. Right? And like, that's awesome so I put a kit in their backpack. Now they can use that kit when they're at home, but they could also use it at school. And that way, you know, what we're working on in therapy. 

Um, I think that's a very different approach than my child was diagnosed with this, this is what they're deserving of this is what I, I'm not gonna rest until I know that they have it. I think we, again, when we assume positive intent, we're all working together to. Meet that child's needs, um, and also meet them in a way that they can continue to grow and thrive. 

Olivia: Yeah. You, you're also making me think a lot that communication and transparency is [00:07:00] so important, and I love the stance that you just articulated, that I wanna share this with you, and so it almost becomes like this pro-kid, team-child that we are all circling up and when there's new information, it gets immediately shared so there's just always a flow of growth and movement forward in service of that child. I think that's really beautiful. And then as a caregiver, I would also ask, what data should I be gathering? So yes, you just said noticing observable behaviors. Absolutely. Are there any other I guess trends or patterns I should be looking for? 

Courtney: Yeah, I think that's just it. How are we, how are we starting to, to notice and name, uh, certain behaviors, uh, observable behaviors and, and how are we looking for trends in that? And so here's a, here's what that might look like. Uh, when we were very first advocating, uh, before we had, you know, an [00:08:00] official diagnosis and, and clarity within, you know, what was exactly needed and, and where these were these behaviors were coming from neurologically. Before we had that clear understanding, we would see a clear indication when, when we were hungry, when we were overly exhausted when we were and so what we were doing is we were tracking what times of day are these happening? 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Courtney: How and and, and what then occurred, you know, before that, that behavior and then what can we maybe try differently, um, leading up to that behavior to either intervene or to provide a different antecedent that's gonna maybe yield a different outcome.

Olivia: Ah, that's, that's so helpful. I also, I'm going back to part one when you talked about the idea of regulation, and I just, I want to bring that just to come full circle here, because if you're noticing patterns and you're tracking those patterns also connecting it to the, the, I guess tipping [00:09:00] point we could call it of the complete flipping of a table versus the pause point of, oh wait, this doesn't feel good.

It's starting to feel out of control and, and helping get back on track before it spirals out. So I think that's another pattern we can track. Um, and then I, I know both of us have been in the educational system for a long time. And certain professional learning experiences have felt more valuable than others for sure. So with your knowledge, with the training you've had as a coach, as a teacher, um, you know, what professional learning experience would you say? All adults in the school system need to have the experience of going through. 

Courtney: Yeah, so I, I already mentioned in my, in my first section, uh, a Conscious Discipline. And I have to just, again, but I wanna go a little deeper into that because it's not just this, this whole idea of every [00:10:00] part of Conscious Discipline or like, it has to be done in this order, or you have to use this, these feelings buddies. I look at that a little bit differently. And, and the heart of Conscious Discipline is the understanding of the brain states.

And so to me, if that was the non-negotiable. Everyone has to have an understanding of the brain states. I think that PD right there could really leverage a lot of change. When we think about the brain states though, and what I've learned through that work that I think everyone should know is that if we think of this as our brain, so you can put your hand up, everyone, put your hand up with me. Just do a little movement. 

Um, down here you've got, you're in your amygdala. You've got your survival brain, so this is where you flight, fight, flight, fawn, freeze. And what your brain is seeking there is the question, am I safe? Until the brain perceives safety, it cannot upshift into its emotional state. So conscious discipline teaches us that in our emotional state, when we're yelling, when we're [00:11:00] fighting, when we're um, you know, coming back at someone with sass or, or whatever it is, telling them we dislike them, whatever it may be, that is signaling that we need connection and empathy.

Olivia: It's fascinating, isn't it?

Courtney: But it's very hard as adults for us to give empathy and connection when, you know, things may being said that are really painful or maybe they're triggering for us, um, or we are stuck down in our survival or our emotional state with that child. And what conscious discipline tells us, what the research tells us is that a child will not be in a higher brain state than the adult.

So if an adult is in survival, or if an adult isn't emotional, a child cannot upshift into their prefrontal cortex where they're doing executive functioning. So we talk a lot. You know, when we talk about IEPs, we talk about executive functioning. We don't get to shift into our executive brain [00:12:00] until we have a felt sense of safety and we know we're connected.

Then we can upshift to problem solve, to think critically and I think if every human, not even educator, but every human could understand that a little bit more, then I think we may be able to see from a different lens. When people are dysregulated, they're, they're needing safety, they're needing connection, or they're ready to learn.

Olivia: Ah, that visual, I hope everyone watches this conversation and doesn't just listen to it because seeing that visual for me was extraordinary. And then hearing again, oh my gosh, our children cannot get to that learning or executive functioning level if as adults we are, uh, basically if we're a hot mess, we, we have to work on ourselves.

And that goes circles right back [00:13:00] court to the idea of adult first centered on the kids. Um. So, you know, let's wrap this conversation and I'd love to hear your parting words for a teacher who either feels overwhelmed with their own neurodivergence or their children at home, or the kids that they have in their classroom for caregivers, you know, what would your parting words be?

Courtney: My parting words would be to give yourself grace. We are. We have more language and understanding for neurodivergence than we ever have, and I think that's a beautiful thing. And earlier I shared, the more we know the, the better we get right. The more we know, the more we grow. And I think that neurodivergent individuals having the language and the understanding of their own brains is an amazing launching point for this.

Now we have this ethical responsibility to make sure that [00:14:00] we're sharing the magic of neurodivergence as well. Um, and I don't, I don't necessarily love like neurodivergence as a superpower just because it can diminish the needs that neurodivergent individuals have. That said, the strengths of neurodivergent humans often outweigh the deficits of neurodivergent humans.

And so I think giving yourself grace of knowing that you don't have to be an expert in neurodivergence, even if you are newly diagnosed, even if you have a perceived, uh, neurodivergent disability and you're, you're waiting for a diagnosis. Um, but I think it's, it's going back to those core skills of, of, regardless of what the label is, within neurodivergence, we want to, to develop resiliency.

Olivia: Yeah. 

Courtney: Within this neurodivergent culture and, and, and as a caregiver to neurodivergent humans, I want them to know that they, they have these innate [00:15:00] gifts that they have these amazing talents that they can leverage. And I want them to be able to name the things that we're still working on developing.

Olivia: Yeah. Well, we will part ways with part two there, and you know, I just, I can't thank you enough for the work you are doing. It is tireless. It is exhausting and part of my work right now is to challenge myself to forever get better, forever grow. And I am so lucky to have you as a thought partner and be on that journey with me. So thank you, Courtney, and I can't wait for this conversation to go out into the world. 

Courtney: Thank you so much for having me. Um, and thanks for being a part of this process the whole way through. It’s been really exciting. 

Olivia: All right. Take care my friend. Bye. 

Courtney: Thanks. 

Olivia: I want to thank Dr. Courtney Bishop for this two-part masterclass in seeing neurodivergent children and [00:16:00] ourselves differently. If you want to dive deeper into her work, you can check out her course Raising, Regulated and Resilient Humans and follow her visual thinking notes on social media. All of those links are in the show notes. And speaking of children who desperately need us to see them differently, next week's episode might be the most urgent conversation we've had all year.

Dr. Beverly Falk and Dr. Nancy Cardwell from City College of New York reveal a shocking trend. New York City pediatricians are now diagnosing kindergartners with play-deprivation-induced anxiety and depression. These veteran educators expose how scripted programs are creating a public health crisis. And they share their six-point proposal that they're bringing to Mayor Mamdani to save early childhood education. If you care about what we're doing to our youngest learners, you cannot miss this episode. Thank you for being [00:17:00] here, for doing this hard work and for choosing connection over compliance. 

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to. Never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Thank you to my guest, Dr. Courtney Bishop, for helping us think differently about advocacy, neurodivergence, and our own nervous systems. If this conversation resonated with you, share it with another caregiver or educator who needs to hear Courtney's message.

Make sure to send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com to let me know what your next step is. Tune in every Monday and Friday for part one and part two of my guest conversations with the best research-backed coaching and teaching strategies that you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. And look for your [00:18:00] 60-second bite-sized piece of learning on Wednesdays from our conversation to share with a colleague. Take care and thank you for forever getting better with me. See you next week.