Hi Rupert, I hope your travels are going well. I have just completed HB online 1, and very keen to get started on 2. Thanks a million for the course...Hi Rupert, I hope your travels are going well. I have just completed HB online 1, and very keen to get started on 2. Thanks a million for the course it was riviting. Show more

So another way of bringing video games into life skills and bdnf/better brain function is the world of LARPing. Live Action role Play  over the past couple of years Horse Boy Fdn has been developing programs with LARPing - which is where gamers get out and play their games for real, in the flesh (its a HUUUUUUGE thing). we've runs LARP sessions and events at New Trails and other Horse Boy and Movement Method Centers have been doing the same. We can then harness the intrinsic interest - the gaming - to real life skills, physical, social and intellectual. Plus its the ultimate nerd's day out (and I'm a bit f a nerd). If you dont already know about it, type the name of your home town into google and then type LARP next to it and see what comes up.Welcome to a whole new world baby...

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Hey Saffron, it was good to meet you and very impressive, that you have done both online courses at such a young age. We would love to help you get...Hey Saffron, it was good to meet you and very impressive, that you have done both online courses at such a young age. We would love to help you get some internship time at various Horse Boy locations. Where in Ireland are you based? Currently we have programs in Dublin, Liskennet, and Bantry. In July we will be training people from some other locations too. So we can put you in touch with a variety. Also if you are interested in programs abroad, we have quite a few - 26 countries at the last count. Some of these places take working students both for short and long term. Would you like to be put in touch? There are many travel opportunities here. Let us know. Show more

This is a complex question, so it needs an answer that has several different parts. First, know that when kids are trying to undress, it is almost always because of stress. The stress could be sensory: a bad feeling on the skin because of the clothes have synthetic fabrics; but that is usually a fairly easy thing to find out. If it’s not a sensory issue, then it’s probably a stress issue. If it’s about emotional or psychological stress, than the child taking the clothes off, is usually them trying to communicate to you that he/she is stressed about something. So what are you stressed about?

I’ll give you one example: there was a time when Rowans mom really wanted him to go to school and he wasn’t ready to go to school. She insisted that we try anyway. On his first day at school, he took off all his clothes and rolled around on the floor saying: “I don’t want to go to a city school. I want to go to a countryside school.’ He wasn’t that verbal at the time, so this was a really complex sentence. What he was saying was, he being homeschooled at a country place and that was where he wanted to stay. and so him taking of the clothes was a protest and making a point about how stressed he felt, that he might have to do something that he didn’t want to do. And that he knew would be overwhelming for him.

Always ask the question: ”Why is the kid taking off the clothes? Are they responding to some sort of stress and are they trying to communicate to you through this active protest, that they really need something else. And if so what is that thing?” That will be determined by the particular child and the particular context, but usually, it has to do with wanting time in nature and wanting to be allowed to develop in a way that feels authentic to them. And not to be put in a position where they have to feel afraid.
Later on, with Rowan, he always wanted to be naked when he was at home.

The problem was sometimes, other people were there. And sometimes people came to the door. So we had to explain to him that some people found being around an older naked kid tricky. And that there were also people out there, who were excited by kids being naked for the wrong reasons and might hurt them. And than, going to the door naked, might risk running into one of those people because you don’t actually know who is at the door. He totally got it. Because that was such a rational explanation.

So, for a while he wouldn’t go and answer the door, someone else had to. And then he would put on shorts when he answered the door, but he still would want to be naked at home no matter who is there. Then little by little that also changed and when I say little by little, I mean really over the course of about 24 months.

And then suddenly we were at a point where he himself was saying: “O, we have visitors. I need to put shorts on.” It was his idea. We’ve seen this kind of process happen quite a few times a quite a few kids. Where, if you honor the fact that they’re stressed, try to remove those stresses and then from there go to really straightforward explanations, but with no attachment to them taking on your advice in any sort of short term.

Then in a medium term, they generally do and although there are definitely some bumpy moments. You end up with a child that totally knows how to put themselves into a socially appropriate frame and has gotten there through the process of the prefrontal cortex, rather than through coercion, which means that long-term they make more and more decisions from the prefrontal cortex, which of course means they have a much better chance of surviving and thriving.

So I hope that reading this answer, will give you some insight into this or these particular children and the stressors of them responding to and the strategies that you can employ. If you feel that you would like to discuss this further, I need more contextual detail. Please email us again and we will engage in a more specific way, but in the meantime please digest what we said, have a think about it and see what ideas and strategies present itself, based on what Rowan and other children have shown us through this journey.

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those are some brilliant ideas. will you share some pictures of the rockets out of straws with us? 

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i have worked with a few people that used gaited horses very successfully getting good results. 

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For our new members from yesterday and today. you can find the behavioral modules here: ntls.co/courses/behavioral-modules -- log in before you go...For our new members from yesterday and today. you can find the behavioral modules here: ntls.co/courses/behavioral-modules -- log in before you go there to be able to access the modules. Show more

Thank you for everyone that came out today to meet us at Liskennett. i'm blown away each time by the crowd that David123 is getting together.

hi welcome. let us know how we can help!

if you want to meet us in the next few days, check out the photo for more dates

a brilliant start to our tour through ireland! tonight we met old and new friends at childvision in dublin. thank you for having us. you are a...a brilliant start to our tour through ireland! tonight we met old and new friends at childvision in dublin. thank you for having us. you are a fantastic group of people. - feeling happy Show more

spirit's party trick