How to Handle Aggressive Behaviors with ONE SIMPLE Solution
Educating learners with visual impairments often calls for creativity, innovation, and a deep understanding of their unique needs. But as Orientation and Mobility Specialists, how do we handle aggressive and withdrawn behaviors to meet our learners’ unique needs? Kenalea Johnson and Ruthanne Garcia, two inspiring orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists, are making waves in the field with their transformative strategies.
Let’s first get to know Kenalea and Ruthanne!
Kenalea Johnson is a shining example of determination. After a 35-year career in nursing, she transitioned to the field of orientation and mobility, earning a master’s and doctorate in the process. She herself struggled with a visual impairment and was advised that this could potentially lead to blindness. Her best solution to this was, well, become an Orientation and Mobility Specialist. How clever is that!
Ruthanne “Mimi” Garcia brings a fresh perspective as an O&M specialist since 2019. Before this, she worked as an intervener, supporting students with visual and hearing impairments.
The ONE SIMPLE Solution: The Nature Sound Strategy
Kenalea and Mimi’s innovative nature sound strategy is rooted in behavioral psychology and has shown remarkable success in engaging students. Inspired by research from the Netherlands, this technique uses natural sounds to create a calming effect, helping dysregulated learners focus and participate more effectively.
Easy and Effective, this strategy can be implemented with just a mobile device and a pair of speakers. It’s enough to create a calm and transformative learning atmosphere.
This strategy is not confined to traditional classrooms.
Group settings: Calming an entire classroom or group of learners.
Virtual classrooms: Enhancing focus during online lessons.
One-on-one sessions: Supporting students with specific needs, including those who are deaf-blind.
Home environments: Even parents report success using nature sounds to calm fussy babies or ease sensory overload.
It isn’t just a simple observation, It’s been studied and backed up by science.
The Science Behind Nature Sounds
Inspired by a 2015 Dutch dissertation, Kenelea and Mimi introduced the concept of using nature sounds to help regulate the brain’s response to stress and dysregulation.
Mimi explains how nature sounds influence the brain’s sensory processing, fostering calmness and increasing attention spans. They learned about how these aggressive and withdrawn behaviors are linked to having a dysregulated brain. This causes learners to struggle with learning, especially with more people around them.
I think also one of the things that causes the biggest dysregulation is a fact that most of the individuals we're serving have sensory impairment, and they get overloaded, sensory wise, very fast, and when that brain regulates, within 15 minutes they can tolerate more. -Kanelea Johnson
They first tried it in a controlled setting, which was very successful. With multiple trials, they found out that the learners began reacting within 7-15 minutes of listening to nature sounds.
But let’s be real. We can’t give everyone their own self-contained spaces right? Well, Kenalea and Mimi also tried this approach in group settings, virtual classrooms, one-on-one sessions, and had colleagues try it out in their own home. And suprisingly, the results were all the same. The aggression lessened and the learners were able focus more.
Kenalea says:
A lot of us, you know, we can leave after work and go hit our favorite ice cream or a drink if you need or whatever it is you need to help calm you down, to help bring you down. And a lot of our students or adults, whoever we serve, struggle with that.
And that is totally true! We, as Orientation and Mobility Specialists or even as teachers in general, need to understand where all that aggression is coming from and best way to start is what’s surrounding our learners?
The science is simple yet powerful: natural auditory stimuli like ocean waves, birds chirping, or rustling leaves have a calming effect on the brain. By creating an auditory sensory environment that feels safe and familiar, students are better able to calm down and process more information
A STEP FORWARD:Kenalea and Ruthanne’s Advice
Kenalea and Mimi also stress the importance of self-care for teachers. As educators, prioritizing your well-being allows you to show up fully for your students.
Take care of yourself, really, at this point in this time. We're all struggling right now, doesn't matter what you are, like, what profession. -Ruthanne Garcia
Keep Learning: Every day is an opportunity to learn something new that can make a difference for your students.
Prioritize Self-Care: Let’s face it, teaching can pull you in a million directions. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Embrace the Unexpected: Sometimes, the simplest ideas, like playing nature sounds, can spark the biggest transformations.
Final Thoughts
As Orientation and Mobility Specialists, we constantly seek ways to better support our learners with visual impairments. And we often forget to use the things we constantly SEE or HEAR. One of the most profound aspects of this strategy is its simplicity. In a field where resources are often stretched thin, the ability to create meaningful change with something as basic as sound is revolutionary.
In a world filled with constant noise and stress, creating a calm and balanced environment, students with sensory impairments or dysregulated brains can transition from stress to readiness to learn in just a few minutes.
Ready to Learn More?
Kenalea and Mimi’s insights are just the tip of the iceberg. For a deeper dive into this strategy and other transformative techniques, join us at the 2025 International Orientation and Mobility Symposium.
👉 Register now: orientationandmobilitysymposium.com
Topics: orientation and mobility, orientation and mobility specialist, visually impaired, learners with visual impairment, teacher, behavioral psychology, aggressive behavior, mobility skills, withdrawn behavior, behavior, blind, blind education, special education, teaching strategies, allied independence, orientation and mobility for visually impaired, skills, nature, nature sounds, student behavior, mobility and orientation for the blind, mobility and orientation, social behavior