Nathan Mikaere Wallis Workshop 2017

Nathan Mikaere Wallis                                                       Thursday 8th June 2017
PLD: Te Ahu Center, Kaitaia                                              Gemma-Lee, Jessica, Sally

Important background information:

• Relationships with other human beings and face to face interaction is the most important factor;
• Humans use more of their brain during face to face interaction because it is in interactive mode/learning mode;
• The brain a child will have is sculptured in the first 1000 days as it is figuring out the anatomy; after which you are building what is already sculpted;
• Your brain starts gathering data from the moment you are conceived and is affected 50% by your genes and 50% by your environment in the first 1000 days;
• You do not inherit intelligence, however you ‘can’ inherit mental state(s);

“The more minutes per day that your parents’ face is in front of your face in the first 1000 days of your life, the better the outcome of your life will be.”

• A person has always had the ability to ‘be an artist’, however when one side of the brain is no longer in use, they are now able to access the ‘artistic’ side;
• The eldest child will always have a higher advantage because they get more face time with their parent than any other child(ren);
• However, you are either the first born, or not; there is no difference between second child and fourth child because both children are sharing their parent with another child(ren);

“There is no benefit for a child under the age of 3, entering into early child care.”

• There is no benefit in trying to teach a 3 year old how to be a 5 year old, in fact this will disadvantage the child as their needs for being a 3 year old are not being met;
• A child between 3 and 7 years will benefit from early childhood education for 2 hours per day;
• Social skills are a 3 year old behaviour (not a 1 year old behaviour);
• There is a difference between tolerating early childhood education and benefiting from it;

Humans have 4 brains:

All mammals have brains 1, 2, & 3; humans have brain 4;

• Brain 1: Brainstem: Survival: this brain keeps you alive and breathing, the emotions fear and anger are used for survival so they are located in this brain;
• Brain 2: Movement: this brain co-ordinates every movement in the human body;
• Brain 3: Limbic system: Emotion: this brain is where every emotion in the human body is located;
• Brain 4: Cortex: Thinking and learning: this brain is separated into two parts: the frontal cortex and the motor cortex. The frontal cortex is the human brain's ability to think and to learn, while the motor cortex is the brain's ability to communicate to the rest of the body how to operate or move;

There is a sequential process: one cannot access brain 4, without having met the needs of brains 1, 2, & 3;
In order to have full access to the cortex, the brainstem needs to be calm;
Cortex is completely inactive when in survival mode;
Brainstem is the lowest intelligence, while the cortex is the most advanced in the universe.

“Human survival skill: while some animals are born with their brains fully developed, humans take the longest and therefore form an attachment to another human (parent) for survival.”

On average, the human brain matures at age 26. For females, this average age translates to 18-24, and males between 22-32.
Gender and birth order are only two things that contribute to a person’s maturity;

Timeline:

1. Survival: 0 - 6m;
2. Movement & motor skills: 6m - 18m;
3. Emotion: 18m/2y - 7y (Te Whaariki is a social and emotional document);
4. Thinking and learning: 7y - adult

Limbic system: Brain 3: Emotions

• Trauma is temporary emotion, such as death or infidelity, that is so great is overrules the frontal cortex (brain 4);
• The limbic system is like an accelerator for human emotions, and the frontal cortex is like the brakes or control of those emotions;
• A person who does not have control of their emotions in the limbic system are: a child of 2y, adolescence, and an adult experiencing trauma;
• The cortex helps to manage emotions such as depression and anxiety;
• The left side thinks positively while the right side thinks critically;
• Narrative therapy enables emotion to turn into language by transferring it from the left side of the brain to the right;

Adolescence:

• There are masses of neurological growth happening during adolescence which means the brain is twice as active as an adult brain;
• At 2y the human brain is the most active it will ever be, during adolescence is the second most active period;
• Language and the ability to communicate is located in the frontal cortex which is why most adolescents experience difficulty communicating;
• During adolescence, the frontal cortex shuts down for approximately 3 years while development is taking place; during this time teens only have access to 10% of their frontal cortex (the thinking and learning brain);
• As an adult, human's don’t get ‘better’ frontal cortexs, they simply have more access to it;
• Adults use 90% thinking and learning and 10% emotion, while adolescents use 90% emotion and 10% thinking and learning;

““What were you feeling?” is a more appropriate question for an adolescent, as they weren’t doing much thinking - only having access to 10% of their frontal cortex.”

Limbic always trumps cortex: the ability to access a teens 10% of frontal cortex is possible, however less likely if there are others in the limbic system present - needs to be one on one;

Exercise the part of the brain you want to grow: cortex. Put energy into good behaviour, reward positive behaviour to exercise the cortex (the limbic doesn’t need any help);

Effective ways to change adolescent behaviour:
Reward the behaviour you like;
Induction: induce the child into thinking the idea was theirs;
Cognitive training: train a child’s thinking: tell them what to do instead of what not to do: describe the behaviour you want to see so that’s what they see in their brains;

3 worst things you can do:

Punishment (punishment means to take away instead of add);

Inconsistency;

Love withdraw: “my love for you is conditional”;

Extra information:

1 in 5 children are sexually abused;

NZ has the highest rate of domestic violence in the world;

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to heal: 4 things that reduce neuroplasticity are:
1. Caffeine,

2. Alcohol, 

3. Tobacco, 

4. Sugar