1. Children with OCD Resources for Educators CMLA Conference 2020
Kelsey Gantt PhD
Madison Morton PhD

3. What is OCD?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder, characterized by obsessions (pervasive/unwanted thoughts or ideas) and/or compulsions (behaviors that have to be repeated to relieve anxiety).
OCD affects 2.5% of people over their lifetime.
There are two age ranges in which OCD is typically diagnosed:
8-12
late teens-early adulthood

4. Signs that a student has OCD
While OCD in children is often difficult to recognize due to the fact that they hide it so well, there are a few things to look
out for. Your student may have OCD if…
They seem preoccupied or distracted.
They constantly look to you or someone else for reassurance that nothing bad is going to happen.
They “re-do” assignments multiple times before submitting them.
They consistently wash their hands, even just with sanitizer in the room.

5. In the classroom: Working with students who have OCD
While nothing that you do as an educator will make the student’s obsessions and/or compulsions stop, there are some things that you can do to make the student feel more comfortable in your classroom. You could…
Create a hand signal with the student for if/when they need to leave the classroom.
Have a set of supplies for that specific student (scissors, rulers, calculator, etc).
Inform other students of the student’s OCD so that they understand the behavior of their classmate.
Create a safe environment for the student, where bullying is absolutely not allowed.
Use different voices to catch the student’s attention when they do get distracted.
Provide the student with an outline of notes so they can better follow along.

6. Family Supports: Understanding OCD in your child
Parent: “Let’s talk about your OCD today. One way to think about it is as a computer virus. What do viruses do to computers?”
Child: “Well, viruses can mess up the computer. Some programs might not work well, but it could also break the whole computer”
Parent: “That’s right. Well, think of your OCD as a computer virus in your brain. It can mess up certain programs, and sometimes it just shuts the brain right down. For example, sometimes you just keep washing your hands over and over again. That’s your OCD virus messing up the program. Other times, you just don’t want to leave the house because you are so anxious; that’s the OCD virus again. Your OCD virus turns the volume of scary thoughts up really high in your brain. So, together we need to get rid of that OCD computer virus. What do you think?”
While this is a great example of OCD, a more personal example spins off of this example by thinking about OCD as a “pop-up” window on a computer. When a pop-up window shows up on a computer, the user closes it. The same is true for someone with OCD when an intrusive thought pops into their head. Once that thought (or pop-up window) is gone, four more will show up, and so on. The more the computer tries to get rid of pop-up windows (or the person with OCD tries to get rid of their thoughts) the more they appear and the worse they get. Sometimes a computer gets so overwhelmed with pop-up windows it just has to be completely shut down. This is the same way that the brain of a person with OCD works. If their brain gets overwhelmed with intrusive thoughts, sometimes they just have to completely shut it down.

7. Family Supports continued…
Helping families with their child’s disorder (ASU MG Standard 7)
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“Family accommodation behaviors” refer to the things that family members do that can enable OCD behaviors. It is important for family members to understand how their family reacts to the behavior, so that they are not enabling the child.
It is also for family members to be educated about OCD, so that they can work with the child to find the best course of treatment for their OCD.
Families that include a child with OCD need to remember to do some simple things that can help the child such as as recognizing when a behavior may occur, modifying their expectations of the child to fit their needs, recognizing improvements - no matter how small, creating a supportive home environment, understanding that not all people with OCD improve at the same rate, setting limits/attainable goals, making sure that the child takes their medication (if that is their course of treatment), giving the child alone time, and keeping communication clear.

8. Building a Classroom Community:
Creating a safe environment for your students
Recognize that every child is different! And while different children will react to things in different ways, there are some simple things that you as a teacher can do to make your classroom feel like a safe place.
Seat them next to their quieter classmates, not the rambunctious ones!
Make sure you’re giving them clear directions on assignments.
Determine their comfort level with classroom participation, and don’t force them out of that zone. Create a signal that lets the student know if you’re planning on calling on them soon so they’re prepared to answer and not caught off guard.
Don’t require them to go to go in front of the class if it makes them anxious.
Make testing accommodations if it will benefit them (extra time/alternate location).
Give them a buddy who will help them when they’re stressed, confused, or are absent and miss assignments. Sometimes it’s easier to understand something when it comes from a peer!
Alert them of changes to the daily routine, such as fire drills or substitute teachers. A pattern of normalcy can be comforting, so prepare them for anything not-normal that is occurring.

9. Sources:
Kelly, Owen PhD. Poetics. What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? About.com, 08 Oct Web. <
Robinson, Lawrence; Smith, Melinda; Segal, Jeanne PhD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Helpguide.org, April Web. <
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Kids Health. Web. <
Symptoms of OCD. OCD Education Station. Web. <
Rowell, Randee. OCD in the Classroom. YouTube, 14 April Web. <
Families and OCD Videos. YouTube, May Web. <
Livingston Van Noppen, Barbara PhD. Families and OCD. International OCD Foundation, Web. <
Livingston Van Noppen, Barbara PhD. Living With Someone Who Has OCD: Guidelines for Family Members. International OCD Foundation, Web. <
Home Management Strategies for OCD. Anxiety BC. Web. <
Sample Accommodations for Anxious Kids. The Children’s and Adult Center for OCD and Anxiety. Web. <