MPCC offers help for overstimulated children

There's now hope for those working with overstimulated children. The Mid-Plains Community College Imperial Campus will offer a class on the subject from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 13 at its location, 1324 Broadway St., in Imperial. 

"Behavior issues in children can sometimes be caused by overstimulation and not being able to process the steps it takes to calm down," said Katie Gebert, instructor for the course. 

Gebert has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has worked specifically with students who have certain needs related to overstimulation. 

"Most children do not already know how to self-regulate," Gebert said. "It is something that needs to be taught. For example, when a child is working on an activity and there is something that goes wrong, some children will react in a much different way as compared to one that is not overstimulated. Overstimulated children have more on their minds than just that activity and that one problem. To them their world has just been turned upside down." 

In her class, she will demonstrate how to make sensory bottles, discuss the significance of having designated areas for children to calm down and explain ways children can be taught to self-regulate. 

The $30 registration fee will cover the cost of materials for the sensory items created in class as well as an accompanying book, "The Way I Feel." 

Registration can be done online at: mpcc.edu/bce, or by calling the Imperial Campus at (308) 882-5972. 

The class will be offered again in McCook from 1-4 p.m. March 13 in Room 213 of McMillen Hall on the McCook Community College Campus. Registration for the McCook offering can also be done at mpcc.edu/bce through March 5.