1. DR. RICK ROBINSON’S
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL LENS
CONSULTATION AND TRAINING
FOR EDUCATORS AND MENTAL HEALTH
PROVIDERS
IN NEURODEVELOPMENTALLY SENSITIVE,
TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE.
Oppositional, Defiant, Aggressive, Dys-regulated, Hyper-aroused,
Unmotivated…
Withdrawn, Depressed, Anxious, Disengaged, Alienated…
We hear these descriptions of the behavior of children and adolescents all too frequently. While
there is a sense of urgency in resolving these issues and helping young people develop the skills
necessary for successful transition to adulthood, we can also experience a sense of great
frustration regarding the efficacy of our interventions.
During the 1990’s, the so-called “Decade of the Brain,” technological advances catalyzed
research in the fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, evolutionary
biology and a host of other disciplines.
Findings from these fields have become increasingly integrated and convincingly point to the
critical relationship between neurobiological development and the development of social,
emotional and behavioral skills.
Dr. Rick Robinson’s Neurodevelopmental Lens is dedicated to the application of key concepts
and principles, from these disciplines, in both school and therapeutic settings. Foundational
concepts include the following:
 An environment that supports learning and growth is: relational (safe); relevant
(developmentally matched); repetitive (patterned); rewarding (pleasurable); rhythmic
(resonant with neural patterns); and respectful (child, family and culture). (Bruce D.
Perry, M.D., Ph.D.)

2.  Kids Do Well if They Can: “Behind every challenging behavior is a lagging skill and a
demand for that skill.” (Ross Greene, Ph.D.)
 Regulation involves monitoring and modifying processes across time, such as emotions,
physiological states, motor movement and communication. Regulation involves
executive functions (“top-down” control of behavior in the service of a goal). It is also
seen as a process involving management of physiological arousal and emotional
functions (“bottom-up” modulation). (Daniel Siegel, M.D.; Adele Diamond, Ph.D.)
 Neurons and neural systems are designed to change in a “use dependent” fashion. That
is, “use it or lose it.” The pattern, frequency, and timing of key experiences are crucial
for healthy development. Patterned, repetitive activity changes the brain. Further, in the
development of neural architecture, “what fires together, wires together.” (Bruce D.
Perry, M.D., Ph.D.; Jack Shonkoff, M.D.)
 “The only way schools can increase learning is to increase the amount of relevant
instructional time delivered…Relevant instruction can be understood, attended to, and
involves topics that have not already been learned and that are mandated by the
curriculum.” (R. Barker Bausell, Ph.D.)
Viewing social, emotional and behavioral issues through a Neurodevelopmental Lens (NDLens)
leads us to understand the central role Regulation Deficits play in these difficulties. By utilizing
this perspective we can steer around the intervention “cul-de-sac” we so often experience when
neurodevelopmental issues are not part of our explanation. Analyzing the incompatibility
between neurodevelopmental skills, and the demands that overwhelm them, leads us to a host of
intervention possibilities in two critical domains:
 Environmental structure, routines and rituals
 The development of facilitative relationships

3. RELEVANT TRAUMA/NEGLECT EDUCATION & TRAINING
I have been strongly influenced by a number of educational experiences and trainings I have
attended, including:
COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Collaborative Problem Solving Workshops:
Explosive/Noncompliant Children & Adolescents: A New Conceptual and Practical Approach-
Ross Greene, Ph.D. (1998)
Explosive Noncompliant Children and Adolescents (2002)
Collaborative Problem Solving Certification Trainings:
Collaborative Problem Solving Intensive Training-J. Stuart Ablon (2007)
Level I-Advanced Collaborative Problem Solving-Ross Greene (2010)
Collaborative Problem Solving-Tier 1 Training-Erik Kola, RN & Beth Putz, MA (2014)
Collaborative Problem Solving-Tier 2 Training-J. Stuart Ablon (2015)
NEUROSEQUENTIAL MODEL OF THERAPEUTICS
Phase I Certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (as part of the 2010/2011
Oregon NAC/NMT Training Project) Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, The
ChildTrauma Academy (2011)
NEUROSEQUENTIAL MODEL OF EDUCATION
Neurosequential Model of Education-Introduction to the Neurosequential Model in Education
Training Series-Web based series (2014)
CPS AND NMT INTEGRATION
Through the Prism: Synthesizing Neuro-cognitive Approaches. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. &
Stuart Ablon, Ph.D. (2012)
Complex Developmental Trauma. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. & Stuart Ablon, Ph.D. (2015)
OTHER RELEVANT TRAINING/EXPERIENCE
Pro-Act:
4 day training for In-Service Instructors in Professional Assault Crisis Training. Authorized to
conduct 16 hour workshops in Professional Assault Crisis Training for Clackamas ESD (2006-no
longer active)

4. 1 day training for In-Service Instructors in Professional Assault Crisis Training Restraint
Certification. Authorized to conduct 4 hour workshops in Professional Assault Crisis Restraint
Training for Clackamas ESD (2006-no longer active)
Care Coordination Training- Lucille Eber. Sponsored by Clackamas ESD and the Clackamas
Partnership (2005)
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND TRAININGS
I have had the opportunity to present key concepts of the neurodevelopmental lens at a number
of conferences and professional development workshops, including:
The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach to School-Based Trauma-Informed
Practices. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, June 2016. With Catherine
Halliwell-Templin, M.Ed., Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
Truama-Informed School Practices: The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach.
Key Note Address-7th Annual Central Oregon PBIS Conference, April 2016.
A Model for Trauma Informed Schools: Implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Skills and
Demands Approach. 7th Annual Central Oregon PBIS Conference, April 2016. With Verne
Ferguson, M.S.
School-Based Interventions Through a Neurodevelopmental Lens. The NorthWest PBIS
Network Spring Conference, February 2016. With Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby,
M.Ed.
School-Based Interventions Through a Neurodevelopmental Lens. The NorthWest PBIS
Network Fall Conference, November 2015. With Verne Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby,
M.Ed.
Therapeutic Classrooms: Integration of Collaborative Problem Solving and Trauma Informed
Strategies. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, 2015. With Stacey Sibley,
M.S., Special Education, Coordinator of Therapeutic Programs, Clackamas ESD, Heron Creek,
Merrick and Cedar Bough & Kathryn Sullivan, LCSW, Program Specialist at Heron Creek,
Clackamas ESD, Oregon City.
Neuro-Developmentally Sensitive Assessments and Interventions in Schools: Tier II and Tier III.
½ Day Training for 13th Annual Northwest PBIS Spring Conference, March 2015. With Verne
Ferguson, M.S. & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed.
Neuro-Developmentally Sensitive Assessments and Interventions in Schools. Confederation of
School Administrators Conference, June 2014. With Verne Ferguson, M.S., Oregon City School
District, Director of Special Services & Shannon Ashby, M.Ed., Oregon City School District.

5. Neuro-Developmental Skills & Demands Assessment… Implications for School-Based Support
and Intervention Strategies. Confederation of School Administrators Conference, October 2013.
With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., Gladstone School District, Director of Special Services.
Skills and Demands Assessment: Strategies for the Top of the Pyramid. Confederation of School
Administrators Conference, June 2013. With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., Gladstone School District,
Director of Special Services.
Intensive School Based Therapeutic Services in a District PBIS Framework. Confederation of
School Administrators Conference, June 2012. With Kelly Welch, Ed.D., CESD Heron Creek
Administrator & Verne Ferguson, Oregon City School District, Director of Special Services.
TRAININGS
Current Trainings/Presentations include*:
One or two day trainings to assist school districts, alternative and therapeutic schools
implement the NDSD Classroom approach:
 The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Classroom: Implementation Training
Presentations designed to provide information regarding neurodevelopmental skills,
adverse childhood experiences and implications for intervention. These presentations range
from 1 hour introductory sessions, to half-day trainings with “take-home” applications of
the principles that are presented:
 Trauma-Informed School Practices: Foundations of the Neurodevelopmental Skills and
Demands Approach
 The Neurodevelopmental Lens: An Introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences and
Implications for Programming and Intervention
 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES): Steps Toward Day-to-Day Trauma Informed
School Practices
 The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach: Evidence Informed Strategies for
Chronically Dysregulated Students

6.  The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach: Day-to-Day Strategies for Working
with Students with High ACEs
 The Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Approach: Generalization of Social and
Emotional Skills Through Practice at the Point of Performance
 Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands: Care-Giver Affect Management, Attunement and
Consistent Response
 Regulation Principles: A Guide to Day-to-Day Interventions
Presentations designed to assist staff in extending their understanding of functional
behavior assessment and behavior support planning to include principles of the
Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Model:
 Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands: The NDSD Functional Assessment
 Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands: The NDSD Functional Assessment and Behavior
Support Planning Process
 Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands: Trauma-Integrated Problem Solving
 Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands: NDSD Assessment, Support Planning and
“Vigilant” Intake
Presentations designed to address program or systems-level issues and considerations:
 A Model for Trauma-Informed Schools: Implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Skills
and Demands Approach

7.  Integrating Collaborative Problem Solving and The Neurosequential Model of
Therapeutics/Education: Trauma Informed Care and Trauma Sensitive Schools
*Note that I use the term “Neurodevelopmental” in labeling this model. The model is designed to
subsume principles associated with Trauma-Informed Care/Trauma-Sensitive Schools.
Importantly, in my clinical experience, there are multiple pathways resulting in student
regulation deficits that do not always involve childhood adversity. Therefore, it is important to
utilize a model that is inclusive of those other pathways.
CONSULTATION
Consultation on the Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands (NDSD) model typically begins
with a short conversation regarding your current unsolved problems. An initial face-to-face
meeting follows and an individualized consultation strategy is developed and articulated. This
can include a site visit, wherein your program, center or school can be reviewed through the
NDLens. Recommendations will then be provided to assist in the development and refinement of
the NDSD model. The principles for classrooms and schools/agencies are articulated as follows:
Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demands Programming
The Basic Concepts
1. Identify the population to be served
2. Review the literature regarding potential lagging skill deficits and demands that may
overwhelm those skills
3. Refine the lagging skills inventory
4. Refine the demands inventory
5. Complete aggregate skills and demands inventories
6. Identify program goals and objectives
7. Operationally define the scope and sequence of the demands to be met in order to achieve the
program goals and objectives
8. Identify the aggregate incompatibilities between the skills and demands
9. Develop program structures, routines, schedules, etc., to decrease the incompatibilities
between aggregate skills and demands

8. 10. Determine strategies regarding implementation of environmental structures, embedded skills
training and direct skills training in the day-to-day programming
Neurodevelopmental Skills and Demand Programming:
9 steps toward an NDSD classroom
1. We start with the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) mantra, “Kids do well if they can,”
and are extremely focused on the pristine development of an individual student’s
neurodevelopmental skill package and the demands that overwhelm those skills.
2. Often, skills from the CPS Thinking Skills Inventory “overshoots” our students, so we assess
foundational neurodevelopmental skills. We have found that we often generate skills-demands
incompatibility (hence dys-regulation and challenging behavior) with these “overshoots”. By
focusing on accurately describing a student’s neurodevelopmental skills we help them re-
stabilize and get back on the skill-developmental track. This neurodevelopmental skills
assessment strategy is also sensitive to the skill deficits often observed with students who have a
history of Adverse Childhood Experiences (high “ACEs”).
3. Since we are working with students in a group setting, we also conduct an aggregate
neurodevelopmental skills assessment for the students within (a) the class, (b) an activity and (c)
the program at large.
4. Based on the aggregate neurodevelopmental skills assessment, we construct the classroom
ecology to minimize the incompatibility of student skills and classroom demands. This analysis
is conducted meticulously and continuously.
5. Our routines and rituals, consistent adult responses, care-giver affect management strategies
and attunement skills are based on this analysis. We know we have hit the mark with skills-
demands compatibility when we have challenging behaviors at a level that allows students to feel
safe and optimally utilize their thinking skills. This thinking template is highlighted in the book
Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents by Margaret E. Blaustein and Kristine M.
Kinniburgh (2010). The thinking template is consistent with Bruce Perry M.D., Ph.D.’s Neuro-
Sequential Model of Therapeutics/Education Models (NMT/NME), which emphasizes patterned,
repetitive, rhythmic routines in a relationally safe environment. These strategies are further
enhanced via principles from Interpersonal Neurobiology, articulated by Daniel Siegel, M.D.,
and colleagues.
6. We utilize strategies to embed skills instruction in the daily routine based on the Traumatic
Brain Injury literature (e.g., Mark Yvilsaker), Executive Skill literature (e.g., Dawson & Guare)
and the “Pre-executive” skills described by Russell Barkley).
7. With respect to direct instruction, several strategies have been utilized to assist students in
developing “foundational” skills. For example, Michelle Garcia Winners’, Social Thinking
curricula, have been adapted for use with our students. Her colleague, Leah Kuypers developed

9. The Zones of Regulation program that has also been utilized in programming for our dys-
regulated students.
8. Patterned, repetitive regulating activities are interspersed throughout the school day. With
these group and individually tailored activities, consistent with the NMT/NME models, we are
striving for “top down” regulation; however, we use “bottom up” regulation strategies to help
students with “cortical modulation” when needed.
9. After implementing these strategies, most students consistently meet adult expectations and
develop numerous “foundation” skills. The direct and embedded skills training processes allows
for sufficient “repetition” to support change. This approach reduces the likelihood of utilizing
Emergency Plan B and allows us to focus on Proactive Plan B, used with individual students, and
at times with a class or small group of students. In addition, these strategies help us establish an
interpersonal template with our “high ACES” students, allowing them to more readily accept a
Plan B Invitation without becoming hyper-aroused or dissociated.
RESOURCES
The literature utilized in the development, and ongoing refinement, of the Neurodevelopmental
Skills and Demands model ** is provided. Note this is an ever-changing, and for the most part
expanding, literature base; therefore these resources will be updated quarterly, coinciding with
the quarterly release of the NDLens publication-FOCUS).
Starting in January of 2017, the NDLens will publish “SCREENSHOT,” a monthly review of
emerging news, resources and literature relevant to the application of neurodevelopmental
principles in educational and therapeutic settings. A link to this free publication will be
forthcoming.
Starting in the spring of 2017, the NDLens will publish “FOCUS,” a quarterly, in-depth review,
synopsis and integration of literature directed toward an “Unsolved Problem” facing those of us
intervening with children and adolescents. Topics such as “regulating interventions,”
“attunement,” and “embedded skills training” will be considered in terms of implications for
day-to-day interventions. A link to become a subscriber to this publication will be forthcoming.