05/07/2026
Parents and teachers... I've been seeing and hearing about a lot of behavior occurring as we head toward the end of the school year. Here's what I want you to know:
As we move toward the end of the school year, many children start showing behaviors that feel more intense, more frequent, or “out of nowhere.” It’s easy to label this as regression, defiance, or noncompliance, but often, it’s something else entirely: burnout.
Kids have been holding it together for months. They’ve been following routines, meeting expectations, managing social demands, and constantly adapting to environments that require more of them than we sometimes realize. For many children, especially those who are neurodivergent or highly sensitive, that effort includes a lot of “masking”—suppressing natural responses to fit in or meet expectations.
Masking takes energy. A lot of it.
By the end of the school year, that energy tank is often empty.
What we may see as “behavior” is often communication:
“I’m tired.”
“I can’t keep this up anymore.”
“I need a break from holding it all together.”
This can show up as increased meltdowns, shutdowns, irritability, avoidance, impulsivity, or difficulty transitioning. Not because kids are getting worse, but because their nervous systems are exhausted.
So instead of asking, “How do we stop the behavior?” it can be more helpful to ask, “What is this child no longer able to carry?”
Support during this time might look like:
* lowering demands when possible
* increasing predictability and downtime
* offering co-regulation instead of correction
allowing space to decompress without judgment
remembering that rest is not earned, it’s needed
Children don’t need to “hold it together” perfectly to be doing well. Sometimes the end of the school year is simply when we finally see how much effort it has taken them to get through it.
