According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 1 out of 5 U.S. children ages 3-17 has a mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric conditions in children and adolescents, affecting nearly 1 in 12 children and 1 in 4 adolescents. This means that it's almost a certainty that if you are working with children, teens or adults, you're getting a fair number of children or teens in your programs who are struggling with a myriad of issues.   I know that this isn't exactly groundbreaking news, especially if you've been in the trenches in the past few years. This episode dives into the different ways that working with special needs children can affect us as nature educators, in both positive and negative ways.  We get into different ways to help screen for behavior or sensory issues in ways that will help us get the right kind of students who are appropriate for our work,  Understanding special needs students, their parents and their impact on our work is critical to our long-term success.   Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra