Welcome to Have Your Say, Self-Reg Wednesdays! Every Wednesday we will be posting a new question for you to explore and reflect on with fellow Self-Reggers in the comments section below.
Today’s Question:
What does Stuart’s quote “See a child differently, see a different child” mean to you?
Feel free to take your comments in any direction that is meaningful to you, e.g. a comment, a story, a poem, etc. We want to kick this week off with one of our most popular quotes:

In your context, what does this quote mean to you?
Continue the Learning:
Self-Reg in Early Childhood Development Program
Blog: See a Child Differently and You’ll See a Different Child By Stuart Shanker
Podcast: Why Does My Child Give Up So Easily? With Stuart Shanker and Susan Hopkins
This is one of my favourite Stuart Shanker quotes.
I still remember the day that I learned a little bit of the tragedy that my grade 4 student Matthew had experienced the year before. In an instant my heart melted and I realized I had missed so much. I also remember how it seemed that suddenly I was reaching Matthew. Nothing on the outside had changed. As I saw him with softer eyes and greater awareness of his stressors and my own stress state, his guard came down just enough to begin letting some light in and our connection began to grow.
I learned a lot from Matthew. The science behind Self-Reg explains what I experienced and Stuart’s quote captures the essence of it all.