I don’t want to take a (expletive) rainbow breath” she shouted as soon as I walked in the door. I was working as an early education consultant focusing on inclusion for children who demonstrated challenging behavior and were at risk of suspension or expulsion from their early education program. This was my first visit to the program, and I saw the teacher and the child, Sam, in the corner of a classroom that had been torn apart with some determination. The teacher locked eyes with me and pointed to Sam. Her body language seemed to say, “you see what’s happening.”

Generally, on my first visit to a program, I try not to intervene too much with the environment so I can determine what baseline looks like and how everyone in the classroom is currently responding to each other. I nodded to the teacher and sat down on the floor in the back of the room. It was apparent the teacher was genuinely trying. She sat down in a chair, gave Sam some space, had a very calm voice and it appeared that Sam was deescalating after the destruction that had occurred. The teacher kept saying, “let’s take a rainbow breath to calm your body down,” even after Sam had screamed that she clearly did not want to take a rainbow breath. After prompting for the rainbow breath at least five times with Sam escalating more and more each time, Sam managed an impressive NFL-level juke that got her around the teacher and out the door. Sam was then facing the label of being an “eloper” which, according to the program, made her a safety concern, putting Sam at an even higher risk of suspension and expulsion.