The sticker chart lasted three days. The school refusal lasted two years. Every reward system made sense on paper. And every time it failed, I added it to the list of things I must be doing wrong. Nobody told me that rewards require a regulated nervous system to work. That cognitive flexibility - the skill every plan was trying to build - goes offline the moment the body decides it’s not safe. The problem was never the system. It was that we were using a cortex-level tool on a nervous system in alarm. I have the degree. And I’ve lived it. 🍒 Comment “Toolkit” for help. - Jules ♥️ #schoolrefusal #schoolanxiety #schoolsupport #teenanxiety #kidsmentalhealth