Before lesson plans. Before behavior charts. Before curriculum, outcomes, or expectations.

There is connection.

If you work with kids or teens who seem shut down, resistant, or “checked out,” this conversation invites you to pause and reconsider what actually creates safety and learning. Not through quick fixes or rigid systems, but through presence, curiosity, and meeting young people where they are.

In this episode, Dayna sits down with Suzanne Simpson, an educator and researcher whose work spans more than three decades in mainstream, alternative, and psychiatric classroom settings. Suzanne’s experience lives at the intersection of education, mental health, and relational safety.

Drawing from her time in high-acuity learning environments, Suzanne shares what she learned when curriculum had to take a back seat to regulation, trust, and human connection. The conversation explores how those same principles apply far beyond psychiatric classrooms, into homes, schools, and everyday interactions with teens who are struggling to feel safe, seen, and understood.

This episode is not about lowering expectations. It is about understanding what must come first if we want learning, growth, and resilience to actually happen.

• Why connection must come before curriculum, especially for dysregulated or vulnerable youth

• What psychiatric classroom environments reveal about safety, trust, and learning readiness

• How unmet needs often show up as resistance, withdrawal, or behavior challenges

• Practical ways adults can respond with presence rather than control

• Why meeting kids where they are builds confidence rather than dependence

• Reflections on creating learning spaces where young people feel seen and valued

Suzanne Simpson is an educator and researcher with a PhD in the Philosophy of Education. Over the past 30 years, she has supported youth across a wide range of learning environments, including psychiatric classrooms where safety and connection are essential. Suzanne is known for translating deep educational insight into practical guidance that helps adults respond to young people with confidence, compassion, and clarity. She is also the host of the podcast Get on Their Turf, where she explores what it truly means to meet kids where they are.

• Website: ⁠www.drsuzannesimpson.com⁠

• Podcast: Get on Their Turf

• Instagram: @drsuzannesimpson

• LinkedIn: Dr. Suzanne Simpson

Listen with curiosity. Reflect on where connection comes before correction in your own work or home. If this conversation resonates, consider sharing it with someone navigating learning, behavior, or relationship challenges with youth.