Children and youth are available to learn when they are ready to engage with people, absorb information, and
pay attention to what is occurring around them. They are alert, attentive, and interested but not overstimulated.
Optimizing availability for learning involves a systematic analysis and understanding of the internal and external
factors that affect a child’s biobehavioral state (e.g., asleep/awake, quiet alert/active alert, agitated). Note
that availability for learning is different for every child, typically fluctuates throughout the day, and is influenced by a variety of factors.