Dealing proactively with behavior problems at school! Teaching, rather than punishing! The following is an example of building in proactive strategies at school to decrease problematic behavior. It is my recommendations for a child who has a problem with swearing and name calling! Although these strategies are focused on a child who is having increased problems with name calling and swearing at peers, these same proactive strategies can be used for a variety of problem behaviors. If your child is acting inappropriately make sure the school does a “functional behavior assessment” to identify the conditions eliciting the problem behavior and then develop a “positive behavior supports plan,” to teach more appropriate skills to replace the negative behavior. Teach, before punishing. Tracy is getting frequent reports about her son calling other kids names and swearing at them. “He wants very much to “fit in” and make friends, so it is confusing why he would call them names and swear at them. Tracy reports “Daniel is using bad language all the time. Calling kids names and telling them to kiss his @*#. and Bi**hes. His aid is getting quite concerned about this. He does it at lunch and on the playground. She has taken many things away from him. He does not like it when he gets called names and cries. I talked with him and told him that if I hear another bad report that his TV is coming out of his room. He said he understood, went back to his room and I heard him balling his eyes out. I went back there and I asked him if he knew that he was in big trouble and he said yes and started to cry harder. So what do you do with this?” Autism Discussion Page Tracy, they have to collect information to determine the exact function that the behavior has for Daniel. Each time that it happens they need to note what was going on at the time, where was he at, what was he doing, who is he with, and what is asked of him? Under what conditions is he swearing at others? When frustrated? When he doesnt know how to relate? When others tease him? Are kids laughing at him, or is he getting added attention when swearing? By keeping track of the conditions for which it occurs, you can identify the function the behavior serves for Daniel. More than likely Daniel is swearing when he is in a situation of not knowing how to act. What they have to find out is Why is Daniel swearing at the other kids? Then the question becomes, Does Daniel know how he should appropriately act in those situations? If he doesnt know how to act, simply punishing him will not work. Punishing only works if the child knows how to act differently and is making a choice to act inappropriately, when he knows how to act differently. So, in these cases they will need to teach him better social skills when interacting with other kids. This would be accomplished by: Develop social stories around the effects that swearing at other kids have. This usually includes an understanding of how other kids feel when called names, and how other kids will act towards him when he calls them names. This gives him an idea of the perspectives of the other kids, and consequences of their reactions. Once staff have identified common situation when he swears at them, decide how he should respond at those times (being teased, not getting his way, etc.). Teach him specific statements to say, instead of swearing at them. Have him practice the responses and role play situations until they become automatic. You dont want Daniel to be continually thrown in social situations for which he does not know how to act, and then punish him for acting inappropriately. Once staff have made a list of common situations for which he swears, they can practice these situations and then remind him of how to act as they see him entering into these situations. If there is an aid, this person should help Daniel interact during these times, framing the situations to coach him how to act appropriately. Encouraging and rewarding the use of the practiced responses when playing with others. It may also be good to provide awareness training for his peers to explain that Daniel may be nervous and need their assistance in helping him act appropriately. Facilitating appropriate play means working with both the child and the peers. It is important to focus on teaching rather than punishing. Make it fun, frame the activities by being right there to facilitate the desired responses, and praise heavily. Daniel needs strong framing. When he is left to his own accord he loses his boundaries and then gets into trouble. This is a problem. He needs tight boundaries with very clear consequences, but also needs very black and white expectations. So, if Daniel knows what to do, staff need to interrupt and redirect very quickly. If Daniel then continues to swear or call names, then provide a clear consequence at that moment if he doesnt respond to the coaching. Now, given the above, I would implement a behavior chart. For every activity that Daniel does not swear at someone, I would give him a sticker on a portable reinforcement board. When he earns four stickers, he gets to choose a reward. If he swears, he simply doesnt get a sticker. However, be aware, unless the staff teach him the appropriate way of interacting, no reinforcement or punishment can work. Oh, by the way, I would not punish Daniel at home for what he is doing at school. Let them implement consequences there. If you want to do anything, set up a reward chart for good reports from school, not punishment for being put in situations that he may not know how to act.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:29:46 +0000
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