It is very discouraging for parents and teachers to spend hours developing a behavior program, only to see it fail within the first couple of days. After reviewing many behavior programs, it seems that most c programs fail because we tend to use an intervention program rather that a good prevention program. We know that Behavior Programs should have three parts: Prevention, Teaching, and Reacting, but today I am going to address the prevention vs. intervention to offer some help to frustrated teachers and parents.
When a child cannot function in a classroom, they may exhibit behaviors that are not productive. For example, a child may rip up a paper, break his pencil, play in his desk, take his pen apart, refuse to work, put all his materials away, put his head down, and/or get up and wander around a the room. These behaviors may interfere with his learning, may distract the teacher, and/or may be behaviors that are not appropriate. They may also be the first behaviors that you see before a child escalates to behaviors that are disruptive or destructive.
YOUR PLAN WILL FAIL if the plan is written with intervention strategies for the teacher once the behavior starts. For example if your plan says, “When Student shows the teacher that he is stressed by putting his head down, the teacher will offer him the opportunity to take a break.” This plan will fail because once a behavior starts, you are no longer in prevention mode, and anything you do after a behavior starts is an intervention, not prevention.
YOUR PLAN WILL SUCCEED if the program focuses on preventing these behaviors by setting up environments where the student will be able to function successfully AND NOT HAVE TO USE BEHAVIOR TO LET US KNOW HE CAN’T FUNCTION.
If a behavior plan is going to work, our job is to create an environment that looks at all problematic activities and is preemptive.
First. Identify and keep data on those behaviors that are indicative that the student is not able to function successfully in the classroom. What was going on when those behaviors started? When did the behaviors start? Where was the student when the behavior started? Was the assignment too difficult, was a transition about to happen, was there an unexpected change, was the student expected to work with other students?
Second. Identify and name all problematic activities. Use the data from the what, when, and where to identify the problematic activities.
Third. Analyze what is going on with the child (emotionally, physically) when the problematic activity was happening. Did the activity make the child anxious? Was the setting causing problems with sensory regulation (too much – too little stimulation), ? Was the child tired, thirsty or hungry (low blood sugar)? Anxiety, low blood sugar, sensory overload could be a few of the reasons why the student was exhibiting those behaviors.
Fourth. Develop strategies that are in place prior to any problematic activity happening. Communicate with all staff and parents about all activities every day. Leave nothing to chance. Prevent the student from becoming anxious (pre-teaching, reducing a workload, working with the teacher rather than a partner, use an ipad for writing) , balance the sensory input (wear sound blocking device, listen to music, sit on a ball, take a walk, change seats), and keep the student hydrated and balanced nutritionally.
“BUT WE ARE DOING THAT AND THE CHILD IS STILL ACTING OUT.” As difficult as it is to hear this, if you develop a successful prevention program, the behavior will disappear. You may not have thought of every option or you may not be using an option for one reason or another. Back to the drawing board and get creative. Feel free to contact me and let’s talk about it.
“CAN WE INTERVENE?” Of course, you will need to intervene if the behaviors happen. If you do not successfully prepare a child for a problematic activity, you will see behaviors emerge that will show you the student is no longer able to function. You will have to intervene and help the student cope with the situation BUT do not let that be the behavior plan. That should be a signal that you need to get together to develop a plan that will help the child be successful. Do you need to avoid this activity, change this activity, provide additional support for this activity, reduce sensory overload, etc?