You, Me and ABC... Start Learning

Does your child with autism or another disability have behavioral difficulties at school that interfere with their education? Would you like to learn a few things that you and can do, to improve your child’s school behavior? This article will discuss a few things that you and school personnel can do together to increase your child’s positive school behavior. By improving their school behavior, their education will also be positively affected.

Tip 1: Learn about the ABC’s of your child’s behavior. A stands for Antecedent; what is occurring in the environment before and at the time of the behavior. B stands for the specific behavior that your child is having. The behavior must be described in concrete terms. For example: Mary hits children in her class when she cannot be first in line. C stands for consequences; what happens because of the behavior. Does your child get out of hard academics, or do they get to go to the principal’s office, whom they like etc?

Tip 2: Have school personnel track the behavior for one week, determining what the ABC’s are. You need to know where the behavior is occurring and where it is not. This will help you in the next step of figuring out what your child is receiving from the behavior.

Tip 3: Have a trained special education person conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) on your child, to determine what the child is getting from the behavior. The person conducting the FBA, must come up with a hypothesis of what your child is gaining from the behavior. Some school districts use checklists, which do not come up with a hypothesis and are therefore useless. At the end of a correctly developed FBA, you will have an idea what your child receives by continuing to have the negative behavior.

Tip 4: Use the information from the FBA to develop a positive behavioral plan.
The plan could include a token system, if this is appropriate for your child. This is not a plan to punish, but to increase positive behavior, which in turn will decrease negative behavior. The positive behavior plan must be used consistently if it is to be effective.

IDEA 2004 requires that IEP teams consider the use of positive behavioral supports and plans if a child’s behavior interferes with their education. A lot of information on FBA’s is available from various disability organizations.

Tip 5: Update the positive behavioral plan as often as needed so that it continues to be effective in increasing your child’s positive behavior.

Tip 6: Insist that a daily behavior sheet be developed, and sent home daily with your child. The sheet should be on one page and contain: name, date, behavior to be worked on, token system if needed, how well the child did on that particular day, any rewards won, and also a section for positive comments only. This will keep you up to date on your child’s behavior, in case it deteriorates! Keep the behavioral sheets in case a dispute develops later with special education personnel.

You must insist, that your school district not use punishment, to try and improve your child’s school behavior. Punishment only works in the short term to change behavior; but you want a long term solution to behavioral difficulties. The use of these tips will put your child on the right track to improving their school behavior.

Does your child with autism or ADHD have behavioral issues while at school? Does your school district continue to punish your child, rather than find a way to decrease their negative behavior? This article will discuss the use of positive behavioral supports to increase positive behavior thus decreasing negative behavior.

Punishment only works in the short term to decrease negative behavior. Positive behavioral supports are research based and best practice, to change a child’s behavior for the long term.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) requires : The IEP team in a case of a child whose behavior impedes his or her learning, or that of others to consider. . .strategies including positive behavioral intervention and systems to achieve positive change.

So while many special education personnel continue to punish a child with a disability for negative behavior, the use of positive supports are required by IDEA 2004, and they are also effective long term.

A summary of Positive Behavioral Supports:

1. Positive behavioral support is the application of positive behavioral interventions and systems to achieve positive change.

2. Positive behavioral support is an approach to discipline and intervention that is proving both effective and practical in schools.

3. The emphasis is on behavior change that is durable, comprehensive, and linked to academic and social gains.

4. The development of positive behavioral intervention and plans, are guided by functional behavioral assessment and is a foundation on which positive behavioral support is delivered.

5. Functional Behavioral Assessment is a systematic way of identifying problem behaviors and the events that predict occurrence, and maintenance of those behaviors.

6. A proactive perspective is maintained along a continuum, using prevention and interventions.

A few things to keep in mind:

In my experience, a lot of children that have a disability develop negative behavior, because of frustration with their academics. There is a huge connection between academic difficulty and behavioral difficulty. If your child has negative behavior at school, you must investigate and make sure that the academics that they are being taught are at their academic level. Make sure any change in academic curriculum, is included in your child’s individual education plan (IEP).

Also, children with negative behaviors must be taught new acceptable behaviors, to replace the negative ones. Identify other appropriate behaviors that can be taught, that will serve the same function for the child. Make sure that any new behaviors that need to be taught to your child, are listed in their IEP.

By focusing on positive behavioral supports rather than punishment you can help your child increase their positive behavior. This will in turn will benefit their education, and their life!