Autism Behavior Management
So things are going well, and then they aren’t.
When you have students with behaviors in the classroom it can set off everything and everybody.
It gets out of control, FAST!
Behavior
Ignore Bad Behavior Reward Good
“I have a student with some pretty bad behaviors.
How do you reward the good behavior if he’s also doing bad behaviors at the same time?”
-Allison H.
Ignore Bad Behavior, Reward Good!
I feel you Allison. You want to reward a student for not hitting except he is pulling your hair (that, by the way, actually happened to me). Just today I was trying to praise a student for sitting while he pulled on my clothes and arms (*ouch*).
So, what do you do?
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Learned Helplessness in Students With Disabilities
I will never, never forget a community trip with students to Taco Bell back in the day. My two paraeducators and I took about 10 severely disabled students out to eat. It took some time to get everyone through the line and I will never forget helping my favorite student, Cameron. I helped him get his food and walked him to a table. There were two more students I had to get through the line, so I left him to wait until I could come back and help him open his packages, cut up his food, and help feed him (because of limited mobility due to his severe Cerebral Palsy). I went back to the line and returned to him about 4 minutes later… and he was eating.
Learned Helplessness in Students with Disabilities
I asked my para team if they had helped him. Both said no. I looked at Cameron.
“Who opened that for you?” He looked at me and laughed.
“I did,” he said.
My mouth dropped open. He has opened his taco and was eating- he had even opened up a packet of hot sauce and poured it on… and here we were opening everything and even feeding him!
Read More »Learned Helplessness in Students With Disabilities
Fidget Toys for Autism
I was in a classroom a few years ago and the student was like the ball in a pinball machine! He was up and moving during my entire observation. There were moments where he could be cajoled into sitting and attending to a task, but they were few (very few), far between, and super short. The teacher looked at me needing help. Her job had become an exhausting workout.
I left and came back the next day with a few ideas and some fidget toys. Guess what… it helped.
Head Banging in Autism
“I have a student in my class with pretty severe behaviors- he hits his head a lot. Like all the time. I feel bad when he goes home some days with huge red marks on his face, but I’m not sure what to do to get him to stop. What can I do?”
– Kenneth J.
Head Banging in Autism
Kenneth, I feel you. It is pretty hard as a teacher to sit back and watch a kid seriously hurt themselves. Head banging in Autism is actually very common. There are a handful of tricks you can try to lessen the rate and severity of head-hitting, but first you want to try to figure out the reason behind the hitting.
Presume Competence Autism
Presume Competence in Autism Units or Self-Contained A few years ago I was in a classroom where a new student enrolled that morning. They pushed… Read More »Presume Competence Autism
Behavior Strategies that Work BEFORE the Behavior
It’s Going to be One Of Those Days… I used to have a student and, I swear, I knew if we were going to have… Read More »Behavior Strategies that Work BEFORE the Behavior
Elopement and Autism
Elopement and Autism
When I used to hear the word ‘Elopement’ I thought of two lovers running off to get hitched… but having been in Autism Units and LIFE Skills classrooms for so long ‘Elopement’ means something different. It means something that’s downright scary.
And it is downright scary when you look up and realize one of your students has wandered away or “eloped” the sense of panic that engulfs you is petrifying. Just downright scary.
It is also exhausting when you have to constantly stand in front of a door or always block a student from running (like out the door and into traffic). Just downright exhausting.
So what do you do? How do you get some control back when studies suggest nearly half of student with Autism wander or elope? Well, here are a few helpful tips and strategies…
How To Write a BIP
How to Write a BIP
Teacher: It is terrible… Bobby is running out of class all the time!
Me: Okay, let me see the BIP.
Teacher: Oh, it’s totally not working. (Hands me the BIP.)
Me: This BIP is for verbal outbursts.
Teacher: Oh… is that why it’s not working?
Me: *sigh*
Replacement Behavior for Hitting
Replacement Behavior for Hitting
I’m getting the crap beat out of me. Help!
So, unfortunately, this is an actual conversation that I’ve had recently. It’s hard to get up every morning and go to work when you know you are going to get hurt.
So what should you do?
Where do you even start?
4 Steps to Replace Hitting Behavior
The good news is you can change Behavior. The bad news is it’s going to take a little while. So, first things first, here are the four steps to changing Behavior.
- Defining the Behavior
- Collecting Data
- Determining the Function
- Designing the Behavior Plan
It seems like such a no brainer, but when you are sitting in a classroom getting the snot smacked out of you all day long it gets hard to think things through logically. The only thing running through your head is how to make it all stop.
So let’s break down these four steps a little more.