Resources to Support Challenging Child Behavior

Shoe Snapshot
Situation: 

I have a student in my special education classroom who continually wants to take off his shoes. I allow this in my room but I can’t have him walking through the school without his shoes. When it is time for an outside class, I try to explain this to him and start putting on his shoes. He will then throw them and cry or scream. What can I do?

Strategies for Family Gatherings and Community Settings
Situation: 

My children have difficulty behaving in restaurants and during family events.  What can I do to help them?

Strategies for Receptive Language Challenges
Situation: 

My son has issues with receptive language. When I tell him something, like this morning I was trying to tell him we would have cheerios for breakfast and eggs for lunch, all he could hear was he wasn’t getting cheerios right now. I kept repeating “we will have cheerios and then eggs after” but he still was not hearing me and continued to cry and scream. I then put him on the table at eye-level and validated him by saying “I will get you cheerios” but I couldn’t explain to him that we would have eggs after. My son will be 4 in May and this is probably the most frustrating thing we deal with on a daily basis…

Talk About It Later Journal to Reduce Class Interruptions
Situation: 

I have a student with high functioning autism in my class and he often gets stuck on something that happened and wants to tell me about it in the middle of a lesson or when I am talking with somebody else. He doesn’t seem to “let it go” unless I address it immediately, and if I don’t, he starts to whine and sometimes yell. Sometimes I just can’t take the time to discuss the matter when he wants to…any ideas?

Acknowledging Student Difficulties
Situation: 

When I give my student any challenging or new work, he gets very anxious and starts saying, “it’s too hard.” When I try to tell him it’s not that hard and that he can do it, he only gets more anxious and insistent that it is impossible and sometimes starts having behavior problems.

Brain Breaks
Situation: 

We have many double periods of math throughout the week. It makes it very difficult for some of my students to continue attending. What can I do to help them (and me) get through these times?

Consequence Flow Chart
Situation: 

I have a student in my class who becomes upset over the smallest problem at recess. He’ll cry or throw things when something doesn’t go his way on the playground. The other kids have obviously noticed this and are starting to stay away from him. How do I help him understand that what he says and does directly affects his relationship with others?

Reinforcement Tower
Situation: 

One of my 4th grade students has high functioning autism and is included in regular education most of his day. His teachers are complaining that his “talk outs” during class are becoming much too disruptive. We are looking for a positive reinforcement procedure that might work better than his current system, which is a basic star chart that he doesn’t like.

Repetitive Behaviors: Detection and Intervention – An Example
Situation: 

My child has multiple diagnoses including ADHD, PDD NOS, and OCD. He has many self-calming behaviors and vocal tics in school. He may clear his throat and ‘zone out.’ He may keep his fingers crossed. These behaviors are concerning me. What can I do to decrease them?

Substitutions for Sensory Seeking Screams
Situation: 

My son is non-verbal.  Recently he has begun screaming.  This is not out of anger, but to hear his own voice.  It is quite loud and can be very distracting at home to his siblings and out in public.  I don’t want to discourage his trying to communicate, so am not sure how to handle it.