Strategies and Supports
John sees a peer playing with a toy he likes and starts to cry and scream.
Provide choices - Say "it looks like that toy is unavailable, we can play with ___ or ____ instead".
Carol hears a song playing in the auditorium. She runs out of the classroom to get a better listen. Her teacher runs after her and redirects Carol to go back to class.
A - Carol hears the song
B - Carol runs out of the classroom
C - Teacher brings her back
Bobby’s classmate takes the toy he is playing with. He cries and throws himself on the floor. Bobby’s teacher retrieves the toy from his classmate and gives it back to him.
ACCESS
Evan screams when the room becomes too loud.
Replacement behavior: Teach Evan to say "it's too loud" and ask "can I take a walk?"
When Amanda sees a butterfly outside the window, she gets up in the middle of a lesson and runs over to the window to look at the butterfly.
Offer a break - Say "it looks like you need a break" and teach Amanda to ask for a break in the future.
The teacher tells Mary to wait for assistance with her worksheet. Mary starts shouting and throwing items in the teacher's vicinity. The teacher turns to Mary and very loudly shouts, "Stop doing that!"
A - The teacher tells Mary to wait
B - Mary shouts and throws items
C - teacher yells at Mary to stop
Billy is in the cafeteria with his class for lunch. His para is talking to another adult. Billy calls his para's name to get his attention but the cafeteria is noisy and his para doesn't hear him. Billy picks up his yogurt and throws it across the cafeteria. Then, he takes his tray and pushes it to the ground. His para notices and immediately rushes over to him to scold Billy for this behavior, “No throwing in the cafeteria!” Billy is smirking and laughing in the para's face.
Attention
When Megan is feeling frustrated, she bangs her hand on nearby furniture.
Replacement behavior: fold hands, squeeze a sensory toy, or ask for help.
Joshua will often hum loudly and clap his hands when he is feeling very excited during an interactive classroom routine in which he can engage with his peers.
Start with strengths and pick your battles - Acknowledge Joshua's feelings of excitement and provide validating language "I see how excited you are!" This is not a safety concern, this is simply Joshua expressing himself which should be encouraged so there is no reason to intervene on this.
Devon sees a peer playing with a toy that only Devon usually plays with. Devon gets upset and runs over to the peer to aggress at him. The teacher in the classroom quickly separates the peers and directs Devon back to his seat.
A - A peer playing with Devon's toy.
B - Devon runs over and aggresses at the peer.
C - The teacher stops it and redirects Devon back to his seat.
During science, Maxwell is expected to put glue on the project he is working on. In the past, Maxwell often cried when glue got on his hands. His para tells him what he needs to do to finish his project and hands him the glue. Maxwell screams “No!”, throws the glue, and starts crying. His para says, “Oh, I forgot, you don't like glue. It’s okay, I’ll do it for you.”
Escape/Avoidance
When Ava is walking through the hallway with her para, she sees a new sign that some teachers are putting up in a nearby classroom. Ava runs away from her para to get a closer look.
Replacement behavior: Teach Ava to ask, "Can I see what they are doing?"
When Leah sees her favorite teacher approaching the classroom, she gets very excited and begins to forcefully rock back and forth in her chair. In the past, her chair has fallen over.
Sensory strategy, change the environment, or offer a break. Providing options to sensory fidgets to help Leah self-soothe or teach her to ask for a break. This could be a safety concern, so changing the environment to going on a bean bag, or taking a walk could be helpful.
During lunch, the cafeteria gets very loud. This makes Connor feel overstimulated, and to help self-soothe, he starts rocking back and forth in his chair. His para notices this and asks Connor if he wants to take a walk around the school to feel better.
A - The cafeteria is very loud
B - Connor rocks back and forth
C - Connor's para asks him if he wants to take a walk.
Math is a hard subject for Xavier. During a small group in math, he often starts to mark on other children's papers or gets close to make silly noises in their ears. The teacher usually offers him a break when this starts happening, and he looks at picture books to the side of the group.
Escape/Avoidance
When Ronald's teacher denies him access to playing with a certain toy during recess, he gets upset and throws his notebooks and pens on the floor.
Replacement behavior: Teach Ronald coping strategies like model deep breaths and to say "I'm upset."
In the past, when Cory encountered a difficult task, he would run out of the classroom to escape. NOW, Cory will ask his teacher if he can go to the sensory room when he encounters a difficult task.
Catch them doing the right thing - This is great that Cory has learned this skill and is applying it appropriately. We want to encourage this!!
In the future, start to delay access to his request by small increments (1 minute of work, then sensory room)
Mariana sees a peer playing with a toy farm house. She walks over and starts copying what the peer is doing. The peer asks Mariana if she wants to play.
A - Mariana sees her peer playing with a toy she likes.
B - She walks over and copies the peer.
C - The peer asks Mariana if she wants to play.
Evie’s teacher has used a visual schedule with her for the entire school year. When she’s done with a classroom activity, she crosses the activity off her schedule. Today, a new para is putting big checkmarks next to each activity when it is complete. Evie starts to rock her body, push her fingers into her legs, and shout each time an activity is finished.
Access and Automatic
When Nick is feeling frustrated with a certain math problem, he starts to whine, hit, and shove his para.
Replacement behavior: Teach Nick to say "I need help" and offer a different coping strategy, such as a sensory item.