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 to which she runs out of the classroom nearby 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. Bobby 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 for "its too loud" and ask "can I take a walk?"
When Amanda sees a butterfly outside of the window, she gets up out of her seat 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.
A teacher is helping another student with their math worksheet. To gain the teacher's attention, Mary starts shouting and throwing items in the teacher's vicinity. The teacher turns to Mary and very loudly shouts "stop doing that!"
A - teacher helping another student
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 hit a pillow.
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 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 cries when glue gets 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.
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. Since Leah is forcefully rocking back and forth 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 and there is a lot of talking going on. 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 to which Connor says "yes".
A - Cafeteria being very loud with a lot of people talking.
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 small group in math centers, he often starts to mark on other children's papers or get 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 for recess, he gets upset and throws his notebooks and pens on the floor.
Replacement behavior: Teach Ronald to say "I'm upset" and coping strategies like model deep breaths
In the past, when Cory encountered a difficult task while doing his work, he would run out of the classroom to escape the task. 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!!
Mariana sees a peer playing with a toy farm house. Mariana 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 - Mariana walks over and copies 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 and starts to 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.