Our family knows them without ever having met them.
We dream about them.
They learn how to push our buttons.
They can take us down a road we don’t want to travel.
They make us think that maybe we should have gone into marketing or real estate.
They are extremely difficult to like at times…
Our most challenging children
May not respond to traditional consequences
Will require more support and change on our part
Will need a significant positive relationship at school
Will need another way to find acceptance in the school environment
May be resistant to strategies to develop self control
To Reach the 1-7%
Abandon ineffective practices. Resist inclination to exclude.
Separate what the child deserves and what he needs.
Realize that he/she needs our support and forgiveness the most.
Reframe who they are.
Think “outside the box.”
Abandon expectation of a quick fix
Need a 7:1 reinforcement ratio, with meaningful incentives
Need peer support.
Need to undermine harmful mentors
Best Practice Supports for Challenging Students
Building Relationships/Connecting
Building Trust
Building self-control
Absence of threat
Building Community
Consistency and Predictability
Diffusion Strategies
Knowing Setting Events
Individualizing
The number one reason students loose control…
Perception of being treated unfairly
Stages of Crisis Development
Anxiety
Defensive
Acting Out
Tension Reduction
Setting Limits
Simple and Concise
Reasonable
Enforceable
The Three Don’ts
Avoid touching the person
Avoid ultimatums
Avoid crowding or trapping
Reasonable Force
Michigan School Code
Corporal Punishment
Self-Defense
What is Oppositional Defiance Disorder? ODD is a persistent pattern (lasting for at least six months) of negativistic, hostile, disobedient, and defiant behavior in a child or teen without serious violation of the basic rights of others.
Students with conduct disorder engage in deliberate acts of self-interest to gain attention or to intimidate others. They experience no distress or self-devaluation or internalized distress.
Emotional Impairment MET Form Continued
The problem result in behaviors manifested by 1 or more
of the following:
(A) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(B) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(C) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(D) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
For the child with an Emotional Impairment, diffusing a crisis will often involve reducing anxiety. For the child with Conduct Disorder and effective response should increase anxiety
Our Need for Power and Control
Characteristics of ADHD
Inattentive Type
spacey, mild anxiety, socially withdrawn,
day dreamers, difficulty sustaining attention,
difficulty listening, often leaves school work unfinished,difficulty with organization, problems with sustained mental effort, forgetful,distractible
Hyperactive Impulsive Type
fidgets,squirms,impulse control difficulties,
excessive talking or blurting out, out of seat, difficulty playing quietly, always moving, difficulty waiting turn
ADHD
“ That energy which makes the child hard to manage, is the energy, which makes him a manager of life.”
“ Just when I thought about not doing something, I already did it.”
Logo seen on T-shirt for ADHD adult
“ They say I have ADHD, did you see that
chicken go by?”
“ If you know why, you can figure out how….” W. Edward Deming
“ Just the facts, mam.”
Needs
Attention
Escape/Avoidance
Power and Control Seeking
Anger/Frustration
Sensory Stimulation
Tangible
Behavior Plan
Proactive Strategies
Reinforcement Strategies
Reactive Strategies
Method for taking Data
Preventative Strategies
Bag of Tricks
Transition and Quieting Strategies
Always follow the teachers lesson plans
Try to review material that is unfamiliar
Make a discipline plan
Develop procedures and expectations
Stay calm and positive
Be informative and inviting rather than authoritarian and confrontive
General Approach Strategies for the Oppositional Student
Avoid Ultimatums
Avoid drawing the line in the sand
Avoid social disapproval and negative reprimands
Avoid Warning and Counting Prompts
Avoid rules that challenge (“ Don’t spit on the side walk”)
Avoid reverse psychology
Avoid punishment and exclusion
Avoid emotional reactions
Avoid bullying or external control strategies
Avoid arbitrary or inconsistent consequences between staff
Recommended General Strategies for the oppositional student
Provide choices
Provide adequate response time
Provide consistency and predictability
Provide a calm, neutral approach
Encourage ownership in development of plan
Provide appropriate opportunities for control
Work at building relationships
Work at breaking down the walls
Provide meaningful incentives
Provide consistent and reasonable consequences
Reactive Strategies
What to do when the behavior occurs. Should be:
Effective at reducing the behavior
Supportive and therapeutic
Respectful and never degrade or humiliate
Typically addresses staff behavior
Problems with Punishment
Punishment focuses on external control but does little to teach internal control.
Punishment does not teach the child how to meet needs previously being served by the target behavior.
Punishment backfires with students who are oppositional and defiant.
Punishment often triggers an escalation of behavior and may elicit tantrums and aggression.
Punishment models a type of authority that resolves conflict by power and inflicting discomfort or pain.
Punishment is a quick term-fix that takes much less time than to teach the child betters ways of behaving.
Research has shown that punishment strategies have poor transferability.
Punishment is inconsistent with the concept of mutual respect.
Punishment often excludes and isolates a child when teaching and support is needed most.
Consequences
Decrease the efficiency of the target behavior while maintaining dignity and an atmosphere of caring
Never degrade or humiliate
Logically relate to the target behavior
Do not cause more of a problem than the problem they are addressing
Establishes conditions for learning alternative skills
Decreases the frequency, duration, and/or intensity of the target behavior
Behavioral offences are wounds… Consequences should heal
“ If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be he will become what he ought to be and could be.” Wolfgang Goethe
For More Information on Positive Approaches for challenging behavior or having Steve present at your school, Write Steve Vitto at [email_address] Or call him at 231-767-7279 Or send for Steve’s Book, In Search of a Heart, Creating Caring, Conscience, and Character in All Kid (A text in using positive a relationship driven approaches for all children), Copyright, 2007 This 450 page text contains researched based methods for implementing positive classroom management strategies and treating children with severe behavior challenges (Cost: $30.00) This book is also available on audio tape and Audio CD
0 comments
Post a comment