Pendidikan Khas

I have a kid in my class who likes to seek attention from others. Whenever there is a new face, as in new teacher or observer in the classroom, he will tend not to listen to my instruction. He will refuse to move to the next task. Even with physical prompt, he is very adamant to move. Do you have any form of intervention suggestion for this behaviour? Please do let me know your opinion on how to make him improve this behaviour.

This is tricky and I’ve faced the similar situations before. Whenever a visitor or a parent hung out in my classroom, I felt that at least one of my students would get a little hard to manage. Maybe I was just being super sensitive that if my students did not follow my directions immediately, the visitor may think that I’m a bad teacher. Furthermore, I think kids know that in certain situations (e.g., visitors in the classroom, at the mall with their parents), they can manipulate the adults and get away with it.

What to do during situations like this? Here are three suggestions:

“Do not feed the lions” (Setting visitor rules)

If your student acts out to gain attention, the visitor’s attention is feeding your little lion cub! You could put in place some rules for visitors coming into your classroom.

With children with special needs, instructional time is very important. So if you do get many visitors, and they tend to interrupt instruction in the classroom, this can seriously reduce the amount of instructional time. Over time, this could affect your students’ academic performance.

So, you may want to inform the classroom visitors to not engage the students during instructional time. This means no funny faces, no chatting, no acknowledging the student’s attention-gaining behavior. Basically, the visitors should keep a neutral face and sit quietly in the corner of the classroom. If they want to engage the students, they can wait till recess time.

As part of my research assistantship, I’ve been in classrooms to observe students and collect data. Some teachers will inform me of their rules at the get go. As a general rule, I have to sit in one corner and not respond to student’s chatting or misbehavior. I have to be like I’m not there.

Noncontingent praise (Increasing positive attention)

If your student is misbehaving to gain attention, you could try noncontingent praise. This means that you put in place a schedule of praise for this student. That is, you say one positive statement to the student every few minutes. You can decide what time intervals work better.

For example, you say something positive (e.g., “Good job sitting down appropriately”, “I appreciate that you’re doing your work”) to your student at approximately every two minutes. But don’t praise him when he’s bouncing off the wall, but as soon as he settles down, quickly say, “I like that you’re sitting in your seat”.

If he does misbehave, try your best to not make it a big deal.

When he is not paying attention to you, you can also praise other students in your classroom for their appropriate behavior. For example, you say, “I really like how Ah-Mei is sitting quietly and doing her work. Great job, Ah-Mei!” Make it a big deal and make sure the target student hears the praise to the other student. And as soon as the target student responds to that and starts doing his work, quickly praise him too, “I see that Ken is also quietly doing his work. Great job, Ken!”

So what you’re doing here is that you’re giving him the attention when he’s being appropriate, and not when he’s being inappropriate. If he really likes the attention, he may increase his appropriate behavior for your attention.

If his behavior improves after some time, you can fade the praise a little. For example, instead of every 2 minutes, you can praise every 4 minutes, and so on.

Token reinforcement (Point sheets)

You could also try giving tokens/stickers to the student for appropriate behavior. You can have a sticker chart with, let’s say, 10 blanks. Inform the student that if he stays in his seat and is appropriate for 3 minutes, he will get a sticker on the chart.

You can set goals together with the student. For example, if the student gets 8 stickers before recess, he gets a reward. The reward does not have to be things, it could be spending time with his favorite teacher or listening to his favorite music during free time.

You can also have weekly goals and rewards, or even monthly goals and better rewards. Make sure that the rewards are things or activities that your student really likes. Remember to save the best reward, your student’s favorite, for good behavior on the day that visitors will be in your classroom.

It is important that you set achievable goals for the student. Start with lower achievable goals so that the student is successful in getting the rewards. As he starts getting the idea that good behavior will lead to a sticker/token, which leads to a reward, then you can raise the standard, and make it slightly harder to achieve the goal, and so on.

These two interventions, noncontingent praise and token reinforcement, you’ll have to put in place early, and hopefully by the next time you get a visitor, the intervention will be effective in keeping your student on-task.

My very first question and answer session! Thank you, Anu, for the question. If you do try these suggestions, let me know how it goes. You can also modify the interventions to fit your student and your classroom.

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Since I read the news about the caged boy of Sanglang, I’ve been wanting to write something concerning him. Initially, I was overwhelmed by this case: a 15-year-old boy locked up for his safety; a non-verbal boy who does not recognize his family.

What can I do about it?
There’s nothing I can do about it.

But I kept thinking about this case. I finally realized that it is my responsibility to put some thought into this case.

Isn’t that what I came to the US for?
To learn how to help children, like Azri, back home.

Even if I cannot come up with an intervention that will fix everything for him, I should at least come up with some initial steps to understand his situation. And hopefully from that, develop some intervention ideas that might improve his quality of life. Being locked up in a cage and tied to the house is no way to live.

First of all, it is difficult to come up with ideas when my only guide is a news article that is 300+ words long. I’ll have to make assumptions and guesses along the way.

I suspect Azri has severe mental retardation, perhaps severe autism too. Some initial questions that I have for the family are:

• Tell me about his childhood.
• What does he like to do?
• What is his favorite food? Favorite music? Favorite tv show? Favorite person to be with?
• What is his daily routine like?
• What can he do independently?
• What makes him happy?
• What upsets him?
• Does he try to communicate?
• How does he communicate? Gesture? Make sounds?

Since his most challenging behavior right now is running away from home, I’ll start from there.

Challenging behavior: Running away from home

There are many questions that his family will have to answer to help me understand his running away behavior. For example:

• When did he start running away from home?
• Where does he normally run to?
• Is there a specific time of the day that he usually runs off?
• Does he always run off if he gets the chance?
• Has there been a time that he didn’t run off when he had the chance? If yes, what was happening then?
• How does he react when he is caught after running off? Does he look upset that he’s caught? Does he look happy?

Without answers to the questions above, here is my best guess as to why he runs away from home:

He is locked in his house all day, so he wants to get out.
But when he runs away from home, he endangers his life;
So, he is locked in the house all day.
It is a vicious cycle.

Without answers to the questions above and having very limited information to guide my intervention, I suggest the following to break the vicious cycle:

1. Instead of locking Azri home the whole day, his family members could take him to a safe and enclosed field, such as a school football field, and let him run, or maybe even run with him. Thirty to 45 minutes of intense running will be good for him. It will burn off some of his extra energy. The exercise might also calm him down, which may help him sleep at night.

and

2. His family members could take him out for a long walk around his kampung (neighborhood) every evening. If there is a place that he seems to like or is always running off to, I suggest walking to and spending some time at that place. Perhaps a walk to a nearby park to watch the kids in the area play. Or a walk to the pasar malam (night market). Or a walk to a nearby grocery store.

If this intervention works, I predict that slowly and surely he will stop running away because he knows that he gets his time out of the house, so he doesn’t need to run off. Eventually, I hope that he will no longer have to be caged in the house and he would be able to freely move around the house without being tied down.

Initially during both the morning run and evening walk, if he has a tendency to run off, a few more people could be involved, so that they can help get a hold of him before he runs off. In time, only one person will need to be with him during the morning runs and evening walks.

Functional communication skills: Picture cards, photos or objects

In a response to Azri’s case, a medical doctor suggested that Azri be provided speech therapy. Since he is still nonverbal at 15 years old, I am doubtful that speech therapy will help.

I would try using picture or photo cards instead. For example, teach him to point to a photo that shows food items, when he wants to eat. Point to a photo of football field, when he wants to go for a run or walk.

If photos or picture cards are too complex, maybe he can learn to use objects. Point to a shoe, when he wants to go out. Point to food items, when he wants to eat. Point to a glass, when he wants to drink.

Self help skills: Toilet training

Lastly, I think it is very important to give toilet training a try. Unless it is a medical condition, most children with developmental disabilities, even those with severe autism and mental retardation, can learn to use the toilet. When I reflect back on the kids at NASOM, I don’t remember any of the teenagers there using adult diapers. And some of them had severe autism too.

The family members can set up a schedule to bring Azri to the toilet every hour or so. In time, they will learn what his toilet routine is like and most accidents will be prevented. If possible, Azri can be taught to go to the toilet on his own. If he likes his walks, maybe he could be taught to first go to the toilet before going out for his walks (positive reinforcement).

Because Azri is only fifteen years old, if he’s not toilet trained now, he will have many years ahead of him where he will be dependent on diapers. Besides being very expensive, diapers are extremely uncomfortable in the hot and humid Malaysian weather. Being toilet trained will greatly improve his quality of life.

Meanwhile, Shah Alam-based Nuri Cergas Sdn Bhd managing director Khusairi Wahijan donated two weeks supply of diapers and RM700 to the family.

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One of my first initiatives at the tuition center for children with Down’s syndrome was to teach the students, who have already mastered the alphabets, to read in Bahasa Malaysia (BM: the national language of Malaysia). Because BM is a phonetic language, it was relatively easy to teach. With the recommendations from another special education teacher, I bought a beginner systematic BM reading book and started one-on-one reading lessons with three of my students. As with any new initiatives, the students looked rather confused when I started the first few lessons with them.

“b, a, ba” (blur looks)
“k, a, ka” (more blur looks)

Slowly the students began to pick it up.

Khalid was my poster student. He quickly learned to read in BM and he loved to read aloud. So sometimes at the end of the tuition session, I would strategically hand him a storybook and he would be reading aloud when parents came in to pick up their children. The parents were delighted, so was I.

My other students, however, did not progress as quickly. The biggest obstacle that I faced was their speech difficulties as many individuals with Down syndrome have speech and language problems. My students could not articulate some of the sounds correctly, and I did not know how to remediate the problems. When their “ta” sounded like “sa” and vice versa, I wasn’t sure if they made recognition mistakes or they had problems articulating the different sounds. I tried to look for books at the UM library, unfortunately I could not find any books that were helpful.

One of my students, Suresh, was attending speech therapy provided at a government hospital. However, the provision was limited to only one therapy session per month.

Unlike the US, Malaysia does not have strong special education law to provide our children with disabilities the needed individualized special education and related services.

I am doubtful that once a month speech therapy is helpful at all. And his mom was not allowed in the therapy room during the monthly therapy session. I am not sure if the “no parents allowed” was a hospital policy or if it was because Suresh tended to misbehave when his mom was around. Either way, that was unfortunate because if his mom was allowed to observe the sessions, she could continue the therapy exercises at home or even teach me some of the tricks of the speech therapy trade.

In the end, I conceded defeat. The students’ speech difficulties were beyond my expertise. The two students needed intensive speech therapy. I needed a speech language pathologist (SLP) to guide me as to how to best teach my students to read.

What would I do differently now?

I would probably require the parents to ask the SLP if I could consult with him or her regarding my student’s reading problems. Some collaboration between the SLP and the special education teacher would be beneficial for the student.

I should also consider not being held back by the students’ articulation, but push for recognition and comprehension. I would also find ways to assess whether the students recognize and understand the words, even though they may not articulate the word clearly.

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The first time I met Jamie was when he came with his parents to visit my classroom. He was five years old and his parents were considering sending him to the Center (a tuition center for children with Down Syndrome). Jamie walked slowly around the classroom with his hands grasped behind his back. He had the demeanor of a school headmaster/principal. His sharp eyes were observing and evaluating every little thing that went on in the room. I guess the class got Jamie’s and his parents’ approval because he joined the class the next day.

Everything went smoothly on his first day. He was an independent child who did not cling to his mom when she dropped him off. I do not recall any significant problem behavior on his first day. When the class was over, his mom came to pick him up. As soon as he left, a mother of another student, with a rather terrified look, rushed into the room. She questioned me if Jamie was really joining the class and when I said yes, she told me the whole story. Apparently, Jamie had quite a reputation at the early intervention center that most of the kids in my classroom had attended or were still attending. According to her, Jamie would push or hit other children at the other place, and her daughter was scared of him. She requested that I keep Jamie a safe distance from her daughter. That was quite surprising to me since I did not observe any aggression while he was in the class.

Few days later, I had my first glimpse of him pushing another student. Later, I noticed that he only pushed or hit at the end of class when all the mothers came up to pick up their kids. And as soon as it happened, there would be a big commotion in the room: his mother would rush to reprimand him, the mother of the victim would rush to comfort her child, and the other mothers would watch in horror. As the mothers watched, they probably told themselves to remind this Cikgu (teacher) to keep a careful watch over their children.

It was tricky at first. When he pushed, everyone would watch to see how I would handle the situation. It was obvious that he only pushed the other children when the mothers were in the room, and he gained lots of attention from doing that. The expected course of action was for me to punish or reprimand him and then have him say “sorry” to the other child. Even at that time, I dislike doing that. It felt so contrived and I could see in his face, the triumphant grin of having gained all the attention in the room.

Eventually, Jamie stopped pushing. I do not remember if I did anything specific to reduce and eventually eliminate the pushing. It could be the positive attention that the assistant teacher and I poured on the students, so he did not have to misbehave to gain our attention. Aside from his end-of-class aggression, he was a sweet boy the rest of the time. He was attentive and very helpful. He loved to be the leader and be put in charge of keeping the toys and whatever tasks I gave him. He was also bossy with the other kids, but he got along well with them. Even the little girl, who was supposedly scared of him, was fine sitting next to him in class. He did not hit her and she showed no signs of fear.

When Jamie entered standard one (first grade), he stopped coming to the Center. One day I received a call from his mom. She told me that Jamie wanted to talk to me and she handed the phone to him and he proceeded to “talk” to me. Since he did not have good verbal skills, I had no idea what he was saying. But it was really sweet of him to remember his Cikgu.

Now that I know a little more, what could I have done differently or the same:
1. The positive attention (catch them being good) is a good move. Pay attention to the kids when they are being good instead of paying negative attention (e.g., scolding/reprimanding) only when they misbehave.
2. I would make sure that the other kids are a safe distance from Jamie at the end of the class. And I would request the other mothers that when they go in to pick up their kids, to first go over and say something nice to Jamie, even if it is just giving him a pat on his head. This way he gets the attention before he pushes, and that may prevent the pushing behavior.
3. If he does manage to push another child, I would also request the other mothers to not react to that but to just pick up their child and leave, while I would take him out of the classroom to another room till the other kids have left. This way he would not get any attention from the mothers when he misbehaved. I would only tell him once that what he did was wrong and we would sit quietly in another room.
4. I should also have social skills lessons during the class. The assistant teacher and I could model to the kids appropriate and inappropriate classroom behaviors. Teach them which is good and which is bad. Then we could model the behaviors again and have the kids judge the behaviors. Lastly, if they were able to, I would have the kids show me the good and the bad behavior. Hmmm, maybe not the bad behavior….

Buzzword for this intervention:
Antecedent intervention
Social skills training

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In my first job as a special education teacher at the House, they already have an established program, so I only had to do what I am told. When I moved on to the Society, I was working at the vocational center and there was not much teaching going on. Most of the time, the students were packing drinking straws, and I had to make sure that the products were of acceptable quality and that the students were being watched over. Then I started my first real job as a special education teacher at the Center, and that was where my troubles began.

The Center was started because some parents were not satisfied with the education their children with Down syndrome were receiving at the special education classrooms in national schools. The purpose of the Center was to enhance/supplement the education of the students. The Center was functioning more as a tuition center rather than a full-fledged school. The students were coming in for three hours, twice or three times a week. The students were of varying elementary ages and functioning levels.

When I started as the head teacher at the Center, I was in charge of everything-from teaching, acquiring teaching resources (making, modifying, searching and buying), and even collecting school fees from the parents. However, my biggest problem was that I did not know what to teach. There was not a curriculum in place that I could follow. Although the Center had a copy of an early intervention program, most of my students had already outgrown that. The center had an individual education plan (IEP) for each student, unfortunately the IEPs were the cut-and–paste sort, with no appropriate goals or behavioral objectives that I could work towards.

So the program that I developed and stuck with was that each month, the assistant teacher taught a theme (e.g. fruits, vegetables, types of emergency services, types of automobiles, etc) and one/several concepts (e.g., up-down, left-right, front-back, etc). There was a new theme and a new concept each month. The assistant teacher also taught some basic mathematics. While I worked one-on-one with the students: teaching reading in Bahasa Melayu or the alphabets (depending on the student), and also working on cognitive and fine motor skills. Both of us worked on gross motor skills together.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), some of students progressed faster and us, teachers, were not able to keep up with them. Some of the students learned the theme and concepts in one week, while others did not manage to grasp the lessons even at the end of the month. Before the end of each month, I had to come up with a new theme and concepts for the next month, make the teaching materials and work on homework sheets. After close to a year, I ran out of themes and concepts because we have gone through most of the common things around us. At one time, I wanted to modify the national curriculum for my class but when I looked at the different textbooks, it was overwhelming, and I did not know where to start.

Now that I know more, what would I have done differently?

a) I now realized the importance of a curriculum to tie everything together. I would insist that the administrator and the consultant provide a good curriculum. Even if it means to modify the national curriculum, time and resources should be allocated for the teachers to work on modifying the curriculum.
b) The consultant, teachers, and respective parents should come together and write up a workable IEP for each student. The IEP does not have to be an extensive document, but just several appropriate and realistic goals for the student. (A topic for a another day)
c) Instead of working one-on-one for reading, I would separate the students into two groups. The advance group would work on reading in Bahasa Melayu, while the basic group would work on the alphabets. (A topic for another day)
d) Instead of whole group instruction for mathematics, I would separate the students into two groups. The advance group would work on addition and subtraction, while the basic group would work on basic number skills.
e) I would also like to include a stronger element of lifeskills and social skills in the curriculum.

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I was the lead teacher at the Center for one and half years. With the help of an assistant teacher, everyday from Monday to Friday, we taught six children with Down syndrome. The children ages range from 4 to 9 years old. Since there were “only” six children in the classroom, we pretty much have the classroom under tight behavior control. There were unwritten rules and routines to everything that went on in the classroom. Some days, things went well in the class. Other days, I spent the entire journey home from the Center wondering what I did wrong or what I could have done differently. It was tough making sure that the students behaved appropriately in class:
a) Ensuring that they did not roll around on the floor when they should be sitting on a chair,
b) Ensuring that the students were lined up properly before going to the restroom to wash their hands before and after snack time,
c) Ensuring that they did not snatch one another’s snack,
d) Ensuring that they did not push or hit one another,
e) Ensuring that they shared the toys,
f) Ensuring a multitude of other things.

Looking back, I realized I had absolutely no training in classroom management. The classroom was under control because it was relatively small. I would also liked to believe that I built up a rapport with my students. And it was this rapport that smoothed things out in the classroom. I hoped it was because I gave them plenty of attention, so that they did not have to resort to problem behaviors to gain my attention. I hoped it was because the activities in the class were fun, so they did not have to resort to problem behaviors to escape the activities.

Even so, now that I know a little more, there are many things I could have done differently. However, if there is one intervention that I wish I had put in place at the Center, it is school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS).

SWPBS emphasizes a proactive approach to school discipline and supporting students in schools. The SWPBS practices that I would have liked to implement at the Center are:

1) Define schoolwide behavioral expectations

I never explicitly taught my students what the expected behaviors were in the classroom. When they misbehaved, I would tell them what they did wrong. When they behaved appropriately, I may occasionally praise them. My expectations were for them behave appropriately in class. I just assumed that they knew my expectations, but I never told them what the appropriate behaviors were.

SWPBS recommends that behavioral expectations be written and posted throughout the school. The behavioral expectations should also be written in the positively. For example, Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible. The children are then taught these three expectations and to memorized them.

2) Teach the behavioral expectations

In terms of teaching appropriate social skills, I failed miserably. It is probably because I had no idea how to teach social skills. It always seemed to me that children learn social skills by observing the adults around them. This may be true, but some children require more concrete instruction and practice to learn these skills.

With the three behavioral expectations, the children are then taught the behavioral expectations in different settings in the school. For example, Be Responsible in the classroom may be putting shoes and bags in the proper place, while Be Responsible in the restroom may be turning off the tap.

3) Monitor and encourage performance of expected behaviors

As for praising my students for behaving appropriately, I doubt I did enough of that. Just like most teachers, I probably paid more attention to inappropriate behavior, and did not catch my students behaving appropriately.

After teaching the students the behavioral expectations and modeling to them what each expectation looked like in different setting, I would also liked to implement a chart on the wall to monitor the students’ behaviors. For example, a student will earn a sticker for putting his/her shoes away. There will be a list of appropriate behaviors that will earn stickers. At the end of the day, the stickers will be added up for a bigger reward (e.g., snacks, extra play time, good behavior certificates, etc).

There is a lot of work involved in implementing SWPBS, but once it is in placed, the school environment is much more positive and pleasant. In many ways, it is the teachers’ behaviors that change in SWPBS. Teachers are required to start noticing and praising students being good. This may be harder to do then one might think. Often times it is easier to criticize then to praise.

Buzzword for this intervention:
Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS)

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Kit was a 5-year-old child with autism who went to the House. Kit was very picky about food, due in part to the nature of autism (where change can be difficult) and the fact that Kit’s mom was a Japanese and he grew up eating Japanese-style food and not to the usual Malaysian fare. When unusual food was placed before him, Kit would throw a major temper tantrum. The House was insistent that Kit learned to eat various types of food. So during lunch, another teacher would be in charge of making sure Kit ate what was set before him. Since his mom usually packed lunch for him, usually Kit would have no problems with his food. However, when he sensed that something was not right with his food, he would throw a major tantrum. Because of the House’s policy, many times a piece of the undesired food was placed in his mouth, Kit would refuse to eat and swallow it but the teacher would not allow Kit to spit it out. The battle over that one piece of food would last through lunch and sometimes till afternoon lessons began. Kit would continue to hold that piece of food during lessons, and of course, he could not concentrate on his lessons at all during those times.

These food fights were happening too often. It was a very stressful time for both teachers and students. In the end, both parties lost. Precious time was spent on fighting a losing battle. Kit’s tantrums during meal times did not decrease, many a times, afternoon lessons were unfruitful, and teachers were very stressed out.

Kit’s parents had experienced times when they went out to a restaurant for dinner together, and Kit would freak out when some strange food was brought to their table. That caused tremendous embarassment to his parents and his parents were very reluctant to bring Kit out for meals together. So I do understand the House for trying to get Kit to eat as many different types of food as possible, but there is a better solution.

What would I do differently now?

Kit was a strong and healthy boy for his age. He was not malnourished, in fact, he was taller than most kids his age. Most people have some type of food that they absolutely hate, and no form of praise or force could make them eat it. And that is OK. So Kit is entitled to reject foods that he does not want (since his health has not been affected by his choices) and the teachers have no right to force him to eat anything.

Even without a functional behavioral assessment, it was obvious that Kit’s temper tantrums, both in the House and the restaurants, had an escape function. He was using his temper tantrums to avoid having to eat the undesired food items. So Kit should be taught a more appropriate and efficient form of escape. He could be taught to indicate that he did not want something, by either shaking his head or maybe by pushing the undesired food to the side. Since nutrition was not a problem here, the parents and teachers would have to respect Kit’s wishes and not force it down his throat. When Kit learns to communicate his wishes appropriately, and when the adults learn to listen and respect his wishes, I am sure meal times would be more pleasant for everyone.

I have learned since then to carefully pick and only fight battles that I know I can win (Sun Tzu’s Art of War), and fighting over food is a losing battle. Ultimately, it is his mouth and his decision to swallow the food. And as a teacher, you can only go so far as to persuade a child to do that, anything more would be abusive.

Buzzwords for this intervention:
Functional communication training (FCT)
Self-determination

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Kah Ting (KT) was a 15-year-old boy who attended the Society’s vocational center. He was a tough and strong boy for his age. I was at the Society for about 4 months. The vocational school was catered for teenagers. The society provided transportation for some of the students. This is a complicated case because I had not seen the event happened but only heard it from the other teachers.

On the journey back home from the Society, occasionally KT would throw a temper tantrum, and because he was such a strong guy, he would literally shake up the whole van. These occasions were scary for all on board. The driver would stop the van. The one teacher on the van and the driver would then try to get KT to calm down before continuing the journey. This would delay the trip and also stressed out everyone in the van. Although I didn’t see this happened, I have seen KT get aggressive to intimidate me to give him some food.

What would I have done now if I was in that situation?

I would conduct a functional behavior assessment to find out why KT is having the temper tantrums on the van. I have this hypothesis:
Perhaps the journey back home at around 4pm was long, hot and stuffy in the van and KT was getting uncomfortable. If I remember correctly, he would sometimes get to sit in the front passenger seat and he would be OK during the trip. So the behavior was probably to escape sitting at the back of the van where it’s hot and stuffy and to gain the front passenger seat where it is cooler and more comfortable.

So the dilemma is whether to let KT always have the front passenger seat and prevent any tantrums during the journey or put some intervention in place to prevent any tantruming from happening while KT sits in the back.

The first intervention is simple and would prevent any temper tantrums but then it would seem like we’re giving in to him and letting him have his way. I’m not sure if the other teachers would allow him to have the front passenger seat all the time. I’m not even sure if I’m comfortable with this, since I too have sat in the van but I didn’t act out when it was hot, neither did the other students. But if the intervention would be to let him have the front seat, I would incorporate some communication training such as having KT ask for permission to have the front passenger seat.

The second intervention would be more complicated. If the function of the tantrums is to escape from sitting in the back of the van, then I would request KT to sit in the front row instead of the last row of seats in the van, as it is cooler up front. I may also offer KT a bottle of ice water halfway through the journey to reduce the discomfort of the heat. But it’ll be offered to him before he starts any tantrums so he won’t think that by tantruming he’ll get the ice water. Or I could teach him to ask for the ice water when he wants it. I may also put in a consequence strategy, offering him a reward after a tantrum-free journey. And I may also put in place some sort of self-management strategy such as having a chart to monitor the KT’s behavior on the van. The chart may consists of a monthly calendar and KT will receive a star on the days he was tantrum-free in the van. I will review the chart with KT daily. As the reward schedule is slowly faded, KT will then be receiving a reward for 2 consecutive days of tantrum-free ride and so on.

Will the intervention work? I have no idea but the intervention looked do-able and it would not take a lot of time or money.

Buzzwords for this intervention:
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA)
Antecedent intervention
Self-management
Consequence strategy
Functional communication training (FCT)

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Yati was an 11-year-old girl who attended the House day-school. She has autism. She was non-verbal and does not utilize any form of communication (sign language or picture cards). I was new to special education. As an assistant teacher in the intermediate classroom, one of my job was to teach Yati mathematics. So everyday I would sit with Yati for about 15 minutes with two sandpaper cards. Sandpaper cards are cards with embossed numbers on them. It’s supposed to help learners as it incorporates a tactile component to the learning of numbers. Anyway, there I was with Yati sitting beside me, the cards are on the table and I’ll go:

“Yati, one, touch one” (And I’ll have her trace her finger along the sandy 1)
“Yati, two, touch two” (And I’ll have her trace her finger along the sandy 2)
“Yati, take 1?
“Yati, give me 2? (And at this time, she would randomly hand me a card)

But that’s not the focus of this post. As I sat with her through the 15 minutes, she would play with the curtain or push away the cards. Occasionally she would hit my arm and I would used the ruler on her palm. Corporal punishment was used to control the students at the House and I was a new “teacher” who didn’t know better. So during the 4 months I was at the House, that’s what Yati and I did during her 15 minutes of mathematics. And at the end of my time there, she did not learn which card was 1 and which was 2.

What would I do differently now?

Her disruptive behavior (well to me it was a problem, probably not for her) was a form of communication. If I were to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to determine the function of the behavior, I would most probably come to the conclusion that the function was escape. She was trying to escape the boring 15 minutes of me shoving cards at her that made no sense to her whatsoever. Whenever she pulled at the curtain, I would stop the “give me 1, give me 2? and it’s probably more fun for her to make me flustered and angry anyway.

But I won’t really need to go towards function of the problem behavior. The problem was simple. Her “academic” curriculum was not functional at all. Here was a girl who did not know how to communicate. She hit, she cried, and she kept quiet. I believe time is better spent teaching her to communicate: yes, no, I want this, help me, etc.

Buzzwords for this intervention:
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA)
Functional communication training (FCT)

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Billy was an 8-year-old boy. I was the lead teacher at the Center. The other students would have no problem getting out their snack and drinks and eating. But Billy would not. He would be loss in his own world, occasionally flicking his fingers. Angela, my assistant teacher, and I would constantly prompt him verbally.
“Billy, take out your food”
“Billy, drink your water”
“Billy, hurry up, we have to clean up”
“Billy, put the bottle back”

When I left, Billy was still dependent on the verbal prompts, not only during breaks but also during other everyday routines. I did not teach him any skill that would help him be more independent in his routines.

What would I do differently now?

I would start with some permanent picture prompts; either step by step photos of him performing the routine, or simplify picture cards that represent each step of the routine. At the beginning, I would have a card for each of the following steps:
- taking food container and water bottle out of his bag
- opening the container
- opening the bottle
- eating and drinking
- closing the container
- closing the bottle
- placing the food container and water bottle back in his bag

The cards will be laminated and placed on a flip-chart or small ring binder.

I would teach Billy to refer to the first card, perform the step, flip the card, read the next card and so on. At the beginning, I would praise him for completing each step. But I would slowly fade out the verbal praise to just one very excited, “Good job, Billy, for being responsible during your break time,” or something else that’s more natural at the very end.

As he gets better at this, the number of cards could be reduced, and even word cards could be used instead of picture cards.

Then there’s the issue of Billy taking his own sweet time to slowly savor his snacks, but I will deal with that another day.

Buzzword for this intervention:
Permanent picture prompts
Self-management

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