ECE 28, CLASS NOTES, WEEK 17, Chapter 18: Managing Challenging Behaviors

The Exceptional Child, Inclusion in Early Childhood Education, Sixth Edition, Thomson-Delmar Learning

OBJECTIVES After discussion of this section, you should be able to: Describe developmentally appropriate behavior problems; explain the factors that determine whether a behavior problem requires special attention. Define goodness-of-fit & discuss how that concept may be related to challenging behaviors. List strategies for reducing & preventing behavior problems in the preschool classroom. Choose an appropriate data collection method to monitor a child's behavior. Present a plan for managing a newly enrolled four-year-old who is still hitting & kicking children at the end of the fourth week. Identify the most important points to be made in counseling a parent who is concerned that her three-yearold has trouble sharing. Key Terms antecedents data collection fading goodness-of-fit oppositional behavior Behavior Support Plan baseline duration frequency interval preventive discipline behavior goals (IEP) consequences egocentric functional behavior management normal deviations replacement behavior

Developmentally Normal Deviations Cultural norms, parental expectations, reactions to behavior, & environmental arrangements are some of the factors that influence challenging behaviors. It is typical of young children to retreat, respond negatively or aggressively to situations that are new, frightening or beyond their understanding. A child also may exhibit unusual behaviors when overtired, hungry, or coming down with an illness. Temperament: Some children are born with a temperament that makes them easy to manage, others with a temperament that makes them more difficult. Goodness-of-fit suggests it is not the child's temperament itself that determines behavioral outcomes. Instead, it is how the child's personality characteristics match the demands of the environment (including expectations of caregivers & parents). Thomas & Chess (1986). When is a Behavior a Problem? Only when a behavior or a pattern of behaviors become excessive is it a problem. How much is too much? For classroom purposes, excessive behavior is defined as that which interferes & impedes a child's or other children's ability to engage in normal, everyday activities and learning. Designing Interventions: Teachers, parents/guardians & other interdisciplinary team members work together to identify the challenging behavior, identify the setting in which it occurs, & use the information to design interventions. 1. Comprehensive -Team members examine an approach that includes teaching new skills, examining the environment & developing appropriate consequences. 2. Individualized - Individualization is the key. 3. Positive programming - This includes teaching appropriate skills, teaching the child to self monitor & communication alternatives to the inappropriate behaviors. 4. Multidisciplinary - Extremely challenging behaviors need the input of the expanded team which may include specialists, pediatrician, & psychologist. 5. Data-based - Collection of data is vital to evaluating the effectiveness of any intervention plan. Objectiveness is the key.

A Functional Approach to Managing Problem Behaviors: The best way to deal with challenging behaviors is to prevent them. Teachers & caregivers must examine their own behaviors & identify factors that might be contributing to the child's inappropriate behavior. The environment can be arranged to prevent challenging behaviors & support positive behaviors. The task of parents & educators is to figure out what the child is attempting to communicate & to teach the child a more appropriate way to get the message across. 1. Identify the problem situation. Teacher/caregiver identify & describe the challenging behavior. 2. Assess the child & the environment. It is important to know how long & how often the child demonstrates the challenging behavior. Know the events in the environment that are contributing to the inappropriate behavior. Antecedents are things that happen before the behavior that may serve as a trigger. Consequences are events that follow the behavior. 3. Specify on objective for the intervention. What is the desired behavior? What should the child be able to do? 4. Assess the function of the behavior. By observing the child's behavior & identifying antecedents & consequences the teacher/care giver can often identify the function of the behavior. Research demonstrates that children engage in the same challenging behavior for different reasons & also exhibit different behaviors for the same reason or function. 5. Identify a replacement behavior. When developing a strategy to decrease a behavior it is critical for teachers/caregivers to teach the child as appropriate behavior that serves the same function as the problem behavior. Replacement behavior is the new skill or behavior. 6. Plan the intervention. Ensure that meaningful curriculum activities, frequent positive attention, choice & predictable schedule are in place. This step focuses on prevention. 7. Implement the plan & ensure that it is carried out as planned. This is the step where the plan is put into action. Make sure that all adults in the environment understand the plan & know how to implement the plan. Patience, understanding the correct & consistent implementation of the plan is the key. 8. Monitor the child's progress & continue to monitor implementation. The purpose of this step is to make sure the plan is working. Collect data about the child's behavior to determine if the goal has been met. Focus on monitoring the child's behavior & determine if a specific strategy is effective. If progress has been observed, teachers/caregivers may start fading some components of the intervention. If behavior recurs, be prepared to implement the plan again. Data Collection & Monitoring Progress: Types of Data Collection: Three types of data commonly collected in early childhood settings; frequency, duration & interval. Frequency refers to the number of times during the day or specific time the behavior occurs. Duration is the measure of how long each episode occurs. Interval measurement is a specified time of the day or the entire day is broken into equal segments. The length of the segment is determined by both behavior & how frequently adults can record the data. Collecting Data: Prior to establishing any data collection method, a mutually agreed upon definition of the behavior must be written. Baseline is data collected at least three to five days prior to any systematic plan to reduce the target behavior. Aggressiveness: What is considered aggressive by one group of people may be unimportant to another group of people. Conflict is a typically American problem (Caldwell, 1988) Managing aggressiveness may be an individualized program based on behavioral procedures.

Disruptive & Destructive Behaviors: A child or children that interferes with teacher-directed activities and other children's learning opportunities. Need for attention are children who have learned their misdeeds are a sure way of getting attention. Often have low-esteem, & stresses in their life. Feel that when they are good they are ignored, & when they misbehave they get immediate attention. Preventative need for attention would be to give attention to children when they are behaving appropriately. Mastering routines - Many disruptive children have not mastered classroom routines & expectations. They need to be walked through routines, one step at a time. Redirection - With most young child simply, positive redirection is considered very effective and best practices. Time-out - Before resorting to time-out for disruptive behavior, teachers/caregivers must have done everything possible to modify both the classroom environment & their own responses. Noncompliance: Refusing to do what an adult asks or ignoring an adult request is a frequent & typical behavior among young children. Noncompliance is serious when it becomes habitual. In those instances, the child is labeled noncompliant or showing oppositional behavior. Prevention strategies - a number of related strategies which are also effective with all types of behavior problems & with all kinds of children. Give advance warning. Reduce overload. Make requests & give directions clearly & briefly. Provide choices. Other prevention strategies that help a child develop a sense of responsibility, independence & reduces the child's feeling that he or she is always being told what to do. Beware of choices that are not choices. Focus the child's attention. Allow time to comply. Practice consistency & firmness. Make sound judgments. Temper Tantrums: Young children who have frequent, full-blown temper tantrums require special help. Although it is good advise to ignore a child's tantrum, it may not be the appropriate adult response. A child with a history of tantrums that are suddenly ignored by adults may become more violent, causing adults to get increasing anxious & the pattern is repeated, the tantrum becomes worse. The child learns two damaging lessons: It takes greater & more prolonged fury to break down adults' defenses. Those defenses invariably do break down, & the adults eventually will provide some kind of attention. Management of tantrums - have a procedure for the start of a tantrum. Always show the child the space & explanation in advance. Remove the child to this separate place where injury& destruction is not likely to occur. Teacher/caregiver withholds attention while child is having a tantrum. Teacher/caregiver remains close, but does not have eye contact or appear to be watching the child. When the tantrum stops, the teacher/caregiver waits a moment & then returns the child to a play activity with no lecturing or moralizing. Tantrums first get worst but then disappear within a week or less if adults can be totally consistent in caring out procedures. Extinguishing tantrums most likely will take a longer period of time for children with developmental problems & delays. Tantrums are always an indicator that the child is experiencing stress, anxiety or frustration.

Separation Problems: It is normal for infants, & young children to be both fearful of strangers & unwilling to separate from parents, guardians, & major caregivers. This behavior peaks between 12 & 15 months of age & then gradually lessens. This is also a normal behavior for a child entering preschool or a child care center for the first time. In a few instances, a child & parent may have prolonged & severe separation problems. At the least hint of a parent leaving the child may resort to a full-blown tantrum. This too will pass. Overdependence: Over-dependent & anxious children may complain of headaches, stomachaches, or nearly invisible cuts & scrapes. Providing undivided attention will reinforce the child's dependent behavior. Withdrawal: Some children appear to be alone all of time. Behaviors of withdrawn children are easily overlooked. Withdrawal problems can be so complex as to require clinical treatment & a therapeutic classroom. Inability to Share: Children sometimes have the inability to share & take turns. Aggressive behavior which includes knocking children over, hitting, biting, throwing toys or other inappropriate behaviors must be stopped. Sharing & turn taking are learned behaviors. Teachers/caregivers should communicate their expectation of sharing & turn taking. Provide modeling & opportunities for children to share & take turns in 1:1, small groups & large groups. The egocentric child first develops a sense of "mine" before accommodating to the concept of "thine".