Environmental Interventions Boundary Setting Page |1
Environmental Interventions
Boundary Setting
Boundary Settings, an intervention that helps provide structure at home or at school. This
structure helps children make appropriate choices about their behavior, resulting in a safer
environment for them and others.
Does your child experience:
Difficulty staying in one place?
Difficulty transitioning from one area to another, or losing focus?
Running away when frustrated, frightened, or upset?
Trouble sitting through a meal?
Problems with leaving others’ belongings alone?
What Is a Boundary Setting?
A boundary setting is an intervention that creates structure at home or at school. The structure
that is created helps children manage their own behavior in a safe and clearly defined manner.
The needs of the child create the structure, which, in turn, creates the boundary. Boundary setting
may produce the following outcomes:
Creates consistent, clear, concise, and realistic expectations for the child.
Familiarizes a child with the setting and makes her feel more secure.
Reduces behavior problems caused by unstructured settings.
Example: Suzie
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Suzie is a first grader in a class of 20. When working, the students are seated four to a table.
Suzie has difficulty remaining seated with her feet on the floor. At times she lies across the table,
the floor, or her chair; she often leaves her seat without permission: and she frequently touches
or plays with other children’s belongings or materials.
Suzie’s teacher provided Suzie with strategies to help her stay in her seat with her hands and feet
within her own space. Suzie was given a picture of herself sitting in her chair, her hands in her
lap, feet on the floor. The picture was taped to the table to provide Suzie with a visual reminder
of classroom expectations. Suzie’s teacher praised her whenever she observed Suzie sitting
quietly in her chair, with hands in her lap and feet on floor. Soon, Suzie began to do a better job
of staying in her seat and showed a greater respect for her classmates’ belongings.
Another strategy involved using colored tape to mark off Suzie’s personal space. The tape
provided a visual cue of where Suzie was supposed to sit. Suzie learned she could not cross this
"boundary," thereby learning to stay within her personal space.
What Is the Purpose of a Boundary Setting?
To provide a safe environment
To create structure
To provide clear, concise, and consistent guidelines for behavior
To teach children how to set their own boundaries in different settings
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Example: Sam
Sam is a five-year-old boy with autism who attends a special education classroom. Sam
frequently leaves an area without permission or supervision. One day when recess was ending,
Sam did not line up with the other children and ran away from the playground. When the staff
tried to redirect Sam to line up, he ignored them and locked himself in a car in a nearby parking
lot.
To help avoid such behavior in the future, the staff decided that Sam needed some visual
boundaries on the playground. There were already railroad ties around all the playground
equipment, forming a natural boundary. Sam was taught that once he was inside the railroad ties,
he had to remain there until the bell rang. He was also instructed to wait for a staff member or a
classmate to walk with him to the door of the building–never to take off on his own.
What Are the Steps in Setting Boundaries?
Step 1: Address the need
Step 2: Define the boundary
Step 3: Teach the boundary
Step 4: Reinforce the desired behavior
Step 5: Evaluate success
Step 1: Address the need
The first step in boundary settings is to prioritize the child’s needs. Issues of safety should come
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first. Once issues of safety have been resolved, other concerns involving social interactions and
compliance can be addressed.
When determining whether a child needs boundaries to be set, ask the following questions. Does
she:
Have difficulty staying in one place?
Have difficulty transitioning from one area to another, or losing her focus?
Run away when frustrated, frightened, or upset?
Have trouble sitting (i.e., at the dinner table or at a desk)?
Experience problems leaving others’ belongings alone?
Once these questions are answered and safety issues have been addressed, it is time to prioritize
the needs. Special consideration should be given to the areas of social interactions and
compliance.
Step 2: Define the boundary
The various areas in the classroom or home must be set up and organized. Boundaries can be
defined by where materials and furnishings are placed. Areas within the classroom that may need
boundaries include: play area, group area, and work area. Within the home, boundaries may
include toys that belong to the child and those that belong to others; rooms (i.e., the workshop or
office) that are accessible only with adult supervision. Establishing a boundary will help children
understand (a) where things begin and end, and (b) areas that are accessible without supervision.
In addition, boundaries make it easier to identify the meaningful parts or aspects of the
environment.
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When setting boundaries, the more visual they are, the more effective they’ll be. A play area
would be a good place for setting and teaching a boundary.
Boundaries for a play area could be created by:
Blocking off the area with tape on the floor
Physically arranging the furniture to define the area, such as setting up the shelves that
contain the toys on the border
Placing a carpet remnant in the play area
Step 3: Teach the boundary
Guidelines for teaching how to recognize and follow the guidelines establishing by boundary
settings include:
1. Model the correct behavior
The teacher/parent models the appropriate behavior for staying within the given boundary. For
instance, if the adult is playing with Legos in the play area, he leaves the Legos™ in the play
area before going out of the room to get a drink of water. Self-verbalization techiques are a
useful way to reinforce boundaries. For example, while modeling the appropriate behavior, the
adult says to himself, "When I want to play with Legos, I need to stay in the play area. If I need
to go to the bathroom or get a drink, I need to leave the Legos in the play area. I can always
come back later and I know the Legos will be there."
Modeling may also occur via videotape. The teacher could prepare a videotape showing the area
and its defined boundary. He indicates by actions (i.e., sitting in the area and playing) and words
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where he can play with the Legos. Some students with ASD may benefit by also seeing
nonexamples. If you have students who learn from this type of feedback, identify in the
videotape which areas are not appropriate for Lego™ play and how the student can distinguish
appropriate from inappropriate areas for Lego play.
2. Model reinforcement
An adult (i.e., teacher, paraprofessional) verbally reinforces the adult who models the correct
behavior and keeps within the appropriate boundaries. Reinforcement should be specific, stating
the behavior that is appropriate and a rationale for following the rule. For example, a
paraprofessional could reinforce a teacher who is modeling playing the Legos in the play area by
saying, "Mrs. Johnson, good playing with Legos in the play area. You will always know where
the Legos are when you keep them in the play area. Good job!"
3. Model correction
When the teacher walks out of the area, holding Legos in her hand, the paraprofessional calls her
back to the play area. When the teacher returns to the play area, she is reinforced for complying.
The paraprofessional should also specifically reinforce that the teacher needs to stay within the
defined area to play with the Legos.
4. Be consistent with the use boundary settings from day to day
Once a boundary has been taught, it is very important to be as consistent as possible.
Step 4: Evaluate success
You know you are successful with boundary settings if the child:
independently leaves objects where they belong
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consistently transitions successfully from one area to another
eats all or most of his lunch while sitting at the lunch table
stays in the designated area when upset
leaves others’ belongings alone
What if ...
Suzie tears the visual cue (picture of herself) off of her desk.
Show Suzie the picture of herself sitting at her desk, verbally reinforce the appropriate
behavior (i.e., sitting at the desk), remove picture.
Suzie ignores the taped boundaries on the floor.
Physically show Suzie the tape and model walking up to and stopping at the tape.
Reinforce Suzie as she does this with an adult. Consider using a videotape that models
the appropriate behavior or writing a script that identifies the boundary and appropriate
behavior within the boundary. In addition, consider whether Suzie needs to know how
long she will need to stay within the boundary. A time timer [glossary term] can be set
so that Suzie knows that she will stay within the area for a prescribed time. A visual
support indicating activities and boundaries can also reinforce appropriate behavior.
Classmates question why there is tape on the floor.
Explain that the tape helps Suzie understand where she can go and how she can stay
safe. Tell the students that we all need different types of boundaries to help us learn
and be safe. Point out natural and man-made boundaries that area used daily (i.e.,
crosswalks, sidewalks, bicycle paths on a road, the playground).
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Staff is not following through on boundary strategies.
Provide a written plan and train all staff who are working with Suzie.
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Quiz
1. Establishing boundary is an intervention that creates structure at home or school.
True
False
2. Boundaries help create consistent, clear, concise, and realistic expectations for the
child.
True
False
3. Boundary settings will probably increase behavior problems.
True
False
4. Boundary should be as consistent as possible.
True
False
5. If a boundary setting is used for a child, all staff working with the child should be
trained in how to use it.
True
False
E n v i r o n m e n t a l I n t e r v e n t i o n s B o u n d a r y S e t t i n g P a g e | 10
References
Dawson, G., & Osterling, J. (1997). Early intervention in autism. In Guralnick, M. (Ed.), The
effectiveness of early intervention, Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.
Mesibov, G. B., Schopler, E., & Hearsey, K. A. (1994). Structured teaching. In G. B. Mesibov &
E. Schopler (Eds.), Behavioral issues in autism (pp. 195-207), New York: Plenum Press.
Michael, N. (1999). TEACCH treatment and education for autistic and communication
handicapped children, Unpublished manuscript, University of Kansas.
Schopler, E. (1998). Prevention and management of behavior problems: The TEACCH
approach. In E. Sanavio (Ed.), Behavior and cognitive therapy today: Essays in honor of Hans J.
Eysenck (pp. 249-259), Oxford, England: Elsevier Science.