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Children First Presentation
By Tom Weddle, MA
E-Mail:tomweddle@mac.com
Website:www.tomweddle.com
Stair Steps to Independence
Motivate
1. Controlling Environment
a. To gain items
b. To gain interaction
2. Promote Social Interaction:
a. Assess and Honor Function of Interaction
i. Seeks others to gain info/items/activity/attention
ii. Seeks others to protest/avoid/escape info/items/activity/attention
b. Build from current form of social interaction
1. Play
a. Physical
i. Reciprocal
b. Imaginative
i. Reciprocal
Communicate
3. Communication:
a. Attend to and Listen to all Modes
i. Language
ii. Sign
iii. Icons/photos
iv. Gesture
v. Physical
b. Teach dynamic aspects of communication
i. Initiates
ii. Persists
iii. Sustains
iv. Communicates to a person
1. near
2. far
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Tolerate
4. Promote tolerance of Social demand:
a. Following directions within routine and familiar environments
b. Following directions near and far
c. Following non-routine directions or following directions in non-routine
environments
d. Meeting environmental or inter-personal expectations
e. Cognitive awareness of time and sequence Tolerance for social and
communicative interactions
f. Tolerance for environmental expectations
g. Tolerance for adult/peer expectations
h. Tolerance for adult/peer requests and demands
i. Tolerance for interruption of preferred activity
j. Tolerance for change in expectations
k. Tolerance for complex social environments
l.
5. Teach appropriate coping behaviors and awareness to relieve stress
a. Coping skills for social and communicative interactions
b. Coping skills for environmental expectations
c. Coping skills for adult/peer expectations
d. Coping skills for adult/peer requests
e. Coping skills for interruption of preferred activity
f. Coping skills for change in expectations
g. Coping skills for socially complex and stimulating settings
Celebrate
6. Put it all together and generalize:
a. Skills
b. Talents
c. Interests
d. Dreams
e. Overcome obstacles
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Developmental Milestones
And Behavior “Needs”
Our Typical Brains May Need to Misbehave
Brain development and behavior problems often go hand-in-hand. As odd as it may
seem, the more developed an infant’s brain the greater the likelihood that s/he may
misbehave. The average 2 year-old, as we all know too well, tends to misbehave and,
intriguingly, is experiencing a good deal of brain development at this exact time. In
fact, the behavior issues are even a necessary activity, for the average 2 year-old
needs to test limits in order to further the coping and calming skills needed to be
more independent.
Similarly, the average teen’s brain is developing greater connectedness. The bigger world
outside of the family is beginning to make sense and the average teen is looking to break
away, take risks and test his/her powers and understanding. Hormones are making the
social world much more interesting and the teen’s brain is actively seeking activity that
appears risky and exciting. Again, these activities, as scary as they may be for adults, are
a necessary rite of passage, as the teen begins to develop a sense of self, limits and
purpose.
The Brain’s of Children with Disabilities are No Different
When dealing with children with disabilities we often forget that typical children also
have issues. We lose sight of the normalcy of inappropriate behavior and as a result, we
may see misbehavior as a target – something to get rid of, rather than something to
understand as a sign of a child trying to control and make sense of the world. For children
with delayed or disordered skills control through misbehavior is often necessary to
eliminate stress and frustration. At other times “misbehavior” may be exciting and
interesting and simply a means of checking things out – to see what happens if.
When analyzing behaviors, I prefer to focus on teaching the developmental skills and
social tolerances that a child may be missing or that are not age appropriate. Developing
these skills and tolerances as a primary focus may delay the elimination of some
inappropriate behaviors, but in the long run will help a child eliminate the need for or
interest in the behavior.
What About Behavior Management?
Behavior management of any child is important in the short run, it helps to minimize
parental frustration and preserve what little sanity we may be blessed with. But skill and
tolerance development are the difference makers for a child who needs help in
“misbehaving” in an age appropriate and developmentally meaningful way. A typically
developing child, given well-intentioned limits and supervision, will acquire the life
skills, self-awareness and social skills needed to be a functional, self-motivated and
cautious adult. A child with developmental delays may need active, patient and persistent
assistance, limit setting and instruction in order to acquire the age-appropriate skills and
tolerances needed to function well and joyfully in the world. But a too narrow focus on
behavior elimination is not only a potential misuse of resources, it may also be a
hindrance and barrier to the development of self-awareness and independence.
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The Rebellious Brain at 2 years of age
1. Immediate needs
a. Bond with parent or guardian
b. Attend to others while playing and interacting
c. Interact in a socially appropriate manner with others
d. Communicate needs, information and interests
e. Respond appropriately to limits, corrections, and reprimands
f. Calm with help when frustrated, in pain or overwhelmed
The Rebellious Brain at 12 years of age
1. Immediate needs
a. Develop understanding of and participation in the broader social world
b. Pursue interests outside of the home
c. Build a sense of self through meaningful activity and interaction with
others
d. Build a sense of purpose by participating in motivating and growth
inducing activity
e. Learn about personal dreams through exploration of interests
f. Learn about self and how to cope and prosper in the home and community
g. Begin to recognize and solve own problems through coping skills and self-
advocacy
h. Recognize the need for change and self-control as tools to achieve
personal goals
Comparing Behavior Support
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And
Behavior Coaching
Behavior Support:
Goal: To provide child with a support level adequate to insure the frequent use of
appropriate behaviors in meeting needs.
1. Prepares child by giving information to increase predictability, awareness of
limits, and focus.
2. Provides motivation for appropriate behavior.
3. Provides consistency and structure to lessen stress.
4. Provides frequent reinforcement and cues to facilitate appropriate behavior.
5. Models and promotes appropriate behavior to insure that the child’s needs are met
within daily activities.
6. Fosters positive interactions and choices to increase motivation and lessen stress.
7. Happens throughout the day.
Behavior Coaching:
Goal: Independent initiation and use of social and communicative skills within a variety
of daily settings and activities without need of facilitation or direct supervision and cuing.
1. Task analyzes and teaches social and communicative skills step-by-step within
targeted settings and activities.
2. Establishes hierarchal levels of demand within steps of specific skills and teaches
skills in correlation with level of demand to insure success and a positive teaching
interaction.
3. Uses behavior support strategies to control the level of the child’s stress and to
provide clarity, motivation and comprehension within instruction.
4. Shapes skills and increases child’s tolerance through repetition and success-level
instruction.
5. Views initiation and independence as the two most important components of
social and communicative skill acquisition.
6. Happens at set times on a schedule.
7. Time limited based on child’s tolerance and success.
Skill Hierarchy for Calming
Foundational Skills & Tolerances
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Level 1 – Attending, Focusing, Interacting with Environment and People
1. Attend to another person
2. Aware of emotions in self and others
3. Inhibit physical and emotional responses
4. Sustain focus during interaction or instruction
5. Make choices (communicative intent)
6. Independently communicate choice to others.
7. Understand and respond positively to contingencies (first this, then that)
Level 2 – Tolerating Imposed Agendas
1. Tolerate waiting or delayed gratification.
2. Tolerate structured choice-making.
3. Tolerate non-preferred activity.
4. Tolerate interruption to preferred activity.
5. Tolerate deviation from expectations or routines.
6. Tolerate correction to work or behavior.
7. Tolerate interaction with a person when stressed.
Level 3 – Adapting to and Coping with Stress
1. Initiate appropriate communication when stressed (ask for help, ask for break, ask
for needed item, person, activity).
2. Persist in communicating needs appropriately.
3. Negotiate to get needs met.
4. Tolerate “No” – denial or loss of preferred item or activity.
5. Tolerate calming rituals when stressed.
6. Seek calming rituals when stressed (deep breath, talk about the problem)
Behavior Management (Positive Supports) used to create low stress conditions: motivation,
accessibility and meaningfulness. Graduated removal of such supports can be done to teach
skill use within and tolerance for more typical social and instructional settings.
Skills and Tolerances are most readily and efficiently developed under low stress
conditions. Stress can be increased by teaching specific tolerances or by reducing
behavioral support.
Long-term goal is to broaden the child’s world in order to teach the child to be more
independent, functional, and capable cognitively, communicatively and socially.
All effort should be made to keep child at low stress initially in order to teach skills and
tolerances. When a child loses control, teaching focus can shift to extinguishing of
inappropriate behaviors.
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