Resources to Support Challenging Child Behavior

I am a paraprofessional who works with a student in regular education settings and in a Support Room. He has a very hard time working. I’ve learned many strategies and have used them with some success but sometimes he will just groan and refuse to work. The other day he was doing so well and had finished 3 papers but refused to do the last one. I know he could do it but he just wouldn’t think and fill in the answers. What do I do in those cases?  I hate to just say he doesn’t have to do it – that seems like going backwards and giving in.

I am a family member of a teenage girl with autism. She regularly walks around repeating the same phrases over and over again, much to the dismay of her peers and family members. Repeating it back to her or saying we heard her does not stop it. How do we reduce this? Is this a form of echolalia? Ex: Her cousin is coming to pick her up for an appointment. “I have an appointment at 10:00, my cousin is coming at 10:00 to pick me up, at 10:00 we are leaving for the appointment…” Help!

My son is non-verbal. Recently he has begun screaming. This is not out of anger, but to hear his own voice. It is quite loud and can be very distracting at home to his siblings and out in public. I don’t want to discourage his trying to communicate, so I am not sure how to handle it.

I teach high school math to life skills students. I have one student who continually calls out phrases in a perseverative manner. She also intermittently claps her hands. The other students in the class get upset and yell for her to “cut it out”. She is a good and caring student; however, her behaviors interfere with the class and result in negative interactions with her peers. Additionally, she frequently asks for adult help or to have her work checked. All of these behaviors can be exhausting for the adults in the room by the end of the period.  Any suggestions?

What are some strategies to reduce or extinguish vocal and motor self-stimulatory behaviors that interfere with learning and community inclusion?

I am a graduate student doing a case study on a 6-year-old boy with autism. His mother reported that he often causes harm to his own body frequently. What are some strategies to reduce self-injurious behaviors?

 

I have a student in my regular 5th grade classroom, who does not have a diagnosis of any kind. However, he often displays oppositional behaviors. He will refuse to open his eyes, pick his head up off the desk, answer questions, and has recently shown an increase in speaking out in a disrespectful manner towards his teachers. He does not lack the ability to do any of these. Often these defiant behaviors occur when he does not want to engage in a particular classroom assignment, either because he feels unsure of his own abilities or because he feels the exercise/activity/assignment is meaningless and irrelevant.

I have several forms of whole-class positive reinforcement systems, but he does not always respond. I have also tried additional individual positive reinforcement tools that he has not responded to either. Can you give some ideas as to how I can help him be more engaged and cooperative in class? Thank you for your insight. I welcome any guidance!

My two year old throws everything on the floor and lately picks up a toy, an object, whatever, and throws it at me. How can I help him correct his behavior?

I lose many of my students during instructional time that is teacher directed and includes longer time spans of discussion and lecture. How can I hold the attention of my students who may have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or students with a Learning Disability?

I have a 4-year-old grandson with Autism and he is non-verbal. Recently he has been knocking things over and breaking them, pushing anything he can push (furniture in particular) and climbing on everything. We aren’t sure how to discipline him when he does these things. He will not listen, and he continues to do it even though he knows he shouldn’t. We’ve tried to speak firmly but calmly. We have tried speaking a loud “NO”. We tried putting him in “time out” but he thinks it’s a game. We don’t know what else to do that will make him understand that he can’t do these things. Any suggestions would be helpful.