Resources to Support Challenging Child Behavior

I work with students with severe disabilities – having them active and engaged is a daily challenge. How can I motivate my kids to become engaged? Often they will not even put their heads up to see what I am giving them.

I have a student in my Multi-Disability Classroom who insists on flapping pieces of paper – he won’t go anywhere without the paper – if he doesn’t have a piece he will search in the trash cans or use his work papers. He is integrated into some classrooms and just uses the class papers to flap. What can I do to extinguish this behavior?

My child tantrums or hits whenever he can’t get what he wants right away. For example, it takes me about 5 minutes to get all of his medications ready and while I’m doing this he’ll want me to sit on the couch and read with him. When I tell him to wait he tantrums or hits me.

One of the students in my Learning Support class requires prompting and reassurance for every problem on his math worksheet.  I want him to complete tasks more independently but he is constantly asking me for help or if his answer is correct.  I can’t work with other students who also need my help with all of these interruptions.  Do you have any suggestions?

I have a 4th grade student who continually raises her hand to answer questions in class. She has ADHD and can be very oppositional and disruptive. When I do call on her, she often answers incorrectly which leads to her slamming her desk, pouting, yelling or sometimes cursing aloud. I love that she is so willing to participate but hesitate to call on her anymore. Do you have any ideas?

My friend’s daughter is 5 and was diagnosed with autism around age 2. She has trouble in public places. I am wondering if anything can help with her aggressive behavior at the doctor. A lot of the employees there have been pinched or bitten by her. Is there something that will help her feel more comfortable in public and with doctors?

I have a student with behavioral challenges who refuses to ask for help when he gets stuck on a problem. I am his regular education teacher but there is an aide in the classroom to assist him. I don’t think he wants to stand out from his peers or “look stupid”. Eventually he gets frustrated, then we see behavior problems that disrupt the class. Any ideas?

My life is a nightmare of feeding problems with my son. He will only eat potato chips or peanut butter packaged crackers. I’m worried about his health. If I offer something else and tell him he must eat it or he’ll get sick I have to deal with a full fledged tantrum! What can I do to stop this behavior?

I teach 2nd grade and have a student with autism in my class this year. Although he is bright, he is often out of his seat and does not want to do his work. I usually have to give him a direction 3-4 times before he responds and in many cases, he still does his own thing! He constantly draws Scooby Doo characters all over his books, desk and papers and will get mad when he is corrected. I would love some ideas about helping him get his work done.

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?