The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Students at all levels of the autism spectrum, indeed all students, present challenging behavior within classroom settings. Teaching self-regulation strategies as part of an overall Behavioral Support Package with a 3P PLAN consisting of Prediction, Proaction and Prevention as the last stage will lead to across-the-board programmatic solutions useful for the group and specific individuals within a group dynamic approach, empowering the child to growth and mastery through self-control even as the teacher increasingly establishes an orderly classroom. With the rise in the incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders, perhaps the greatest challenge facing educators are the behavioral ones posed by their students because managing the social and emotional issues these youngster face requires great skill and expertise yet they are placed in classes and programs that have not always had sufficient preparation to receive them.
    Moreover, severely challenging behavior, including aggression, property destruction, and self-injurious behavior (SIB) can occur in all levels of the autism continuum from mildly autistic to severely autistic. Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome may also exhibit extreme behavior disturbances as well as individuals who are severely autistic and mentally retarded.
    Medications most frequently used are in the class of "anti-psychotics" which many parents are reluctant to give to their children due to their intolerable side effects or because they are ineffective.  Therefore, developing tools in the classroom, often called “behavior support plans” is of primary importance in helping manage and control the behavior of individual students.
    However, there is another approach that can come first and, in fact, does come first in all classrooms, but is often unacknowledged as part of the “behavior” plan and needs to be made explicit and worked into the positive support plan. If all of the steps are taken together to solve the problem, the solution becomes much more powerful and ends with the 3P Plan as a part of the overall BEHAVIOR SUPPORT PACKAGE.
    The underlying philosophy is that the student is being taught to self-regulate his own behavior and emotions. The control is NOT with the teacher; it is with the student. Therefore, this is NOT a contingency plan; it is not a consequences-based, reward-based plan. It is a plan for all students, not just those with ASD. It is part of the overall classroom management that teachers practice every day but in an enhanced fashion.
    All students are asked to control their own behavior every day. They are asked to raise their hand to take their turn to answer a question, to line up at the door to leave the room, to make space between themselves and the child in front of them, to be quiet in the hall, to not touch the walls when walking in the halls, and to follow many other rules. They are expected to be able to do this or to learn to do so.
    Most students, particularly younger students, do not follow all of these rules all of the time. They learn to do this through group instruction in the classroom with repeated practice. Students with ASD can learn it the same way it just takes a lot more repetitious practice. And patience and understanding on the part of the teacher as to what a concrete learning style the youngster has which may account for why it takes so long to generalize a simple rule.
    Typically, students learn from each other as well. If one student in the class gets into “trouble” for a particular behavior, other peers who see this “know” that they should not do the same behavior, at least not right away! While students with ASD often lack social judgment and may not learn from this type of observation, they can learn from imitation particularly when prompted to watch their peers or are part of a group doing an activity rather than having to perform on their own where they may lack self-confidence. Seeing their classmates line-up may cue them as to where to go and what to do, which might have been confusing otherwise. Even giving directions to “everyone, line up” can be particularly helpful as it does not single out the student who may be anxious and having trouble but just lets him quietly use coping skills unobserved.
    Thus, repeated practice (what many teachers call review and over-learning) and group management are important tools that teachers use all the time that can be honed to work particularly well with the ASD population with extra effort and practice. The repeated practice makes sure that the student remembers and can generalize what has been learned, the group management helps the student know what to do and when to do it. These and other specific strategies for scaffolding practice and group dynamic management can be taught to create classrooms that are calm for all the students.
    Why should the student do it? This is often the crux of the argument for those behavior plans that use “star charts” or M&Ms or other contingency procedures just to target the individual behaviors of particular students. We would like to continue to argue that the ASD student at all levels of the autism continuum, just like every other student, does it for the complex motivational reasons that move human beings to learn: to please others, to achieve a sense of pride, to gain mastery, to have fun and to learn new things (fulfill a sense of curiosity). Teaching students with autism is not about changing behavior or correcting deficits but about educating children and when that takes center stage and the intellectual stimulation is fun and exciting, the child will be engaged and much less likely to become upset. Building the motivation to participate fully in the classroom activities is the most rewarding challenge the teacher faces for each of her students.
    There are many foundation steps in helping develop appropriate motivation in students. The first is the development of an appropriate bond or relationship between teacher and student. This is important between all teachers and their students, but it is much easier for a teacher to form a bond with her typical students. With an ASD student, a teacher must take more time to get to know the student and to develop that relationship. This is a crucial step due to the tendencies for communication difficulties and social misunderstandings that those with ASD experience. Specific strategies about how to do this will be presented.
    Building a sense of trust, in the form of high but appropriate and consistent expectations on both sides, allows motivation to grow by supporting the steps for achievement and mastery. Structure and routines, while not rigid, need to be clear and understanding needs to be confirmed so that situations that may produce anxiety can be anticipated and avoided rather than having to be reacted to later. There are many specific strategies for developing these interactions. Among them, it is very important to have clear daily classroom routines, concise instructions that are consistent and uniform, a comfortable and familiar learning environment and a planned schedule. Other specific, more detailed strategies, can include assisting students with sitting and standing postures in order to help them control extraneous hand/leg movements and “fidgets”, maintain attention to task and/or instruction and redirect students into a comfortable postures for waiting, for listening for instructions, or for relaxing for a longer period of time.  
    Another aspect of helping students develop self-regulation of their emotions and behavior, within a structured and organized classroom as described above, is allowing them to have opportunities for sufficient physical energy diffusion. Studies support the fact that vigorous exercise, not mild or even moderate exercise, for at least 15 minutes, is necessary to reduce anxiety and increase concentration. The ways to introduce such a program into a classroom or school setting will be discussed as well as some of the many benefits in health and fitness as well as behavior.
    Yet another foundation aspect to be discussed as part of the behavioral support plan is the implementation of the curriculum and the instructional planning itself. Instruction needs to be well-rounded, broad and balanced, including arts, music, and physical education and computer technology as well as the full complement of academics that are age-appropriate in material but presented in ways that can be accessed and mastered by each student.  Students who experience success feel accomplishment and pride and therefore want to learn. They know when they achieved mastery. They know when they have ridden the bike across the gym. Accomplishment (outcomes) must be real and teaching must be structured to make it so. How to do this will be discussed.
    All of these foundation principles are part of the BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT PACKAGE that is explicitly used before a 3P PLAN is written for a student. This plan, standing for PREDICTION, PROACTION, PREVENTION is written with a specific goal in mind, to increase communication among all staff working with a student in order to predict an area in which the student may be having trouble and what may be causing it, to take proactive steps, that is act now before there is a problem, to find a solution, to prevent significant behavioral outbursts. These plans typically consist of a statement of the behavioral difficulty, the goals, the antecedents, the behavior management and specific guidance to be used and the primary staff to be involved. They are clear, specific and short-term and drafted by the team who will implement them.

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