We told the parents to pick up their son at exactly 3:05 pm.
One of our students with special needs couldn't handle long delays. He'd climb, shout, scream, push, throw objects, and show aggressive behavior because it's time to go, and he has to go! He has zero patience for waiting!
I tried everything to redirect and allow him to focus on other things!
The other day, tickling him while he plays with the door buzzer, running after him while he tries to open the office door (so he can run the other direction), counting 1-100, and asking him to do deep breathing worked - the student was, obviously entertained!
Finally, at 3:16 pm, the stepdad came with his dog. I was sweating and catching my breath! Boy, that was the longest 11 minutes of my day!
So, I had to tell him what I had to say to him! "Dad! The agreement was to pick him up at 3:05! You are 11 minutes late!"
He said, "Oh, I thought I have to pick him up at 3:18?" (He was feeling proud because he was 2 minutes early!)
I exclaimed, "No! It's 3:05! Eleven minutes is unacceptable! Can you see my sweat?! I had to play with him!"
He smiled! As if I was funny.
I continued, "Here's his Behavior Intervention Plan. And please get the dog out of my way. I'm afraid of dogs!"
He laughed.
I said, "Bye! 3:05, OK!? 3:05!"
Sometimes, I wonder why God will bring a person into my life. But for this little kid, the purpose is clear: to ensure my 10,000 steps (and so on and so forth!) LOL!
As for the stepdad, he should learn his lesson too! (He smells like weed! Wahhh!)
BUT, what about you? Any thoughts about the following:
- What possible strategies can you do to stop the behavior?
- What can be the replacement behavior? And how will you teach it?
- If parents are not cooperative, what will you do?
Hi Mam Gemma! The situation that happened was a good opportunity for behavior modification because waiting ( parent picked up late) and being patient ( change of daily routine ) are skills that all kids should learn ( including us by the way :-) ) For me this is what I would do :
ReplyDelete1. Introduce the good behavior of waiting - To learn the new and good behavior, the student and the teacher should introduce the scenario. This should be included in the lesson. Get a clock and show the child as it turns to dismissal time. Tell that it is ok for the fetcher to be late because there could be reasons. Enumerate possible reasons with pictures especially of the child is non-verbal. Tell what to do if fetcher is late ( ex. sit down, read a book, work on manipulatives )
2. Simulation Time - the teacher and the student should act the scenario. The Teacher will demonstrate first what to do while waiting ( examples given in #1 )
After the demo of the good behavior by the Teacher, she then invites the student to do the same.
3. Role Playing - The Teacher will now play as the late fetcher and will now guide the student on how to react appropriately. Teach also that if the fetcher comes, the student should return all the things that he used while waiting, be it the books or the manipulatives back to the proper place.
Some students will be able to learn right away and others may take a while. Just be patient. We too are being taught this virtue.