6 Teaching  

Consequence-Based Behavioral Interventions

Consequence-Based Behavioral Interventions are ways to help shape and change challenging behaviors from students. Not every child or student will need behavioral intervention, but for those that do, having a solid plan is critical for behavioral changes. The main goal is to make behaving in desired ways more fun than misbehaving.  With use of a carefully thought-out plan, time and consistency amongst those working with the student, positive behavioral changes can occur. As questions come up be sure to ask!

General Skills Teaching and Prompting

For a number of students, skills need to be explicitly taught.  These students may not gain skills in the same manner that peers do. Through teaching these skills (such as social skills, play/leisure skills, and communication skills to name a few) students are able to work toward further independence and potential. Teaching skills will need to first occur in a 1:1 setting and then work across teachers/caregivers and settings to help students best reach independence and their potential.

Structured Skills Teaching

Using teaching methods such as task analysis (step by step instruction in how to complete the task), chaining (teaching one-step at a time and working to gradually put all the steps together), modeling (demonstrating the task), and a number of others can help ensure students are learning the skills correctly and at a pace that works best for them.

As you are working with your child, ask questions about the reasoning behind the methods, how to help or why each method was decided upon for your student. Parents using the same methods as school personnel when helping their child can increase the student’s ability to independently complete the skill.

Tasks and Adaptations

Through creating structured tasks that focus on a skill, students are able to work towards mastery.  Tasks are created allowing for organization, clarity in what they are needing to do, and how to complete the task.  Through using structured tasks, students are able to begin working towards independence and working through the skill on their own without the need for changes to the task.

Using these types of tasks can help ensure that barriers to success are minimized.  Additionally, students are often able to learn with minimal mistakes through appropriate prompting to help ensure they are learning the skills correctly the first time.

Providing adaptations to tasks and worksheets can help to provide organization and clarity in ways they may not have prior to the adaptations being made.  Adaptations can also make curriculum available to students that otherwise would not be able to participate.

Being aware of the different between accommodations (how the student learns the materials) vs modification (changes to what is being taught) can help to ensure understanding by everyone working with the student about what the student is learning and the best ways for them to succeed in their learning.

For more information with sorting tasks check out our Sorting Task How-to.