Behavior Intervention Plans

     The article I read this week is titled "Strategies for Developing and Carrying Out Functional Assessment and Behavior Intervention Planning." This article discusses the framework of building a functional behavior assessment in a typical school. This article was filled with information about functional behavior assessments and behavior intervention plans. I would recommend reading this article if you get a chance!
     Like in our screen casts, the article discussed how the functional behavior assessment is used to help determine the purpose of the problem behavior. Is the student demonstrating the behavior for attention? to escape a task or demand? or maybe for sensory stimuli? Once the purpose of the problem behavior is determined, you can create a behavior intervention plan that will serve the same purpose as the problem behavior. For example, if the student is acting out for the purpose of being able to sit closer to the teacher and for the teacher's attention, the behavior intervention plan may say if the student works well for 5 out of the 7 periods, the student may sit next to the teacher for the last period of the school day. Then, the student's task will increase. Eventually the student will have to work well 7 out of the 7 periods to earn the reward of sitting next to the teacher.
   One thing I found really neat in this article is the discussion about team-based intervention plans. I believe it is so important to have everyone on board with the child's behavior intervention plan. The classroom teacher, resource teacher, and the specials' teachers should all be aware of this plan. Sometimes a student really looks up to one teacher in particular. I had one instance where I had a student who really liked the male Spanish teacher in the building. It was something as simple as having the Spanish teacher stop in for 1 minute in the morning to give the student a little pep talk, and then stopping in at the end of the day to see how many smiley faces this student earned today for completing his work. This simple check in/check out process really helped this student. I also believe that it works so well when the student's parent gets on board. I found, many times, that a behavior demonstrated in my classroom was also a behavior problem at home. In this case, it was very nice to have the parents on board and want the behavior intervention plan in school, as well as, at home. If the student earned an X amount of smiley faces, the student was able to enjoy his IPad for 20 minutes after school. If the student did not earn that amount of smiley faces, the student would not be able to play on their IPad. I felt like having a parent on board was a great experience and it worked so well.
      Overall, I did enjoy reading this article, and I would recommend reading it if you are still unsure and not clear about the functional behavior assessment and behavior intervention plans. The article really does a nice job of explaining the process.

Scott, T. M., Anderson, C. M., & Spaulding, S. A. (2008). Strategies for developing and carrying out functional assessment and behavior intervention planning. Preventing School Failure, 52(3), 39-50.

Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities

     The article I read this week is titled "Career Development: Preparation, integration, and collaboration."  This article discussed the history of career development for adolescents with disabilities, different models of career development, essential components of career development, and how career development can be integrated into academics and the community. This article also mentions ideas for collaborative efforts that help in career development and the transition process.
      The article briefly mentions the history of career development is based off the reasoning that school and education should be connected to the real world. Learning is only meaningful in this way. This outlook on learning greatly impacted the transition process for students with disabilities. There are four themes associated with the transition process. These themes include personal development, personal learning, personal skills, and environmental influences. These four themes come into play when planning a transition for an adolescent with a disability.
     Integrating career development activities into academics is extremely important in the transition process. Students can practice job-related skills in the classroom to better prepare for post school life. It is also important to know and be aware of the accommodations that the student will need in the real world. Will this student be comfortable in a social setting? Will this student need any technological assistance performing a task?  Efforts to promote career development seem to be more successful when introduced early on; before the transition occurs. The earlier students start to work on the skills needed for a career, the easier the transition will become.
      Overall, I did enjoy reading the article. I find the transition process for students with disabilities very important and I enjoy reading about how it could be successful. I wish the article discussed a little more about integration of career development with academics.

Webb, K., Repetto, J., Seabrooks-Blackmore, J., Patterson, K. B., & Alderfer, K. (2014). Career development: preparation, integration, and collaboration. Journal Of Vocational Rehabilitation, 40(3), 231-238. doi:10.3233/JVR-140688

Adolescents with High Incidence Disabilities

Adolescents with High Incidence Disabilities 

     Transitioning From High School to the Real World 

    The article I read this week was titled "Assessing the Transition-Related Strengths and Needs of Adolescents with High-Incidence Disabilities." This article discussed high school students with disabilities and preparing for their post school life. I enjoyed reading this article and recommend reading it. As teachers, our mind is thinking about how we can help our students succeed in the classroom. We make accommodation plans, behavior plans, and IEP goals throughout our school year with a student. As that student reaches the end of their school career, the fear grows. What will this student do after they have completed school? This student's parents want the best for the son/daughter.

       I believe it is so important to take this question into consideration. This article discusses ways to make the transitioning process successful. First, it is important to take the student's skills into consideration. The student's reading fluency, math skills, and social skills should be taken into consideration. Also, along with the academic skills, health and self-determination should also be taken into consideration. If the student has strong math skills, consider a job or volunteer work that the student can use their math skills in. You want to set the student up for success! The post school goals should be strengths-based for the student. The transitioning should incorporate people who know the student well. The teachers, special ed teachers, parents, and any other staff members that work with the student should be involved in the transitioning process. 

     One thing the article mentioned is providing the youth with disabilities with the experience of answering interview questions or providing information about their own strengths and needs. I think preparing students to show others what their strengths are is a very great strategy for post school life. 

     This article also included a study which involved 160 high school students of different sexes and ethnicity. It shows table of the results that include the percentages of students that worked, attended a secondary school, or did not do either. You can take a look at the table if you are interested! It was pretty interesting! 

     Carter E, Trainor A, YE S, Owens  L. Assessing the transition-related strengths and needs of adolescents with high-incidence disabilities. Exceptional Children [serial online]. Fall2009 2009;76(1):74-94. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 27, 2015.

      This week I read an article titled "Sociodynamic Relationships Between Children who Stutter and their Non-stuttering Classmates." I chose this article because I recently viewed a video about stuttering. The video had students that stuttered discuss their thoughts and feelings and actually gave tips for teachers on how to approach students who stutter. I really enjoyed this video and the fact is discussed a lot about students who stutter and their relationship to their teacher. I was curious to find out about students who stutter and their relationship to their peers in the classroom.
      The article discusses how 20 years ago, bullying people who stuttered was at a higher percentage. Now, it was expected that the percentage decreased because of anti-bullying programs and the fact that stuttering is more common now. A student was done to see if this was true. The study included 16 students who stuttered and 403 other students who did not stutter. The result was that students who stuttered were rejected more and were less popular with their peers. They weren't chosen to be leaders for any games or activities. I was disappointed to hear about the results of this study. Although, when the peers were questioned about why they did not choose a particular student, stuttering was not mentioned. The peers explained that the student was quiet or shy, and wouldn't want to be the leader or wouldn't want to play the game. This was interesting because students who stutter may come off shy and like they do not want to talk to others, which may not be the case. Students who stutter may just not like to speak out loud, and still want to participate and play all the same games as their peers.
      I liked this article because it did briefly discuss a study done that I was curious to find information on. I was disappointed in this article because it was very brief and it did not really explain the study. It stated the the students were "examined." I would have liked to know where were they examined. Was it in the classroom? at recess? I would have also liked to know what the observers were looking for exactly.


Davis, S., Howell, P., & Cooke, F. (2002). Sociodynamic relationships between children who stutter and their non–stuttering classmates. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 43(7), 939-947.

Autism: Myth vs Fact

     The article I chose to read this week was titled "Autism-myth and reality." This article discussed several myths about autism, and also discussed some truths about autism. From watching many movies, and hearing stories, many of us believe that people with autism obtain a special talent or a special gift. We assume a person with autism may be really good at math, or may be able to memorize certain things. This is not always true. Yes, some people with autism do have special talents, just like people without autism, but others do not.
     Another myth about autism the article discussed was that people with autism are not friendly or caring. This is not always true. Many people with autism are very loving. There was a study happening about a broken neuron system in people with autism. This neuron was in charge of empathy and imitation. It made sense that it would be broken in people with autism. There was no evidence that could prove this. This theory was proven to be a myth.
     A big myth I always hear is that autism is being caused by the MMR shot, which is the measles, mumps, and rubella shot. This is proven false. It is very true that autism is becoming an epidemic, but the causes are debatable and still unknown.
     I enjoyed reading this article because it discussed many myths about autism that I think many people believe. It is important to know fact vs myth.


Jarrett C. Autism - myth and reality. Psychologist [serial online]. October 2014;27(10):746-749. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 5, 2015.

Emotional/Behavior Disorder

    The article I found is titled, "Mainstreaming Students with Behavior Disorders: The Use of Classroom Peers as Facilitators of Generalization." This article discussed interventions in the classroom for students with emotional/behavior disorders. The interventions the article discussed were self-evaluation procedures, peer-mediated interventions, and a combination of the two.
       The topic I enjoyed the most about this article was the emotional/behavior disorder classroom intervention that involved peers in the general education classroom. The teacher chooses a peer to be a positive role model for the student with the EBD. The positive role model helps the student monitor his/her behavior each day. This allows the student with EBD to have special attention they may be seeking, but also allows the teacher to continue with teaching. I like the approach because, from my experience, the students I have had with a behavior issue crave for friends and crave to be accepted by peers. I think that by pairing up a general ed student with a student that needs some extra help with behavior can really have a good outcome.
       One factor that I would worry about is the peer relationship having the opposite outcome. I would worry that the student that was the positive role model, might be influenced by the student that is acting out or seeking attention. I think it is very important to choose a student that would not be influenced negatively and to discuss with that student his/her job and expectations and a peer mediator.
    All in all, I really enjoyed reading this article and it was pretty interesting. I wish it had discussed more ways of intervention for students with EBD.





DuPual, G. J., & McGoey, K. E. (1997). Mainstreaming students with behavior disorders: The use of classroom peers as facilitators of.. School Psychology Review, 26(4), 634.

Intellectual Disability

     The article I chose to read and discuss is titled "Effects of Child-Centered Play Therapy on Irritability and Hyperactivity Behaviors of  Children With Intellectual Disabilities."  This article talks about a study that was done on two first grade students. A female and a male student with intellectual disabilities. In the study, these students were given CCPT, or child-centered play activity. 

                 I was very interested in this article because it discussed children with intellectual disabilities and how usually when they engage in problem behavior, it is to gain the experiences they need. I know a young student who came to me with a 504 Plan from preschool.. The student has sensory issues and has no concept of space. He is constantly leaning on another student or sitting on another student. He does not recognize when he is doing these things. What I do notice, is when this child gets upset or angry he intentionally needs to shove/push another student. It does not make a difference who this student is that he shoves or push. I am having difficulty with this student, and reading this article about play therapy, made me think that this may be a student that can benefit from this intervention. I noticed self-regulation would be huge with this student. The article discussed how play therapy is great for independence and self-regulation. 

                  Although, I did enjoy reading this article, I felt as if I still wanted more information on what exactly is done in play therapy. "Free Play" is usually a part of our kindergarten day. it teaches kids how to share and socialize. "Free Play" is actually where I see the most trouble with the student I am concerned about. I know it is because it is not as structured as the rest of the day. There are rules, of course, but students have more freedom than they do other parts of the day. I see that this is where the behavior usually occurs. Overall, this was a very interesting article and it opened me up to new ideas about potential interventions for students. 

                 

     S     Swan, K. L., & Ray, D. C. (2014). Effects of child-centered play therapy on Irritability and hyperactivity behaviors of        children with intellectual disabilities. Journal Of Humanistic Counseling, 53(2), 120-133. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1939.2014.00053.x

ADHD- Article Blog

     I really enjoyed the article I found about ADHD. The article is titled "ADHD in the Classroom: Effective Intervention Strategies." I decided to research intervention strategies because I feel as if we hear so much about ADHD and the behavior that arrives from it, but the only treatment I ever really hear about is medication. I was curious to read some more information on ideas on how to accommodate students with ADHD.
     This article really has great information. It discusses several types of intervention ideas for students with ADHD. It talked about antecedent- and consequence-based intervention. Antecedent-based interventions include things, such as posting rules for students on their desk, or allowing them to choose between two different assignments to complete. Consequence-based interventions would be things like a token reinforcement for good behavior, or taking the token away if negative behavior occurs. The article also mentions self-regulation, where the student monitors his/her own behavior. Academic intervention can include peer tutoring, or using technology to help teach and reinforce. Home-school communication intervention with a constant communication between parent and teacher was also discussed in the article.
     As I was reading this article, I was actually remembering doing some of these interventions with a student I had. This student was not diagnosed with anything and was very young. He had behavior, such as, running out of his seat whenever he had a chance, putting his hands on other students, shouting out, complaining and throwing tantrums when he had to do work, and taking off his shoes and throwing them. I remember creating little picture cues of what a good listener looks like and taping them on his desk. He did okay with that for about a week. It just didn't seem to bother him that he wasn't listening. I decided to do a token reinforcement plan. He was obsessed with Angry Birds Star Wars. I just so happened to see these Angry Birds Star Wars figurines and Target in the dollar section. I put them in an envelope and the student kept the envelope under his desk. He was not allowed to touch it. It was a secret and no other students knew about the envelope. If the student completed all of his work, then the last 10 minutes of the day, the social worker would take him and his envelope to her room and he was able to play with the figurines. If he was demonstrating poor behavior, I would take the envelope. If he stopped and was able to get back on task, I would give it back. He was only allowed three warnings. After I took the envelope a third time, then it would stay mine and he wouldn't play that day. It really worked. This behavior plan moved with him to first grade.
     All in all, I really liked this article. I felt like it had great intervention ideas that would benefit students with ADHD.

 DuPaul, G. J., Weyandt, L. L., & Janusis, G. M. (2011). ADHD in the Classroom: Effective Intervention Strategies. Theory      Into Practice, 50(1), 35-42. doi:10.1080/00405841.2011.534935