10 Critical Components for Success in the Special Education Classroom by Marcia W. Rohrer & Nannette Samson

Author:Marcia W. Rohrer & Nannette Samson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781483339160
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2014-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

The baby is again happy to have her cup back within reach. After this happens a few more times, the baby begins to understand that, not only does she get back her cup when it falls to the floor, but she also gets Mom’s attention. At some point, the baby understands that Mom’s attention is what she will receive when the cup is dropped and she cries. It starts to happen more and more frequently. The baby will keep dropping the cup to the floor as long as she gets what she wants—Mom’s attention!

So, what was the function of this behavior? Initially, the cup was dropped accidentally, and the crying allowed the thirsty baby to get back the cup. The continued crying actually began to serve two functions: tangible (getting back the cup) and attention (Mom fussing over the baby).

Difficulty with communication can affect the function of a behavior. For students who have difficulty with communication on any level, we have found that, when communication improves, so does behavior. Often, a student’s behavior is wholly or partially based on an attempt at communicating his or her wants or needs.

As you read the following scenario, consider the link between communication and behavior: A nonverbal student hits a classmate sitting next to him at the table “for no reason.” When he hits, you remove him to the time-out chair away from everyone else. When he is allowed to return to the table, it isn’t long before he hits a classmate and is again removed from the table.

If he had a way to say, “I would prefer not to sit so close to my classmates,” the hitting might not have occurred. Instead, the function of his behavior was escape, and without the words or communication skills to let you know, he resorted to using his behavior.

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