The+Pros+and+Cons+of+Behavior+Management+Techniques+with+Emotionally+Disturbed+and+Autistic+Students


 * __What does it mean to be emotionally disturbed? __**

According to [|http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs5txt.htm:

“Many terms are used to describe emotional, behavioral or mental disorders. Currently, students with such disorders are categorized as having an emotional disturbance, which is defined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as follows:

"...a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance-- (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.

(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.

(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems." [Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, Section 300.7(c)(4)(i)] As defined by the IDEA, emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia but does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. [Code of Federal Regulation, Title 34, Section 300.7(c)(4)(ii)]”

Emotionally disturbed (ED) children tend to have very different needs from those of their peers, both classified and non-classified. Children with ED can be explosive, unaware of social cues and struggle to demonstrate socially acceptable behavior. Often these children an unaware of their triggers (what causes their volatile behavior) and for these reasons, educators must use a variety of techniques to support these children.


 * Here are some techniques that are used to manage the behavior of Emotionally Disturbed Children:**

1) __Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)__ A functional behavioral assessment is used to collect data and determine possible triggers for inappropriate behaviors. The FBA is used to determine whether what an appropriate setting is and what appropriate services are, to determine what the triggers are and what are appropriate replacement behaviors are, as well as determining positive interventions are. There is a sequence of recordings that must occur to during an FBA including logging what the Antecedent Behavior Consequences (ABC) are to help assist in why a child is misbehaving. This also can be logged as a behavioral recording, frequency recording, duration/momentary time sampling or scatter plots. ( [|http://www.behavioradvisor.com/FBA.html)

__Pros to FBA:__ __Cons of FBA: __ 2) __Token System__ A token economy is a system of behavior modification. The original proposal for this system emphasized reinforcing positive behavior by awarding "tokens" for meeting positive behavioral goals. The tokens themselves are not rewards; tokens are accumulated and "spent" in order to obtain a reward. Students earn tokens, which they can exchange for privileges, such as choice time, tangible prizes, and special activities either in school or at home.
 * Can determine if there are any patterns in a child’s inappropriate behavior, whether it is a common trigger, a specific time of day or a specific subject area.
 * Documentation of how the child responded to a specific situation or circumstance.
 * Documentation of how the school responded and what consequence occurred
 * Very time consuming, requiring staff in addition to the classroom teacher to maintain.
 * Doesn’t always determine patterns because with ED children, patterns don’t always exist.

__Pros:__ __Cons: __ 
 *  Tokens are flexible. 
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black">Tokens can be used for several needs. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black">There is no delay giving tokens after the desired behavior has been shown. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black">It does not matter who gives the tokens. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black">It can be consistently applied by multiple teachers in multiple settings.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"">It takes a lot of preparation and tracking of the behavior, tokens and rewards.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"">Not everyone will respond to token system.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"">Once the system is implemented in one class, it may not be followed through in the next class or setting.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: black">Often it requires parental follow though that doesn’t always occur. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"">