Behavioral Support: Helping Children Succeed in their Natural Environment

Tantrums, hitting, screaming, spinning objects, playing in isolation…are these happening because of the terrible two’s or is there a more serious problem? Parents face many challenges and knowing when and how to get help is just one.

If your child has social delays, challenging behaviors, deficits in play, or hardships with independent living skills, behavioral support services may offer the additional support that you need. Behavior programs are individually designed to fit the needs of your child and the primary focus is on independence. Programs that work on independent living skills may include, participating during the feeding routine, dressing, and assistance with toilet training. Appropriate play skills are taught in most behavior programs in an effort to reduce repetitive behaviors and to build a solid foundation where communication and social goals can generalize. Meaningful social skills programs are developed to encourage social interaction with adults and peers. Social skill programs vary depending on the child’s need. Some examples of skills that are taught include appropriate eye contact, reciprocal conversation, greetings and farewells, sibling interaction, and turn taking. Lastly, functional communication training plays a significant role in many behavior programs in an effort to increase positive behaviors while reducing challenging behaviors. Challenging behaviors may range from repetitive behaviors, such as hand flapping to self injurious behaviors. The first step in dealing with difficult behaviors is to identify the function of the behavior in order to understand why the behavior is occurring. The next critical step is to find a functionally equivalent behavior that will replace the problem behavior. The replacement behavior is systematically taught while the challenging behavior is eliminated.

Behavioral support services may be provided in a variety of locations including the home environment, out in the community, or in the school setting. Working 1:1 in the natural setting is critical for two main reasons: generalization and family involvement. Many behavior programs occur in the home where parents and siblings are actively involved. The behavior specialist teaches the skill to the child directly and then the newly acquired skill is used with different people in a variety of settings until the skill is in the child’s repertoire. Although each program is tailored according to the needs of the child common approaches include the use of visual supports, structured routines, and consistent follow through, clear and concise language, social stories, and behavioral contracts.

Overseen by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Total Education Solutions offers specifically designed behavior programs to maximize your child’s potential. Treatment plans are developed in collaboration with the child’s family and include development of meaningful goals, baseline history with ongoing data on progress, parent consultation, and direct intervention. Therapy sessions systematically teach skills and target specific behaviors using a variety of techniques including, play based applied behavior analysis (ABA), pivotal response training (PRT), discrete trial training (DTT), and picture exchange communication system (PECS).

Living with special needs is a challenge. We are here to help.

To learn more, please visit our website, www.tesidea.com or call and speak to our BCBA Supervisor, (323) 622-0742.