Category: Challenging behavior
-
Changing my lens on Oppositional Defiant Disorder
I have struggled with letting go of my viewing lens for my youngest son; I seem to have seen him as oppositional (and subsequently then push him to be defiant) since he was about a year old. We recently went to his first real optometry appointment because he advocated his need for glasses (it was…
-
Regulation before Education
As many kids begin to head back to school in-person or start distance learning for the 2020-21 school year, there is a lot of attention and focus on what kids will need, and what will be important for them to be successful. Many teachers/educators are wondering how to create an environment that will best support…
-
A professional journey: Thinking outside of the (behavioral) box
Today’s guest author is Diane Gould. Diane is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Behavior Analyst with a private practice outside of Chicago. She is also the founder of PDA North America.
-
Gaslighting: How School districts justify the use of restraint and seclusion
Today’s guest author is Robin Roscigno. Robin Roscigno is a scholar/practicioner specializing in education for Neurodivergent children. She is a PhD candidate at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education and consults with school districts and parents on a range of topics. Most recently, Robin was awarded the Irving K. Zola Award for Emerging Scholar in Disabiliy…
-
How Collaborative & Proactive Solutions has helped our family
I’ve considered our parenting style “middle of the road” since our two children were born. We read “What to Expect when you’re Expecting,” sleep books, toddler books, and so on. We never spanked. We sent kids to their rooms for timeouts, created behavior charts, and counted to three. We used “grandma’s rule” – you can…
-
End Prone Restraint, Embrace Alternatives for Illinois Public School Students
From August 2017 to December 2018, Illinois public school districts documented over 15,000 physical restraints with a quarter of those beginning with no documented safety reason. In the 50,000 pages of documentation of seclusion and restraint incidents in Illinois public schools, there are records of many students saying they can’t breathe and are being hurt…
-
Advocating for change in Pennsylvania
Being an advocate is not just my career. From the day we brought our daughter home, I have fought for her. You see, my daughter is on the Autism Spectrum with severe anxiety. This journey hasn’t been an easy one. Before she was diagnosed it was a constant battle getting doctors to hear me when…
-
How is that legal?
I drove my 5th-grade son, Caleb, up to a historic brick building on a brisk, sunny March morning. I told Caleb that this was the first school built in the district, and promised to look up the year it was built after the tour if the school director didn’t know.
-
Is Your Child “Violent?” Why the answer to this question may save your child’s life.
Schools are telling us year after year that children are becoming increasingly more violent. In fact, they use this to justify restraint, seclusion, mass suspensions, expulsions, and zero tolerance policies. Many children have the word ascribed to them in their IEP documents as early as Kindergarten. Yes, we are expected to believe armies of violent…
-
Help! I’m trapped in the “safe room”
Kindergarten and First grade were challenging. My son, who is biracial and autistic, was suspended regularly and I took him out of school for the last two months of Kindergarten, as they were unable to support him. By the end of First Grade, he spent most of his days working one on one with an…