Ideas needed for special ed. behavioral student before school starts...?

Question

Quick info: This student has only been in the US for about 8 months. He will be a 3rd grader, but looks a couple years older (very strong for his age). He is Deaf and labeled MR, but he has acquired enough sign language to communicate on a basic level and to understand the rules of the class (with picture support where needed). He is a smart kid...he is behind more because he was not exposed to language until this past year, not because of his mental health.

The issue: He developed problem behaviors about 3 months after being in the US. He used to be an affectionate and compliant student, but now he is uncontrollable. There was a minor change at home at the time his behaviors changed and his behaviors at home changed too, but the parents were not entirely truthful until recently, so we couldn't factor that in. His behaviors are attention-seeking, but sending him to the office/cop doesn't have an affect, and restraint isn't an option because he likes it so he will continue to act out.

Answer 1

whoaaa

this sounds like a child we have.

I am but the lowly assistant but we have one just like this.

BUT he IS autistic.

the teacher I work with is very patient with him. I on the other hand have to hand him over to her, because of the pinches and hits he  serves.  your child needs to be reavailidated.

HE MUST BE AUTISTIC?????

my teacher however is very good with structure.  he will do his work. or else no rewards.  NONE!

we have worked with him for a couple years and with what I have seen in the past in my experience............15 years

NOTHING will help unless you get help from home.

you  just have to deal with these type.

this child's mother is in denial.

I have so many bruising on me from him you would not believe. good luck and stay in prayer.

retta

p.s.

we do have the wiehted vest and blankets.

we also let him work for 15 minutes and rest for 5 or 10. dependending on his mood.. we also have the pics.

and talking machines for him.

he uses them , but not really accuractley .

Answer 2

Here's a great message board with people who aer very knowledgable in the special ed laws and everythign else about your situation. Register for free to post there, they'll be glad to help you!

http://www.millermom.proboards107.com/in...

Answer 3

I sure understand where your coming from!  This little guy sounds like he goes into sensory overload.  I agree with the earlier advise about removing his audience.  If you can train your other students to leave the area when he is rampaging, it may reduce the amount of time he spends on the floor.  I am not a big advocate of bribing kids with food, but I do believe in rewards.  Is there something that he likes to do in class like change the calendar, pass out papers, etc that he could be rewarded with instead?  One final thing that I would look at is his communication.  I understand that he's able to communicate on a small level, but it seems to me when kids are non-verbal and tantrum like this, they are unable to get their message across to the adults.  This only cascades into a larger blow up when they don't know how to stop once they've started.

Answer 4

I'm not understanding why "they" are not allowing the use of sensory integration when this appears to be part of this child's needs.  An OT eval for sensory needs should be done. Many children benefit from this not just autistic children.  As the teacher, if I couldn't get the IEP team to see the nessecity of this, I would research or consult with on OT on my own to implement daily activities that would calm this child to prevent these outbursts from happening.

Answer 5

Ok, I'm going to just throw out ideas.  

First off, it sounds like he might qualify for a 1:1 aide until his behavior is under better control.  That would free up the staff (you and your assistant) to work with the other students.  If they continue to be denied FAPE because of this student, you might have real problems on your hands.  That running out of the room should make it easier to get him a dedicated 1:1 as well. Talk about safety issues!

That said... Does he like being isolated from the other students? Do you have a "quiet room" where you could remove him to? Or even better an alternate room or library where you could take the other children?  Then he could tantrum away without disrupting the other kids work.

I work with SED kids, and some of them HATE having their audience removed.  We've set it up with an emergency basket full of alternate work, supplies, and rewards for the kids that have to  pick up and leave.  They understand the drill really well, and we even give them jobs "you carry the basket, you get the dog(we have a class therapy dog!) "   We go to another room to work, the kids get rewarded for listening so well, the child acting out loses his audience and quickly calms down.  We wait a fair amount of time before returning other students, so it is more of a deterant to the tantrumer. They don't like being excluded from the group.  The attention seeker doesn't like missing out on the rewards either. The person staying with the tantruming child actively ignores that the child until they're calm. The child must clean up any messes he's made before other students are allowed to return. Isolation for attention seekers really has worked well for us.

Vanilla is a calming sent, as in lavender.  Why not work in some senory based things as rewards?  Scented markers to color with, scented squishy balls to play with...things that he could earn time with or to keep as his behavior improves, or things to use before he gets to out of control.

Perhaps the assistant can take him to make copies when he appears like he's going to start spiriling. She can have him bunny hop and work off some energy.

Has he been evaluated for childhood bipolar disorder?  Has he had a full psych evaluation since he's been here?  

If you want to e-mail me, feel free.  This sounds like a really challenging assignment that you will be taking on.