Resolving Your Child's Challenging Behavior

A Practical Guide to Parenting With Positive Behavior Support

Mary Ellen (Meme) Hieneman, Karen Elfner, Jane Sergay

• Publisher: Brookes Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781681255644
• eBook ISBN:
  9781681255651
• Edition: 2
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

This practical guide teaches parents to use positive behavior support (PBS) to address a child’s challenging behavior. It helps parents identify the reasons underlying the behavior and intervene through a three-pronged approach: 1) preventing problems, 2) replacing challenging behaviors, and 3) managing consequences. Concrete, research-based examples, exercises, downloadable worksheets, and chapter-long case studies walk parents through every step of the process.
 

Sections I and II presented the principles and the process of PBS, using the examples of Deon, James, and Brittany to illustrate. The focus of Section III is to share more comprehensive stories of children and their families as they encountered behavioral concerns and addressed them using the PBS process. The detailed, step-by-step experiences of these families will reinforce and expand on the PBS approach described in previous sections. Each story includes the following:

•A brief background on the child and family, the important issues in their lives, and a short history of the challenging behavior

•A description of how the family engaged in the five steps of the PBS process: 1) establishing goals, 2) gathering information, 3) analyzing patterns, 4) developing a plan, and 5) monitoring results

•A reflection on the PBS process and strategies taken to correct the behavior and how well the strategies worked

Each story is unique in terms of the child’s age and characteristics, behaviors of concern, family circumstances, factors affecting the child’s behavior, and the strategies selected to address the behavior and monitor outcomes. Although there are differences in how each family approached the PBS steps, the principles and basic process remained consistent. It may be apparent from reading these stories that there is a wide variability in the methods families can use to gather and analyze information and in the different level of details the plans themselves contain. Depending on the problems and circumstances we face, we may apply the PBS process very systematically and carefully (e.g., using the written procedures shown in Sections I and II) or very informally (e.g., relying on simply watching, talking, and reflecting on the issues).

Section III provides a chance for us to apply the principles of PBS through the use of models, prompting and guiding us through the process using the stories of Zoë, Isobel, and Michael. What Do You Think? activities are inserted throughout the three stories to give us an opportunity to consider what actions we might take given the information presented and the particular child and family in the story. After the activities, detailed explanations of the actions taken by the families are provided.

The PBS process is necessarily more formal and involved in the first two stories (Zoë and Isobel). They present detailed examples of the process involving extensive data collection and a wide variety of strategies to address the challenging behaviors. The third story (Michael) provides an example of a less involved, but no less effective, approach. This is an example of a situation in which PBS is implemented informally but still produced positive results for the child and family, which is most often the case. This example is included to focus on the central theme of PBS—how understanding behavior and its context leads to the development of positive, creative, and manageable solutions. Concise examples of the children’s final behavior support plans are included in Appendix A at the end of this book.

The goal of Section III is to help us become more comfortable with PBS as we go through the illustrations of the process and apply the practices to real-life situations. These stories bring PBS to life and show us how to make it a working tool.

Zoë is a 4-year-old girl with a precocious nature. She loves to perform for those around her and spends a lot of time acting out videos, especially when an audience is available. Her parents encourage her to perform and enjoy showing off her talents. She has many friends in her preschool and enjoys her mornings at school and playdates. Zoë tends to be a leader among her friends. Her days are very busy and she no longer takes time to nap. Her mother, Helena, describes Zoë as loving, bubbly, and full of pep. Zoë can also be obstinate and bossy with her friends and parents.

Zoë lives in the suburbs with her mother, Helena, and stepfather, Alex, who Helena married when Zoë was 1 year old. Helena left her job when she became pregnant with Kora, Zoë’s infant sister. Although money is tight, the family seems to be handling it okay. Zoë’s stepfather, Alex, works for a television station selling commercial time and commutes in and out of the city by train. Both parents thrive on routine and organization. The entire family enjoys staying busy and is constantly involved in projects or activities. Alex has long hours and usually comes home around 8:00 p.m. Baby Kora is 6 months old. Zoë seems to enjoy the idea of having a sister but does not give Kora much attention.

Until recently, Zoë would go to sleep without much difficulty. She would take a bath, get into her pajamas, and brush her teeth at approximately 7:30 p.m. each evening. Helena would put Zoë in bed and either parent would lie down and read to her. One of the parents would then dim the lights, give Zoë her teddy bear, rub her back, and leave the room. Zoë would usually have a restful night, waking only periodically when ill or awakened by unusual noises. In the morning, she would wake up perky and ready for the new day.

Now Zoë resists going to sleep. The difficulty begins at bath time, when Zoë disrobes and begins running around the house. Helena tries to joke with her and coax her to the tub but ultimately becomes angry and has to make her take a bath. Zoë gets out of the tub easily and puts on her pajamas. After one of Zoë’s parents reads three books of Zoë’s choice and rubs her back for 5 minutes (a routine that had been previously established), Zoë refuses to stay in her bed. The other parent who had been caring for Kora usually comes in at this point to say goodnight to Zoë. After both parents say good night, Zoë starts to whine and sit up in bed. Her parents leave the room, telling Zoë that it is time to go to sleep. Zoë insists that the light be left on. When her parents go downstairs, Zoë repeatedly calls for them from her room and then proceeds to come down to the family room where her parents are watching television or are on the computer, either alone or with Kora. Helena usually walks Zoë back to her room.

Zoë starts to cry when Helena leaves the room again. This pattern happens at least two more times. After taking Zoë back to her room and trying the tactics of negotiating, bribing, yelling, threatening, and eventually screaming, Helena is exhausted and often lies down and subsequently falls asleep in Zoë’s bed. She eventually slips out of Zoë’s room and goes back to her own room. Zoë awakens during the night, calls for Helena, and then goes to her parents’ bedroom. Alex usually walks Zoë back to her bed at this point. He has tried numerous plans, such as locking Zoë in her room and returning to his own room, but this causes Zoë to really get out of control. She kicks the walls, breaks her toys, pounds on the door, and stays up crying for as long as 2 hours. Alex has also tried putting up a gate at Zoë’s bedroom door, but she climbs over it the minute he leaves her room and runs back into her parents’ room. Both parents are worried that Zoë will hurt herself either by climbing over the gate or by banging into a sharp edge of a broken toy or piece of furniture during a tantrum. Her parents have even resorted to locking their own bedroom door, but after pounding on their door for 30 minutes, Zoë will get a butter knife from the kitchen drawer and try to break open the lock on their door.

Both parents have been inconsistent in dealing with Zoë’s nighttime behavior. Sometimes they calmly discuss the issue with Zoë and other times they yell at her immediately (often depending on how they are feeling). Her parents are both frustrated and exhausted, and caring for a new infant only makes it harder to be patient with Zoë. They feel that Zoë’s behavior is disrupting the entire family and damaging their relationships with both of their daughters and with each other.

Given the circumstances, they have decided to try to look at Zoë’s behavior more closely so that they can be more consistent and effective in dealing with it.

STEP 1: ESTABLISHING GOALS

The first step in PBS is for us to identify goals, establish larger, lifestyle goals for our children and families, and define and prioritize specific behaviors of concern.

Establishing Broad Goals

In addition to defining behaviors of concern, we also want to consider what broader goals we want to achieve for our children and families. Broad goals go beyond just stopping a challenging behavior into things such as improving relationships, building opportunities, and maintaining emotional well-being.

■ WHAT DO YOU THINK? ■

What broad goals might you identify for Zoë and her family?

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Zoë’s parents considered both Zoë’s needs and their own needs and decided on these goals:

•Zoë will fall asleep independently, remaining in her own room through the entire night (and feel safe and content).

•Bedtime will be a happy, peaceful period for the whole family.

•The family will be rested, relaxed, and generally comfortable with one another.

Zoë’s parents realized that having a peaceful, independent bedtime was their goal and not Zoë’s. Zoë would prefer to be with her parents and receive the reassurance that she gets from their presence (especially since Kora has come along).

Defining the Challenging Behavior(s)

Behaviors of concern must be clearly defined. We should make the definitions as specific as necessary to ensure that the behaviors would be identifiable to people who hav...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Downloads
• About the Authors
• Foreword Glen Dunlap, Ph.D.
• Note to the Reader
• Acknowledgments
• In Memoriam
• Section I: Introduction and Overview: The Basics of Positive Behavior Support
• Section II: The Process of Positive Behavior Support: Problem Solving Through the Process
• Section III: Stories of Positive Behavior Support: Practicing the Process Through Case Illustrations
• Section IV: Enhancing Lives Through Positive Behavior Support: Making the Process Work for Families
• Chapter Appendix A: Behavior Support Plans for the Case Studies
• Chapter Appendix B: Examples of Problem-Solving for Difficult Family Routines
• Resources
• Bibliography
• Index
• Ad Page
• Back Cover