Behavior Contract

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2007
Behavior Contract
9
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 12:05pm

Hi Moms,


I am new here but am so glad after this morning's phone call to have found this board.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2007
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 4:39pm


Hello and welcome.

I'm not sure what you mean by a behavior "contract". If the school means they want to put a behavior plan in place that THEY will follow when your son has breakdowns to ensure his safety and comfort level, than that is fine. My son has one and when he begins to feel frustrated and upset the teacher follows the plan that was agreed upon at our PPT. It includes deep breathing, some sensory things(bean bag chairs are great for deep pressure), taking a walk and when all else fails he goes to his safe place, which is the school Psychologist's office. If on the other hand, they want your son to sign a "contract" agreeing to "Behave himself" then I don't think they really understand Autism spectrum disorders at all. There are schools that still think this way. A contract implies that the child COULD behave if he wanted to and children on the spectrum are lacking the skills to do so. There are really two steps to this. One is to manage the behavior in a way that does not demoralize or degrade the child, and the other is to simultaneously develop the skills that are lacking. The plan should be to assist your son in regrouping after a breakdown. It is also helpful if the staff can recognize your son's triggers so that they can try to avoid the meltdowns to begin with. His IEP should include a plan to develop whatever skills he is struggling with. Good Luck.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2007
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 5:36pm

I believe it is the latter, that they think he chooses to misbehave.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-30-2003
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 7:38pm

You should find a child advocate in your area to help you with this issue. My son's former school wrote an inadequate Behavior Plan for him and basically used it against him to try and force a placement change when he "failed" to improve his behavior.


I used an advocate for a while and we got more out of the IEP process by having her with us. In the end, we opted to homeschool though. Teachers and admin types do not know much about autism, especially the higher end of the spectrum.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2007
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 8:41pm

That is what I fear will happen with my son.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 11:46pm

Hi there,

I am a mom of 2 ASD kids (11 and 13), 2 typical kids and a teacher of children with autism.

I think what the school wants to write is not a "behavior contract" per se but a "positive behavior intervention plan" (BSP). This actually would be a very very good idea.

A positive behavior support plan is NOT a behavior contract where kids agree to behave, but rather it is a guideline for all staff who work with him on what they need to do to help support him so he has better behavior.

There are many components to a BSP including identifying what causes the behavior problem, what steps staff can take to avoid it, what reinforcers will be used to help modify the childs behavior and consequences for behavior (and this will help things like that lost field trip NOT happen, that was NOT an appropriate consequence for your child from the sounds of it).

So for instance, if change typically causes problems for your son they may say they will use visual schedules, etc to warn him in advance of changes as well as giving him extra time to process the change. They may provide some tokens or some sort of reinforcer for having appropriate behavior during the change.

I am in So. Cal and there is a basic form that is used through out our area that was created by Diana Browning-Wright. I will look it up and post the link for it. I am in San Diego county and know some good resources in this area if you are close to here.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: nan3276
Fri, 11-02-2007 - 11:53pm

PS. I should mention a BSP is not a contract between teachers and students. It is a confidential document to be used by staff so that everyone is using the same strategies based on the students individual needs and profile rather than tons of different approaches

There may be a contract component to it but it should be a reinforcing type thing. Something to motivate him as well as teach him replacement appropraite behaviors.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-02-2007
In reply to: nan3276
Sat, 11-03-2007 - 12:38am

Renee,


Thank you so much for the information, I am quite relieved after reading your post.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-30-2003
In reply to: nan3276
Sat, 11-03-2007 - 10:59am

Sorry, I'm on the East Coast. I found a very good advocate in my area by joining the internet forum of the Autism Society of America chapter in my area.


Behavior Intervention Plans are supposed to be a good thing. However, people are people and they don't always follow the BIP. I know that in my son's case, the teachers didn't follow the plan they wrote. It turned into denial of FAPE and I had a very strong case to litigate (such a long story)..but, I figured you can't litigate compassion or common sense into the people I was dealing with.


An advocate would, at least, be able to draft a strong BIP that places the responsibility on the school and not the kid. If the school fails to follow the BIP, you would have a legal recourse. Also, having an advocate there stops the school people from blaming poor parenting etc... Whenever the school tries to go there, the advocate should cut them off. I really think my son's whole school experience would have been different if I had an advocate from the very start of the IEP process. I really put too much faith in the school system and went along with what they said was best.


Best wishes.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: nan3276
Sat, 11-03-2007 - 2:07pm

That is exactly the website I was going to send you to. Got busy and forgot to post it, sorry. I can't get the page to load today for some reason so I can't point out exactly the form I was thinking of but it should be listed under "behavior support plans" or something similar.

Are you in san diego city schools? Email me through my profile and I can make some recomendations.

Renee

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