Behavior Management Strategies and ADHD students
Text from William & Mary and Texas A&M https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/documents/packets/adhd.pdfThe goal of behavior management strategies is to help students learn to manage their ownbehavior. The following strategies are most effective when used in conjunction with evidence based instructional strategies.
Prevention StrategiesHere are some preventive measures that support students in demonstrating positivebehavior.
Nonverbal Supports: Together with the student, develop inconspicuous,nonverbal messages such as eye contact, hand gestures, or other signals that teachstudents to recognize the conditions that trigger specific behaviors. Once thesystem is developed, students can learn to manage their behavioral responsesbefore they occur.
For example, creating a signal and routine for “taking a five minutebreak” at a specified classroom location provides an opportunity for thestudent to recognize when he is becoming restless or frustrated and preventsbehavior from escalating. This system is most effective if used before thebehavior escalates or intensifies.
Choice as Reward: Choice in and of itself appears to be highly reinforcing.Provide choices of activities between assignments or embed choices withinassignments (e.g., choice of materials, readings, response modes, peer partners).Choices also provide students practice in decision making.
Checking With Chimes: In order to teach students to monitor their attention totask, set reminders at random intervals on an electronic device, such as asmartphone or kitchen timer. Time intervals should be set based on the student’sattention span and the pace of the lesson (typically 3 to 5 minutes). When thetone sounds, the student charts or marks whether she is engaged in learning. Asimple yes or no checklist works well. Students can monitor their own behaviorsby giving themselves points or checkmarks for appropriate behavior. Extra pointsmay be awarded when student and teacher ratings match. The student could thenchart her score using a computer program, tablet, smartphone, graph paper, orposter board.
Visual and Environmental Prompts: Use behavioral and environmental prompts to increase desired classroom behaviors. For example, pictorial prompts of students attending in class serve as a reminder of the teacher’s expectations for learning and behavior. Electronic visual aids such as interactive whiteboards and document cameras are helpful for capturing the attention of students with ADHD (Piffner, 2011).
By:
Anne Miller vijayalaxmi Santosh Mhetre
Thursday, Jun 10, 2021
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