Many teachers and parents of young children with disabilities, particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are familiar with young children who engage in repetitive and restrictive behaviors such as flapping, spinning, and rocking. This type of restrictive and repetitive behavior, or stereotypy, can be common, over time it can become problematic…

The trend in school psychology services is a shift from an emphasis on an assessment-based paradigm to one of consultation problem-solving and behavioral intervention. A critical component of consultation-derived interventions and behavior change is "treatment integrity." Treatment integrity (or fidelity) refers to the extent to which an…

The article suggests and describes several ways in which social validation procedures can be employed by researchers and educators to help them select when and how much to modify target behaviors of students. (DLS)

This article examines the behavioral treatment of Trichotillomania. A brief overview of the diagnosis and assessment of Trichotillomania is provided. Guidelines for a structured clinical evaluation when working with people diagnosed with Trichotillomania are supplied. The most effective behavioral interventions and treatments for working with…

The study evaluated the effects of a time-efficient reinforcer assessment package with three preschoolers with autism. Systematic assessment of children's reinforcers for correct responding virtually eliminated nontargeted maladaptive behaviors, and yielded expected improvements in accuracy. (Author/DB)

This paper explores how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects students and how teachers can help such students lead productive lives in the classroom and elsewhere. It describes the symptoms of OCD in students, including trouble getting to school on time because of rituals while getting cleaned and ready in the morning, inability to finish…

The literature on fears and phobias of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities is reviewed. Assessment procedures are then examined, including interviews, self-reports, parent rating scales, and behavioral observations. Interventions are drawn from the principles of respondent, operant, and vicarious conditioning. (Author/DB)

The process of "functional assessment" is recommended to establish a basis for individualized behavior management programing for students with special needs. The approach is based on identifying the functions of the challenging behavior and involves systematically collecting information about the behavior and developing an intervention…

Noting that teachers wishing to increase students' listening skills must focus on modification of specific causes of ineffective communication behavior rather than theorizing about generic symptoms, this paper describes a competency oriented approach for improving listening skills. The paper first provides a rationale for improving listening…

Staff members (n=152) assigned to 76 clients with moderate to severe mental retardation in Norway received training in behaviorally oriented treatment and assessment. Results did not support the hypothesis that training in treatment and assessment would produce greater improvement in client behavior than would training in treatment alone.…

The brief paper summarizes the 1983 report, "Social Integration of Moderately Handicapped Students through Cooperative Goal Structuring: Influence of Teacher Instruction on Cooperation" by JoAnne Putnam. Techniques for constructing group learning activities using cooperative goal structuring are broken down into the following steps: (1)…

The purpose of precision teaching is to modify those academic or social behaviors that are in need of change, as effectively and efficiently as possible. Development of a precision teaching program involves pinpointing the target behavior, administering daily probes, charting the data, setting the aim, implementing the instructional strategies,…

This guide is intended to help California educators comply with requirements of the 1990 Hughes Act (which ensured the right of the state's special education students to a behavioral intervention plan) and with requirements of the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997) concerning functional behavioral assessment and…

Describes and evaluates a classroom behavior management training program in terms of student attitudes toward the activities. Results indicate students low in self-sufficiency had more positive attitudes toward group oriented activities. Suggests this evaluation approach can be used as a model for assessment of specific classroom activities.…

This article provides guidelines for conducting culturally sensitive functional assessments by forming a diverse multidisciplinary team, employing culturally sensitive ways of selecting target behaviors, collecting data on students and their behavior, analyzing data and formulating hypotheses; and developing culturally responsive behavioral…