Behavior is a form of Communication

Here we are once again, embarking on a brand new, yet unusual school year. Each year at this time I have new anticipations as well as a full understanding of challenges that we will be facing once school begins once again. That being said, this year of course will be even more different with the pandemic still slithering through the world. Whether a year of pandemic or not, I would like to focus the energy of this blog towards a topic I have hit upon many times throughout my career. What I would like to focus on is behavior as a form of communication.

This topic is the one that deals with weaving behavior issues in with communication. I have come to terms on many occasions that many times when a student has a behavioral "meltdown", it is due to the fact that people do not understand the students wants and or needs. Even as a young parent many years ago, one of my own children had some major speech issues. Many times, after several minutes of working on trying to discover what my 2 year old daughter was trying to get across to me, both she and I would end up with a sense of frustration and discouragement. Her Mother and I got her into speech therapy at a young age and the issues quickly dissipated but I was able to see first hand what many of my families have dealt and currently deal with.

I feel this is something that does need to get brought up for a few reasons. The purpose of these blogs is to bring light to people and offer some hope with issues in the world of education, which may or may not include a disability thrown into the mix. It is super important that we both in the school setting as well as at home find a way to allow our students to express wants and needs in an appropriate way. You see, even in the school setting, I have had experiences where either myself or another staff member could not understand what a student wanted. If not handled in an appropriate way, we could potentially have an escalated behavior due to frustration. What is the answer? What if we cannot understand the students we are in charge of?

One way we work through some of these issues in both the school and home setting is to establish routines. A visual calendar can be extremely helpful for those kids who struggle with not having an established routine. Even in the school setting however when there is a routine, it is extremely helpful to put events on a picture calendar so the students know what is happening now but more importantly, what will be happening next. This way, it eliminates potential surprises that may not work for the student.

Another communication tool is the use of PECS- This is a picture exchange communication system that, when used correctly can make a huge difference in the communication life of students. The students build up communication skills by exchanging the picture with the actual item. The program is then moved to offering choices along with verbals (if appropriate for the particular student) and progressively builds until a strong communication support is put into place. This is just a quick overview look of PECS- I can tell you, this program is way more sophisticated than I have loosely described in this blog. There are training requirements put into place for adults so the program is followed with fidelity - that is my small disclaimer. On the other side of the PECS scale is the fact that I have seen students do wonderful and amazing things with this program, which in turn completely supports their communication and can eliminate escalated behaviors.

I would also challenge you to get to know your students in a thorough way. Communicate with parents frequently so the team of you can be on the same page. If we are being consistent between home and school, we have created a huge win for ourselves, the parents but best of all the student. Learn and figure out non verbal communication from the students as well. If you can get the student's patterns of behavior down and understand where they are coming from, you can also help alleviate escalations. Pay attention to the times when the student may be getting "Hangry." Yes- it is a real thing, that I at times have a difficult time with. Does the student need a restroom but is unable to communicate that with you? If so, set up a bathroom schedule. I have also worked with students who use communication devices. If taught correctly, this tool can also help the students with communicating wants and needs. There can be some issues to deal with when working from the technology end but if it is working and people are trained in how to operate the machinery, the student can have smooth sailing.

I hope this blog post has helped you with some ideas in dealign with communication/behavior issues. Always remember that behavior is a form of communication and the students will find a way of getting their points across some how. It is up to us to explore the options, find out what works best for the students, get ourselves and assistants trained and make sure we are always paying attention to unmet needs. This will help your classroom run smoother than if you are just continually trying to "figure it out."

In conclusion, I hope each of you have a good start to your 2020-21 school year. We are all in this together and we will make it through. The pandemic will be temporary and one day normality will be on the horizon. Until then, keep safe, keep healthy and keep on teaching!