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…

We developed this special issue, "Effective Low-Intensity Strategies to Enhance School Success: What Every Educator Needs to Know," for "Beyond Behavior" as a resource for educators and parents. Each article provides easy-to-access resources for readers to learn about effective, efficient, low-intensity strategies to support…

Challenging behavior is often a source of frustration for parents. Challenging behavior is defined as any behavior that interferes with children's learning and development, is harmful to children and to others, and puts a child at risk for later social problems or school failure (Bailey & Wolery, 1992; Kaiser & Rasminsky, 2003). Children's…

For most children, the developmental stage of exploring the world by putting everything, food and non-food items, in or around the mouth begins at birth and ends around 18 months of age. However, for those with developmental disabilities, this tendency may last into adulthood with the ingestion of non-nutritive, non-food items, a disorder called…

Great strides have been made in the development of skills and procedures to aid children with developmental disabilities to establish maximum independence and quality of life. Paramount among the treatment methods that have empirical support are treatments based on applied behavior analysis. These methods are often very labor intensive. Thus,…

With the increase of students with autism in public schools, alternative schools, and in-home programming, attention to effective learning procedures has increased. A general model based on precision teaching for practicing behavior to fluency is presented as a guide for teachers and parents. This model applies to a wide variety of skills and can…

With the increase in the numbers of diagnosed children on the autism spectrum, schools are being challenged to provide proper educational services for these children. In Educating Children with Autism, the National Research Council recommended that educational programs for students with autism include three basic components. These are direct…

Background: The EarlyBird program is a psycho-educational early intervention program for parents of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). It aims to provide parents with skills to increase their child's communication and manage challenging behaviour using behavioural techniques. Method: Two interlinked studies examined access to the…

Shaping behavior by reinforcing a series of successive approximations is discussed, and procedures for promoting internal shaping in children are described. Instructions are given for the "shaping game," by which parents and children can learn the techniques. (CL)

Guidelines are offered to parents and teachers for dealing with "normal" and aberrant theft while maintaining respect for the child's right to privacy. It is noted that theft is resistant to traditional intervention; however, successful behavioral interventions have been devised. (Author/CL)

Ten guidelines for effective use of positive reinforcement as a parenting technique are described. Practical examples are used to illustrate such principles as consistency, immediacy, and specificity in giving praise. A distinction is made between giving reinforcement and giving love. (JW)

An ecological survey is used to collect information about a wide range of variables that can influence a student's problem behavior. The survey enables teachers and parents to identify the settings and conditions in which behaviors are displayed, in order to develop an appropriate behavior change program. (JDD)

The sleep-wake cycles of 4 developmentally delayed individuals (ages 3-19) with severe sleep disturbances were regulated using a faded bedtime procedure with response cost. Following treatment, all four increased their amounts of nighttime sleep; two decreased their excessive daytime sleep; and three decreased their night wakings. (Author/JDD)

Mothers of children with cancer experience significant distress associated with their children's diagnosis and treatment. The efficacy of problem-solving skills training (PSST), a cognitive-behavioral intervention based on problem-solving therapy, was assessed among 430 English- and Spanish-speaking mothers of recently diagnosed patients.…

Interpersonal, familial, and situational risk factors that predict young children's aggression and non-compliance are explored. Here examples of specific techniques and provided to help teachers and parents effectively support children's early development of cooperative and prosocial behaviours as well as problem-solving skills in family and…