Restorative Practices is a proactive approach to whole-school climate change based on communication and responsibility. It is an approach being developed and refined as an alternative to exclusionary and punitive "zero-tolerance" policies mandated in many schools today. In this article, Laura Mirsky of the International Institute for…

Due to atypical neurological development, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are affected by a range of issues on a daily basis--physical pain, confusion about requests, difficulty communicating wants and needs, and sensory issues--that might trigger behavior that interferes with teaching and learning. In addition, students on the autism…

In recent years, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become a common pediatric diagnosis. The number of affected children increases with age, most particularly during the years of schooling and academic life, and can cause significant impairment. The nature of this disorder, the challenges of properly diagnosing it, and the…

In addressing positive general education teaching practices for use with students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), the chapter emphasizes teacher behavior change research that has been informed by applied behavior analytic (ABA) principles. Its central theme is that general education teachers can access research…

Today's classroom differs greatly from the classroom a decade ago. This is due, in part, to the changing demographics of students across the United States where diversity is now the norm. As children enter the educational system with diverse backgrounds, they are exposed to new experiences that facilitate changes in interests, behaviors, and…

Hobson's choice is a "no-choice" choice that gives general and special educators the traditional impetus to do what they want in classrooms. While there is some "goodness" in having this power and audacity to control whatever happens in classrooms, it does not allow for creativity, flexibility, adaptability, modification, especially in behavior…

An overarching goal in education is to enable students to become independent and self-sufficient individuals who are able to manage their behaviors without the assistance of others. When students are able to manage their own behaviors (also known as self-regulation), they do not rely on external controls, such as teacher prompting. In general…

Since behavioral consultation (BC) was introduced over 30 years ago, the core procedures and assumptions of the model have remained largely unchanged in spite of its widespread popularity in practice. This article presents the Treatment Validation Consultation (TVC) model, which addresses limitations of BC and integrates recent technological…

Childhood anxiety is a common condition which, if untreated, can cause considerable distress and impairment and increase the likelihood of mental health problems in adulthood. Developing good emotional health in children is therefore an important objective which has been emphasised in recent governmental initiatives and policies. In particular,…

Youth diagnosed with "conduct disorder" are often placed in programs using forced compliance and coercive control. One type of intervention used to treat conduct disorder is the boot camp. The basic idea is that disruptive behaviors can be corrected by strict behavioral regulation and an emphasis on skills training (Weis & Toolis 2009; Weis,…

There is increased use of medications with troubled youth and a corresponding increase in research about these drugs. However, even the most exhaustive efforts to demonstrate the effectiveness of medication strategies have resulted in less than robust outcomes. A critical review of the most prominent studies highlights this questionable trend in…

The topic of stimulus control is too broad and complex to be traceable here. It would probably take a two-semester course to cover just the highlights of that field's evolution. The more restricted topic of equivalence relations has itself become so broad that even an introductory summary requires more time than we have available. An examination…

Many young children display some sort of picky eating. Although most children's diets will eventually consist of an adequate number of foods, some children's diets may not change without intervention. Children with limited diets typically have difficulty consuming new foods because they have some stomach discomfort, have limited oral-motor skills,…

The "Blueprint for Training and Practice III" (Blueprint III; Ysseldyke et al., 2006), attempts to pinpoint the vision for the field of school psychology through highlighting school psychologists' role as consultants engaged in activities ranging from individual to systems-level change. Although the literature is replete with calls to restructure…

Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern. Since 1960, the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States increased dramatically from 5% to 16.9%. To date many interventions to address obesity in schools have focused on healthy changes to the content of vending machines, school lunches, and the addition of after school…