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…

Reported percentages of young children who engage in challenging behavior is estimated between 10% and 20%. This percentage is even greater for children with disabilities. Not surprisingly, when young children with challenging behavior do not receive services and supports early on, they can experience negative social and emotional outcomes long…

The Behavior Expectation Discrepancy Tool (B-EDT) was designed to help early childhood teachers identify critical behavioral expectations within their classroom environments and possible problem behaviors that may impact a child's access to the environment. The tool allows them to determine if there is a behavioral problem when compared with…

Research suggests that many children with ASD are visual learners (Quill, 1997) and may struggle to comprehend expectations presented in a verbal mode only. Visually structured interventions present choices, expectations, tasks, and communication exchanges in a way that is appealing and approachable for visual learners. There are many types of…

Much has been written on challenging behavior in young children, and teachers know that that teaching new skills, particularly appropriate ways to communicate, is important when reducing challenging behavior. Strategies that focus on what occurs before the behavior happens are known as "antecedent strategies." Strategies that focus on…

This article explicitly addresses the correlation between communication and behavior, and describes how to provide intervention addressing these two overlapping domains using an intervention called functional communication training (FCT; E. G. Carr & Durand, 1985) in individuals with ASD. A step-by-step process is outlined with supporting…

The persistence of challenging behaviors for some children highlights a need and an opportunity to explore several key principles of behavioral intervention that are necessary for effective decision- making when more personalized interventions must be layered on top of high-quality universal supports. In the absence of expert support,…

Special education professionals and teachers of students with autism face many behavioral and instructional challenges. In addition to teaching content to a demanding population, teachers are often faced with particular circumscribed and special interests that often take up time and divert attention from the students. It is an educators job to…

Due to the unique features of early childhood classrooms, teachers routinely modify the social and physical environment to support children with mild to moderate challenges. Yet despite their access to behavioral consultants, school-based prekindergarten programs are more likely to expel young children from their classroom settings compared with…

Teachers of young children can plan proactively so that they avoid some of the serious problem behaviors in the classroom. The strategies presented in this article are part of a problem solving approach to challenging behavior based on the principles of positive behavioral support. Although these methods presented here have research-based…

This article discusses an approach to assessment and intervention of challenging behavior in early education settings that integrates a focus on instructional conditions and early academic skill development. The authors suggest this approach allows for a better understanding of the relationship between social behavior and child performance with…

The purpose of this article is to offer preschool teachers strategies for preventing challenging behavior and supporting the development of social skills and emotional competencies. This article is framed in a question and answer format using questions from teachers who the authors have worked with in the past. These questions and strategies are…

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…