Concurrent operant assessments (COAs) offer a flexible model for evaluating instructional preferences for students with persistent, escape-motivated interfering behavior. In this article, we define the critical features of COAs and review what types of questions they can address for classroom educators. We then identify and describe a series of…

Background: Building 'key skills' may help prevent the development of challenging behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. The aim of this paper was to extend the current limited evidence in this area. Method: We undertook two studies with children with an intellectual disability in school settings: (1) a cross-sectional replication…

Premack principle, often referred to as Grandma's law, describes how individuals will perform an arduous or undesirable activity if given access to a desirable activity after the completion of the original task. Premack discovered that highly preferred restricted activities in and of themselves can be reinforcing when preceded by activities that…

Students with emotional dysregulation are not equipped with the ability to manage their own behavior. This often leads to major disruptions in the general education setting, interfering with the student's learning and the learning of others. This study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on the presence of disruptive behavior…

Challenging behavior tends to increase in levels during adolescence for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). If not addressed, this can lead to negative post-school outcomes for adolescents with DD. The purposes of this meta-analysis were to examine the effects of behavioral intervention in reducing challenging behaviors of…

Intensive academic interventions help address the learning difficulties of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Challenging behaviors exhibited during instruction can have a negative impact on the overall effectiveness of an academic intervention. In addition to academic interventions, students with SLD may benefit from behavioral…

Functional communication training (FCT) provides an efficient means for reducing a variety of challenging behaviors while increasing social communication. After establishing a functional communication response (FCR), interventionists may need to design a program to thin the schedule of reinforcement to provide more durable effects and maintenance…

The present study used functional analysis and tested for the effects of a treatment package on the increase of play and decrease of stereotypy with a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attended an inclusive international school in Hong Kong. The treatment package was a partial replication of a toy conditioning procedure from Tsai…

The Good Behaviour Game (GBG) is an interdependent group contingency intervention, previously shown to be effective in managing students' behaviour across several studies. An ABAB withdrawal design was implemented to examine the effects of the GBG on the engagement and disruptive behaviours of 12 students diagnosed principally with a mild…

Teacher-Student Relationships (TSRs) contribute to a wide range of positive outcomes for K-12 students. However, many practitioners struggle to build positive relationships with students with challenging behaviors. In this article, we describe how TSR interventions can be structured using an established and common framework: Multi-Tiered Systems…

Many students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) engage in challenging behavior on a daily basis. Such behaviors can have negative impacts on students, teachers, and families. In an effort to support students with EBD, this article provides general and special education teachers with a five-step process for teaching replacement…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe experiences of dialectical behavior therapy for special education teachers at a large, suburban school district in the Southeast United States. The theory guiding this study was Bandura's social cognitive theory (SCT), as it explains how new behaviors are learned and…

Despite the existence of various special education laws and mandates aimed at protecting the rights of students with learning disabilities (LD), these students tend to be removed from the classroom setting at disproportionate rates and durations when compared to students without disabilities. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenology was to…

Restraint and seclusion (R/S) are practices employed by schools to address severe student behavior. Although the use of R/S has been shown to have harmful impact for students, staff, and schools, there is no federal law that addresses its use in schools. A lack of a universal approach leaves each state to determine its own legislation and policy.…

Despite the long-term negative outcomes associated with restraining and secluding students, these practices are frequently used in schools, with disproportionate use on students with disabilities. Based on recent guidance from the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, misusing these practices violates student rights under the Americans…