Investigates the effectiveness of peer facilitator interventions with disruptive middle school students. Provides evidence that eighth-grade peer facilitators can be effective with sixth-grade problem behavior students. Facilitators demonstrated that they could help students who are having problems adjusting to school, especially in terms of their…

Eighty children, ages 3 to 17, with autism or Asperger's syndrome and mild to severe distress in the presence of some sounds received either auditory training or a control condition of listening to the same music. Significant improvements in behavior, severity of autism, and IQ were achieved and maintained for 12 months by both groups. (Author/DB)

This article suggests that students with emotional/behavioral disorders may use disruptive behaviors to escape and avoid teacher instructional language for which they do not have comprehension skills and thus find aversive. Teacher instructional language thus maintains aberrant behavior through a negative reinforcement paradigm. Recommendations…

When parent-teacher conferences don't improve a problem student's behavior, a systematic change strategy is needed. Daily report cards are effective if they divide the day into segments, provide evaluations for each segment, feature increasingly demanding goals, provide parent reinforcement, use mild punishment, and accrue reinforcement rewards. A…

Noting that examination of emotions in adolescence from a treatment or intervention perspective is unusual, this article discusses the emotions in adolescence literature from the vantage point of a particular, empirically tested family-based intervention model, multidimensional family therapy. Demonstrates how research-based concepts guide…

Comparison of 150 children (white, black, and Hispanic) in grades 2 through 4 who had been recommended for prereferral intervention found that white children evidenced significantly higher verbal IQs and reaching achievement scores, black children had a higher incidence of behavior problems than Hispanic children, and behavior problems were more…

Compares the course of change of two groups of conduct-disoriented adolescents in two theoretically distinct residential treatment programs. Despite an overall trend toward improvement in both groups, there was little significant difference between the rates of progress over time. Supports the need for qualitative research focusing on the…

Physical education teachers who can efficiently manage time and student behavior have increased academic learning time. Components of an active elementary physical education discipline plan include establishing rules, creating a record-keeping system, determining the procedure for individual and group positive feedback, and determining…

Three case studies are provided of the evaluation of assessment-based interventions strategies within the natural classroom context for students (ages 11-14) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbid disorders. For each participant, results demonstrated that assessment-based environmental modifications could decrease problematic…

This article describes the ramifications of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBS) requirements in the context of disciplinary situations, including the interplay of PBS issues with functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention plans. The roles of the general educator…

This article synthesizes information from the special education literature about functional behavioral assessments (FBAs), including the law and FBA, working definitions, basic assumptions underlying FBA, the role of the diagnosticians, the role of special educators, the steps to conducting an FBA, the methods of FBA, and tools for the…

Examined development of concern and externalizing problems in children at three behavior problem levels. Found no group differences in concern at 4-5 years. Concern in children with clinical behavior problems decreased by 6-7 years. Greater concern at 4-5 or at 6-7 years predicted decreased stability and severity of externalizing problems by 6-7…

At a new charter school serving predominantly defiant underachievers and special-needs students, a psychology teacher was challenged to implement founders' brain-based principles. She succeeded by establishing a climate of relaxed alertness, immersing students in meaningful experiences, and guiding them in processing their experiences. (MLH)

A comparison between parent and teacher ratings of 109 school children on the French version of the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form, which measures social competence and problem behaviors of children with developmental disabilities, was conducted. Ratings differed significantly on three problem behavior subscales: conduct problem,…

This article proposes that gifted children with Asperger's syndrome may not be identified because their unusual behaviors may be wrongly attributed to either their giftedness or to a learning disability. Ways in which the syndrome might be missed and guidelines for differentiating characteristics of giftedness from Asperger's characteristics are…