Buddies please help me! I need to know the techniques on behavior modification and intervention for special education. I am new in the field and i am a non-education graduate. hope youll be kind enough to help me --- thanks!!!!

I'm not a special ed teacher but THANK GOD for people like you! Someone has to do it - bur fortunately not me or I'd go insane.

Here's a site you may find useful. It's an about.com site on special ed with articles about behavior management, working with contracts, adapting these contracts to students with special needs, intervention strategies etc.

Best wishes!

David

ttp://specialed.about.com/od/behavioremotional/Behavior_aned_Emotional_Disabilities.htm

Behavior modification in a nut shell is "rewarding" good or desired behavior and not "rewarding" unwanted behavior. Example a student who has many SIB's throughout a day may receive a reward every hour to two hours that they do not demonstrate the SIB or target behavior. When the target behavior is demonstrated during the set time frame no reward is given. Documentation and consistancy are key to a behavior modification plan to work. In the states there are many forms that are used to identify target behaviors, document on them, and choose reinforcers.

Classroom behavioral interventions can be thought of as a subset of the field of behavior modification, so you'll really need to get some background in the field in order to be able to understand the terminology and the way it is used. I'll try to explain terms as I go, followed by some recommendations for references. (Sorry for writing so much--believe it or not this is the edited version!)

Put as simply as possible, think of it classroom behavioral interventions an ongoing multi-stage process: observation, analysis, designing the intervention, implementing the intervention, assessing the results, re-designing/refining the intervention, re-implementation, etc until the intervention is successful. then you get to start the process all over again to see 1) if a maintenance program is needed, and 2) if so, what that program should be. Throughout the process, record keeping is vital--you have to know what is going on, what has been done, etc.

"Observation" consists of observing the student in a variety of contexts, until you have a pretty good idea of what the problematic behavior(s) consists of. Then you develop a working definition of the behavior.

"Analysis" is the stage where you begin looking at the "ABCs": Antecedent (what precedes or triggers the behavior, in what environment or circumstances it takes place, etc--what causes the behavior), Behavior (of what does the behavior actually consist? try to break it down into stages you can define as discrete actions), and Consequences (what is the result of the behavior--what does the behavior do for the student exhibiting the behavior).

"Designing the intervention" can be thought of as the stage where you figure out what you are going to do to try to address the problem. Work from broad, general ideas to the specific, don't try to design the final intervention in one try. Be certain you can define every aspect of your intervention: the target behavior, your goals, and all stages of your intervention.

"Implementing the intervention" is the stage when you actually try out your intervention, under the circumstances for which it was designed. This can be a rather painful stage, the intervention probably won't be immediately effective so be sure to plan on adequate time for testing of the intervention.

" Assessing the results," "re-designing/refining the intervention," and "re-implementation" is the stage where many classroom interventions fail. These are the stages where you look at the results of your initial intervention, find ways to make it better, and test the new intervention. Many people ignore these stages, and either give up on the process after one try, or settle for mediocre results. (For the person designing and implementing the program, I'd suggest keeping these stages in mind. It is often frustrating when an intervention doesn't immediately work, and I find it very helpful for my own peace of mind to remember that, particularly during the initial stages, interventions often don't work as well as we would like. This isn't "failure," it is part of the process.)

When you finally have a successful program, you will need to decide if you need to continue the program on some level, or if the goal has been accomplished and you can gradually eliminate the program.

At all stages, problems can occur. Doesn't this sound like wonderful fun? Actually--most of the time--it is not as bad as it sounds. (But remember that qualifier!)

References may be tricky, in that I don't know how much psych background you have. I'll start at a very simple level and work up in complexity/specificity.

First, I would recommend getting a copy of Behavior Modification: What it is and how to do it by Garry Martin and Joseph Pear. There have been multiple editions of this book; for purposes of learning the basics of behavioral intervention almost any edition after the first is fine. The target audience of the book is college students with little-to-no background in the field of behavior modification, and minimal psychology background.

Secondly, you might consider Principles of Everyday Behavior Analysis by L. Keith Miller. This is another college textbook, and again, any edition after the first is suitable for classroom purposes. The book does assume more background than Martin & Pear, but it goes into more detail in analyzing and understanding behavior. The two books are complimentary, but probably best worked through in sequence rather than side-by-side.

If you shop used bookstores and online, and keeping in mind that almost any edition is acceptable, you should be able to find these two for about 5-10 USD each (plus shipping of course).

My third recommendation is more generic. A couple years ago I took a research methods class dealing with "action research." Much of the philosophical approach to action research is very similar to that of classroom behavior analysis/modification. You might find it useful to consider some of the literature on this. A lot of this can be found online.

When it comes to dealing with more extreme behaviors, particularly in a classroom context, I've found the work of V. Mark Durand to be very useful. His book Severe Problem Behaviors: A functional communication training approach can be very valuable in that it provides an example of a systematic approach that may be directly applicable, or may help you understand the process. In order to really benefit from the book though, you will need the background provided by the first two I recommended, or something similar.

Finally (for now at least), on a personal note: I was a SpEd student as a child, and can recall a number of what I now recognize as attempts at behavioral interventions. Many of these included elements that I found extremely aversive, even though I now understand that many of them were not intended that way. (Some were, but that was long ago when such things were accepted.) I would suggest that when designing and implementing interventions, you keep in mind that what you might find to be rewarding or non-aversive, your student may find to be punishing, or aversive. Try to see these things from the perspective of your student; it usually leads to better results.

You have gotten some great advice from JustJim, so that makes mu post very short.

Best selection of materials are available from www.difflearn.com
There are many excellent materials available, and some of the best books I have come across are Ron Leaf: A work in progress - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/custom ... merReviews

In the opening chapters they focus on Autism, however, the contents covers any kid that does not behave appropriately, with highly operational advise on how a program might be structured.

There is an abundance of material, but that book is a good place to start

i know that music can help a lot in stimulating special kids who are non-verbal. I want to know what kind of music is best or therapuetic for kids with adhd and autism? hope anyone will be kind enough to share to me simple yet effective techniques in developing the verbal skills of my 5 year old non-verbal special child tutee...thanks alot

The first thing to remember is probably that while music can help, sometimes it is more of an interfering factor; it seems to depend on a number of factors. Trying to define the factors takes you back to the ongoing process described above.

Some kids don't like music, or don't like most music, or only like a particular type of music or a particular singer. Others find music so distracting that it makes it almost impossible to complete a learning task at the same time. The only way to try to narrow down the range is through interviewing caregivers, former teachers, and even the student, and through observation. For instance, I know one individual with autism who has a negative response to music played on flutes (even as a minor component within a larger orchestral arrangement); another who is narrowly focused on a particular singer and finds nothing else acceptable.

It may help to think of /music/ as just another form of sensory input. For instance, flashing lights during a lesson might not bother some students but would distract or agitate others; in a similar way, music (or the "wrong" music) might not distract some students but would distract or agitate others.

If you can find it, the book Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome by Olga Bogdashina, does a fairly good job of summarizing the ways sensory input can interfere with cognitive tasks. In particular, she includes the "Sensory Profile Checklist (SPCR)" that can be used to assess the affect of sensory input on individual students. The checklist might not be immediately useful to you, but may provide ideas on how to consider or assess sensory factors (including music) that might interfere with or promote the student's verbal skills.

Another--related--factor to consider is the way you use your own voice when speaking with the child. For some children, factors such as volume, pitch, prosody, etc, can be very important in 1) recognizing that they are being spoken to, 2) being able to separate the spoken words from background noise, and 3) assigning meaning to the words you are saying. This can be true for all children, but particularly important with some children with ASD or related/similar syndromes.

You may also want to consider if the child is truely non-verbal (i.e., incapable of producing meaningful speech) or if this is due to other factors. Anecdotally, elective mutism does seem to occur at higher levels within this population.

From working in a classroom with 6 Autistic boys, I have found music to be beneficial. The type of music most "professional specialist" would not agree too. We tryed the classical, the country, even the CD's that are made with autistic people in mind. The boys didn't like any of it, actually one boy would turn down the radio or turn it off. So we decided to start scanning the radio stations to see what the boys wanted to listen to and just like most other boys there age (16-21) they enjoy classic rock/ rock. When we don't have the music turned on in the classroom, one of the boys will sign music and go to the radio to have the staff help him turn it on. He also will turn up the radio REALLY loud when a song he likes comes on. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is a personal preference and you will probably have to experiment with music and see what kind of music your son likes.

JustJim nailed it! The A-B-Cs...assess and re-assess and assess and reassess. What works on one student may not work on another. What works for you may not work for me. Whatever works (gaining trust and compliance) use it!

As for the music...

In the morning I play what I call ambient otter music (waterfalls and bird churping mixed with synthesizers.) Later in the day I put on classical or Jazz. What I have found that also works are the Blues...the kids all seem to relax a little more and most of them are tapping to the music.

In excellent books I forgot;

Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a by Lynn Kern Koegel and Claire LaZebnik - which is better for high functionning autistic kids

and

Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism by Catherine Maurice - that is the best book I have read and especially applicable if you wish to really understand the emotions and challenges of parents of kids on the spectrum.