Chapter 5
Steven is a 10-year old boy who has been diagnosedwith Oppositional DefiantDisorder. The least restrictive environment identified in hisIEP states that he is to be allowed full independent participationin regular physical education. Although he appears to be a verybright child with no obvious cognitive learning deficits, he hasdifficulty staying on task and is often observed wandering aroundthe gym during physical education class. Because of his resistanceto authority and unwillingness to cooperate, Steven is notimproving his performance in many of the skills taught in physicaleducation class. It has also been observed that Steven refuses tostay in his designated area during attendance, warm-ups, and whilepracticing in skill stations.
Narrative
You are an elementary school physical educationteacher presenting and demonstrating the rules and skillsassociated with basketball to your 5th grade class.After finishing, you divide the class into groups of four andobserve them as they practice the dribbling and passing skills.After a few minutes, you notice Steven’s group not participating inthe activity. You focus your attention on the group and, as youwalk closer, notice that they are talking openly and laughing. Itis clear by their body language that Steven is leading theconversation and the topic of discussion is not relevant to theskills that they are supposed to be practicing. You approach thegroup and tell them to stay on task and practice the dribbling andpassing skills. Three of the students from the group apologize andimmediately resume practicing. However, Steven folds his armsacross his chest and, without saying a word, walks to the far sideof the gym and sits against the wall. He remains there, refusing toparticipate, until class ends.
Understanding that Steven’s negative behavior isongoing and starting to be a disruption to the other students inthe class, you conclude that you must develop a strategy addressthe issue.
Your task for Discussion 4 is to develop a strategy tomanage the behavior exhibited by Steven in the narrative. Takingthe concepts that you have been learning from Chapter 5 in thetextbook, thoroughly explain an intervention strategy to preventSteven’s inappropriate behavior.
What type of reinforcement will you use?
How can you utilize the Premack Principle?
How might you employ the ABC model? What are somespecific consequences that you could employ to change Steven’sbehavior?
Explain which of the 3 Strategies to DecreaseInappropriate Behavior (Pg. 74-75) that you could use withSteven.
What other methods can you possibly use?
