One of the most rewarding tasks for an educator is the successful inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom by assisting them to make social connections with their classmates. However, some students with learning delays or disabilities experience difficulty fitting in socially with their peers. These social challenges can often be traced to the environment and are complicated by difficulties with understanding language and communication, and a lack of flexibility, which in turn can result in behaviours of concern. Yet, behaviours of concern have underlying reasons that can easily be overlooked in a busy classroom. Educators require simple and easy to implement strategies to support positive behaviour.
Some educators like to use the analogy of an iceberg to explain behaviour. Whilst we only see the tip of the iceberg, the bulk of it is invisible underneath the water. The part of the iceberg that is visible is the outward behaviour, whilst the invisible mass is the reason, or function/ purpose of the behaviour. However, I believe a better analogy is a plant. We can see the stem and leaves above the ground which represents the behaviour, whilst the roots symbolise the reason, function or purpose for this behaviour. If we try to address behaviour in a simplistic manner without looking at the underlying cause, it is like cutting the plant off and leaving the roots behind. When this occurs, the roots are left behind and the plant grows back. Likewise when we do not address the root cause of behaviour, the inappropriate behaviour returns. Hence, behaviour occurs for a reason and students need support to learn new behaviour and appropriate social skills to have their needs met. This can be achieved by determining the function of the behaviour so it can be addressed and a replacement behaviour supplied. When teaching a replacement behaviour it is important to teach appropriate social skills in this process. For example, a student who attempts to obtain an iPad by screaming could be taught to replace screaming with requesting (either by words, signing or pictures/symbols). When the student requests the iPad using their new social skills (and the student may require a great deal of support to make this request), he will be given the iPad, which then acts as a reinforcer for this new behaviour. This reinforcement means that the behaviour (requesting) is more likely to happen again.
But is it really that simple? Should we simply teach social skills by rote? How should we teach students with disability about emotion? There are many factors at play. Peter Vermeulen (2015) found in his research with people with autism that they experienced ‘context blindness’, that is they are not able to use the context to make sense of social situations. Vermeulen describes this is as ‘using the forest to see the trees as trees’. An example is when we teach our students that crying means unhappiness. However, we need to see the context to make sense of the emotion, as facial expressions are inherently ambiguous. For example if someone cries after being awarded a medal for winning a race, we are able to use the context (winning a sporting event), to realise that the person isn’t unhappy, but instead is exhilarated. Hence, we do not read faces as they do not have a fixed meaning, instead we are able to label the emotion by understanding where it came from. The explanation of emotions can be found in the context. Vermeulen argues that teaching context plays a significant role in the curriculum. Therefore, instead of teaching emotions through pictures of faces, we should focus on teaching students to read the context. So how can we this? We need to contextualise social skill and emotion recognition training. We do this by avoiding decontextualized materials, always start from contexts rather than isolated skills and link behaviours to contexts. In the example provided earlier of teaching a student to request an iPad, it is helpful that this skill be placed in context. We need to provide clarity on the context in which the student can ask for the iPad and receive it. If we do this then the social skill program is far more likely to be successful. For example, while a classroom context is a great place to practise the skill of requesting an iPad, it will not work when the student is in the water swimming as the iPad will become wet and not work. We need to provide clarity and predictability to the student regarding when he can ask for the iPad and receive it, and when this cannot occur. Vermeulen suggests that we start with the context first and then teach the rules, behaviour and conversation that is attached to that context. One way is to provide a contextualised social script that might look something like this:
When James is sitting in his chair in the classroom, he can have his iPad. James needs to say ‘iPad please’ to his teacher.
In this example, the emphasis is on sitting on the chair in the classroom. This can be contextualised through the use of visuals, photos and videos of the chair in the classroom, as well as verbal regular reminders that the chair is where James needs to sit before asking for the iPad. The next step could be to show James photos of places such as the swimming pool, school hallway and playground and ask ‘Can James have the iPad in the swimming pool? Can James have the iPad in the hallway? Can James have the iPad in the playground?’ Once James is absolutely clear about which context he can have the iPad, the focus can shift to teaching James to request the iPad. If the focus is on teaching the request rather than the context, James might request the iPad at times when this is not able to be fulfilled, leading to frustration and possibly more behavioural issues.
Vermeulen, P. (2015) Context Blindness in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Not Using the Forest to see the Trees as Trees in Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Vol. 30 No. 3