Kah Ting's van shakin'

Kah Ting (KT) was a 15-year-old boy who attended the Society’s vocational center. He was a tough and strong boy for his age. I was at the Society for about 4 months. The vocational school was catered for teenagers. The society provided transportation for some of the students. This is a complicated case because I had not seen the event happened but only heard it from the other teachers.

On the journey back home from the Society, occasionally KT would throw a temper tantrum, and because he was such a strong guy, he would literally shake up the whole van. These occasions were scary for all on board. The driver would stop the van. The one teacher on the van and the driver would then try to get KT to calm down before continuing the journey. This would delay the trip and also stressed out everyone in the van. Although I didn’t see this happened, I have seen KT get aggressive to intimidate me to give him some food.

What would I have done now if I was in that situation?

I would conduct a functional behavior assessment to find out why KT is having the temper tantrums on the van. I have this hypothesis:
Perhaps the journey back home at around 4pm was long, hot and stuffy in the van and KT was getting uncomfortable. If I remember correctly, he would sometimes get to sit in the front passenger seat and he would be OK during the trip. So the behavior was probably to escape sitting at the back of the van where it’s hot and stuffy and to gain the front passenger seat where it is cooler and more comfortable.

So the dilemma is whether to let KT always have the front passenger seat and prevent any tantrums during the journey or put some intervention in place to prevent any tantruming from happening while KT sits in the back.

The first intervention is simple and would prevent any temper tantrums but then it would seem like we’re giving in to him and letting him have his way. I’m not sure if the other teachers would allow him to have the front passenger seat all the time. I’m not even sure if I’m comfortable with this, since I too have sat in the van but I didn’t act out when it was hot, neither did the other students. But if the intervention would be to let him have the front seat, I would incorporate some communication training such as having KT ask for permission to have the front passenger seat.

The second intervention would be more complicated. If the function of the tantrums is to escape from sitting in the back of the van, then I would request KT to sit in the front row instead of the last row of seats in the van, as it is cooler up front. I may also offer KT a bottle of ice water halfway through the journey to reduce the discomfort of the heat. But it’ll be offered to him before he starts any tantrums so he won’t think that by tantruming he’ll get the ice water. Or I could teach him to ask for the ice water when he wants it. I may also put in a consequence strategy, offering him a reward after a tantrum-free journey. And I may also put in place some sort of self-management strategy such as having a chart to monitor the KT’s behavior on the van. The chart may consists of a monthly calendar and KT will receive a star on the days he was tantrum-free in the van. I will review the chart with KT daily. As the reward schedule is slowly faded, KT will then be receiving a reward for 2 consecutive days of tantrum-free ride and so on.

Will the intervention work? I have no idea but the intervention looked do-able and it would not take a lot of time or money.

Buzzwords for this intervention:
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA)
Antecedent intervention
Self-management
Consequence strategy
Functional communication training (FCT)

Yati 1-2-3

Yati was an 11-year-old girl who attended the House day-school. She has autism. She was non-verbal and does not utilize any form of communication (sign language or picture cards). I was new to special education. As an assistant teacher in the intermediate classroom, one of my job was to teach Yati mathematics. So everyday I would sit with Yati for about 15 minutes with two sandpaper cards. Sandpaper cards are cards with embossed numbers on them. It’s supposed to help learners as it incorporates a tactile component to the learning of numbers. Anyway, there I was with Yati sitting beside me, the cards are on the table and I’ll go:

“Yati, one, touch one” (And I’ll have her trace her finger along the sandy 1)
“Yati, two, touch two” (And I’ll have her trace her finger along the sandy 2)
“Yati, take 1″
“Yati, give me 2″ (And at this time, she would randomly hand me a card)

But that’s not the focus of this post. As I sat with her through the 15 minutes, she would play with the curtain or push away the cards. Occasionally she would hit my arm and I would used the ruler on her palm. Corporal punishment was used to control the students at the House and I was a new “teacher” who didn’t know better. So during the 4 months I was at the House, that’s what Yati and I did during her 15 minutes of mathematics. And at the end of my time there, she did not learn which card was 1 and which was 2.

What would I do differently now?

Her disruptive behavior (well to me it was a problem, probably not for her) was a form of communication. If I were to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to determine the function of the behavior, I would most probably come to the conclusion that the function was escape. She was trying to escape the boring 15 minutes of me shoving cards at her that made no sense to her whatsoever. Whenever she pulled at the curtain, I would stop the “give me 1, give me 2″ and it’s probably more fun for her to make me flustered and angry anyway.

But I won’t really need to go towards function of the problem behavior. The problem was simple. Her “academic” curriculum was not functional at all. Here was a girl who did not know how to communicate. She hit, she cried, and she kept quiet. I believe time is better spent teaching her to communicate: yes, no, I want this, help me, etc.

Buzzwords for this intervention:
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA)
Functional communication training (FCT)

Billy's break time

Billy was an 8-year-old boy. I was the lead teacher at the Center. The other students would have no problem getting out their snack and drinks and eating. But Billy would not. He would be loss in his own world, occasionally flicking his fingers. Angela, my assistant teacher, and I would constantly prompt him verbally.
“Billy, take out your food”
“Billy, drink your water”
“Billy, hurry up, we have to clean up”
“Billy, put the bottle back”

When I left, Billy was still dependent on the verbal prompts, not only during breaks but also during other everyday routines. I did not teach him any skill that would help him be more independent in his routines.

What would I do differently now?

I would start with some permanent picture prompts; either step by step photos of him performing the routine, or simplify picture cards that represent each step of the routine. At the beginning, I would have a card for each of the following steps:
- taking food container and water bottle out of his bag
- opening the container
- opening the bottle
- eating and drinking
- closing the container
- closing the bottle
- placing the food container and water bottle back in his bag

The cards will be laminated and placed on a flip-chart or small ring binder.

I would teach Billy to refer to the first card, perform the step, flip the card, read the next card and so on. At the beginning, I would praise him for completing each step. But I would slowly fade out the verbal praise to just one very excited, “Good job, Billy, for being responsible during your break time,” or something else that’s more natural at the very end.

As he gets better at this, the number of cards could be reduced, and even word cards could be used instead of picture cards.

Then there’s the issue of Billy taking his own sweet time to slowly savor his snacks, but I will deal with that another day.

Buzzword for this intervention:
Permanent picture prompts
Self-management

Why this blog?

It was once my dream to pursue further studies in the area of special education in the United States. As a special education teacher in Malaysia, with limited knowledge (even though I did receive a M.Ed in Special Education from Universiti Malaya) and limited experience, I wanted to be good at what I do. I was frustrated when I encounter behaviors that I couldn’t control. Many a times, I did not know what is the next thing I should teach or how to teach it. There was a lot of trial and error learning. I got better at some things and remain clueless in others. Most importantly I got to know and love the students. And I learned to read them pretty well and this helped prevent some challenging behaviors from escalating. But I failed to teach the kids many functional skills that they would need in life.

I am now beginning my fourth year in the Ph.D. program in Special Education in the states. I have taken 60 credit hours in special education and related courses and am working under the tutelage of good professors in this field. Many a times, I sat in lectures, and as I learned new things, I reflected on my special education practices with my students and realized that I should have done things differently. Other times, I realized that I did do what is considered best practices, maybe in a rather primitive form, but nevertheless it was assuring that I did not do everything wrong.

Documenting some of my struggles, reflecting on them and hypothesizing possible strategies that I could have used, I hope will help me be a better practioner of special education.