10 Positive Ways to Assess and Support Students with Behavior Challenges

1. Focus on connection and relationships:
   Make it a habit to actively listen and explicitly convey caring.

2. Assess and adapt the environment:
   Often, students engage in behaviors that look strange to others but serve an important purpose.
   Students with sensory issues may require adaptations to classroom lighting, seating, noise levels, materials, and visual inputs.

3. Teach new skills:
   For long-term success, teach new communication, social, and self-help skills to help students achieve goals and engage in positive behavior.

4. Prioritize prevention:
   Consider the potential difficulties students may have and one by one strategize ways to sidestep those difficulties.
   Enlist the support of collaborative partners, including adult members of the school team and the students' peers.

5. Talk to the student's family:
   Parents offer expert advice that will continuously approach behavior issues from different angles and think outside the box to find solutions.

6. Be willing to adapt:
   Create adaptations and work toward solutions instead of focusing on problems.

Adapted from ”You’re Going to Love This Kid!”: Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom, Second Edition, by Paula Kluth, Ph.D.