We told the parents to pick up their son at exactly 3:05 pm.
One of our students with special needs couldn’t handle long delays. He’d climb, shout, scream, push, throw objects, and show aggressive behavior because it’s time to go, and he has to go! He has zero patience for waiting!
I tried everything to redirect and allow him to focus on other things!
The other day, tickling him while he plays with the door buzzer, running after him while he tries to open the office door (so he can run the other direction), counting 1-100, and asking him to do deep breathing worked – the student was, obviously entertained!
Finally, at 3:16 pm, the stepdad came with his dog. I was sweating and catching my breath! Boy, that was the longest 11 minutes of my day!
So, I had to tell him what I had to say to him! “Dad! The agreement was to pick him up at 3:05! You are 11 minutes late!”
He said, “Oh, I thought I have to pick him up at 3:18?” (He was feeling proud because he was 2 minutes early!)
I exclaimed, “No! It’s 3:05! Eleven minutes is unacceptable! Can you see my sweat?! I had to play with him!”
He smiled! As if I was funny.
I continued, “Here’s his Behavior Intervention Plan. And please get the dog out of my way. I’m afraid of dogs!”
He laughed.
I said, “Bye! 3:05, OK!? 3:05!”
Sometimes, I wonder why God will bring a person into my life. But for this little kid, the purpose is clear: to ensure my 10,000 steps (and so on and so forth!) LOL!
As for the stepdad, he should learn his lesson too! (He smells like weed! Wahhh!)
BUT, what about you? Any thoughts about the following:
- What possible strategies can you do to stop the behavior?
- What can be the replacement behavior? And how will you teach it?
- If parents are not cooperative, what will you do?