A Child Called It

I strongly believe that children whose behavior is a manifestation of their disability should be disciplined. Every child disabled or not, deserves a safe well disciplined school and a chance at learning. Some manifestation behaviors can be very dangerous and if we do not address these behaviors we are guilty of not providing these students with a free and appropriate public education. While danger is one issue, another is the fact that many students use these behaviors to their advantage so that they do not have to learn. I feel that if we do not discipline them and show them more positive behaviors to exhibit, we giving up and saying that because of their disability they are unable to learn.

While I do think that all children should be disciplined I have a very different definition of discipline than most administrators probably do. I do not feel that suspending students, in school or out of school, is an effective way disciplining. Many children exhibit negative behaviors so they will be suspended and not have to sit in class. That is not teaching them anything. I think that the most effective way to discipline these behaviors is to look at the underlying issue- Why are these behaviors occurring and what is the child achieving from these behaviors? After this is determined the child should be disciplined through positive and negative rein forcers. When disciplining it is crucial to teach the student why the behavior is unacceptable and also find positive behaviors to replace the old ones. Even though these behaviors are a manifestation of their disability does not mean that we can just sit back and allow these behaviors to take place. It is our job to analyze these behaviors and come up with positive interventions and strategies to address these behaviors. We must try to understand these behaviors; what triggers them and what does the child get out of them. Then come up with a behavior intervention plan for the child. All of this is part of the discipline process. In this plan you should decide what reinforcers will be used and make sure that they are discussed with the parents so that they are aware and agree as to how their child will be disciplined. Another important step is to involve the child in the discipline as much as possible. Let them know first hand what you expect of them and also ask them what they expect of you. Letting these behaviors continue because of a disability will only hurt the child in the long run.

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