Case Study
Peter
Profile of Student And Skills
Peter is a 3rd grade student in HappyElementary School. He has Down syndrome with accompanying problems such as hypotonicity, abnormally small oral structure (protruding tongue), motor and speech and language delays. He is behind his peers academically and appears to have a cognitive disability. He also is aggressive at times with his peers. He has trouble following directions and occasionally is noncompliant. He also makes self-deprecating remarks such as “I stupid.”
Academic, Social, Behavioral Concerns
Peter is able to interact appropriately and engage in many activities with his peers. He is able to identify objects and pictures, read simple sentences, and follow along during discussions and activities. He is able to follow the rules of simple games. He does have episodes of acting out which include turning over chairs, jumping or crawling on peers, taking things away from his peers, kicking peers, and vocalizing loudly. On the other hand, Peter has also been observed apologizing for his misbehavior, hugging other students, as well as the aforementioned appropriate interactions during various activities. He is not always able to communicate clearly what he wants others to know or how he feels.
Overall Concern
At this point, Peter’s inappropriate acting out episodes are my chief concern. He is capable of more appropriate interactions and has been observed doing so. However, his acting out does cause some students to avoid him, does cause him to be in trouble, and could cause him or others physical harm. Peter may have difficulty establishing or maintaining friendships if his acting out is not replaced with appropriate interactive behavior. Because Peter has communication difficulties, his acting out may be the result at least in part of not knowing how to better express his needs or to obtain what he needs without using physical responses.
Target Behavior and Rationale
Because acting out can involve a number of behaviors, I have targeted “aggression” as the specific target behavior. Aggression can be further identified as kicking, hitting, jumping on, choking, squeezing with his arms (inappropriate hugging) of his peers or staff.
While Peter engages in some other inappropriate behavior, aggression is the most serious and the behavior most likely to interfere with his inclusion with his general education peers. Again, Peter has demonstrated the ability to interact appropriately so alternative behavior to aggression is within his repertoire.
NOTE: HERE WE MOVE ONLY TO WHAT YOU COULD PROPOSE TO DO.
Data Collection Techniques and Chart
Data will be collected by counting the frequency of aggression. Because it may occur relatively infrequently, all episodes of aggression could be measured.by moving a paper clip from one pocket to the other each time an episode occurs. At the end of each day, the overall number of episodes of aggression could be recorded and graphed. It could also help to record what activities were occurring and when aggression occurs. This could help determine if it occurs more at particular times, settings, or in particular activities. See the attached chart for monitoring progress.
Possible Intervention
The intervention I would suggest would be to reinforce Peter with praise, a star on his behavior chart, and a daily/weekly reward for achieving a star(s) when he does not exhibit aggression. For example, Peter could receive oral praise and a star for each half-hour that he is engaged in where no aggression occurs. At the end of each day (6 hours with a possible 12 stars to be earned), Peter could receive an additional reward based on the number of stars earned. He could be given a reward of choice (e.g., pencil, eraser, sticker, extra free time) if he has earned at least 8 stars. As he progressed, he would have to earn more stars until he had to achieve all 12 to earn the additional reward. Over time, the daily reward could be reduced to every other day, every third day, etc. until it is only weekly or no longer needed.
When Peter is aggressive, an adult should stop the aggression, redirect Peter to another area, and ask him to “cool down.” After this period of time (depends on his degree of anger, frustration), he should devise a plan for repairing what injury if any he may have caused to a peer (e.g., an apology, replacing anything broken).
Link to Research
Research (I would include citations here) has indicated that inclusion of children with Down syndrome is possible and beneficial. However, it is also evident that aggression is a deterent to successful inclusion. Research has also indicated that inappropriate acting out can be replaced with more appropriate adaptive behavior through the use of differential reinforcement strategies.
Illustration of Setting
The setting for the proposed project would be the entire school including the classroom, special classrooms (e.g., art, music), the athletic field, the gym, the cafeteria, hallways, and all other areas. Because aggression has been observed in a variety of school settings, it would be necessary to monitor and intervene across the entire school day and building. There is always at least one teacher present and during certain activities, an aide or other teacher is also present. Each adult would need to be informed of the project and how to both record aggression and how to intervene.
It may also be necessary to inform Peter’s peers of how to react to his aggressive behavior.
Suggesions for Future Educators
My primary suggestion would be to always view acting out in a student such as Peter as an attempt to communicate some message. Because Peter has communication problems, inappropriate behavior may result from anger, frustration, or other difficulties in expressing his emotions or needs. If the student does engage in appropriate behavior, that could suggest it is a matter of learning better how and when to use those behaviors to achieve his aims.
Connections to Learners with Mild/Moderate Needs
Peter’s problems are probably more common in those with moderate needs than with milder needs. However, many students with mild disabilities also experience problems in communicating which can affect them socially, academically, and behaviorally. Communication problems, which in turn can lead to inappropriate behavior such as aggression, can negatively impact efforts at including students with disabilities. These problems can be a deterrent to adjustment in environments other than school and can have lifelong implications.