Embedded Files
The 'Why?'
The 'Why?'
Behaviour tells us about student regulation, engagement, and participation patterns. Student behaviour is often misinterpreted as 'language deficit' or 'motivation issue'. Consider:
How do FI structures shape occupational belonging?
How can inclusive practices restore occupational agency?
Imbalanced Behavioural J D-R leads to...
Imbalanced Behavioural J D-R leads to...
Dysregulation = breakdown in occupational fit
Avoidance = signal of occupational overload
Masking = adaptive survival strategy
Occupational mismatch between learner resources and environmental demand.
Occupational mismatch between learner resources and environmental demand.
Balanced Behavioural J D-R leads to...
Balanced Behavioural J D-R leads to...
Regulated engagement
Authentic participation
Occupational communication
Occupational communication
Job Demands
Job Demands
Avoidance behaviours during high-language-demand tasks
Emotional dysregulation when misunderstood
Masking or withdrawal to cope with overload
“Non-compliance” rooted in processing or executive function challenges (misinterpreted)
Addressing dysregulation in a second language
Navigating parent expectations around FI rigor
Behaviour documentation requirements
Job Resources
Job Resources
Supports and Resources
Training in co-regulation
Access to OT or SLP consultation
School cultures that normalize neurodiversity
Co-regulation strategies
Clear task breakdown and visual cues (chunking)
Choice-making opportunities (format)
Strength-based behaviour framing
Collaborative problem-solving approaches (e.g., Ross Greene’s CPS model)
Clear Boundaries, expectations, consequences (collaborativesocial contract posted and referenced Code of Conduct)
Functions of Behaviour (reinforce, replace, redirect – ALSUP)
Social Emotional Learning (direct and indirect; proactive nad reactive)
Direct instruction in organizational function (organization, planning, time management, getting unstuck)
Movement breaks (scheduled, water, food, functional, heavy, static)
Transition warnings (multimodal)
Positive reinforcement (flexibility and impulse control)
(social and Prosocial stressors)
Theoretical underpinning
Theoretical underpinning
UDL Connection
UDL Connection
Principle of Engagement activates the Affective Network of the brain: misalignment between person, environment, and occupation; behaviour is often misinterpreted as “language deficit” or “motivation issue”
Guideline 7: Options for Welcoming Interests & Identities
BC Core Competency
BC Core Competency
Personal Awareness & Responsibility
Facets:
Self-Advocating
Self-Regulating
Well-Being
Social Awareness & Responsibility
Facets:
Building Relationships
Contributing to the Community and Caring for the Environment
Resolving Problems
Valuing Diversity
BC Curriculum
BC Curriculum
Curricular Competencies:
Physical Literacy
Healthy & Active Living
Social and Community Health
Mental Well-Being
Behaviour is Communication
Behaviour is Communication
Shanker's Self-Reg Framework
Shanker's Self-Reg Framework
First, a primer on Stuart Shanker's Self-Reg Framework (2022).
There are five practices in the Shanker Method to manage stress and tension:
Reframe the behaviour
Recognize the stressors across the five domains
Reduce the stress
Reflect and enhance stress awareness
Restore energy
Stressors by domain
Stressors by domain
The following are graphic representations of some possible stressors in each domain illustrated by Kristen Weins of North Star Paths:
Shanker, S. (2022, December 15). The Self-Reg framework: The five domains of stress. The MEHRIT Centre. https://self-reg.ca/self-reg-framework-5-domains-stress/
Functional Behaviour Assesement
Functional Behaviour Assesement
There are three ways that a teacher can respond to behaviour:
reinforcement
redirection
replacement
Reinforcement can be active, or passive. Celebrating a desired behaviour can reinforce it. So can giving attention to an undesirable behaviour (if the function, or goal, of the behaviour is attention). Ignoring a behaviour could also constitute reinforcement, if attention is not its function.
Redirection is a classic strategy where the teacher will interrupt a behaviour, and transition the student to another.
Replacement is a strategic response to behaviour, and largely depends on the function of that behaviour.
The model to the left is one that I synthesized from the AFIRM training module on Functional Behaviour Analysis (FBA) and Glasser's Choice Theory (1998).
Both models agree that behaviour is not random, and is in fact an attempt to meet a need. Glasser would maintain that behaviour is the communication of internal unmet needs (survival, love/belonging, power, freedom/autonomy, or fun). However, his theory pre-supposes nuero-typicality. The AFIRM approach prioritizes the observable function of the behaviour to determine the function it serves the individual performing it (including sensory needs, novelty-seeking, and demand avoidance).
A formal FBA requires training to complete appropriately, but a cursory underatanding of this model can be helpful as a universal classroom support strategy.
Glasser, W. (1998). Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom. HarperCollins.
ASUP2024-FINAL.pdfAssessment of Skills and Unsolved Problems
Assessment of Skills and Unsolved Problems
This one-page document is an excellent starting point to identify specific skills and situations that are presenting difficulty, and use those details to collaboratively work on the child's unsolved problems.
It is the cornerstone of Ross Greene's (2014) Collaborative & Proactive Solutions Model.
A fillable Google doc version can be found here
Greene, R. W. (2014). The explosive child: A new approach for understanding and parenting easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children (5th ed.). Harper.Lives in the Balance. (2024). Assessment of skills and unsolved problems (ASUP). https://livesinthebalance.org/cps-materials-paperwork/
AFIRM Training Module
AFIRM Training Module
AFIRM offers a free 2-hour training module on conducting Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA)
They also make available an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Brief Packet that contains a comprehensive evidence-base (organized by developmental level and context), professional implementation guide, planning and monitoring templates, and parent-facing information.
Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2024). Functional Behavior Assessment, Updated. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules. http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu
Functional Behavior Assessment Brief Packet, Sam & AFIRM Team, Updated 2024 (2).pdf
Delahooke, M. (2020). Beyond Behaviours: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioural Challenges. John Murray Press.
Beyond Behaviours
Beyond Behaviours
This book is a goldmine of practical strategies. It is highly compatible with the ASUP and the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model (Greene, as above), and Shanker's Self-Reg framework. Beyond Behaviours operationalizes the 'iceberg model' to connect behaviour interpretation with trauma-informed practice.
Delahooke maintains that behaviour is communication, and behaviour is driven by the nervous system. She argues that educators (and parents) should prioritize felt safety, relationally and readiness in the configuration of behaviour interpretation and support.
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