Question:

Hi,

I’m a new teacher for an SDC, (high school) I have a student who has some minor behavior issues in class but extreme behaviors on the bus. My student recently broke a window on the bus, and now is believed to be unsafe to ride the bus. He kicks, hits and gets out of his seat, one of times it was because he was upset with his mom prior to riding the bus. The most recent episode was because he wanted to seat with a female student, this when he broke the window. He wasn’t allowed to seat with the student because they have their hands all over each other (that’s another issue…..) do you have any suggestions…. We have tried hand held games, toys. I’m running out of ideas.

Nelly

Answer:

Hi Nelly,

The lucky thing for your student is that he is entitled to “threshold to threshold” support, so the bus problem is an IEP problem. That also means that it is not just your problem.

• Has the IEP team met to review this problem?
• Has the special education administrator been involved?
• Since he is exhibiting behavior that meets the level of serious, a functional analysis assessment (FAA) is required. Has that been done?

In the meantime, consider these questions:

• What factors are present in your classroom but are missing on the bus?
• Conversely, what conditions are present on the bus but are not in your classroom?
• Can you use that information to make any changes to the bus environment?
• What ways does this student use to get what he wants in the classroom? Can he use this method on the bus?
• Is there some reinforcement that is powerful for him that he can earn from you for appropriate bus behavior?
• Can you tie bus behavior into your class behavior system, such as you might be able to with a level system?

You don’t have to do this by yourself! Hope this helps.