Putting Positive Supports into Practice
What Helps
- Checking to see whether the communication is understood
- Understanding, believing, and acting on the assumption that
"behavior is communication"
- Starting each day fresh ... no baggage
- Offering choices
- Understanding and making appropriate modifications and
adaptations
- Knowing the child and family
- Having realistic expectations
- Giving people time and space to process
- Having Positive expectations and offering positive feedback
about what works
- Teaching needed skills
- Listening actively to let the child know that he/she is heard
and valued
- Offering opportunities to experience success
- Working with team members who share vision and commitment
- Being knowledgeable about community resources
- Providing modification and supports that have been effective
in the past
What Hurts
- Using behavior modification to manipulate a child to act in a
way that is "appropriate"
- Expecting parents to carry discipline firom school into the
home
- Expecting parents to be therapists, teachers, psychologists,
OT casemanagers, and/or doctors, in addition to the challenging
role of being a parent of a child with a disability
- Giving homework that the child cannot do independently
- Having unrealistic expectations
- Getting into power struggles with the child and/or the
parents
- Personalizing the child's behavior
- Making assumptions about child's character based on behavior
and on family's parenting ability
Centerpoint is the newsletter of the Center for Community
Inclusion, Maine's University Affiliated Program.
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