I got a call from the vice-principal today explaining what happened yesterday. I was surprised I didn’t get that call yesterday.
Apparently Jonah was throwing rocks at other kids at recess. Some the size of baseballs. He would run over to the kids playing 4-square and just hurl away…
Jonah was anxious… all day. (Read previous post for more on that).
Really his behavior is a reaction to “tension.”
Sometimes he can’t control the “situations” around him and to cope with that anxiety, he exerts control over “other” things which he CAN control.
At home he will turn out all the lights in the house. Or stand on the table… or throw toys.
We got it to stop by not responding to the behavior and redirecting him to something else more preferable for both of us.
It seems at school, he has gotten a “reaction” by throwing rocks at kids.
And they can’t just ignore it.
Rock throwing seems to get the attention of “everyone,” which is highly reinforcing for him.
His regular teacher wasn’t there. His para was working with someone else… The guest teacher would really have ‘no idea,’ how to work with Jonah. It was a “perfect storm.”
The vice-principal had to intervene.
She moved all the kids out of the way.
And since she has very little experience with Jonah and no rapport built with him, she was not successful in redirecting him… so to protect the other kids, she RESTRAINED him until he went inside (about 2 minutes later)…
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I understand why she did it (at least the kids were safe)… but to me, that is a LOSE-LOSE for Jonah.
Restraint will produce an aversive reaction to ANY situation. It’s going to negatively effect his “experience” at school in the future. It will make him anxious about even being there.
AND… He will continue to push buttons by throwing rocks at kids.
Restraining him actually REINFORCES the behavior since what he looks for is that reaction.
It’s not that he WANTS to get in trouble… he just wants their attention.
sigh
And now, it’s like I have to “untie” this tangled knot in Jonah’s school routine to get him to even like going to school again.
deep breaths
But even so…
I know we can. I have confidence we can.
I’m choosing to stay positive about the situation.
Jonah is an AUSOME kid and we will figure it all out together.
Fingers crossed for a better day at school today.
#Ausome
(Thanks to The Daily Stim)