Managing Behaviors with Learning Disabilities

Inclusion classrooms have a number of complicating factors in play that make classroom management difficult. While disruptive behavior in the classroom is never acceptable, it can be difficult to know what behaviors are a part of a learning disability and how to properly handle these behaviors.

Classroom Behaviors Common with ADHD

Common behaviors teachers might see when observing a child with ADHD:

• Getting out of seat repeatedly without permission
• Distraction – not paying attention or following directions
• Not following directions
• Disruptive repetitive behaviors (such as tapping pencil)

These behaviors are a part of the disability. While these are not acceptable in the classroom and can be quite disrupting, teachers need to realize when disciplining the child that these behaviors are not always a choice. Here are some ideas to help manage these disruptive behaviors:

• Redirect the child’s attention
• Assign a buddy student to help the child focus/follow directions
• Give simple directions one step at a time and have the child repeat the step back before starting.
• Seat the child in a location where allowing the child to stand instead of remain seated would be possible.

Classroom Behaviors Common with Autism

Autism is a complicated disability because an individual child can fall anywhere along the spectrum and display very unique personality traits. A child who is mildly autistic will behave very differently than a child who is non-verbal, for example.  Here are some basic behaviors teachers might see in an inclusion classroom:

• Not responding to questions
• Not willing to try something new (can throw a fit if forced)
• Anger/frustration when forced to communicate
• Fights with other students
• Disregard for basic classroom rules

When managing these behaviors, it is important to have input from the special education teacher in the building. A conversation with the speech therapist might also be helpful given the tendencies to become frustrated with communication. Here are some ideas that teachers can try:

• Work in small groups whenever possible to give more attention to the child with autism.
• Use role playing to teach appropriate ways to handle various social situations. (never expect a child with autism to “pick up” the right way to do something, explicitly teach appropriate behaviors)
• Educate the other classmates about the student’s behaviors.
• Separate the child from the group for a “cool down” time
• Create a behavior plan to target specific behaviors and provide incentives for proper behavior.

Other Behaviors Related to Learning Disabilities

• Not cooperating
• Class clown behaviors
• Making fun of class work
• Angry outbursts during assignments
• Avoiding or hiding incomplete assignments

These behaviors are common with children who have disabilities because of their frustration with the difficulty level of the work. Even modified work can be very difficult for a child and cause frustrated behaviors. Likewise, these children often learn coping mechanisms that prevent them from being “found out” by their peers to avoid being made fun of so always address these problems privately.

The best way to handle these behaviors is to ignore the behavior and provide one-on-one assistance for the assignment. Quick and quiet modifications to the assignment, like finish only the first three, or write just one paragraph instead of 2 can help as well.