Behavioral Management / Intervention Support

Often our children are misunderstood because their behavior is misunderstood. We should remember that a child/person’s behavior is their way of communicating their needs to others.  It can be challenging and often frustrating, to try to understand what she/he is attempting to tell us and how to change inappropriate behaviors to safe, positive, appropriate ones. We want to learn about ways to prevent inappropriate behaviors rather than just react to them. Let’s work together to gain an understanding of your child as an individual, and what his/her needs are, in order to help him/her appropriately communicate, while feeling loved, connected, and understood.

This service is for

Children of all ages and abilities

ADHD Population

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) population

Families

Caregivers

Educators / Schools

We will meet

2 times per week during the day or evenings in your home or in the community (for example the library) within Harford county or Baltimore county

What To Expect

  • Home or classroom observations
  • Interest inventories
  • Individualized behavior plan 
  • Coaching in implementation of plan
  • Social emotional learning lessons/strategies
  • Follow-ups as needed
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Behavioral Management Deep Dive

The Power of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

By seeking the support of Heart Inspired Learning, LLC, you are taking steps to better understand and manage your child's behavior at home and at school, while allowing him/her to feel understood, connected, and loved.

Behavior is a form of communication. It is your child trying to tell you something,

Just like adults, children want to be seen and heard. Sometimes it is hard for them to express their feelings and then they may come out as challenging and inappropriate behaviors.

How can I help prevent and change challenging behaviors?

Understanding and knowing what to do when your child is demonstrating challenging behavior is very difficult and can leave you feeling defeated at times.

Let me reassure you, you are not alone and you are doing a good job, just keep going!

By seeking the support of Heart Inspired Learning, LLC, you are taking steps to better understand and manage your child's behavior at home and at school, while allowing him/her to feel understood, connected, and loved.

The mission and vision of Heart Inspired Learning, LLC, is to help you better understand your child and his or her behavior; help him/her increase positive behaviors at home and at school; most importantly, to help your child gain the social and emotional intelligence to become the best version of him/herself. In our practice, we use Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) to work with children, families/caregivers, and educators to strengthen your child's positive behaviors while decreasing negative/inappropriate behaviors.

What is PBIS?

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives. We use ‘students’ to refer to all children and youth in any educational or therapeutic setting (e.g., K-12 school, early childhood program, treatment program, juvenile justice program).

PBIS emphasizes five inter-related elements: equity, systems, data, practices, and outcomes.

The ultimate goal of implementing PBIS data, systems, and practices is to improve outcomes. Families, students, and educators set goals and work together to achieve them. In PBIS, outcomes might include behavioral, social, emotional, and academic growth; positive school climate; or fewer office discipline referrals.

www.pbis.org

Strategies & Tips

There are many PBIS strategies that are effective with children. It is important to find the right fit for each child and family/community. Some strategies used by Heart Inspired Learning, LLC include (but are not limited to):

SEL practices

Praise, praise, praise. Frequent and specific praise and reinforcement (five to one-for every reprimand, remember to use positive language on at least five occasions).

  • Visual prompts
  • Incentive charts
  • Token economies
  • Social Stories
  • Family meetings
  • Class meetings

At Heart Inspired Learning, LLC, the ultimate goal includes the above outcomes, but takes a step further in striving to build confidence and self love in all children.

"For a child, a parent's or teacher's belief can be pivotal; the link between whether or not a child is successful as an adult is connected to whether or not he or she had at least one adult who believed in him or her as a child. As we believe in our children, our children believe in themselves."

- Lucy Jo Palladino

Here are some tips in preventing and decreasing challenging behaviors.

Positive Solutions for Families

by Matt Timm and Jill Giacomini

Download: Eight Practical Tips for Parents of Young Children with Challenging Behavior

Tip #1: Keep Your Expectations Realistic

It is important for you to know and understand your child’s abilities and limitations. When you expect too much or too little from your child it can lead to problems and frustrations for you both.~

Tip #2: Plan ahead try to anticipate what your child may do or need in various situations.

Make sure that you plan ahead to help your child have a successful experience. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Always have a back-up plan!~

Tip #3: Clearly state your expectations in advance.

Some undesirable behavior occurs because your child can’t act differently, other times it occurs because your child simply doesn’t want to act differently. Either way it helps for you to remember that your child cannot read your mind. Be sure to give your child one clear instruction so that he/she knows what it is that you want him/her to do.

Tip #4: Offer limited, reasonable choices.

Most children are not born with the built-inability to make decisions and then accept the consequences. In order for your child to learn to take personal responsibility they will need plenty of support and practice.

Tip #5: Use “When…Then” statements".

A “when…then” statement is a simple instruction that tells your child what he or she must do in order to earn a desired consequence (what he/she wants to do). This is also known as a contingency statement. When you use a contingency statement, be sure you: Give it a positive focus; State it only once; Set a reasonable time limit; Follow through.

Tip #6: Catch your child being good!

Did you ever stop to think about how much time you spend telling your child what he should not do? Instead, try giving specific, positive attention to the behavior that you want to see. This will teach your child what you want him to do and increase the likelihood that this behavior will occur again and again.

Tip #7: Stay calm when your child’s behavior is unacceptable, You can choose to either respond to it or ignore it.

If you decide that a reaction is required, remember that the least response necessary is usually best. Acting calm with a minimum of attention will reduce the risk of strengthening the very behavior you wish to discourage. When you remain calm, it also gives you time to think about how you want to respond. Remember, you are modeling desired behavior for your child; the more out-of-control your child becomes, the more self-control you need to show. When you remain calm your child learns appropriate ways to respond to difficult situations.

Tip #8: Use neutral time.

Neutral time cannot be found in the middle of a difficult situation filled with strong feelings. Instead, neutral time is when everyone is calm enough to think and talk and listen. It’s important to remember that neutral time can occur either before or after a child’s unacceptable behavior occurs. You can talk about what happened earlier and talk about positive ways to handle problems in the future. The challenge is to identify neutral time and make use of these opportunities.~

Heart Inspired Learning, LLC is inspired by the hearts of all people, especially young children. Let's work together to build the tools and relationships needed to support your child and help him/her believe in himself and better express him/herself, while feeling understood, connected, and loved.

Behavior Support Coaching

We work with families, caregivers, and educators to strengthen their Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills and improve behavior, by helping to identify target behaviors; providing coaching support in planning; and assisting in implementing behavior support plans.

60 Minute sessions

$125 per session

Suggested: 2 sessions/week. Support continues as needed via text, phone, or in person.

We meet in your home, in the community, or virtually

Features include:

  • Personalized behavior plans

  • Coaching/SEL instruction

  • ADHD coaching

"The way to reach all children, especially those with challenging behaviors, is always through the heart."

Mrs. Burke
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