Changing the Way We Look at Challenging Behaviors: An Adult-First Intervention
About this session
This session will dive into working with children who exhibit challenging behaviors in a classroom setting. Historically challenging behaviors have been seen as a "child problem" that an adult needs to fix. This session will reframe the way we look at challenging behaviors. Instead of seeing them as a child issue, we will look at challenging behaviors as a form of communication and how we as adults can support identifying the "why" of the behavior. We will also introduce strategies to support the child while reducing the likelihood that the challenging behaviors continue. In addition, this session will explore the idea of adult-first intervention which focuses on ensuring the adult is regulating their own emotions prior to supporting the child utilizing Bruce Perry's 3R (Regulate, Relate, Reason) framework.
Intended Audience: Educators, parents of young children, administrators of early childhood programs- anyone that has direct interactions with young children.
Learning objectives
- Participants will understand the idea that behavior is a form of communication and that in order to reduce instances of challenging behavior, we must first identify what the behavior is communicating
- Participants will gain strategies on how to identify what the challenging behavior is communicating and strategies they can use to best support the child while also reducing the likelihood that the challenging behavior continue
- Participants will gain knowledge on the importance of regulating their own emotions in order to best support all children
- Participants will be introduced to the idea of adult-first intervention and gain knowledge on Bruce Perry's 3R framework