Strategies for Changing Behavior of Students with TBI

• Choose the least intrusive strategy that is effective; something as basic as changing where the student sits or frequent breaks may be all that is needed.
• Reinforce what the student is doing well, to increase the positive behaviors the student is engaging in.
• Create positive behavior momentum by helping the student learn routines. Practice the routine with less and less support over time.
• Limit punishment as much as possible. Students with TBI often may not understand what they are being punished for.  Continuous punishment can also lead to depression.
  • Punishment (the least amount possible) may be needed if a behavior is dangerous and needs to be extinguished, but make sure to reinforce appropriate behavior at the same time.
  • Be sure the punishment is a natural consequence of the student’s actions as much as possible and does not reinforce a particular student's behavior.
    
    • For example, some students find lunch detention or time out gives them notoriety and reinforcement from the group of peers they most want to impress. In this case, these punishments would actually be reinforcing.
    • However, it might be quite effective to have the student repair something that s/he broke during an explosion at a time when doing something else would be preferred. Nonetheless, this requires that the student understands the cause and effect of the behavior and the repair.

• Help a changed behavior to continue with the least amount of intervention possible.
  • Behaviors are most likely to be maintained if the reinforcement comes from the student’s environment and is not an artificial reinforcement.

• Help the student generalize a behavior to new settings once she or he is able to perform the behavior in one setting.

Adapted from:

Deaton, A. (1997). Understanding and Overcoming the Challenging Behaviors. In Students with Acquired Brain Injury The School’s Response. Glang, A., Singer, G. H. S., Todis, B. Eds. Pp 203–225. Brooks: Maryland.