Strategies to Support Impulse Control

To support your clients impulse control (i.e., the ability to stop and think before acting) you may want to suggest the following recommendations:

• Provide your client with extra structure in the form of general guidelines and specific rules to teach acceptable behavior.

• Offer additional supports such as visual cues or verbal prompts to bolster the “stop” function in their behavior.

• Encourage those around your client to plan in advance for potentially problematic times by identifying what triggers your client’s loss of control and providing extra supports in those situations.

• Teach the client alternatives to negative behaviors. For older children, work with them to brainstorm more positive responses to triggering situations.

• Use rewards to motivate desired behavior.

• Ensure your client’s safety. If a client’s impulsive behaviors put them at risk of physical harm, drop all other priorities, and protect the client.

• An impulsive response style should be monitored with frequent reminders to “stop, look, and listen.” 
  • Any time that a choice is involved, ensure that the students carefully review all options before you ask them to respond. 
  • Teach the students to do the same when doing multiple-choice tests or other multi-choice activities.

• Encourage students to delay their responses, since this is frequently an effective way to have them process more deeply what you have said.

• Cue talkative students to pause before talking.  Encourage them to raise their hand before offering a response or asking questions. 
  • During class discussions, they may need more opportunities to contribute than most students, as waiting their turn can be very difficult.

• Encourage students to “Stop and Think” before responding or acting, especially while carrying out complicated and multi-step tasks.

• Encourage students to use self-talk to work through more challenging tasks (e.g., first I have to ___,  then I have to___).

• When waiting in line-ups, impulsive students will usually do best when they are allowed to stand near the front.  As their ability to wait improves, they can be placed further back in lineups.

• Interrupting or intruding on conversations can be quite problematic.
  • These students may require frequent reminders of appropriate behaviour (e.g., “Mark, I need you to wait until I’m finished with Julie.  Then I can help you.”  “Joseph, you need to say, ‘Excuse me’ if you must interrupt two people who are talking.”)

Client Handout – “4-Step Plan“

The attached handout could be given to your client to help them understand their impulses and come up with better choices for their impulses: 4-Step Plan