Strategies for Behaviour Management

  • Whenever possible, problems should be minimized through careful advance planning and rewards to motivate appropriate behaviour.
  • If your client has a temper tantrum and it is possible to ignore their acting-out behaviour without disrupting others, this would be the most appropriate response.
  • If your client is uncooperative and can be timed-out on a chair without restraining them, this would be the simplest response to misbehaviour. 
    • If your client has a temper tantrum and must be taken to another space, this should be done calmly and quietly. 
    • During the removal, your client should be told that they must be calm in order to return to the group. 
    • Specific behavioural expectations (“Voice quiet, body still, and hands together,”) should be made clear to them.
  • If your client does not cooperate, they should be given clear choices. 
    • For example:
      • “You can watch the others play with the rabbit or you can go to another activity centre.  What is your choice?”
  • If they try to do something else or tries to do something that is not one of the choices, they should be told clearly, “That is not a choice right now.”
    • They should then be redirected to one of the appropriate choices.

For more information on and targeted interventions for behavior management, see these handouts: