Project Purpose

Main Topic Index

I. What is Challenging Behavior?

II. Functional Behavior Assessment

III. Overview of Intervention Strategies

IV. Communicative Alternatives

V. Implementing Antecedent-Based Strategies

Communicative Alternatives:
Request a Break
             
What is a request for a break?

A request for a break is a communicative act in which the child completes a portion of an activity and then requests a break. Following the break, the child returns to the activity.

Who would benefit from being taught a request-a-break response?

• Children whose challenging behaviors are escape-motivated (i.e., who engage in challenging behavior in order to escape a situation) would benefit from being taught to request a break. A child who participates in a structured activity for a brief amount of time and then begins to engage in aggressive behaviors toward his peers when he becomes fatigued, could be a good candidate for being taught to request a break.

• Children who become bored and then engage in challenging behavior. Providing them with a means to communicate the desire to have a task briefly interrupted (e.g., "Sign 'Break,' please."), may successfully compete with the challenging behavior.

How might a child use a socially appropriate response to request a break?

A request for a break may be accomplished by using spoken, gestural, or graphic symbols. A child may verbally indicate a desire for a break by saying "I need to rest." Another child may touch a graphic symbol for "Break." A third child may indicate this desire by signing "Break."