Sample Activity Chart Start Behavior (Page 2 of 5) in pdf

For this particular child I wanted to accomplish the following: stop the constant arguing and aggression at home and to start holding

him accountable for his behavior at home AND at school – this meant keeping a notebook for teacher’s comments in his backpack for

daily communication and talking to the doctor and getting his recommendation for medication (if necessary). At the start of this program

the child was not on any medication or behavior program.

Child #2: Male, Age 8, Autism, ADHD, Impulse Control Disorder

Child #2 is a very creative child who is also fun-loving and extremely active. I did not enter into this program with high hopes of

controlling “stop behaviors” or even with hopes of encouraging “start behaviors”. My main reason for entering into this with this child

was to create equality in our household – each child would be accountable for SOMETHING and progress would be tracked on a chart.

I’ll get into that later but I knew that I would have to lower the bar based on his ability to stay on task and to follow directions. This

would require a significant amount of extra effort on my part.

I decided that if I was going to do this with him then I would need to think about what I would like for him to accomplish: gain self-

esteem by seeing visuals of his “good” deeds (i.e. stickers each day for activities that we would specify for each child) and for him to

conceptualize the idea of a reward system. In order for you to understand why I speak in a more negative tone regarding this child’s

participation in the program, you need to understand this child’s level of functioning. His level of aggression is off the charts. In the

year 2000 he broke 8 windows and managed to color every wall in our home (even the ceilings). In the year 2001 he started kicking

holes in the walls – every wall has gaping holes (some going clean through into the other room!) – he went outside through the windows

constantly to the point that we’ve had to bar every window and bolt every door. He was hospitalized for one week in order for

professionals to try to figure out a game plan for controlling his behavior.

Child #3: Female, Age 6

Child #3 is a typically developing child. She loves to help out around the house and has shown an interest in trying to take care of

herself (dressing, brushing hair, cleanliness, etc.). While she has not been diagnosed with any particular disorder or “special need”,

she displays a strong tendency to argue, throw things, whine a lot, hit people, scream and just plain-old “not listen”.

The things that I would like to work on with her are: listening skills and the concept of rewards and punishment.

The Program

What Does It Mean?

1-2-3 Magic is very simple: you cut out the arguing and explaining that many adults catch themselves doing. It means exactly what it

says – 1-2-3 – you give them one warning when they are doing something undesirable then you start counting. If you get to three then

the consequence comes into play. For instance, if Child #3 is stomping through the house while whining, I would say something like

“Child #3, if you would like to be heard then you need to speak in a normal voice”. If she continues, I would simply say “That’s One!”

Jackie D. Igafo-Te’o (igafoteo@ameritech.net)

Bridges4Kids

3/10/2005

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Sample Activity Chart Start Behavior Page 2