Teaching a Student to Stop Hitting- Episode 003 of The Nook

“If a child who can’t communicate well displays frustration by hitting and pinching people and pets, how do you teach them to stop?” –John

I feel your pain John, there is nothing worse than getting spit on, bitten, or kicked at work every day… and pinching is the worst! I had a student who was one of my favorites (you know us self contained teachers, we love the ones that are hardest) and she would scratch me all the time. All. The. Time. It was almost her favorite way to communicate with me. I would have done anything to get her to stop… so I know you are probably looking for a fix to the pinching behavior, and fast!

There are a few steps to addressing the behavior.

1. You want to identify the function- is it communication? Attention? Work aversion? Why is the student pinching? For my student who was scratching, she did it when she was trying to get attention, trying to get out of work, when she wanted something… nearly all the time! At least that was what it seemed like. What we found when we really started to look at her behavior was that she was using it to communicate. You will want to find out what the function is for your student’s behavior. If you want some more information, read more about the Function of Behavior.
2. Speaking of my student and communication, I really want you to think about the ways your student can communicate. For my student who scratched, it was her way to communicate because she was nonverbal and no other way to tell us things. I think most behaviors can be associated with not having a reliable way to talk and express wants and needs. As you are working with you student, it is always good to ask if you student can tell you what they want.
   • And remember, that is not what YOU want them to be able to say… it’s what they want to say. If you had a “communication board” with 4 squares: like YES, NO, BATHROOM, WATER and you wanted the teacher to read you a story, what would you do. I highly, highly suggest using core vocabulary like with use of a core board to make lots of language readily available and then model its use and practice with your student. Read more about where to start with Core Vocabulary here.
3. While addressing the communication issues, you will also want to Find a replacement behavior. You want to find something appropriate a student can do to get the same outcome as the adverse behavior (in this case, pinching). If your student is pinching to get out of work, can they get out of work in a better way? Like a way that does not include hurting you? Maybe a break card or using the finished icon on the core board. Something appropriate that can get the same outcome, that is an effective replacement behavior. It is so important to identify WHAT you want instead of the behavior your are trying to stop. You also mentioned pinching pets… here, you are looking to find a replacement there instead. With the pet, it may be finding a better way to play or more appropriate way to play. First, however, you want to find the function of the behavior and go from there.
4. As a final note, I also suggest you utilize some social stories. More opportunities to hear and see the appropriate behavior in action is worth the few moments it takes to read through social stories in the classroom. You may even find it is a great item to put into a cool down corner or use as part of the consequence of behavior as a student reflects on their behavior. You can read more about writing social stories AND get a free book by reading through the post on this blog.

There you have it, John. If you want to teach your student to do something other than hitting and pinching everyone, start by identifying the function, decide on a replacement behavior, teach communication, and use some social stories to directly teach the replacement behaviors.

Good Luck John and let me know how it goes!