Problem: The student appears to perseverate or get stuck doing the same activity over and over or saying the same thing or feeling the same emotion; may have difficulty transitioning from place to place or activity to activity; requests to change topics or activities may be greeted with negative behavior; changes in routine cause problems; the student appears to be inflexible. (See Tutorial on Flexibility.)

Cognitive / Self-Regulatory Possibility: Generally weak cognitive functioning

Step 1: Organize observations relevant to the problematic behavior/issue

• Who is reporting the problem?
• When does it occur? (Include time of day, activities etc).
• Where does it occur?
• What tends to precede the problematic behavior/issue?
• What tends to follow the problematic behavior/issue?
• What is the age and functioning level of the student?
• Previous documentation/charts?

Step 2: Identify possible contributors to the problematic behavior/issue

In many cases, there are several contributors to the student’s identified problem. These contributors may interact with each other, therefore, it may be necessary to combine tests from different categories of possibilities. The existence of several interacting contributors may become obvious as you proceed through individual intervention experiments.

Generally weak cognitive functioning: Some students may appear to be inflexible and engage in ritualistic behavior as a result of excessive demands placed on their memory, organizational ability, academic skill, or other cognitive ability. (See Tutorials on Cognition, Memory, Organization.)

Relevant Observations: The student’s ability to organize may be related to the cognitive and academic demands of the task. The student may seek reassurance when cognitive and academic demands rise. (See Tutorials on Cognition, Memory, Organization, Instructional Routines.)

Useful experiments for assessment and intervention:

1. Observe and record the frequency and/or intensity of the problem behavior when a new teaching strategy or support is being implemented versus when it is not being implemented.
2. Possible cognitive and academic demand-related teaching strategies or supports (See Tutorial on Instructional Routines): Maintaining other components of a task, deliver the task with ample supports for success (e.g., collaborative work, ample cues, advance organizers, simplified tasks, and the like) versus no special supports for success.
3. If the frequency and/or intensity of the target behavior decreases during intervention, it may be that this student’s problem behaviors are in part a result of high cognitive and/or academic demands of tasks.

Possible referrals: School psychologist for assessment; instructional support specialist for instructional strategies; behavior specialist for behavior management strategies