Learning from Behavior: How to Understand and Help "Challenging" Children in School (Child Psychology and Mental Health)

Contents......Page 8 Series Foreword......Page 10 Foreword by Sophie Freud, MSW, PhD......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 16 A Note about Gender Use......Page 18 Layout of the Book......Page 20 Introduction......Page 22 1. Stop, Look, and Listen: Understanding Behavior and the Significance of Relationships......Page 32 2. Common Mental Health Diagnoses: How They Impact Children......Page 54 3. Translating the Notions of Meaning and Relationship: Helping Strategies in Action (Or the Twenty-six Commandments)......Page 70 4. Constructing Behavioral Interventions: Why We Need More Than a Template......Page 94 5. The Nut and Bolts: Developing, Introducing, and Implementing the Behavioral Model......Page 106 6. Case Studies......Page 132 7. Going Forward......Page 144 Bibliography......Page 150 Index......Page 156

Understanding children's problem behaviors in school-- seeing beyond the surface actions to reveal and name the root needs fueling those actions--is vital to helping the child. Yet, whether teachers in schools or parents at home, adults often make quick, cursory assessments, then an intervention is sprung. Explanations might be sought from the child, who often resists and becomes more distant. Punishment can occur and things are "taken away," but the behavior worsens. These scenarios and similar occurrences frustrate parents, teachers, and other school professionals alike. In Learning from Behavior, Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about problem behaviors in such a way that we can understand what is motivating the children to act as they do. Behavior, after all, often represents what the child cannot communicate, due to language limitations, level of psychological development, or traumatic experience. Children think differently; they are not small adults. We need to understand the behavior from the child's perspective before we can intervene to change the behavior. Author Levine shows us, incorporating illustrative vignettes, how to do that.

Step by step, Levine, a clinical social worker experienced as a consultant to dozens of schools, helps us take the astute advice cited in one children's song we've all heard: "stop, look and listen," to first understand the behavior. Question the causes. Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out. We hear about the history of behavioral interventions, listen as children tell us how they perceive these interventions, and look over the social worker's shoulder as effective helping strategies are put into action. As Levine explains, "Given the challenges we share communally in helping children, we should do everything possible to learn more about children's behavior, enhance our methods for reaching out to them, and refine our approaches to intervention. All of us--teachers, parents, clinicians, researchers, and administrators, along with the children we serve--must participate in this vital endeavor."

VOYA

Educators deal with "challenging" students on a daily basis. These students may have learning disorders, behavior disorders, or a whole host of other problems that come with being an adolescent. The question is how to deal with the problems effectively so that they benefit from the teaching that is taking place within the classroom. Levine provides answers in a new book that reads like a college textbook while providing some interesting information. Divided into six chapters, it discusses everything from diagnostic categories, including disorders such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD, diagnostic tests to determine if a child actually possesses such a disorder, interventions, behavior models, and case studies. The case studies are extremely interesting and may provide excellent insight into how to better serve these types of students. Levine, a clinical social worker, has helped children with social, psychological and learning disorders. He asks adults to "stop, look, and listen" to what the challenging students are trying to tell them. He believes that adults are too quick to assess the situation and then put a plan into action. Levine explains that to understand the behavior, one must question the causes. By looking past the symptoms of the behavior, the root cause of the problem is often found. This professional title would be best used by special education and regular education teachers. Guidance counselors may also find the information useful when dealing with challenging students. Reviewer: Jonatha Bayse

Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about children's problem behaviors in school from the child's perspective so we can understand what is motivating children to act as they do before we intervene. Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out. Understanding children's problem behaviors in school— seeing beyond the surface actions to reveal and name the root needs fueling those actions—is vital to helping the child. Yet, whether teachers in schools or parents at home, adults often make quick, cursory assessments, then an intervention is sprung. Explanations might be sought from the child, who often resists and becomes more distant. Punishment can occur and things are taken away, but the behavior worsens. These scenarios and similar occurrences frustrate parents, teachers, and other school professionals alike. In Learning from Behavior , Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about problem behaviors in such a way that we can understand what is motivating the children to act as they do. Behavior, after all, often represents what the child cannot communicate, due to language limitations, level of psychological development, or traumatic experience. Children think differently; they are not small adults. We need to understand the behavior from the child's perspective before we can intervene to change the behavior. Author Levine shows us, incorporating illustrative vignettes, how to do that. Step by step, Levine, a clinical social worker experienced as a consultant to dozens of schools, helps us take the astute advice cited in one children's song we've all heard: stop, look and listen, to first understand the behavior. Question the causes. Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out. We hear about the history of behavioral interventions, listen as children tell us how they perceive these interventions, and look over the social worker's shoulder as effective helping strategies are put into action. As Levine explains, Given the challenges we share communally in helping children, we should do everything possible to learn more about children's behavior, enhance our methods for reaching out to them, and refine our approaches to intervention. All of us—teachers, parents, clinicians, researchers, and administrators, along with the children we serve—must participate in this vital endeavor. "In Learning from Behavior, James Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about problem behaviors in such a way that we can understand what is motivating the children to act as they do. Behavior often represents what the child cannot communicate, due to language limitations, level of psychological development, or traumatic experience." "Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out. We hear about the history of behavioral interventions, listen as children tell us how they perceive these interventions, and look over the social worker's shoulder as helping strategies are put into action."--Jacket