Communication Corner-- Escape

Communication is a difficult skill for many of our referral students and can vary greatly for everyone. Often we see deficits in our students’ ability to communicate in a functional way. Without functional communication, students may use unexpected behaviors in an attempt to communicate or they may try modes that are not easily understood by others such as vague scripts or words.

It is essential that educational teams help students develop the ability to functionally communicate. Functional Communication Training is an evidence-based practice which can be very helpful in helping to replace interfering behaviors with meaningful communication strategies. In our newest blog series, Communication Corner, we will be addressing various communication functions and providing strategies for teaching functional communication to address each one. Today's Communication Corner focuses on students learning to request a break to replace escape behaviors.

In our work with teams, we often see students who exhibit interfering behaviors when they want to escape a setting or activity. These behaviors may include hitting, running/eloping, flopping to the floor, screaming, or throwing materials. An important component of addressing these behaviors is to teach a replacement behavior such as a strategy for communicating when they want to escape or protest.

Requesting a Break

When a student is demonstrating unexpected behavior as a response to frustration during a task, the student can be taught to request a break. The team will need to determine what activity to use for a break. It should be less motivating than earned task completion rewards. We recommend break activities that are calming and are easy to transition off of to return to the task. If the activity does not have a clear end point, use a visual transition cue to transition the student back to the activity.

Break Card

A break’s complexity may vary dependent upon the student’s individual needs. For some students, a break will always be the same activity such as walking to the water fountain to get a drink, sitting in a bean bag with a fidget for a designated amount of time, complete a deep breathing activity, or taking their work to a quieter homebase location. Students may be taught to request this break using a general break card or a specific picture of the activity.

Beth Young
Snyder Park Elementary, Springfield

Staff may want to duplicate the break card to use as a visual cue when they notice signs of escalation and want to cue the student to take a break.

Break Sequence

Other students may be able to complete a sequence of calming activities as their requested break activity. Most sequences provide the needed break from demands, provide calming input, and have a definite ending point which makes it easier to transition back to work. The sequence should be directly taught and regularly practiced during times when the student is not feeling frustration. For these breaks, the student can use a break card to signal when they want to do their sequence.

Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River 

Christine Scarborough
Tecumseh Elementary, Xenia

Rachel Hatton
Normandy Elementary, Centerville

Break Choice Boards and Folders

Eventually, students may be able to use a break folder or choice board to determine an acceptable activity to complete during a requested break. It is important to trial a variety of activities prior to adding them to the student’s choices to see which the student prefers and which activities calm them best. Like the previous options, a visual should be available for the student to request when they need a break.

Keelin DiMuccio
Fairbrook Elementary, Beavercreek

Stephanie Foreman
South Vienna Elementary, Northeastern

Angela Crum
Parkwood Elementary, Beavercreek

Rebecca Lemons
Miamisburg Middle School, Miamisburg

Sometimes the same visual is used on the student’s visual schedule for them to practice making break choices throughout the day.

Keep in mind when the team decides to use the break requesting strategy, it needs to be directly taught and student should be reinforced for requesting a break as an alternative to escape behaviors. Initially, the break is honored immediately each time it is requested. Once the student is beginning to demonstrate understanding of the strategy and any escape behaviors have been eliminated or reduced, the team can work on teaching the skill of waiting for a break.