Chapter 26
The Use of RTP for Children with Mild Disabilities

Erin Powell
RTP Special Education Trainer
Creighton Elementary School District Phoenix, Arizona

I have been working with children with mild to severe disabilities from pre-school age to eighth-grade age for 13 years. I am a special education teacher and a trainer for paraprofessionals, teachers, parents, and other staff members working with children with various disabilities. These include children with emotional disabilities, specific learning disabilities, mental retardation, autism, physical disabilities, and multiple disabilities. I’ve written a chapter already for working with children with more severe disabilities. It can be found in Discipline For Home and School, Book Two.

This chapter will address working with children with mild disabilities, including children with specific learning disabilities, high-functioning autism, mild mental retardation, emotional disabilities, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Many of these students are functioning in the regular education classroom with re-source support from a special education teacher. Others are receiving educational services in a high-functioning self-contained classroom with mainstreaming in the regular education classroom. The strategies discussed in this chapter can be implemented in the regular education classroom, special education classroom, and at home.

If you are looking to wave a magic wand to “fix” a child, this is not the chapter to read. I spent many years trying to change children’s behavior with behavior modification plans that took many hours to develop and implement. I wanted to control the children’s disruptions through these behavior programs. What I received in return was a lot of frustration and wasted time.

I could not understand why these programs did not work in the long term, and why I could not change children’s behavior over time. In college, I was taught that behavior modification was the way to deal with students who had behavior difficulties, and that I was the one responsible for changing other people’s behaviors. I was trying to wave my magic wand, but the students were not being “fixed.” Since working with Ed Ford, I have learned that this is not the way human beings function. This includes children with disabilities.

Implementing RTP with children with mild disabilities is no different than implementing the process with their non-disabled peers. High expectations are as important for children with disabilities as they are for non-disabled children. Foremost, it is important to follow the process in the way it was developed. This includes asking the questions, developing a plan, and negotiating the plan. For children with mild disabilities, this part is easy. They are developmentally and physically able to answer questions and develop plans in the same way that most of their non-disabled peers can. They do not need more extensive adaptations to answer the RTP questions or develop the RTP plans, as do children with more severe disabilities. However, children with mild disabilities tend to need assistance in discovering appropriate ways of reaching their goals without disturbing others. This can be done through utilizing strategies that help them understand the rules and allow them opportunities to practice implementing their plans. The following strategies are ways that I have helped students with mild disabilities accomplish this. My goal has been to become a facilitator to help them alter their environment. I wanted to help them control their own perceptions by being a part of their “means of control”; I did not want to become a disturbance, as I was previously when implementing behavior modification programs.

Because students with disabilities tend to have a more difficult time with learning due to short- and long-term memory problems as well as organizational problems, it is important that they receive multiple opportunities to learn and practice new skills. This includes not only academic skills, but also social skills. It is critical to understand that students need to learn rules just as they learn reading, writing, or math. As teachers, we do not introduce a new math concept in one day and then move on to a new one. We teach and reteach these concepts, using a variety of learning modalities, until our students have mastered them. Once they have mastered the concepts, we provide extension activities that allow them to apply these concepts to new situations. It is critical for teachers to do the same when it comes to learning and understanding social skills.

One way I assisted students to control their own perceptions without disrupting other students was to begin every morning with “Community Circle.” During this time, the students discussed classroom rules, RTP plans, and their concerns. They also expressed appreciation of one another. The first thing they did in “Community Circle” was discuss the classroom rules. The students did this every day, no matter how tedious it seemed. This did not mean just reading the rules. Rather, they went over what the rules meant. They accomplished this by role-playing, giving examples and non-examples of the rules, and reading stories that pertained to certain rules. They would also express appreciation for students who were following the rules, and they would discuss situations in which the class was having difficulties following the rules. The more they discussed what was happening in their lives, the more they truly understood the rules. Going over the rules at the beginning of the school year and posting the rules on the wall is not enough if we expect students to respect the rights of others. Here is an example of how a discussion about classroom rules occurred during “Community Circle”:

Teacher: OK, class, let’s talk about our classroom rules. Who can name a rule? Jordan, you raised your hand nicely.

Jordan: I need to have mutual respect for myself, others, and things.

Teacher: What does that mean?

Sean: I treat people the way I want to be treated.

Leslie: I shouldn’t go touch other people’s stuff if they don’t want me to.

Jordan: We should say nice things to people.

Teacher: What happens if Todd grabs Jordan’s toy away?

Todd: I get in trouble.

Teacher: Well, how does Jordan feel?

Todd: She gets mad and does not want to play with me.

Teacher: Do you want that? Would you like that to happen to you?

Todd: No.

Teacher: Is that respecting others?

Class: No.

Teacher: Then what is it?

Todd: It’s being mean.

Teacher: What could Todd do differently?

Jordan: He could ask me for the toy.

Teacher: Would that be respecting others?

Class: Yes.

Just as it is important to teach students classroom rules by giving them multiple opportunities to practice and discuss the rules, it is also important to give students opportunities to practice their plans. My students were able to accomplish this by reviewing their plans every morning during “Community Circle.” Sometimes they would tell the group what their plans entailed. Other times, they were given a scenario related to past disruptions and would tell or role-play how they would handle that particular situation. If my students were able to follow their plans for one week, they could file their plans away. They no longer had to discuss their plans during “Community Circle.” How-ever, they knew that even though their plans were physically filed, and they no longer had to discuss them during “Community Circle,” they were still expected to follow their plans throughout the day. The students would review their plans after they reviewed the rules.

Here is an example of how a discussion about a stu- dent’s plan occurred during “Community Circle.” Michael, an eighth grader with mild mental retardation, received his reading and math in a special education resource room. He participated in all other activities (i.e., science, social studies, and electives) with his non-disabled peers in the regular education classroom. He was having difficulty participating during recess. His most problematic disruption was pushing others when playing basketball. He was also on the school basketball team, and this became a problem during games with other schools. Michael’s plan during recess was to take a break from the basketball game when he got mad. He would assign a designated spot as his “cool down” area. When he got mad, he would go to this spot and count to 10. Once he finished counting to 10, he could go back into the game.

Teacher: Who has a plan they are working on?

Michael: I have a plan for recess.

Teacher: Can you tell me about it?

Michael: I need to stop pushing other kids when they are trying to take the ball away from me.

Teacher: Do basketball rules allow you to push other players?

Michael: No, that would be a foul, and, besides, I might hurt somebody.

Teacher: What are you going to do instead?

Michael: I’m going to sit at the picnic table and count to 10 when I get mad. After I count to 10, I’ll go back into the game.

Teacher: What happens if Johnny grabs the ball away from you and you get upset?

Michael: I’ll go to the picnic table and count to 10.

Not only did my students discuss their plans during “Community Circle,” they also discussed or practiced their plans throughout the school day. Before transitioning into a new environment, they would again review their plans. If the students started to disrupt and had developed plans related to that disruption, they would receive an opportunity to follow their plans before being asked the RTP questions. This would happen by asking, “What are you doing?” and “Are you following your plan?” If they stopped what they were doing and began to follow their plans, then nothing else was said. If they continued to disrupt, they were asked the appropriate set of RTP questions. Receiving the opportunity to practice their plans as disruptions occurred was extremely successful for them. This is how they truly learned to be responsible for their own actions, during real-life experiences.

My students ended “Community Circle” with appreciations for each other; however, they were not required to give appreciations. When a student gave an appreciation, the student had to link the appreciation to a classroom rule. This helped the students learn to respect others and gave meaningful examples of students following rules. Not only did the students end “Community Circle” this way, but they also gave appreciations at the end of each activity before transitioning to a new activity. This is an example of how an appreciation conversation went at the end of an activity.

Teacher: Does anyone have an appreciation?

Tim: I appreciate David for helping me with my spelling words. He showed mutual respect for others.

Teacher: Are there any other appreciations?

When students with disabilities were given opportunities to review and practice rules and plans by participating in a “Community Circle,” participating in daily appreciations, and practicing plans when disruptions occurred, they were able to control their perceptions more successfully without disrupting others. These strategies can be implemented by anyone working with such children in the regular education classroom, in the special education classroom (resource room or self-contained classroom), at home with a parent, in the cafeteria, or on the playground.

The strategies can be implemented in a group or with an individual child. A parent, regular education teacher, special education teacher, paraprofessional, administrator, or any other adult working with children who have mild disabilities can implement these strategies. Since students with mild disabilities tend to have memory, organizational, and learning difficulties, these strategies aid their learning to be responsible for their own behaviors. Providing multiple opportunities for students to understand the rules and practice their plans can greatly reduce the number of “frequent flyers,” while providing a respectful environment for everyone. As adults, we become their facilitators by helping them to develop their own skills to change their own environment. Are we not, then, empowering them just as we would any child?