Since its publication in 2012, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students has helped countless classroom teachers, special educators, and others implement an effective, new approach to teaching focused on skill-building, practical interventions, and purposeful, positive interactions with students who have mental health disorders. Based on the success of the previous book, author Jessica Minahan has written this companion guide for educators seeking additional guidance for creating and implementing successful behavior intervention plans ("FAIR Plans") for the students teachers worry about the most: those with anxiety-related or oppositional behaviors. Minahan takes readers step-by-step through the process of understanding and practicing the components of a FAIR behavior intervention plan so that they or a team can immediately customize it and put it to work in classrooms. Additional tips on creating interventions, as well as checklists to help with implementation and monitoring progress, are also included. Packed with brainstorming and reflection exercises, planning activities, templates, case studies, recommended apps, and other technology resources, The Behavior Code Companion will help educators create optimal classroom environments for all students.

Since its publication in 2012, The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students has helped countless classroom teachers, special educators, and others implement an effective, new approach to teaching focused on skill-building, practical interventions, and purposeful, positive interactions with students who have mental health disorders. Based on the success of the previous book, author Jessica Minahan has written this companion guide for educators seeking additional guidance for creating and implementing successful behavior intervention plans (“FAIR Plans”) for the students teachers worry about the most: those with anxiety-related or oppositional behaviors. Minahan takes readers step-by-step through the process of understanding and practicing the components of a FAIR behavior intervention plan so that they or a team can immediately customize it and put it to work in classrooms. Additional tips on creating interventions, as well as checklists to help with implementation and monitoring progress, are also included. Packed with brainstorming and reflection exercises, planning activities, templates, case studies, recommended apps, and other technology resources, The Behavior Code Companion will help educators create optimal classroom environments for all students.

Problem behaviors often compound the already difficult task of improving the lives of persons with severe disabilities. This important volume, representing the culmination of more than a decade of clinical research, presents the first complete description of the procedures used in Functional Communication Training--a positive approach for reducing severe behavior problems. The procedures described in this book have been validated by numerous empirical studies for use with children, adolescents, and adults who display behaviors as diverse as aggression, self-injury, tantrums, and bizarre, psychotic speech. Functional Communication Training involves teaching students how to communicate those basic wants and needs that they have previously sought to have fulfilled via their problem behavior. They are taught to replace their challenging behavior with learned communication skills. This book provides the practitioner with step-by-step instructions for implementing this effective approach. A variety of assessment strategies are reviewed and described to assist in determining appropriate interventions. The Motivation Assessment Scale--one device designed to assess the function of problem behavior--is outlined in detail and is accompanied with guidelines for its administration and interpretation. Communication training is then detailed and illustrated using speech, sign language, and augmentative systems as examples. Numerous case examples throughout illuminate both the assessment and intervention strategies. Providing clear direction for ameliorating complex behavior problems, this book will be valued by psychologists, behavior analysts, special educators, and speech and language therapists. It can be used as a text for advanced undergraduate courses on behavior management in psychology and special education, and also serves as supplementary reading for courses on behavior modification or mental retardation/developmental disabilities.

Based on a collaboration dating back nearly a decade, the authors of The Behavior Code--a behavioral analyst and a child psychiatrist--reveal their systematic approach for deciphering causes and patterns of difficult student behaviors and matching them with proven strategies that get students back on track academically. This book includes user-friendly worksheets and other helpful resources for applying the authors' approach. "Teaching is an art, but it's one that can be improved with science. Based on what we have learned in the field of psychology, The Behavior Code gives teachers the tools to transform the behavior patterns of some of their most challenging students. By using this essential book, teachers--instead of punishing or writing "off troubled students--can get them onto a path for success." -- Geoffrey Canada, president and ceo, Harlem Children's Zone "The Behavior Code is truly a godsend. Concisely written and easy to read, this book offers a framework for creating successful behavioral plans. I predict that once teachers and principals begin to apply the authors' approach for understanding and changing problematic behavior, they'll never look elsewhere for help again. Buy it, read it, use it, read it again and again--and pass it on!" -- William S. Pollack, associate clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School "This book is an essential guide for teachers and school personnel who find themselves in daily contact with students presenting with difficult behaviors. The authors outline an intervention procedure that is easily implemented in a busy classroom with multiple demands. Too often, behavioral intervention plans require so much attention to detail that teachers soon decide to disengage. Not so with the FAIR plan. By providing clear instructions and helpful examples, the authors promote a plan that prevents inappropriate behaviors while reinforcing socially acceptable alternatives." -- LeAdelle Phelps, professor of counseling/school psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY Jessica Minahan is a board-certified behavior analyst and special educator who is currently employed in the Newton (Mass.) public school system as a district-wide behavior analyst. Nancy Rappaport is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide (Basic Books, 2009).

Educators are continually pressured to create interesting and educational lessons for students of varying learning abilities. While technology steadily improves classroom learning, education systems struggle to develop more innovative teaching methods for students with disabilities. Cases on Service Delivery in Special Education Programs compiles real-world case studies on successful classroom models and practices to provide rewarding learning environments for students with disabilities. Addressing topics such as behavior modification, social development, and teacher collaboration, this publication is an essential reference source for special education teachers, supervisors, directors, administrators, principles, and policymakers, as well as academicians and researchers interested in developing special education programs within school districts and classrooms.