Responding to Problem Behaviors.
Winter 1997.

You can often prevent a child's use of inappropriate behavior to communicate by:

1. Giving the child every opportunity to behave well. Encourage the child to participate in supervised sharing and turn-taking activities, including activities with slightly older children who have good social skills.
    
2. Lavish attention on the child who is "being good." Reinforce appropriate behavior, whether interactions occur with children or adults. For example: "Aren't you a good helper!" or "Thank you for sharing your crayons!" or "I'm glad you asked if we can rest now. I'm getting tired, too!"
    
3. Stop inappropriate behavior before it starts. Monitor rough-housing. Guide children to more appropriate activities before unwanted behavior occurs.
    
4. What's the magic word? Help the child use appropriate communication -- language and gestures -- to get what is wanted, with children as well as adults.

An Ounce of Cure.

When inappropriate behavior occurs:

1. Use "time-outs." When a child misbehaves, remove the child immediately from the situation to a designated "time-out" location in the room. It doesn't need to be in a separate room, but should not permit the child to engage in rewarding activities. Have the child remain in time-out for one minute per year of age; for example, four minutes for a four-year-old.
    
2. Don't reward the misbehavior by discussing it during the time out. Remove the child, without discussion, from the situation that led to the inappropriate behavior. Don't scold or talk about his or her behavior during the time-out.
    
3. Communicate about communication. When the time-out is over, let the child return to the activity in which the misbehavior occurred. Now is the time to talk about appropriate ways to communicate. For example, "Angie, I know you really like to use the toy phone. Next time you want to talk on the phone, ask Tony if you can have a turn, too."
    
4. Reward achievement. When the child uses appropriate behavior, praise this, and provide the desired outcome.