Question: A common push-back I hear from staff is “aren’t we reinforcing kids too much for behaving the right way in school? When I was a kid, I was just expected to behave! I didn’t earn a ‘buck’! Doesn’t this teach them that they will always be reinforced for everything they do? That is not real life!!!” This is a very common complaint we hear in response to setting up reinforcement systems. So here are a few thoughts about how you might respond...

For many of us, the holidays can be a joyous, yet stressful time. While we may treasure the time with our families, it can also be overwhelming to navigate so many different personalities and there is a lot of preparation that goes into planning holiday meals and activities. On top of the usual stress, families of children with special needs often have the added anxiety that their child may have difficulty participating in holiday activities, may have trouble behaving appropriately and, on top of it all, that their family members may judge them for their child’s behavior. As educators we often look forward to our time out of the classroom, but for many parents, the holiday break is one of the most challenging times of year.

Ask the 'TASC is a PBIS advice column from the RSE-TASC Specialists. In this blog two specialists respond to the question: How do I respond to staff who say, “We should be addressing negative behavior consistently and just suspending students out of school?” See what they say!