Introduction

Everyone Communicates

Behavior as communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communications

Supporting communication

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We know babies communicate without speaking.  We all communicate many things to people around us without saying a word.   People can look at us and see we are happy or sad.   How often has someone looked at you and based on your expression or your posture jumped to a conclusion about what you are thinking or feeling?  How often have you moved beyond passive forms of non-verbal communication to use an active form of non-verbal communication by making a gesture or an action to express your opinion?  I will bet many of your teachers have become expert at interpreting the non-verbal communication of high school students when they give major project or homework assignments!
           
You can speak and probably are very articulate in standing up for yourself. So when you believe an assignment is unfair, a grade unjust, the milk in the cafeteria has gone sour, your stomach upset, or someone is making fun of you, I bet you do not hesitate to communicate your reaction to the appropriate person.  What if you could not speak?  How would you learn to say: “Leave me alone, I don’t feel good;” or “Take that away, I hate broccoli;” or “I don’t understand what you want me to do;” or “Go away, I can tell you don’t like me!”
           
It used to be true that when students with severe disabilities tried to “tell” ther people some of these things, the only way they could communicate was interpreted as inappropriate or “challenging” behaviors.  What we call “inappropriate behaviors” may be the most efficient or only method for these students to communicate. 
           
Let us think about an event you may actually observe with one of the students with whom you are working. Imagine that you can’t communicate with your voice and someone is trying to get you to do something that you absolutely hate to do.  They keep asking you to do it and begin physically rompting you to do it.  What do you do?  Do you go along with them or do you find a way to communicate that you don’t want to do it?  If you said that you would find a way to communicate your dislike of the activity, how would you do it?  Would you push them away, try to escape, pinch, scratch, bite?

Teachers and others who have worked with students who could not effectively communicate eventually began to understand that much of the behavior they saw in their students was not “bad” or “acting-out” behavior. It was a legitimate effort by the students to communicate about some very basic things.  Gradually a way of thinking about this type of behavior was developed.  It took as a basic principle that all behavior is some form of communication.  So just like we would try very hard to get an interpreter if a student from a foreign country suddenly arrived at our schools, a way of interpreting the actions of students with communication problems was developed.  This strategy is a called functional behavior analysis.

The team of teachers, parents and others working with a student may use a functional behavior analysis to determine why the student is displaying certain behaviors.  After the reason behind the behavior is determined, the team tries to teach the student a more appropriate way of communicating the same idea.  For example, if a student begins to hit after working for more than 10 minutes, the team may teach him or her to request a break.  This request might be in the form of giving the team member a card that has a picture signifying the need for a break or the word “break” written on it.  The student may touch a switch that says, “I need a break.”  The team may teach the student to use a gesture to indicate the need for a break.  There are many different ways that the student can be taught to say, “I need a break,” instead of hitting.  The team must look at the abilities of that particular student.

Now that you have learned to understand behavior as a critical part of communication, what does it suggest to you about the best way to deal with troublesome behavior?  Why do many authorities say that punishment is the least effective way of managing such behavior?  Why do you think some authors call this an educational approach to behavior?

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