Alright, so here's a problem behavior that has the whole staff baffled. A new teenage student who along with her learning disabilities suffers from epilepsy was admitted into one of the programs where I work. Within the first two weeks of her coming to school she became assaultive towards the staff at least twice which resulted emergency interventions. During each of these restraints the student faked a seizure. This behavior immediately resulted in the end of the restraint and calling the paramedics. This is an amazing behavior that will always result in the same conclusion and reinforcement for the student.
So, if anybody has any ideas, please let me know how to shape this behavior. And the students case manager would be so excited.
Kevin
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WOW!! Those are some awesome skills of manipulation. Does the student have a good relationship with anybody on staff? Do her records show that there have been any interventions that seemed to work with her? Do the paramedics take her to the hospital when they arrive or does she stay on site? Has anyone been able to conduct any type of preference assessment to determine what types of things might motivate her to cooperate?
This type of case reminds me that I'm such a rookie;) Good luck!!
This is NOT an easy case....but she reminds me of "John," a student I used to have in my class who would fake fits of rage...
REAL EPISODE: when he truly was about to have one of those real episodes, his breathing would change to rapid breathing, his cheeks would turn bright red, clenched fists, tunnel vision, etc...these episodes would often result in an emergency intervention.
FAKE EPISODE: When he was faking an episode he would breathe rapidly puffing even louder, he would clench his fists, and would try and stare in one direction....however, there were clues that this was a fake episode: cheeks weren't red, his vision was focused but he would look around from time to time (which never happened during a real episode).
After a few instances of the fake episodes we caught on and these would NOT lead to emergecy interventions...and minimal escape functions.
What I am suggesting is that the staff needs to look for and learn to identify, if any, (a) precursors, (b) antecedents, (c) behaviors/symptoms, and (d) consequences between REAL AND FAKE EPISODES.
I wish I could offer more help but there has to be clues that haven't been picked up yet...careful evaluation should lead you to solving this problem.
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