Nuerologically_Based_Behaviors

NBB Reflection Paper After reading and viewing my classmate’s PowerPoint presentations about Neurologically-Based Behaviors (NBB’s), I have gained a better understanding and appreciation for what they are and the various strategies and behavior modifications that can be utilized in decreasing undesirable behaviors. When I think about the past and how I have previously attended to such behaviors, I immediately feel like I had served an injustice to these children afflicted with these disorders. For example, one child comes to mind immediately. His name is Noah (and at the time 8 years old) and he has a sensory integration disorder. He had brain damage at birth, and it resulted in a NBB. Noah displays behaviors such as hyperactivity and distractibility, overly sensitivity to sounds, and negative self-concept of himself. He is extremely uncoordinated in both his fine/gross motor skills. Instead of developing a shaping plan for him, I just tried my best to be sensitive to his hyperactivity and distractibility. I would only use verbal reinforcements with him, and was very encouraging when he had difficulties with his coordination and outbursts. I understand much more about NBB’s now that I didn’t know before. I now have a clearer understanding of effective strategies to use to reduce and/or eliminate undesirable behaviors. For instance, when Noah would exhibit undesirable behaviors such as verbal outbursts, I could have implemented a shaping plan that would help him to reduce or eliminate such behavior. Noah loved analogies. I could have helped him to learn how to self-regulate his outburst by using the analogy of a car engine (He loved cars, too). Basically, the analogy has three stages: 1. Identifying the engine speeds, 2. Experimenting with changing engine speeds, and 3. Regulating engine speeds. Speeds are as follows: high (hyper, overexcited), low (sluggish, spacey), and just right (easy to learn and get along with others). I could have modeled this strategy with him to teach him how to regulate his behavior and being aware of it. Using strategies like these have definitely changed my behavior in how to work with students who have NBB’s. I believe that I will be more aware of behaviors that might indicate a possible NBB, and then based on the NBB, I can effectively come up with an appropriate shaping plan for the student’s behavior. My views of NBB’s relate most similarly with that of BF Skinner. Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning. Basically this is changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement, which is given after the desired response. Skinner identifies three types of responses that can follow behavior: • Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated. • Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. • Punishers: Response from the environment that decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior. At this point, my questions that remain are mainly about learning more in-depth information on each NBB as they relate to academics. I want to learn more about how to effectively teach students with NBB’s in an academic setting. I am becoming more interested in learning about this, and look forward to interacting with students and helping them.