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Back to Modules HomeCritical incident management
Having people with disability in a class does not mean that there will be disruption, nor is unusual behaviour, such as fidgeting, always disruptive. Consider first how distracting the behaviour really is – some Tourette’s symptoms, for instance, may not be acceptable in a yoga class, although they may hardly be noticeable during a walking group activity.
Where behaviour is causing concern but is not actually disruptive, it is worth talking privately to the person concerned. Be honest but positive and ask for their suggestions.
Nevertheless, difficult behaviour does occur very occasionally with people with and without disability. Ideally a few preventative strategies can be used to make sure this does not happen. In the rare event of an incident occurring there are also strategies you can use to deal with such situations.
Preventative strategies
- If student has been referred from a disability service ask if there is a behaviour management or consistent approaches plan
- Do all students know their rights and responsibilities?
- Make your expectations regarding student behaviour clearly understood at the outset. This is where a code of conduct or setting of ground rules can help
- Be consistent in applying ground rules
- Be aware of where a student may be having difficulties and intervene early
- Recognise early signs of aggression (see below) and try to de-escalate the situation
- Be aware of where you can get support.
Incident response
- Stay calm
- Clearly state your concern about the behaviour and how you would like it to change
- Listen to the student and acknowledge their feelings
- Suggest time out and an opportunity to discuss their concerns privately later
- Remember the issue is the behaviour not the disability – which may have nothing to do with the behaviour.
If the incident escalates
- Ensure safety of yourself, other students and the person concerned. If this means evacuating the room and leaving the person alone in there remember that people are more important than property
- Use a “squeaky door” technique to get someone to leave (this requires you to repeat “Please leave” over and over until they comply – surprisingly they usually do!)
- Call security/the police
- Allow all involved space to debrief and offer counselling.
Document any incident (confidentially) and what your response was and report to the Board/Committee of Management.
Recognising the basic sign of aggression
Aggression may be triggered by:
- Communication difficulties e.g. inability to express needs verbally to carers
- Health problems e.g. physical illness, pain
- Fear e.g. not being informed of changes
- Environment e.g. amount of people, noise levels, room temperatures
- Emotional, psychological, psychiatric e.g. feelings of frustration or depression
- Poor self-esteem
- Experience of abuse
- Limited knowledge or lack of information provided to staff about triggers for individual client
- Unsuitable workplace practices e.g. class often organised for group management rather than individualised activities and leading to, for instance, set times for meals, activities with little flexibility, no opportunity for client choice
- Poor match between staff skills and client needs.
Verbal cues include:
- Raised voice
- Threats
- Repetitive statements by the client
- Racist, sexist and other types of verbal abuse
- Withdrawal.
Non-verbal cues include:
- Agitated movements
- Threatening gestures
- Eye to eye staring
- Standing very close
- Banging on the furniture
- Clenching the fists
- Towering posture.
Remember the earlier potential aggressive behaviour is identified the greater likelihood of successfully de-escalating violence
For more information:
- Strategies for teaching students with behavioural disorders
- Classroom management - disruptive behaviour