Challenging Behaviour: What is it and how to deal with it

During negative reinforcement, a stimulus is usually terminated or removed, escape or avoidance following the behavior of the student. Students tend to escape or avoid activities, interaction with, or tasks from peers or adults, materials, poor grades, food or drink, locations, loss of points, and participation. Negative reinforcement, just like positive reinforcement, maintains and increases the behavior, which ends up in avoidance or escape ( Robertson, 2019) . Appropriate and challenging behavior usually allows a student to avoid or escape something aversive, and this will continue to take place within the same consequence, setting, and antecedent conditions. Usually, students will engage in behaviors (challenging and appropriate|) that produce avoidance or escape. According to ABC Chart with Shari Lynn, when asked to go to the resource room, she declined stating that she did not need help and thus forced to go again. After being threatened, she finally gave in but did not cooperate and gave the resource teacher a difficult time when she was asked to read a story. 

Shari Lynn refuses to read her part of the story claiming she left her book at home. Also, when given reading assignments and homework, she throws her study guide in the trash and left school without any assignment to complete ( Robertson, 2019) . She is given detention after she refused to go to speech. According to the ABC chart, Shari Lynn showed avoidance in every scenario, which can be identified as negative reinforcement, which is a function of challenging behavior. It is common for students to engage in tasks and activities that lead to suspension and time-out. Although time-out is perceived as a punishment procedure, it is not valid if the escape by a student is more aversive. This is because; the student will continue to engage in challenging behavior when subjected to aversive tasks. 

Reference  

Robertson, R. E., & Coy, J. N. (2019). Your Student Is Hungry, Tired, Angry—Now What? Addressing Distal Setting Events in the Classroom.  TEACHING Exceptional Children ,  51 (5), 361-371.