BELLA
(The Upset / Crying One)

CASE STUDY INFO


Bella is a 3 year old girl who is half Thai, half American. Her father is a teacher at the school for older grades. Bella's mom recently gave birth to Bella's first sibling: a little sister. Halfway through her mom's pregnancy, Bella started acting out. She is prone to fits of extreme emotion - one minute happy and giggling, the next sobbing or scowling in anger at a teacher or peer. When Bella is angry, she can get physical by snatching a toy from a peer or pushing them. Bella is very possessive over her homeroom teacher and does not stand for other students trying to share in the attention. She often physically clings to the legs of the teacher. Bella has a complicated relationship with her father. On the one hand, they seem extremely close, but on the other she often throws tantrums when he comes to pick her up if he asks her to do something like go clean up in the classroom before they leave. They seem to have a relationship where the dad is more like her friend, and she doesn't like it when he tries to change that dynamic by trying to exert some kind of authority over her. While Bella's tantrums and moods are severe, the question has arisen whether she truly cannot control her emotions - or whether some of it is a game to get attention. On one occasion she was sobbing heavily in her father's arms as he started carrying her home, but when the teachers waved goodbye to her she looked over his back and quickly stopped crying - flashing them a big grin. Bella refuses to apologize when her erratic behavior upsets or harms someone else.


It's unclear at this point what her dad's opinion is on her behavior but generally most everyone treats her moods as something more deserving of an eye roll than a hug. Since her sister has been born, Bella's behavior has not improved by much. Bella has recently graduated from Nursery 1 and will soon be joining a new classroom this coming August in Nursery 2.

TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

STRATEGY 1:
COUNT TO 10


How:

  • Encourage Bella to take 10 deep breaths
  • Discuss with Bella when she might need to use this technique e.g. when she feels stressed

When:
-Bella displays signs of stress or anxiety e.g. shaking, crying, jittery etc.

STRATEGY 2:
LISTEN TO MUSIC


How:

  • Use headphones to play music, white noise or nature sounds.
  • Noise-cancelling headphones can also be used.

When:

  • Bella has to do individual work
    • The class is too noise
  • Something in her environment is upsetting her

STRATEGY 3:
TEACH COPING SKILLS


How:

  • Create or follow a coping skills lesson plan with the whole class
  • Use active listening when teaching coping skills
  • Use a calm tone
  • Be firm when necessary and set boundaries
  • Focus on teaching Bella specific and healthy ways of expressing her frustration and anger
  • Model coping skills to Bella and her classmates

When:

  • During class time as well as during 'teachable moments' during the course of the day

DATA TRACKING SYSTEM: DAILY POSITIVE BEHAVIOR TRACKING FORM

STRATEGY 1:
SOCIAL STORIES


How:

  • Find appropriate social stories or make your own
  • Create a list of what routines / procedures / activities Bella needs help with (it can be a specific situation during which Bella is regularly triggered)
  • Use a simple sentence for each step in the routine / procedure
  • Utilize pictures next to each step
  • Once Bella knows the social story well, have her review it alone before performing the routine / procedure / activity
  • Once Bella shows consistent improvement, she social story will no longer need to be reviewed

When:

  • Before starting a triggering routine / procedure / activity

STRATEGY 2:
NON-VERBAL CUES AND SIGNALS


How:

  • Involve Bella privately in picking the signals
  • Practice using the signals and what they means with Bella
  • Use simple cues like shaking your head, showing a thumbs up or using fingers to indicate the amount of warnings that have been given for a behavior to stop

When:

  • Bella is losing attention or focus
  • Bella needs to be redirected
  • Bella is not following classroom procedures / routines

STRATEGY 3:
COUNSELOR REFERAL


How:

  • Get written permission from parents first
  • Be vigilant of Bella abusing counselor visits as a way to get out of class / work

When:

  • Bella is overemotional and cannot calm down in an appropriate way
  • Bella's needs are greater than what the homeroom teacher can supply
  • Bella needs more privacy than can be afforded to her in the classroom

STRATEGY 1:
TIME-OUT (STRUCTURED)


How:

  • Choose one spot in the classroom and always use that spot
  • Place a desk in the spot
  • Place a timer or some other tool to measure the time out in the spot
  • Have Bella practice taking time out's
  • Provide rules (for example, no talking to other students, no standing, no making noises, what happens if Bella cannot appropriately complete a time out)
  • Explain to Bella why she is in time out

When:

  • Bella is being frequently disruptive
  • Bella does not respond to other consequences
  • Bella has a hard time calming down

STRATEGY 2:
TEACH RELAXATION TECHNIQUES


How:

  • Use class time to speak about relaxation
  • Assure Bella that everyone gets stressed or frustrated
  • Practice techniques with Bella and the class
  • Tell Bella he can ask permission to take time to relax
  • Establish where Bella will go to take a relaxation break, what he will do, and for how long
  • Deep breathing
  • Count to 10
  • Draw / Color
  • Listen to music or nature sounds

When:

  • Bella shows outwards signs of frustration
  • When Bella has a mild confrontation with another student
  • When Bella is unfocused / off-task

STRATEGY 3:
SENSORY TOOLS


How:

  • Headphones for music/nature sounds
  • Noise-cancelling headphones
  • Weighted objects like blankets or stuffed toys
  • Taping a strip of velcro under the desk or onto a pencil case with a specific texture like bristles from a paint brush, mild sandpaper or cloth
  • Air seat pads
  • Fidget toys
  • Bubble wrap
  • Containers or rice, sand etc.
  • Play doh
  • Slinky
  • Foam
  • Slime

When:

  • Bella demonstrates sensory sensitivity that results in undesired behavior
  • Bella reacts strongly during the same time of day, routine, procedure or activity (for example, desk time or home time)

DATA TRACKING SYSTEM: INDIVIDUAL DAILY BEHAVIOR FORM

DATA TRACKING SYSTEM: PRIVATE FILE RECORDING NUMBER OF TIMES A TIME-OUT OR COUNSELOR REFERRAL IS REQUIRED EACH WEEK