Lesson 4: De-Escalation Strategies

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A specific list of de-escalation strategies should be drawn up per student with a behavior plan or regular behavioral situations.

There are also common strategies that work well for all students as listed in the chart below, but these should be discussed with the team to determine if all are appropriate for any given student.  Some examples of how these de-escalating strategies could backfire include:

• A student may grow more reactive when teachers start to count either forward or backwards or when they are asked to do the same.  This could be due to prior experiences where counting signified they were about to get in trouble.
• A child with autism may not be able to identify or communicate what they need or how they feel and asking them to do so without visuals to represent needs and feelings might frustrate the child even more.
• When an adult tries to validate a student’s feelings they may tend to speak with more words and use more descriptives and questioning.  This additional use of language could bother some students and cause them to grow more agitated.  Watch the number of words you are using and try to limit the questions especially if the student is not responding with answers.
• Some students grow embarrassed and this can lead to reactivity when they are complimented or when their positive behaviors draw attention.  Knowing this about a child will help the team members know that this strategy might need to be adjusted or avoided for some kids.