Physical Aggression and Self-Injurious Behaviors Towards Self or Others by Non-verbal/Minimally Verbal Secondary Special Education Students with Autism in a Self-Contained Classroom: A Qualitative Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this single intrinsic case study was to describe the experiences of using multiple forms of non-verbal interventions to decrease physical aggression and self-injurious behaviors for special education staff members in self-contained classrooms in Behaviorville ISD. The theory guiding this study was B. F. Skinner’s theory on behaviorism. It explains how non-verbal interventions affect an individual’s environment, how reinforcers influence their behaviors, and how all actions are interconnected. Participants were 10 people who are full-time employees of BISD and have worked with or volunteered with non-verbal/minimally verbal secondary special education students with physical aggression, self-injurious behaviors, and autism spectrum disorder. Data collection methods were online surveys, individual interviews, and focus group discussions. Data analysis procedures included collecting, organizing, and reviewing the data, developing and assigning codes to the themes and patterns that develop, analyzing the coded data, and then reporting on the findings and implications of the data analysis. The findings indicated that by using multiple forms of non-verbal interventions simultaneously, decreased crisis behaviors in NV/MV secondary special education students with ASD, whose target behaviors are physical aggression and SIB towards self and others in a self-contained classroom