Occupational Therapists: Reducing Problematic, Challenging Behaviors to Increase Student Success Presented by Tara Warwick Outstanding Occupational Therapist and International Speaker

Specifically Designed for Occupational Therapists, Therapy Assistants and Education Teams Working with Students in Preschool-Grade 12:

Practical Ideas and Strategies

Are you getting more and more referrals from teachers for students with challenging behavior? Do teachers often come to you about students with problematic behavior asking, “Is it sensory or behavior?” During these adversarial times, do you struggle to communicate with all team members, including the family? Are you looking for evidence-based, practical strategies to reduce challenging behavior and increase student participation in classroom activities? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you do not want to miss this seminar.

Innovative school-based occupational therapist DR. TARA WARWICK will walk you through a proven framework for reducing challenging behaviors and increasing student engagement. Dr. Warwick will share strategies for collecting data and analyzing data to create an effective behavior plan. You’ll learn practical techniques for preventing misbehaviors and how to teach critical skills such as emotional regulation, functional communication, and social interaction.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

1. Increase the Value of Your Role as an Occupational Therapist in Reducing Challenging Behavior and Increasing Student Participation
   Strategies for reducing challenging behaviors you can use and share with teachers … Empower everyone!
2. Improve Your Ability to Make Data-Based Decisions Regarding Problematic Behaviors
   Learn strategies for collecting data and analyzing data on problematic behavior
3. Discover a More Effective Process for Determining the “Why” or Function Behind Problematic Behavior
   Move from seeing “what” the behavior is to the “why” behind the behavior … Learn how to interpret the data to determine a possible hypothesis and create a more effective intervention plan
4. Utilize Resources to Increase Effectiveness and Efficiency When Program Planning for Challenging Behavior
   Save time and money by using readily available resources … Learn about resources that make data collection and program planning more effective and more efficient
5. Understand the Process for Performing a Behavior Assessment and Creating a Behavior Plan to Reduce Problematic Behavior
   Learn the steps needed for conducting better behavior assessments and plans that add more value to your teams’ efforts to reduce problematic behaviors
6. Identify Effective Strategies for Teaching Replacement Skills
   Discover how replacement skills are just as efficient and effective at getting your students’ needs met as the problematic behavior … Understand strategies for identifying and teaching critical replacement skills
7. Strategies for Teaching Students Emotional Regulation, Functional Communication, and Social Skills to Reduce Challenging Behavior
   Increase emotional regulation using crucial skills all students can learn … Understand how to evaluate these skills and teach these crucial skills to students with challenging behavior
8. Classroom Accommodations for Reducing Students’ Challenging Behavior
   Learn which classroom accommodations best reduce difficult behavior and which do not
9. Utilize Preventative Strategies to Create an Environment that Reduces Challenging Behavior
   Reduce challenging behaviors with proactive strategies … Proven prevention strategies to use across all school environments
10. Receive an Extensive Occupational Therapy Digital Resource Handbook
    Leave with an extensive occupational therapy digital resource handbook filled with detailed descriptions of all the therapy strategies and resources presented in the seminar

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the seminar you will be able to:

• Identify strategies to increase your value as an occupational therapist in reducing students’ challenging school or classroom behaviors
• Name potential preventative strategies and accommodations for reducing problematic behavior
• Identify strategies for teaching students effective, efficient, and adaptive alternatives to difficult behavior
• Identify strategies for de-escalating problematic behaviors among students
• Select tools for engaging in difficult conversations with other team members

Practical Strategies for Occupational Therapy Service Delivery ...

• Identify strategies for assessing and teaching emotional regulation, social skills, and functional communication
• Describe readily available resources to use and share on planning for reducing problematic behavior
• Discuss easy to use strategies to collect and analyze data on challenging behavior
• Explain framework for collaborating and planning to reduce challenging behavior and increase student participation in school activities
• Describe the process for determining the “why” behind challenging behavior

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

As an occupational therapist who spends most of my days in schools, I worry about how schools handle challenging behavior. I see teachers often removing students from the classroom due to challenging behavior; I see more students on reduced days due to their behavior; I see students spending less time with their peers due to challenging behavior; I see families, teams, and students stressed now more than ever about how to “handle” challenging behavior. I frequently hear, “I’ve tried that; it doesn’t work.” When traditional discipline is ineffective in reducing challenging behavior, teams are often paralyzed, now knowing how to move forward. I genuinely believe that most people are doing the best they can with the tools that they have, including teachers, parents, therapists, and students.

As occupational therapists, we can help change this. We can help provide teams with the tools they need to understand problematic behavior better. My three guiding principles for addressing challenging behavior include:

• If we want to change behavior in students, OTs have to change too
• We have to teach students how to behave
• All behavior has a function and purpose. Helping kids identify alternate ways to achieve positive behavior enables kids to change it

My goal in this seminar is to empower you to make a difference in the lives of students with challenging behavior. Students with problematic behaviors are often isolated and miss out on so many quality experiences in the schools. As occupational therapists, we can make a difference. In our day together, I will help you take the judgment out of the behavior and see the behavior for what it is, understanding the “why.” Together we will walk through case studies, analyze data, and identify strategies for preventing behavior and teaching replacement skills.

After this seminar, you will have the tools to contribute to the school team on assessing behavior and creating an effective intervention plan. Now is the time to learn more about behavior. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring you these strategies. This information has changed the way I practice in the schools, and I am positive it will for you too.

Sincerely,
Dr. Tara Warwick

P.S. I guarantee that after our time together, you’ll leave refreshed and excited to immediately implement ideas for boosting student success.

Who Should Attend

Specifically Designed for Occupational Therapists, Therapy Assistants and Education Teams Working with Students in Preschool-Grade 12

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive digital resource handbook specifically designed for this seminar. The handbook includes:

• Forms you can use and reproduce to help you assess and plan for challenging behaviors
• Helpful resources that you can use and share with team members
• Evidence-based, practical strategies that you can use immediately with your students to reduce challenging behaviors and teach replacement skills

Meet and Share
This seminar provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to share ideas with other educators and occupational therapists.

Consultation Available
Tara Warwick will be available to answer your specific questions about the unique needs of your own program.

AOTA – CEUs
BER is an AOTA Approved Provider of continuing education. Full attendance at this seminar qualifies for .5 AOTA CEUs/5 Contact Hours per day of attendance. You are required to fully attend the seminar and complete a program evaluation and a learning outcomes assessment at the end. The assignment of AOTA CEUs/Contact Hours does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

Semester Credit Option
Up to four graduate level professional development credits are available with an additional fee and completion of follow-up practicum activities. Details for direct enrollment with University of Massachusetts Global, a nonprofit affiliate, will be available at this program.

Meet Inservice Requirements
At the end of the program, each attendee will receive a certificate of participation that may be used to verify hours of participation in meeting continuing education requirements.

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