In a busy classroom, behaviour gets our attention quickly.
A student refuses to start an assignment. Another keeps leaving their seat. Someone shuts down when given instructions. A student who seemed to understand yesterday has absolutely no idea what to do today. Another becomes disruptive every time the classroom gets loud.
It can be easy to jump straight to: “What do I do about this behaviour?”
Towards Healthy Outcomes, Version 2 encourages us to start somewhere different:
What do I know?
What do I know about this student? What do I know about what happened before the behaviour? What is being asked of them? Is the environment too busy? Are the instructions too complicated? Is this a transition they find difficult? Are they overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, tired or confused?
Most importantly, what might the behaviour be doing for the student?
All Behaviour Is Functional
One of the foundational ideas within Towards Healthy Outcomes is that all behaviour is functional. Behaviour has both intent and utility, it serves a purpose for the person, even when that purpose isn’t immediately obvious to us.
This is particularly important when supporting students with FASD. Brain differences can affect memory, processing speed, executive functioning, sensory processing, emotional regulation, communication and the ability to transfer learning from one situation to another.
That means what we see on the outside doesn’t always tell us what is happening underneath.
Consider a few common school examples:
- A student who repeatedly asks, “What am I supposed to do?” may not be ignoring the instructions, they may not have retained them.
- A student who puts their head down during independent work may not be lazy, they may have no idea how to get started.
- A student who jokes around or disrupts the class when asked to read aloud may be finding a way to escape a task that feels unsafe or embarrassing.
- A student who regularly leaves the classroom during noisy activities may be trying to regulate sensory overload.
- A student who becomes upset when the schedule suddenly changes may be communicating a need for predictability.
- A student who can explain a classroom rule perfectly but doesn’t follow it in the moment may be struggling to translate what they know into what they can do.
When we understand the possible function of the behaviour, our response changes.
Instead of adding consequences for leaving the classroom, perhaps we create an appropriate way for the student to take a break. Instead of repeating verbal directions louder or more often, perhaps we provide a visual checklist. Instead of assuming a student won’t begin their work, we consider whether they actually can’t figure out where to begin.
That doesn’t mean ignoring behaviour or removing expectations. It means getting curious about why the behaviour is happening so that our response actually addresses the need.
And This Isn’t Just About FASD
While Towards Healthy Outcomes provides an important framework for supporting people with FASD, this philosophy is good practice for all students.
Every student brings a different brain, history, temperament, set of experiences and needs into the classroom. Any student can become overwhelmed. Any student can struggle with transitions, forget instructions, need more time to process information or have difficulty communicating what they need.
Creating predictable routines, using clear language, breaking tasks into manageable steps, providing visual supports, reducing unnecessary sensory demands and approaching behaviour with curiosity rather than judgement can benefit an entire classroom.
You don’t need to know whether a student has an FASD diagnosis, or any diagnosis, to ask:
What do I know about this student and this situation?
What might this behaviour be communicating?
What can I change in the environment or in my approach to help this student be successful?
That shift from “What do I do?” to “What do I know?” can be incredibly powerful.
Towards Healthy Outcomes, Version 2 is attached below. We encourage Alberta educators and FASD Instructional Coaches to spend some time exploring the framework and thinking about how these concepts can be applied in everyday classroom practice.