Staff at Jordan School District near Salt Lake City, Utah, practice proper securement of child safety restraint systems, which could be neccessary depending upon a student’s emotional disability.
ing catastrophic behavior,” she recommended. “The bus driver really needs to be able to communicate with the teachers to see what they are doing.”
The first step that Taylor suggested is pre-planning. “The driver should be able to learn from the school what mecha- nisms and reinforcements are in place, so they know what to do in that moment out on the road,” she continued. “When a child is screaming, you may not want to resort to pulling over and calling the police. There should be guidelines in place for when to call a parent or the school. Does there need to be an attendant on the bus?” Taylor advised that that when behavior on the school bus becomes
severe, staff needs to take a step back and put into place more strate- gies to address it. “Obviously, the child needs to be more prepared for the bus ride. What triggered that behavior?” she asked. “For example, especially with [children with autism], consider the sensory and bio- logical support that the child needs. Perhaps the back of the bus is too bouncy and the child is frightened or uncomfortable. Is there another child that is loud? What does the child fear about the bus?” She said the next step is to evaluate the reinforcement that is al-
ready in place. “We want the bus ride, the bus driver, and the rewards for a good
bus ride to be highly motivating and help the child like the bus ride,” she explained. “We need to help the child learn to look forward to the bus ride. A barometer for this is if the child is not racing to the school bus, then it isn’t fun enough.” Taylor also pointed out that a child with autism could quite often
have a fear of something as simple as a detour or the bus being late. It helps to understand why the child is frightened in that moment. If
www.stnonline.com 45
45% of transportation directors/supervisors stated
that bus ridership rules for students with special needs differ from the rules for general education student riders. (Out of 170 responses to a recent STN magazine survey.)
48% of respondents had to suspend a student with
special needs from the bus due to behavior/disciplinary issues. (Out of 170 responses.)
80% transportation directors/supervisors said
their employees are trained in crisis prevention/de- escalation. (Out of 169 responses.)
PHOTO BY MARCUS SWAINSTON
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