How should you break down what to teach?
When a student engages in perseverative questioning, your ultimate goal is to replace that behavior with one that is more appropriate and design a plan to reinforce the appropriate behavior. In order to do this, you have to first identify the function of the behavior (i.e. why does the student do this?). This will involve close observation (and recording) of the events that precede the behavior (what is happening in that moment, what happened earlier) and the events that follow the behavior (what did you do, what did he do, etc.). You evaluate these events in order to better understand the behavior, and to more accurately predict the behavior.
What makes this more complicated is that the function might change, depending on the events that surround the behavior. Thus, you have to be ready to recognize and respond differently, depending on the likely function of the behavior.
To reduce anxiety? The student asks repeated or similar questions in situations where he or she feels unsure of what will happen next or is upset by what happened recently. Different individuals have different anxiety triggers. It is very important to examine the Self-Identify Anxiety topic (in tandem with this topic) if anxiety drives the student’s perseverative questioning. Here are some examples. The student might feel anxiety about how he performed on a task (“Did I do it right,” “Did I get them all right?” “No red marks, right?”) He might feel anxious about the weather (“No rain today?” “All done raining?”). Or, he may just ask questions about the weather when feeling anxious, though the source of anxiety has nothing to do with weather. He might ask questions related to what will happen in the future (“Mom will pick me up?” “How many do I have to do?” “No tutoring today?” “No more trips to the dentist this year”). Sometimes, these questions are posed as statements – but they are statements for which the student anxiously seeks affirmation. In most cases, the student persists with this questioning until he receives a response from you (and perhaps from others in the area) who can “alleviate” his concerns.
To initiate social interaction? The student has the desire to interact with adults or peers, but does not know how to initiate these interactions in conventional ways. He might pose questions related to a narrow topic of interest (as this is often his “topic comfort zone”), or related to a recent event, in order to gain social attention. It is important to examine such topics as Initiating Conversations and Going with the Flow in Conversations (in connection with this topic), if social attention drives the student’s perseverative questioning.
Self-stimulatory? The student perseveratively questions or comments, yet displays no intent to receive a response from the recipient (or the person nearby). It appears as if he asks the question, just to ask it, and he may already know the answer to the question. He may not even direct the question to anyone in particular. In this case, the questioning is not necessarily reinforced by some outside source (by you, others). If the perseverative questioning is self-stimulatory in function, you should also examine the Repetitive and Stereotyped Behaviors topic.
What are the kinds of questions I ask and when do I ask them? Find and label the concrete behaviors the student shows, as well as any thoughts or feelings he reports.
What are the triggers for these perseverative questions (what causes me to ask over and over)? These triggers should be described in concrete terms. Does the student see other students talking? Does he want to talk with them too? Does the student see that the weather is cloudy and may be worried about a storm? Did the student just finish a test, or is he about to take one?
*Over time and depending on the capacity of the student, he may learn to label these behaviors in a way that specifies the driving “force” behind the behavior (I feel anxious; I need comfort; I want to talk to you, I want to be friends; I need to talk about my safe topic).
What do I do to stop the questioning or what can I say instead of these questions?
For many individuals, however, teaching them to label the perseverative questioning (or to identify the reason behind it, and the triggers) may require more insight than they are able to have. In this case, focus on teaching alternative skills and strategies to replace the perseverative questioning. Many will need visual cues or prompts to engage in the more appropriate behavior; however, over time, they may initiate the appropriate behavior in lieu of the perseverative questioning independently.
Identify triggers: What happened to me today? What’s going on right now around me? What am I thinking about – what is stuck in my head?
What do I want to say? What can I do instead?
OR
What do I want to say? What can I say instead?
What sub-skill should you target first for the student to initiate? Given what the student can do presently, how will you present the task so that the student can perform steps within his capacity while learning a new step?
The entry point for instruction depends in large part on the function of the behavior – does the student perseveratively question when he is anxious? Does he perseveratively question as a way to initiate interactions? Are these perseverative questions related to an area of high interest? If the instructor has chosen this topic for intervention, the instructor should have data on the behaviors (the type of questions, and the frequency and intensity of the perseverative questions), the events that precede these behaviors (antecedents), and the events that follow the behaviors (consequences). When you have identified the function of the questioning behavior, you can better identify behaviors to teach that might serve to replace that inappropriate behavior.