In what contexts does the student need to refrain from displaying private behaviors in public contexts, now and in the future?
Clearly, the student needs to refrain from private behaviors that might result in social rejection and exclusion across school, work, and/or community contexts. Furthermore, certain behaviors might lead to more serious consequences such as school suspensions, termination of employment, or criminal charges.
How can you break this skill down into teachable units?
Your specific task analysis depends on the behavior that you need to address.
For example, if the student takes several breaks during the day to masturbate in the school or workplace bathroom, your effort is to immediately eliminate this behavior from these contexts altogether. In some cases, it might be appropriate to identify and reinforce an alternative behavior that can replace masturbation during school or work hours (e.g. a brief walk to relax, proactively scheduled aerobic exercise periods, use of a stress ball).
On the other hand, if the student intermittently picks his nose during class, your effort might be towards teaching the student to request a bathroom break, where he can privately engage in that behavior for a designated time limit. How long an interval of the absence of the behavior can you expect from the student? While in class, this student might require an object to keep his fingers busy (an eraser, or a pen in both hands).
However, in general, you might approach such issues using the following steps:
If the instructor has chosen this topic for intervention, the instructor should have data on the student’s inappropriate behaviors including the antecedents that lead to those behaviors. Two different data sheets are posted below for your consideration and use:
