Teaching is one of the noblest professions in itself. But it is also extremely challenging. Every new day brings a new surprise. Interacting and educating children is not easy. And on many occasions, you come across children with developmental disorders. Children who are not able to do complete justice to their abilities. Children who cannot function to their optimum in class. The child might seem like every other normal child but may have deep rooted traces of a mental disability or a developmental disorder lurking within him/her. It is here that behavioral consultation can prove to be helpful.
Behavioral consultation is a service offered by qualified psychiatrists and therapists who offer analysis, support and solutions to help schools working with children presenting challenging behavior.
Who is a behavioral consultant?
A behavioral consultant is a professional who has a master’s degree or a doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis or in any closely related discipline like psychology, special education, human development. They have necessary expertise in implementing behavioral analysis for people with Mental Retardation or Developmental Disabilities.
There are certain ethical principles set in this regard by the American Psychological Association and each behavioral consultant is expected to follow them. One of the most important clauses states that a professional should only offer such services for he/she has appropriate training. They offer multiple services like assessment of basic language and learning skills, scales of independent behavior, functional assessments, enhancing learning, training and support for caretakers and teaching staff.
How behavioral consultation can help
A behavioral consultant can step in from the moment you identify problematic behavior in a child. He/she will then conduct a complete functional assessment of the problem behavior to identify the exact cause. Then, an intervention plan will be chalked out based on the functional analysis. This plan will help the person develop necessary and useful skills.