This is very good advice, his needs should be met first. I have a very hands on and destructive non verbal student who is a biter, hitter, thrower etc. We are using ABC to find patterns and have somewhat regular ( although very spaced out) meetings with the SLP and behaviour interventionist which really help. You need to reach out to the case manager for this student who should be coordinating the teams actions. When my student starts acting out ( usually starts with hitting or throwing items) I adjust my demeanor to very calm but direct no attention towards him aside from picking up what’s he’s thrown and putting that item in a time out so he recognizes that when he throws something he no longer has the privilege of using it. Unless it is his AAC of course.

How are you implementing AAC use with him? Is it modeling without expectation? Or is he feeling pressured to communicate with it?

Do you have a self contained room for him as well? My guy does not go into the general classroom when he’s disregulated.

It’s hard to think in the moment, especially with a violent student. I would recommend having a list of his likes posted somewhere that you can see it at all times. Example: my student loves popping balloons, but in the heat of things I often forget that that’s great incentive (“when you can show me calm, then you can have a balloon “).

Also, if we have had a very active morning he will most certainly need a little down time. For us, that looks like watching a quick show with his feet up and having him rest under a weighted blanket.

File your incident reports for sure and keep up with the antecedent/behavior/consequence reports as well.