Case #4: Little Boy with Hitting Behavior in Child Care Setting

This video was made of a little boy in childcare who was having hitting behaviors that were upsetting to the childcare staff. They described him as aggressive. He frequently hit other children and showed no remorse. The childcare providers were aware that he had a mild expressive language delay and a shy, inhibited temperament and wanted to find ways to help him while also protecting the other children in their care.

The childcare had tried a variety of behavioral strategies that had not changed his behavior. The video was made to observe the child on a typical day to see what might be beneath this challenging behavior and what might help.

Resolution

The childcare providers were surprised to see all of the little boy’s nice social skills when they watched the video. They noticed he was socially very engaging when he was feeling safe and good inside. When he wasn’t feeling distressed, he followed the baby’s lead in pounding the book at the start of the video and later picked his table-mate’s spoon up and shared his food, even when he initially didn’t want to.

They also noticed Joseph’s feelings of distress when he was feeling upset inside. His “language of distress” was expressed at the beginning of the video when his body closed in and he briefly tried to engage an adult (by pointing) when the other child took his book. He had a very flat affect—he didn’t cry, he didn’t express his negative emotions—he didn’t cue anyone to his internal emotional state.

But internally he had distress. He hit the baby who started crying (unlike Joseph who didn’t cry when the older boy took his book). Joseph looked around, and when the caregiver came to respond to him hitting the baby, the other children all sought proximity with the caregiver, indicating that they had a relationship with the caregiver where they received comfort and connection. Joseph looked very flat and non-remorseful, which was upsetting to the caregiver.

The childcare providers realized they mostly interacted with Joseph in response to a negative behavior that he was exhibiting, and at those times, he would just walk away. They saw how happy he was when they noticed him (his feet swinging under the table when the caregiver patted his head and thanked him for picking up his table-mate’s fork). They realized he had social-emotional needs that weren’t being met.

Once they understood his “language of distress”, they were able to support him in two different ways. They found ways to include him and ways for him to get positive attention. They made him a morning greeter and helper so that they could have intentional time together where he felt seen and acknowledged. They realized, possibly due to his shyness and mild language delay, that he avoided making bids for attention and tended to be self-reliant and compliant, but his behavior would fall apart when he was distressed.

Secondly, they had to “watch out for him” and when they saw that something went wrong, they went to him and verbalized how he might be feeling. “Oh Joey took your toy, that’s sad, I’m sorry that doesn’t feel good. Let’s take care of that.” They had to serve as a protection for him and help him connect to what he was feeling and provide comfort for his upset feelings.

With these interventions, he became a very good greeter and helper! His hitting behavior decreased a lot with these changes. The social-emotional needs of the childcare providers to have a safe and predictable classroom and to feel competent were also met.