The learner takes a toy or material from another child

The situation

During a group activity the learner reaches over and takes an item another child is using. The other child protests. Nobody has been hurt and nobody is at risk of being hurt; it is an ordinary conflict over materials.

What the plan usually asks for

1. Respond the way the learner's plan says, if the plan covers taking items; if it does not, respond the way the classroom's usual routine does. Peer conflict is common enough that many plans address it. When they do not, consistency with the setting matters more than improvising something clever.
2. Prompt the replacement behavior the learner has been taught — asking, waiting, or offering a trade — and reinforce it when it happens. Taking items usually serves a clear function. The plan's replacement behavior is the alternative that gets the same result acceptably.
3. Attend to the child who lost the item as the setting expects, without making a large event of it. Both children are watching what taking an item produces. Big reactions can become the reinforcer.
4. Record the incident and what came before it. If taking items is increasing, the supervisor will need the pattern to decide whether to add a program.

What not to do

• Do not lecture the learner or demand an apology unless that is in the plan.
• Do not remove the learner from the group as an improvised consequence.
• Do not ignore the other child's protest; they are entitled to a fair response.

When to tell your supervisor

• Tell your supervisor if this is frequent, if it is new, or if the learner's plan has no procedure for it.

Terms used here

• Replacement Behavior
• Function of Behavior
• Mand
• Functional Communication Training