Social, emotional and relational

‘Submissive’ behaviour

Linda (8 years old) has a wait-and-see attitude and does not stand out in a group. She makes little eye contact and talks infrequently. She finds it difficult to express her feelings. She often plays independently, but she participates well in the lesson. It is counterproductive to put pressure on Linda to express her feelings. She can retreat even further and even cry.  She is not bullied or teased; she has one friend whom she is very close to, especially on the playground. She avoids contact with others when playing outside and takes few initiatives.

In observations in a gym with other children, it is noticeable that Linda takes a wait-and-see attitude. In the case of a group activity she follows others. Linda seems tense, especially when it comes to performance, such as jumping over a gym box. She is not skilled in play, such as catching and throwing.  She can be reassured when she hears that she does not have to do anything if she does not want to. She rarely reacts to other children. She can easily be forgotten about. When she says something, she speaks softly and hardly looks at other children. She often seeks the familiarity of her friend. In play she does not take the initiative and often moves to the outside of the playing field.

Erik has recently been observed at school as his teacher, parents and the care team are concerned with the angry behaviour he is displaying. At home Erik displays impulsive behaviour and gets angry quickly. At school Erik finds it difficult to concentrate on tasks and consequently has a negative attitude to school work. Erik is talkative, can show rough behaviour in the vicinity of other children and at times use violent language.

Within the gym and playground it has been noticed that Erik often does not seem to consider the implications of his actions on others. For example, when playing freely, he just shoots a ball at a basket and does not realize that others could be bothered by it. The lack of awareness of others and angry behaviour Erik demonstrates can lead to conflict with his peers and means that Erik often finds it difficult to play with others.

DUO

Erik (9 years) has recently been the subject of a lot of observations. The care team are concerned with his angry behaviour and lack of change. It is being considered to transfer him to a special education system at the end of the school year. At school Erik is not able to concentrate on his tasks. He has a below-average intelligence and has problems with his attitude to school work. He is talkative and shows rough behaviour in the vicinity of other children. He uses violent language.

According to the school psychologist, Erik shows impulsive and oppositional behaviour. Erik’s parents have been worried for some time now, and are happy that research is taking place. They hope that he can be maintained at his current school.

His parents indicate that they find it difficult to control Erik at home due to his impulsive behaviour. He gets angry quickly and fights. He can sometimes hit his younger brother. He does not seem to have any insight into his own behaviour. Punishments like sending to his room seem to have little effect.

The students begin to practice. Some achieve this task in a few attempts while others, no matter how hard they try, do not progress at the same rate. Julian (11-year old) is one student experiencing difficulties. The issue is that Julian is tossing two balls into the air at the same time; that is, he does not wait until the first ball has reached the peak of its trajectory before tossing the second ball into the air. He is frustrated and begins to move off-task and distract others.