We taught our son to request items that he wants instead of simply screaming when he wants something. This works fine at home but at school the staff seems to continue to have problems with screaming. Any ideas?

Interventionists may wish to consider several possibilities. First, it is possible that the outcomes that maintain screaming in school are different from the consequences that maintained it at home. Sorting that out will require a functional analysis to be completed at school. Secondly, it is possible that both screaming at home and at school occurred for the same reason. Perhaps at home the new behavior is being promptly reinforced while the old behavior (screaming) has been rendered less efficient as a result of parents’ actions (that is, perhaps they stopped delivering desired items contingent on screaming). If this is the case, it may only be necessary to work with school staff to ensure that they are not continuing to reinforce the screaming when it occurs.