1. BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS
Oceana County Human Resource Council
May 20th, 2011, Time 1-4 pm
Working with Oppositional & Defiant Students:
Highlighting Prevention & Therapeutic Situational Management Strategies
& Bringing Out the Best in Challenging Home School Partnerships
Administrators, Educators, Support Staff, Support Agencies
This presentation will focus on evidenced based strategies for working with students who present
oppositional and defiant behavior. While considering the needs of students with social maladjustment
(Attachment Disorder, Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder) and students with disabilities that
manifest in anger management challenges and defiance, strategies will be presented for preventing
and diffusing outbursts and developing long term coping strategies and replacement skills. Each
participant will receive a CD containing a toolbox of strategies for oppositional and defiant students,
and my book “In Search of a Heart: Creating Caring Conscience and Character in all Children” (2008),
“Positive Parenting Tips Booklet (Vitto & Mack,2006),” Evidence Based Strategies for diffusing defiant
and aggressive behaviors, and resources and strategies for bringing out the best in challenging home
school partnerships. Each participant will have an opportunity to perform a competing pathways
planning exercise on a defiant student or a difficult home school partnership (i.e., resulting in a
formal intervention plan outline). In addition, each person will have opportunities to role play
diffusing a defiant student.
About the Presenter: Steven Vitto, M.A.., CCII., BTC, MAISD.
Steve has been a teacher and behavior teacher consultant, working in Muskegon for the past 33
=years. Steve has degrees in clinical teaching, administration, and education. Steve is a certified
Crisis Prevention (CPI) Instructor, a Certified Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) Instructor, a
Certified Davereux Personal Emergency Intervention Trainer, a Michigan MIBLISi State Trainer, a
Certified Balanced and Restorative Justice Trainer, an Adjunct Professor at Muskegon Community
College. Steve recently has been involved as a college instructor for educational staff working in
Michigan’s Telamon Migrant Head Start Programs. (This project is a statewide effort to encourage
literacy and social skills among migrant and seasonal farm worker children and to stress the
enjoyment of reading). Steve is also currently working with Muskegon’s You Turn Program, a
specialized program which offers school services to expelled youth. Steve recently developed a
training process for with Challenging Home School Partnerships. Steve can be contacted at
svitto@muskegonisd.org. or 231-767-7277.
Scope and Sequence:
• Etiology- the origin of attachment problems and social maladjustment
• Symptoms- the characteristics of ODD, Conduct Disorder, and Social Maladjustment
• The Competing Pathways Treatment Model (From Functional Assessment to Replacement Skills
• Setting Event Strategies
• Antecedent or Prevention Strategies
• Teaching Replacement Skills
• Consequence Strategies
• Reward Strategies
• Life Space Intervention
• Strategies for Working with Challenging Families
OUTCOMES: Development of Competing Pathways Positive Behavior Support Plan and Planning Process
For Challenging Families