Effects of Alternative Seating on Children with Disabilities

Children with disabilities in school settings often display problem behavior. These challenging behaviors can be inattention, disruptions in class, difficulties with transitions between tasks, and low task motivation. These types of behaviors can lead to problems for the students with their peers, teachers, and school staff. One way to decrease problem behavior is to implement antecedent manipulations to prevent problem behavior from ever occurring. One type of antecedent manipulation is using alternative seating in the classroom, such as stability balls or stabili-t stools. However, little research has been conducted to evaluate different types of alternative seating, therefore this study used an alternating treatments design to evaluate the effects of stability balls versus stabili-t stools on in-seat and on-task behavior in an academic setting. Results indicated increases in both in-seat and on-task behavior with the use of both alternative types of seating. In-seat behavior increased more substantially then on-task behavior with alternative seating. Social validity results indicated that stability balls were not well liked by teachers and therapists, however the stabili-t stools were found to be acceptable. Both types of alternative seating were chosen by participants in the choice phase, however the stabili-t stool was chosen more often