Evaluating the Use of Alternative Seating with Children at Risk for Emotional Behavioral Disabilities

Characteristics of emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) include learning difficulties that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors and an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. Often, children with EBD have a tendency to have negative experiences in school and engage in challenging behavior in the classroom. This could stem from their lack of desire or motivation to succeed, which is often found in individuals with EBD. One possible antecedent manipulation, alternative seating, may reduce problem behavior and involves exchanging the typical seating and tables in classrooms for different types of seating options with various sizes and functions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of stability stools and scoop rocker chairs on in-seat behavior and on-task behavior in classrooms with children with at risk for EBD. All three participants demonstrated improvements in in-seat behavior using both types of alternative seating compared to a standard classroom chair. On-task behavior improved for all students but was variable for two students. Teachers preferred the stability stool while results were mixed between the stool and the rockers on preference for students