Student Preferences

Understanding a student’s preferences helps us make informed decisions about how to support them effectively. By learning what motivates a student, how they like to learn and play, and how they interact with others and their environment, we can create more meaningful interventions. This section guides you in exploring five key areas, motivation, leisure, learning, social, and sensory, to better connect with your student and meet their individual needs.

🏆Motivation

What motivates the student to engage in non-preferred tasks? For example, verbal praise, earning tokens/points, snacks/treats, extra recess/free time, iPad/Chromebook, or special privileges.

Understanding what motivates a student to complete non-preferred tasks can help you structure reinforcement systems that actually work. If a student doesn’t find rewards meaningful, even the best-planned system will fall flat.

🏖️ Leisure

What does the student enjoy doing when given free choice? For example, play on iPad, build with Legos, run outside, talk with peers, read books, eat a snack, play games with an adult, listen to music, watch videos, color, draw, or paint.

Knowing what a student enjoys doing during free time provides natural reinforcers you can use to increase engagement. These activities can also serve as calming or break options when frustration builds.

🎓 Learning

What are the student’s learning preferences? For example, likes hands-on building, prefers to work on the Chromebook, needs frequent check-ins, enjoys anything creative, does well in a small group setting, or working 1:1 with adult.

Recognizing a student’s preferred learning style (hands-on, visual, peer-assisted, etc.) can reduce work refusal and frustration. Matching instruction to strengths boosts confidence and minimizes the chance of escape-maintained behavior

👋 Social

How does the student prefer to interact with others? For example, mostly enjoys talking to adults, tends to keep to himself, loves to be the center of attention, tends to only talk about one topic of interest.

Social preference helps you plan peer interactions, group work, and adult-student connections. Some students thrive on adult attention, while others prefer low-key peer interactions.

👟Sensory

Does the student seek out or avoid sensory stimuli? For example, constantly in motion, covers ears with hands, likes to touch everything, chews on pencils, enjoys hugs and tickles, or .always takes shoes off.

Understanding whether a student seeks or avoids certain sensory input can explain fidgeting, avoidance, or dysregulation. Sensory strategies (e.g., movement breaks, chew tools, quieter spaces) can prevent challenging behavior before it starts.

CASE STUDY: Jordan's Preferences

Keep in mind that the answers to these questions aren't always textbook perfect, but that doesn't mean that they aren't helpful and inforamtive. Looking at Jordan’s profile helps us start asking the right questions. What motivates him now that he’s no longer responding to the behavior chart? Are we presenting work in a way that builds on his strengths, like hands-on tasks or helping others? Are there unmet sensory or emotional needs contributing to his behavior?

For example, Jordan often refuses writing tasks, so a teacher might adjust by offering alternatives like typing, drawing, or dictating responses. His need for movement and frequent pencil-chewing may point to sensory needs that could be supported with flexible seating or chew tools.

This kind of information doesn’t give us all the answers, but it gives us a direction. It helps us reflect, make small changes, or realize we need more information. The goal isn’t to fix everything at once, but to use what we know to guide our next steps.

Let's figure out exactly what the behavior is with Step 2: Define the Behavior!

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