When Help Comes Too Late

A student has to fall far enough behind to qualify for special education.
They have to be “bad enough” to warrant BCBA support.
They have to act out—sometimes in extreme ways—before real interventions begin.

Even our well-intentioned systems like RTI or MTSS (especially for behavior) are often structured around a “wait until it’s a problem” approach. Sure, they’re meant to catch kids early, but timelines like “try this for 6–8 weeks and we’ll revisit” just don’t match the urgency teachers are facing.

By the time behavior becomes a documented concern:

• Classrooms have been evacuated.
  
  

• Teachers are exhausted, frustrated, and on the brink of burnout.
  
  

Peers have been affected emotionally, socially, and academically.

We’re dealing with behaviors after the explosion—not preventing them from ever reaching that point. 

So What If We Flipped the Script?

What if we started the school year with the mindset that challenging behaviors are going to happen—because they are. We know five-year-olds will struggle with sharing. We know some students will have ADHD, processing delays, sensory needs, or be on the autism spectrum. These aren't exceptions—they're part of the classroom every year.

So instead of waiting until a behavior becomes a major disruption, what if we planned for it from the start?

Picture a classroom where simple, proactive strategies are part of the daily routine. Where teachers are already using supports that help prevent meltdowns instead of managing them after the fact. Where students are taught self-regulation skills before they’re in fight, flight, or freeze. And where teachers feel prepared instead of constantly overwhelmed.

That kind of classroom isn’t a dream—it’s entirely possible when we shift from reactive to proactive behavior support.

I’ve worked in enough schools to know that most systems are designed to wait: wait until the student fails, wait until the behaviors escalate, wait until the teacher is exhausted. But when we stop waiting and start planning, everything changes.

When teachers get real-time coaching, when classrooms are observed with a focus on finding patterns, when behavior plans are written with the teacher’s voice in mind, the environment starts to shift. The support doesn’t come from a binder—it comes from understanding the students and what they actually need to succeed.