ABSTRACT
Addressing behavioural needs of the people with disabilities (PwD) that almost half of the SwD pose severe challenges for the teacher educators and other stakeholders, interfering with their appropriate education, performance, social interactions with peers, academic achievement, and safety causing hindrances in their way of inclusion and full participation. Exponential changes have taken place in schools and classrooms in the past few decades in terms of the increase in the range of diversities that needs to be addressed by the teachers in an everyday classroom context. An important prerequisite to addressing the behavioural issues of children is to understand the function of the behaviour at the outset and design appropriate function-based intervention programmes. Caregivers, parents, and teachers play a central role in facilitating children’s access to early childhood interventions and education; however just over half of the teachers express their frustration and lack of knowledge and skills in handling the behavioural needs of their learners. Systemic changes are needed to address the barriers to participation, be it at home or school, to ensure that children with disabilities (CwD) are not excluded from mainstream educational, social, or community opportunities. Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), an evidence-based science of behaviour analysis, has gained ground all over the world for its robust foundation and empirical research findings that show the effectiveness of the various ABA-based strategies in bringing about significant changes in addressing the behavioural needs of people with diverse needs. The chapter summarizes the significance and application of various ABA-based intervention strategies and approaches for application by teachers in inclusive classrooms to ensure and promote an increase in the participation and inclusion of people with disabilities (PwD).
