"Is there someone who could help me with a student (age 7) who compulsively bites others? How would I use the picture symbols to modify his behavior? I am a teacher in Georgia." SW

Answer: Jane Mather, Preschool Teacher

The first thing you want to do is understand why your student is biting others. Is it because he wants to interact with them, but doesn't know how? Is it because he cannot tolerate close proximity with others? Is it because he is excited? Keep a classroom log and try to determine when and why he bites. Then develop strategies to target the situations that trigger his biting. An Occupational Therapist may have suggestions regarding the need to put things in his mouth.

Have you tried using Social Stories? Creating a short, to the point story addressing the biting behavior may help your student understand why biting is not acceptable and picture cues may help him remember "no biting" . You would need to tailor the story to your student's needs. The story could read something like:

I like to ______________(play with friends) .
Sometimes when I _________________(play with friends) I want them to play my way.
Sometimes when my friends won't play my way I get upset.
When I get upset I bite children. Children do not like it when I bite them.
When I bite children it hurts them. When I bite children they do not want to play with me.
When I am upset, instead of biting I could_________________ (Talk to the teacher, Play by myself, Listen to music, etc. Be specific! ).
When I play with my friends I will not bite. If I get upset I will ________________(appropriate behavior) .

You may want to put the story in book form and insert descriptive pictures as visual cues if that would help your child understand. You also could have a separate story strip of the last sentence that sums up the story to let your student carry or somehow wear when he is in the situation that prompts biting.

Site Links:
picture cards for no biting, no biting others 1" Behavior 1 & 2, and 2" Behavior 1, or large no biting, no biting others
Make-A-Schedule subscription for creating and printing social stories
See this story as an example in Make-A-Schedule Help pages
making story strips with pictures