Back to all guides
Repeated Bids for Attention or Interaction
Students need connection. Repeated bids for interaction may occur when attention is less available, when reassurance is needed, or when a student has not yet learned an effective way to initiate contact.
Need a clear next step?
Use the Coach to get a practical strategy for this behavior.
What this can look like
Tapping the teacher or repeating their name endlessly
Making silly noises to get peers to laugh
Repeating an adult’s name while the adult is helping someone else
Requesting help repeatedly on steps completed independently at other times
Tattling frequently on others
Before deciding why it is happening
Attention-seeking may relate to a fundamental human need for connection and safety. The goal is to explore how to fulfill it appropriately.
Possible Contextual Influences
- —Periods of independent work where adult attention is low
- —Changes in adult availability (e.g., teacher working with another group)
- —Desire for peer validation or social status
- —Anxiety requiring reassurance
- —Lack of skills to initiate appropriate social interactions
Practical things to try
- 01Provide frequent, brief check-ins before the disruptive behavior occurs
- 02Teach a specific, appropriate way to request attention (e.g., raising hand, using a card)
- 03Ensure that positive attention for good behavior is more frequent and intense than attention for misbehavior
- 04Give the student a leadership role or responsibility
- 05Prompt and reinforce the replacement skill rapidly when they use it
Replacement Skills
Skills to teach and reinforce instead:
- • Using a "help" or "talk" card
- • Asking a peer for help appropriately
- • Using an agreed signal and waiting for the teacher's acknowledgment
- • Initiating conversation with a relevant topic
Common Mistakes
- — Using long public lectures instead of briefly prompting and reinforcing a useful communication skill
- — Failing to notice when the student is working quietly
- — Isolating the student entirely, starving their need for connection