How does the SCERTS Model deal with noncompliance?
The term noncompliance is often used very broadly and loosely, referring to a child’s reactions ranging from the child’s specific refusal of requests to a general lack of response or willingness to comply with requests or expectations of others. Our concern is that noncompliance is often attributed to a child’s behavior when the child may not be complying for many other reasons, such as not understanding the expectations of the language in a given circumstance or experiencing dysregulation to the extent that it precludes responding and complying (e.g., due to the child’s being in a very low arousal state or experiencing fear, anxiety, or lack of motivation). It is essential that a team carefully consider what is being asked of a student, that the activity demands are developmentally appropriate (i.e., not inappropriately too high or low), that the necessary interpersonal supports and learning supports are in place to help the child understand and succeed, and that there is a positive “
