Self medicating/ self stimming

People do try to help themselves as a basic survival technique so when you see a seemingly disfunctional behavior such as stimming or sensory seeking, or constant use of energy drinks, or over the counter medications or even drug or alcohol use in an elementary or high school age student, there is likely a problem (internal or external) that the student is trying to deal with. That doesn't mean that the method they chose is going to be helpful to them or successful. It simply means that in order to help them reduce or eliminate that problem behavior, you will need to help the student identify another tool or means to solve their problem or situation.

For instance if they are having sensory issues with noise or lighting in the classroom, and are using disruptive behavior to get sent out, you need to address both the learned behavior (disruption) and the underlying problem (overwhelmed by noise or lighting, or physical discomfort from light flickering). The lights might be changed, or the student might be seated near a window for natural lighting with that bank of lights kept off. For noise levels, the student might be allowed to wear earphones or ear plugs to deaden (not shut out completely) the noise level. Also, the teacher might be given some alternatives to sending students out such as giving that student a pop quiz or extra worksheet, or assigning some task in the classroom. For example it might be that the student will be asked to empty the trash at break time or clean off the board so that they give some time back to the teacher or class since their action took time away from the class or teacher.