I walked over to the new staff person who was monitoring Gary in Time Out and asked how long he had been screaming. My strategy is to teach the child the sequence and have him or her practice it with me several times. I then guide him through teaching it to someone else using the philosophy that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Whenever possible, I have him teach it to his 'primary' staff person. The child and his primary staff then play with the exercise awhile.
Most children learn it quickly.
It is important that staff intervene early. Once a child 'goes off' there is very little chance for calm interventions. When teaching the children I explain that this is a relaxation exercise that can help them calm down quickly. None of the children in our intermediate treatment facility come to us knowing how to effectively self-calm. Our residential program also teaches traditional relaxation techniques and uses every behavioral tactic to help the children learn to control and modify their behavior.