About the Author

Jessica Minahan is a board-certified behavior analyst and special educator who serves as the director of behavioral services at the Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents group practice in Newton, Masssachusetts, and as a consultant to clients nationwide. She is coauthor of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students. Nancy Rappaport is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide (Basic Books, 2009).

Reviews

"The Behavior Code is one of the best resources for educators. The practical, data-driven approach to looking at challenging behavior and coming up with solutions based on an understanding of anxiety makes it a must-read. Our organization has held multiple book studies on The Behavior Code with educators, and they have been incredibly popular and well-received. As one participant said, the book provides 'real-life situations and great solutions for the classroom.'" --Catherine Zenko, director, Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities

"The Behavior Code and The Behavior Code Companion are essential texts for a graduate teacher education course I teach on understanding behavior and classroom management. Used for the past five years, both in Boston and Barbados, these books help teachers understand the purpose and triggers of children's challenging behaviors and they provide effective responsive strategies that support a child to learn positive social and behavioral skills. These books have changed the way I work with new teachers, with a focus on social emotional learning, reducing anxiety, and getting to the root of challenging behaviors. Teachers develop FAIR Plans that support an individual child but find that their plans foster a learning environment that supports all children." --Stephanie Cox Suárez, associate clinical professor emeritus, Teaching and Learning Department, Boston University

"The Behavior Code needs to be read by all teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents!/From cover to cover I felt Minahan and Rappaport were speaking to me, an elementary teacher and a mom. I felt they knew me, and knew those students who kept me awake at night. Teachers, this book is written by authors who KNOW what our jobs are like." -- Lorna d'Entremont, Special Needs Book Review

"This text takes us one step closer toward blending the education and mental health worlds, extracting the best strategies from both, and applying them to challenging cases. As child psychiatrists be- come even more embedded in schools, consulting to some of the most challenging students, the resources in The Behavior Code are helpful, practical tools we can offer teachers with whom we work." -- Sheryl H. Kataoka, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

"This was an excellent book with really unique ideas on how to help children with challenging behaviors channel their energies in acceptable ways. This is the best book I've ever read on the topic, hands down. " --Teacher's Toolbox