Getting off to a Good Start!

Supporting Students with Behaviors

Learning Objectives

•General Process of an FBA•Importance of Understanding

Function

•Positive Reinforcement•Positive Instruction

Behaviors Defined

•Anything we SAY or DO•How we REACT to our environment

•Behaviors are often LEARNED and continue because they serve a PURPOSE or FUNCTION

•We engage in behaviors because we have learned that a DESIRED OUTCOME occurs

Challenging Behavior

Self Injury or injury to others Damage to the

environment

Interferes with learning

Interferes with socializing

Challenging Behavior

Assumes all challenging behaviors have a function

Emphasizes:• Prevention• Instruction of appropriate alternative behaviors

Improves quality of life for student and family

What is Positive Behavior Support?

Behavior is lawful

When we understand why a student is demonstrating a behavior, we say that we understand the function of that behavior

Understanding the function of behavior:

• Attention• Tangible• Sensory

Obtain

• Attention• Tangible• Sensory

Escape

What does the “function” of the behavior mean?

Obtain DesirableEvents

Avoid/EscapeUndesirable Events

Internal External Internal External

Attention Objects/Activities

Attention Objects/Activities

•Rhythmic rocking•Endorphin release•Visual stimulation

•Smiles, hugs•Frown,scolding•Surprise

•Food•Preferrred activity•Money

•Sinus pain•Skin irritation•Hunger

•Smiles, hugs•Frown,scolding•Surprise

•Difficult tasks•Change in routine•Interruption of desired activity

Why is it important to identify the function of a behavior?

• It is empirically validated as best practice

Placed in “time out”

Reinforced

Student hits to escape reading

Redirected to stay in circle

Not Reinforced

Functional Assessment of Behavior (FBA)

Identify the behavior

Collect data on the behavior

What is the function of the

behavior

Make a Plan

Implement the plan

Evaluate (is the plan working?)

Strategies for Assessing Antecedents/Consequences

Indirect Assessm

ents

Records ReviewInterviews

Scales (MAS, PBQ)

Motivation Assessment Scalehttp://www.monacoassociates.com/mas/aboutmas.html

• A 16-item survey that assists in developing a hypothesis about the function of the problem behavior

Questions Never

0

Almost Never

1

Seldom

2

Half Time

3

Usually

4

Almost Always

5

1. Would the behavior occur continuously if this child was left alone for long periods of time?

Never

0

Almost Never

1

Seldom

2

Half Time

3

Usually

4

Almost Always

5

2. Does the behavior occur following a command to perform a difficult task?

Never

0

Almost Never

1

Seldom

2

Half Time

3

Usually

4

Almost Always

5

3. Does the behavior occur when you are talking to other persons in the room?

Never

0

Almost Never

1

Seldom

2

Half Time

3

Usually

4

Almost Always

5

4. Does the behavior ever occur to get a toy, food, or game that he or she has been told that he she can’t have?

Never

0

Almost Never

1

Seldom

2

Half Time

3

Usually

4

Almost Always

5

Strategies for Antecedents/Consequences

Direct Assessments

Scatterplot ABC Analysis

Scatterplot: An interval recording system that assists in determining if patterns of problem behavior exist during specific time periods

Time/Activity 9/1 9/2 9/3 9/4CircleFreechoiceSnackOutsideSmall Group

Scatterplot Student: James Martinez Behavior: Negative verbal outbursts (swear, yell, etc.)

0 1-2 3-4 5-6

Date Time

9/17

9/18

9/19

9/20

9/21

9/24

9/25

9/26

9/27

9/28

8:00-8:30 8:30-9:00 9:00-9:30 9:30-10:00 10:00-10:30 10:30-11:00 11:00-11:30 11:30-12:00 12:00-12:30 12:30-1:00 1:00-1:30 1:30-2:00 2:00-2:30

Name: ___________________________ Date(s):____________________

Teacher(s)________________________

Antecedent (To Behavior)

Behavior(Describe in a measurable way)

Consequence (to behavior)

Adult gives student a direction

Student pinches adult

Adult moves away from student

Adult denies access to preferred item

Student pinches Adult gives access to preferred item

If you don’t have a planYou’re planning to fail

H. Wong, 1998

What do I do with all of this data?

Hypothesis Developmentwhen this happens (setting event /context/antecedent)

the student does (describe the target behavior)

for what purpose (obtain/escape/avoid)

When Nick has to wait for the bus and he is presented with a difficult task

screams, swings his arms

to escape having to do the work

 When Annie has been working independently on a math assignment

Wanders the classroom shoving the materials of her classmates on the floor

to obtain attention

After a weekend with his grandparents and when transitioning from recess to reading groups

Quintalis puts his head down and begins to doodle on the paper

to escape having to read

Hypothesis Statement

When this happens the S. does (describe the behavior)

what happens (what is the function)

Brainstorming

Setting Event

Strategies Antecedent Strategies

Teaching Strategies

Consequence Strategies

What can we change?Setting Events

Environment

Instruction

Consequences

Setting Events: Conditions that increase the likelihood that the problem behavior will occur

Removed in time from behavior

Close proximity to behavior

Ongoing state/situation

What can we change?Setting Events

Environment

Instruction

Consequences

Environmental Interventions

Components of Good Classroom Programs

Identify, teach, and reinforce classroom rules and discipline

Plan a predictable schedule Plan for transitions

What can we change?Setting Events

Environment

Instruction

Consequences

• As many as 84% have an anxiety disorder

• Levels of endorphins significantly higher in ASD than typicals

•Anxiety leads to social withdrawal, repetitive movements, difficulty with attention and cognitive function, easy to arouse/anger, impaired memory, poor decision making, difficulty to calm

Stress and ASD

• “having to engage in handwriting is the most significant and serious impediment to academic participation for students with autism spectrum disorders in schools in North America today. (Dr. Richard Simpson, 2007)

• multiple tasks (printing and thinking) leads to “a system wide resource constraint”—blood and oxygen for each component task are reduced and coordination of brain decreases

Example: Writing

Irrelevant• Child no longer needs to use problem behaviors to achieve

wants/needs

Ineffective• Problem behavior no longer enables the child to achieve

the function of his/her behavior

Inefficient• Problem behaviors require much more effort and time to

achieve purpose compared with acceptable behavior

Make Problem Behavior……

Teaching Tools

What are You Teaching? Visual Supports

How to keep it as natural as possible.

Fading and Delaying Reinforcement

It begins and ends

with motivation

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What is Reinforcement?

Something that immediately follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that that behavior will happen again.

A reinforcer is a stimulus that increases likelihood of behavior occurring again, and is presented AFTER behavior occurs

A bribe does not guarantee the increase of behavior and is presented DURING a behavior or as a “carrot”

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Reinforcement is not a bribe!

•Reinforcers are individual

•Use natural reinforcers whenever you can

Choosing Reinforcers

Schedules of Reinforcement

Goal:Natural

Less available over time Thick to Thin

Teaching Tools

What are You Teaching? Visual Supports

Acquisition Performance“won’t do”

Familiar with skill

“cant do”

Doesn’t know how

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Back to the basics:

Define the behavior you are teaching as a replacement skill

When will you teach the skill?

How will you reinforce the

behavior?How will you

monitor progress?

What materials do you need?

Teaching Replacement Behaviors

What Behaviors To Teach

Communication

Flexibility/IndepSelf Management Academic

What about Executive Functions?

Executive What?

Executive Functions help with

• Thinking• Acting• Solving Problems• Learning new info• Remembering• Retrieving info

Executive Functions Help Us…

• Make Plans• Keep track of time• Keep track of

multiple ideas• Engage in group

dynamics• Evaluate ideas

• Reflect on work• Change minds and

make corrections• Finish on time• Ask for help• Wait to speak• Seek more info

5 General Components of EF

Working Memory

Activation/Arousal

Focus Inhibition

Emotion Control

Working continuousl

y

Maintaining

attention

Problem solving

Communication

Pretend Play

Joint Attention

Shifting attention

Inhibit competing stimuli

Make a plan and carry it

out

How do EF deficits impact students?

remembering and following instructions

Memorizing math facts, dates, etc.

Problem solving

Keeping track and organizing

materials

Do not learn from past mistakes

Performing mental

computation in head

Other Difficulties…

How to Look Like a Student at My Desk

Sit at my desk with my mouth and feet quiet.

If I need to I can sit on my feet

or stand at my desk.

My hands can be doing school work by writing or reading.

I can do my writing with my pencil and

I can read the books in my desk.

I can ask for help if I need to.

I will follow my teachers’ directions.

When my teachers ask me to do something

I will listen and follow their direction.

If something is hard I need to try,

but I can ask for help.

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Breaking Skills Down

Other Strategies….Shorten/chunk assignmentsMinimize ClutterVisual Supports

Assistive TechnologyPlanners and organizers

Notetaking accommodations (guided notes)Memorization (acronyms)

Something that occurs before a response and increases the likelihood of a correct response

Prompting before a response minimizes errors

Prompting—What is it?

Teaching Tools

Planning for Instruction

Visual Support

s

Visual

Supports

Verbal info

A strategy that really works….

Provide the following

info:

•Change in activities or new activities•When events will happen •When it is time to move to next activity

Help:•Establish concept of being finished•Set expectations•Decrease “surprises”- reduce anxiety•Establish routines

Schedules may………..

Other Antecedent Considerations

Consider Sensory needs•Built in schedule of sensory activities•accommodationsPhysical and Health needs•Food intake, bathroom habits, fatigue•Temperature, clothing, odors, etc.Any scheduling changes?•Too tired in the am?•Crowded environments

What can we change?Setting Events

Environment

Instruction

Consequences

ConsequencesOccur after the behavior

Can be planned or unplanned

Natural or artificial

Types of Consequences• Adding a reinforcer—

increases target behavior

• Adding a punisher—decreases target behavior

• Removing a reinforcer—decreases target behavior

Reinforcement!!!!Why would they want to do something hard?

contingent presentation of a stimulus that decreases behavior

Punishment

What next? Make a PlanConsider an acceptable and sustainable plan

Implement the plan

Evaluate: Did it work, changes needed?

Use Your Worksheet to Complete FBA Form

FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

Student name: Meeting Date: Student ID #: Disability: Grade: Home School: Case Manager:

Team Members Present at Meeting:

Name/Title Name/Title

Name/Title Name/Title

Name/Title Name/Title

Student’s Strengths (include a description of the student’s behavioral strengths, such as positive interactions with staff, ignoring the inappropriate behavior of peers, accepts responsibility, etc.):

Description of Behavior(include a description of the frequency, duration, and intensity of the behavior(s)):

Setting(s) (include a description of the setting(s) in which the behavior occurs, i.e. – physical setting, time of day, persons involved):

Antecedent(s) (include a description of the relevant events that preceded the behavior):

Consequences and Educational Impact (include a description of the result of the behavior (i.e. – removed from class, not able to complete assignments/tests, etc.), and the impact on the student, peers, and the instructional environment):

Other Potential Variables (include a description of any other factors/variables that may affect the behavior, such as medication, weather, diet, sleep, substance abuse, attendance, social factors, etc.):

Prior Interventions (include a description of the behavioral interventions that have been implemented in the past, including the date(s) of implementation, length of intervention, the impact of the intervention on the student’s behavior, etc. Attach data summary, if appropriate):

Hypothesis of Behavioral Function (describe the team’s hypothesis of the relationship between the behavior and the environment in which it occurs – what function is this behavior serving for the student? What is the student trying to get? What is he/she trying to avoid?):

Summary/Recommendations (Provide recommendations for prevention of the target behavior, replacement skills/behavior(s) to be taught, reinforcements for positive behaviors, etc.):

PURPOSE: The purpose of a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) is to address behaviors that are interfering with the student’s education. The goal of a BIP is to teach the student positive behavioral strategies to replace the problem behavior(s). A BIP is required to be developed and implemented if the student’s violation of a code of conduct (resulting in a change of placement) is determined to be a manifestation of the student’s disability, or if the IEP team determines it is appropriate.

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION PLAN

Student name: Grade: Meeting Date:

Home School: Case Manager:

Team Members Present at Meeting:

Name/Title Name/Title Name/Title

Name/Title Name/Title Name/Title

Target Behavior (behavior to be extinguished)

Intervention Strategies Person(s)

Responsible Data Collection

Procedures (Methods & Timelines)

Alternative Behaviors to be

Taught/Reinforced Reinforcers Consequences for

Target Behavior

Need to Add Additional Page….

1 •Outline Setting Event Strategies (i.e. communication log)

2 •Outline Antecedent Strategies (i.e. visuals, sensory, accommodations)

3 •Outline Instructional Strategies (positive reinforcement, prompting, modifications)