Function Based Supports and Functional Behavioral Assessment

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Function Based Supports and Functional Behavioral
Assessment

• 3rd Annual APEX II LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
• August 20th, 2008
• Maria Agorastou
• Institute on Disability/ UCED
• University of New Hampshire
• Maureen Tracey, Alliance for Community Supports
• (Many thanks to Dr. Hank Bohanon for sharing many
  of his slides with us!)

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Goals of Todays Presentation

• Increase understanding of Why behaviors occur
  (function)
• Be able to Predict with high accuracy when
  behaviors will occur
• Learn techniques to assist in extinguishing
  negative behaviors
• Teach, Model, Reinforce behaviors we want to see
• Replace negative with appropriate behaviors

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Questions

• Have you ever had a flat on your car, then yelled
  at the dog when you got home?
• Have you ever felt uncomfortable because you did
  not know what the group around you was talking
  about so you escaped to the bathroom?

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All Behavior Has a Purpose
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Function-Based Behavior Support

• A different approach to addressing support for
  children with problem behaviors.
• Medical/Clinical Model
• Diagnosis --gt Intervention
• Old Behavior Management Model
• Type of Problem Behavior --gt Intervention
• Positive Behavior Support
• Behavioral functions Larger support goals --gt
  Understand Not why does he do it? but why does
  he keeps doing it?

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Behavior continued

• FBA is concerned with why behaviors occur

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The ABCs of Behavior

• Antecedents what happens right before a
  behavior occurs
• Behavior what does the behavior look like
• Consequences what happens right after a
  behavior occurs
• Reinforcers consequences which increase a
  specific behavior
• Setting events-bigger picture (missed medication,
  missed meals, academic failure, peer conflict).

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Common Problem Behaviors

• Verbal Conflict
• Skipping
• Tardy
• Lack of Organization

• Fighting
• Electronics
• Cheating
• Incomplete assignments

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Behavior Communication

• As soon as most of us are born we begin to
  realize that our behaviors communicate our needs
• All behaviors serve a purpose
• Conscious or Unconscious

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Positive Behavior Intervention Supports

• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
  (PBIS)
• Systems approach using data
• Preventing, Responding to discipline problems
• School-wide systems that support staff
• Teach promote positive behaviors in ALL
  students
• Reduce behavior problems
• Maintain a safe learning environment
• Where teachers can teach and
• students can learn

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APEX PBIS MODEL
Tertiary Prevention RENEW Intervention
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Secondary Prevention Specialized Group Systems
for Students with At-Risk Behavior
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Primary Prevention School-/Classroom- Wide
Systems for All Students, Staff, Settings
80 of Students
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PBIS-NH Big Idea

• Changing student behavior often involves changing
  adult behavior
• Thinking strategically about how to increase the
  likelihood that more socially acceptable behavior
  will occur
• Muscott Mann

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PBIS FBA IDEA 2004Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act

• If the child's behavior impedes his learning or
  the learning of others
• The IEP team must include strategies, including
  positive behavioral interventions, supports, and
  other strategies to address that behavior.
• Team must review and revise IEP to put in place a
  positive behavioral intervention

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Functional Behavior Assessment Operational
Definition

• Process that determines Why a student engages in
  a behavior
• If the behavior interferes with the students
  learning or the learning of others
• How the student relates to his/her environment
• Includes but it not limited to
• Identification of the problem (Target Behavior)
• Definition of the behavior in concrete terms
• Identification of the contextual factors that
  contribute to the behavior
• The formulation of a hypothesis about when and
  why the behavior occurs
• The consequences that it maintains

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Keep it Simple

• If it works - Keep doing it
• If it doesnt work Change it

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Become a detective!

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• How?
• Why do they keep doing it?

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Possible Functions of Behavior

• Positive
• Social attention (get)
• Access to materials (get)
• Sensory Stimulation
• Control?

• Negative
• Escape from activities or people (avoid)
• Sensory
• Pain

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Typical Consequences

• Reprimand
• Put in time out
• Sent to the office
• Receive poor grades
• Ignore
• Call parents
• Loss of privileges
• Suspension
• Detention

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What we know about Typical Consequences

• They may stop a behavior temporarily
• They do not provide opportunity for a new
  behavior to occur

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What can go wrong?

• Wants to escape task sent to office
• Wants adult attention gets yelled by staff
• Wants peer attention makes class laugh
• Often the consequence can increase the behavior!

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The consequences of a behavior affect future
behavior

• Sometimes, people learn that problem behavior can
  be more efficient than appropriate behavior.

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PBIS Model

• Prevent
• Teach
• Model
• Practice
• Reinforce
• Collect Data!

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Whatll I Do First?

• No behavioral intervention plan or strategy can
  be effective or functional without systematic
  evaluation
• THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO TAKE DATA!

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Why?

• Forces us to define target behaviors more
  precisely
• Lets us know if the interventions are working
• Ensures consistency of planned intervention
  techniques
• Progress becomes visual

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Assumption or Fact
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How to Take Data

• Keep it simple
• Use different days
• Use different times during the day
• Use data to set evaluation criteria
• Use data to report progress every six-eight weeks

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Gathering Information a.k.a DATA

• Parents
• Teachers
• Therapists
• Office referrals
• Reinforcers tried
• Negative
• consequences tried

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Rule of thumb!!

• Written
• Visual
• Verbal

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We have the data. Now what?

• Think ABC and
• Start with a simple Behavior Pathway!

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Simple Behavior Pathway

• Setting Events
• Immediate Antecedent Occurs
• Antecedent Triggers Student Behavior
• Student Behavior Produces Consequences
• Over time, through reinforcement and punishment
  these become maintaining consequences or the
  function of behavior

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Competing Behavior Pathway
Desired Behavior
Typical Consequences
Problem Behavior
Setting Events
Triggering Antecedents
Consequences
Replacement Behavior
Maintaining Consequences
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What can be done?

• Prevent Pre-teach, modify environment
• Teach At a time when the student is able, calm
  and rested.
• Practice Practice makes perfect.
• Reinforce (positively)
• Give child a repertoire of appropriate behaviors

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Setting Events

• Environmental prior relationship, changes in
  routine,
• Learning Style degree of skill in activity/task,
  learning challenges, prior
• Personal Factors sleep nutrition, anxiety, fear
  of frustration/embarrassment anger

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A B Cs3 Term Contingency(Benjamin, 2004)

• Antecedent What happens in the environment prior
  to behavior
• Behavior What the person does
• Consequence Change in the environment shortly
  after the behavior occurs

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Antecedent Events

• What happens before a behavior is exhibited?
• (trigger)

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Behavior

• State the behavior in observable measurable
  terms
• Non example He was fresh, she was aggressive
• Example He told me to shut up, she pushed the
  staff away from her

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Consequence

• Often we look at consequences as being negative
• However, can have a negative or positive result
  depending on their function
• We can learn that a negative consequence can get
  us what we need

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Baseline

• The number of incidents before an intervention
• This will determine if your intervention is
  working

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Background

• 7th Grade Boy
• Transition Difficulties
• Anxiety
• Non Verbal Learning Disability
• History of Academic Failure
• Reads on 2nd grade Level
• Has very few friends
• Setting Events Recess, Language Arts room

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Situation What is going on?

• Student has difficulty with kids at recess.
• Duty teachers claim he is a bully on the
  playground.
• Frequently gets sent to the office or put against
  the wall at recess
• Is failing Language arts
• Misplaces Language arts homework
• Frequently gets kicked out of class for yelling
  and cursing at teacher

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Interventions

• Paired up with buddy to work in school store
  during recess
• Earned points during the day for computer time at
  the end of the day for appropriate behavior
• Worked with one on one tutor on reading
• Pre-Taught Language Arts Lesson with para-educator

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Target Behavior
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Target Behavior
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Data

• What is the target behavior (pushing, hitting,
  yelling at the teacher)
• Where (at recess, language arts)
• When (during basketball, when called on to read
  or clarify instruction)
• With who (peers, teacher/para)
• Why (hypothesis, why does he keep doing it)

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Simple ABC Chart
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What is the Maintaining Consequence?

• Why does Corey keep yelling and being Aggressive?
• Why doesnt Corey do this in Math?
• Is it with a particular student at recess?
• Is it when he wins or looses a game?

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Goal

• The goal is to extinguish or replace the problem
  behavior so that it is not effective
• To replace the negative behavior with a positive
  behavior that serves the same purpose

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Misbehavior Learning Error

• Students learn appropriate behavior in the same
  way
• they learn to readthrough
• instruction,
• practice,
• feedback,
• and encouragement

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FBAsFunctional Behavior Assessment

• Request a functional behavior assessment if
  things are going wrong
• Develops a Behavior Intervention Plan
• Includes not only professionals but parent and
  the student if appropriate

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Change

• Change is hard
• People tend to go back to their previous
  behaviors
• School personnel, students, staff, people in
  general will have difficulty with change

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Catch Them!

• Remember to Catch students when they are
  displaying appropriate, positive behaviors!
• Everyone likes to be acknowledged for doing a
  good job!

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PBIS Philosophy

• The Power of Teaching
• If a child doesnt know how to swim, we teach.
• If a child doesnt know how to read, we teach.
• If a child doesnt know how to multiply, we
  teach.
• If a child doesnt know how to drive, we teach.
• If a child doesnt know how to behave we . . . .
  . . teach?. . . . remove?. . . .punish?
• Why cant we finish the last sentence as
  automatically as we do the others?

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Remember

• 4 positives to 1 negative as a rule
• Teach, Model, Practice, Reinforce
• If you can predict you can prevent!

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The Final Word

• It is not fair to expect anyone to exhibit a
  behavior which has never been taught.
• The key to changing inappropriate behaviors is
  replacing them with appropriate behaviors that
  serve the same function.

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FBA Resources

• Detailed bibliography can be found in your
  packet. We recommend to start with
• http//www.behaviordoctor.org/
• http//www.pbis.org/main.htm
• Crone, D., Horner, R (2003) Building Positive
  Behavior Support Systems in Schools Functional
  Behavior Analysis (Paperback) Guilford, Press

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Thank you!
Contact Info maureentracey3_at_hotmail.com 603-628-7
681 Office Maria.agorastou_at_unh.edu 603-862-0318