Functional Behavioral Analysis Asperger s Disorder

Functional Behavioral Analysis— Asperger’s Disorder Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2....
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Functional Behavioral Analysis— Asperger’s Disorder

Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2. Gather information (A, B, C’s) 3. Develop a hypothesis statement about the function of the behavior 4. Develop a behavior support and intervention plan 5. Implement and monitor

Assumptions underlying FBA • All behavior is a form of communication. • Questions associated with this assumption. – What is being communicated by the problem behavior? – Why now?

Assumption underlying FBA • MISBEHAVIOR IS A SYMPTOM OF UNDEVELOPED SKILLS

• “Students would behave if they could” (Ross Greene, 1998)

Typical undeveloped skills • • • • • • •

Self regulation Thought stopping/thought interruptions Thinking traps Social perceptual skills Executive functioning Theory of mind skills Weak central coherence skills

Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2. Gather information (A, B, C’s) 3. Develop a hypothesis statement about the function of the behavior 4. Develop a behavior support and intervention plan 5. Implement and monitor

Identify and define the target behavior

• Concrete • Descriptive • Define the expected behavior and what it looks like • Prioritize behaviors

Identifying or anticipating problem behavior • Difficult---like a can of soda that has been shaken; the can looks the same on the outside whether the contents have been shaken not. • Inconsistent depending on level of anxiety— can read publicly one day and shut down with the same task demand the next day. • They can often look oppositional---yelling, punching, swearing, insisting on things going their way, crying, and easily frustrated

Gather information (A, B, C’s)

•A

B

C

Gather information: A, B, C’s • ANTECEDENTS: conditions that occur before behavior, which trigger the behavior • BEHAVIORS: observable actions that immediately follow the antecedent. • CONSEQUENCE: what happens after the behavior occurs, as a result of (or in response to) the behavior. – Natural consequences – Staff or peer responses

Gather Information: Setting • SETTING: events that occur at a defined point in time that may influence or set the stage for the likelihood of a behavior occurring, or have an effect on how a person responds to antecedents.

Gathering information: Antecedents

• • • •

PROXIMAL DISTAL INTERNAL EXTERNAL

Gathering information: ANTECEDENTS • Watch language or specific words or phrases. – “Time out room” for adolescents – “Trigger” – “I understand what you are going through. I have had a similar type of experience.” – “What are your irrational thoughts?” – “I am really fully committed to your treatment.”

Gathering information: Typical antecedents Unstructured times, such as lunch or recess Transitions Writing demands Social demands Novel events/unexpected changes Interaction with an adult who has an authoritative style or who has too permissive of a style (wishy washy style). • Playing games with peers • Situations when students are asked to wait • • • • • •

Transitions– Four components • • • •

The cessation of the first activity Making the cognitive shift to the next activity Starting the next activity Lack of structure and specific expectations during the transition time

Transitions/Cessation of the first activity • Choose an appropriate warning for each component of the transition • It is helpful to give a transition warning with a natural close rather than stopping in midstream. – Five more pages – Read until you reach the sticky note that says “stop.” – “At the end of this inning, you need to stop playing computer baseball.”

Transitions/Cognitive shift to the next activity • Most students visualize a future picture of the next event prior to making a transition. • Anxious students struggle with the visualization • Visual schedule containing a list of activities in sequence

Transitions/down time • Students struggle with down time or waiting. It is a time they worry. • Suggest tasks or activities that “absorb” the downtime – Deep breathing/grounding exercises – Push in chairs – Organize books – Clean the board – Get point sheets

Transitions/starting the next activity • Use traditional countdown type of warnings – “Five more minutes” – Use of timers

Writing tends to be stressful • Antecedents – Open-ended writing assignments – Personal narratives or topics involving selfreflection – Composition – Explaining a math problem – Sometimes any paper and pencil task

Writing limitations • Difficulty generating ideas • Organizational problems • Spelling (especially for perfectionistic students) • Editing difficulties (“I already did it”)

Writing accommodations • Cannot generate ideas---Give a list of ideas and choose from them/have magazines or books with pictures to help generate ideas/Google images • Spelling/handwriting----word processing • Preview a sequence of steps of writing prior to starting an activity (i.e., first draft, read, edit, final draft) can prevent the student from being shocked at the idea of rewriting. • Checklist with challenge and strategies(it is preferred for a student to say “spelling is hard for me” rather than saying “I hate writing.”

Internal antecedents for students with Asperger’s • Obsessional thoughts • Fear of failure (competency issues) • Fear related to self-esteem (e.g., loss of face, loss of perceived position) • The need to protect an irrational thought

Gather information: BEHAVIOR • Prioritize the behavior most important to address and objectively define it. • It is important to get student’s perspective on the identified problem behavior.

Gather information: CONSEQUENCES • • • •

How did others respond? What are the natural consequences? What was your external presentation? What was your internal reaction?

Gather information: SETTING • • • • • • • •

Class Time of the day With or without medication Medical marijuana influence or other illicit substances Medication changes No sleep Weekend after being with father or mother Bad weather

Gather information: ABC’s • Important to spend time assessing before coming up with an intervention. • Research from the Harvard initiative in school development is to document 6 to 10 episodes before developing a plan (very difficult for low frequency behavior).

Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2. Gather information (A, B, C’s) 3. Develop a hypothesis statement about the function of the behavior 4. Develop a behavior support and intervention plan 5. Implement and monitor

Hypothesis building: what is the function of the behavior?

• • • • • • •

Attention Escape or avoid something Gain something Sensory satisfaction Need to rebel (autonomy needs) Need for power Need for affiliation (need to belong)

Attention

• Seek negative or positive attention from peer, adults, group, verbal, nonverbal, etc.

Escape or avoid something • • • • •

Avoid a task avoid a demand avoid an activity avoid a person avoid an environment

Tangible function • Want an item • Want to follow his or her own agenda • Students motivated by tangible function tend to have difficulty with delayed gratification and/or rigid/inflexible thinking.

Sensory function • • • •

Tactile Olfactory Touch Kinesthetic

Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2. Gather information (A, B, C’s) 3. Develop a hypothesis statement about the function of the behavior 4. Develop a behavior support and intervention plan 5. Implement and monitor

Designing a plan • Where will the team initially intervene? • Will it be at the antecedent level, behavior level or consequence level?

•A

B

C

ANTECEDENTS -- ENVIRONMENT • How will staff adapt the environment to reduce or eliminate the antecedents or setting? (short term or long term plan) – Changes in academic presentation (e.g., more visual than verbal) – Schedules (e.g., type of classes) – Level of exposure to antecedents ( e.g., shortened class period followed by a break or a shortened day).

BEHAVIORS----SKILL BUILDING • What new skills will be taught to replace the challenging behavior? • This category tends to be long term focus. • Often, antecedent management is the first step • Step 2: Reinforce desired behavior • Step 3: teach a replacement behavior • Step 4: teach the underdeveloped skill or skills

BEHAVIORS----SKILL BUILDING • Problem behavior: work incompletion • Step 1: antecedent management—provide a small amount of work with BHC support. • Step 2: Desired behavior—reinforce efforts at work • Step 3: replacement behavior—ask for help when stuck rather than work incompletion • Step 4: develop initiation skills (e.g., self talk, setting goals, etc.)

CONSEQUENCE---STAFF RESPONSES • How will staff respond in order to support positive behavior and reduce the challenging behavior? – Crisis Prevention Intervention – Behavioral point system – Cue students to use replacement behavior – Praise or reinforcement – Monitor one’s own response (check your nonverbals)

Steps for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) 1. Identify and define the target behavior 2. Gather information (A, B, C’s) 3. Develop a hypothesis statement about the function of the behavior 4. Develop a behavior support and intervention plan 5. Implement and monitor

Where do we intervene?

•A

B

C

Antecedent management

• “Ninety percent of every behavior plan should be dedicated to antecedent management” (Minahan & Rappaport, 2012). • It is crucial to reduce or eliminate inappropriate behavior.

Antecedent management • Students continue to require accommodations until they develop the skills to cope and can succeed without them. • Examples— – Will need limited exposure to triggers of anxiety until they learn to self-soothe or affect regulation skills – Will need point system until they learn executive function skills (planning, time management, organizational skills, etc.)

The challenge of identifying antecedents • The story about the student who threatened suicide and would never take another math course. • The story about the student who called an ambulance on himself. • The story about one minute math. • Without knowing specific antecedents, these students’ behaviors would have been attributed to “bad attitude,” “ depression”, or “lack of effort.”

Expanding the search for antecedents • Assessing Demands in the classroom – TEACHING METHODS • • • • • •

Percent of time in lecture Percent of time in discussion Percent of time learning through independent study Percent of time in cooperative learning groups Is there a consistent daily routine? Is there a consistent weekly routine?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• Grades – Is extra credit work accepted and/or encouraged? – Can students rework previous assignments? – Is the grading criteria established and posted at the beginning of the course? – Are expectations defined in RUBRICS?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• TESTS – Multiple choice tests? – Essay tests? – Matching tests? – True/False tests? – Open book tests? – Take-home tests? – Group/cooperative tests?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• TEACHING MATERIAL – Do you use a textbook? – Do you use handouts? – Are word processing skills required?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• WRITTEN AND OTHER MAJOR PRODUCTS – Are students required to write in complete sentences? – Are students required to write paragraphs? – Is an oral presentation required? – How often do you require students to answer questions in written form?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• STUDENT BEHAVIOR – Is on time behavior factored into the grade? – Is attendance factored into the grade? – Is student participation factored into the grade? – Is work completion factored into the grade? – Are on-task behavior/listening factored into the grade? – Is student note taking an important part of your class?

Assessing Demands in the Classroom (Antecedents)

• CLASSROOM STRUCTURE – Sit in rows – Assigned seats – Sit at tables – Sensory corner – Number of students in the class

Sample questions to help identify antecedents and consequences

• Is the problem behavior more likely to occur following a conflict outside of the classroom? • Will the student stop doing the problem behavior if you stop making requests or end an academic activity? • When the problem behavior occurs do peers verbally respond or laugh at the student?

Commercial Functional Assessment Instruments • Motivation Assessment Scale, Durand & Crimmins, 1992 • Problem Behavior Questionnaire, Lewis, Scott, & Newton, 1997. • Functional Assessment Interview Form, O’Neill, Horner, Albin, Sprague, Storey & Newton, 1997) • Student-Assisted Functional Assessment Interview, Kern, Dunlap, Clarke, & Sugai, 1994

Still stifled trying to find antecedents to problem behavior

• EXCEPTION ORIENTED QUESTIONS – When does the behavior not occur? – When are things going well? – Describe those situations? • • • • •

What is said to the student? Who is saying it? How is the material being taught? Who else is in the room? What time of the day is it?

The warning signs that one needs more ABC examples

• • • • •

“He is so manipulative.” “She knows exactly what she is doing.” “She just wants attention.” “He is in the wrong school.” “He can do the school work if he wanted.”

Selective References • Greene, RW (1988) The Explosive Child: A new approach for understanding and parenting easily frustrated, “chronically inflexible” children. New York, NY: Harper Collins. • Minahan, J. and Rappaport, N. (2012). The behavior code: A practical guide to understanding and teaching the most challenging students. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. • Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI)

References • Wexler, D. (1991) The adolescent self: Strategies for Self-management, self – soothing, and self-esteem in adolescents. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. • Smith Myles, B. and Southwick, J. (1999) Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments. Shawnee Mission, Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing Company

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