Understanding Challenging Behavior

1. Understanding Challenging Behavior SESSION 3 Amy Leishear, Elementary Behavior Specialist aleishear@aacps.org Terri Bednarik, Elementary Low Incidence Specialist tbednarik@aacps.org Aimee Meyer, Elementary Behavior Specialist aameyer@aacps.org

2. AACPS Division of Special EducationPara-educator Training VideosPre Assessment Name: School: Date: • Why is it important to use preventative strategies with students? • What does BIP stand for? • True or False; The child should be involved with the creation of the BIP? • What is a replacement skill? • How often is a BIP reviewed?

3. The Big Picture • Discuss the process of developing a Behavior Intervention Plan which includes reinforcement schedules, prevention strategies and response strategies • Identify best practices for the implementation of a Behavior Intervention Plan.

4. FBA/BIP Steps Overview • Define the Interfering Behavior • Collect Baseline Data & Identify Antecedents/Consequences • Develop a Hypothesis or Summary Statement • Develop a BIP, including Reinforcement Schedules, Prevention Strategies and Response Strategies • Implement BIP • Modify Program as Needed

5. FBA/BIP Step 4: • Select strategies that address the impact of the setting, triggers, and consequences which maintain the problem behavior • Select behavioral teaching strategies for replacement behaviors • Develop scripts/routines for implementation and identify responsibilities of staff • Develop an emergency crisis intervention plan if needed

6. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Develop a BIP: Reinforcement Schedules • Reinforcement is the most important part of any behavior plan. • Reinforcement should be specific to the student. What is reinforcing to one person may not be to another. • Reinforcement should match the function.

7. FBA Step 4 (continued) Develop a BIP: Reinforcement Schedules • Reinforcement should be isolated and only used to reinforce the replacement behavior. • Reinforcement should be scheduled. • The reward should match the task.

8. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Develop a BIP: Prevention Strategies • Things that we as staff can do to proactively prevent opportunities for challenging behavior to occur. • Basic prevention strategies include, but are not limited to: • appropriate supervision • quality instruction • clear and reasonable expectations/procedures • actively involving students • supportive classroom environment. Sometimes we are able to identify the best prevention strategies following an incident of challenging behavior.

9. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Develop a BIP: Prevention Strategies Classroom modifications may include: sitting in a specific seat, break options, visual supports, reinforcement program, extra attention, prompting, controlled choices, redirection, free time activities, etc.

10. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Develop a BIP: Response Strategies • Provide a clear outline/script for staff to follow when responding to target behaviors that does not contradict the identified functions.

11. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Interventions need to be … • feasible and appropriate • observable and measurable • appropriate to setting and age • For example: • Sensory activities • Social stories • Praise • Sticker charts • Visual reminders • Verbal reminders • Earned privileges • Tangible rewards……..

12. FBA/BIP Step 4 (continued) Teaching Replacement Skills • We need to teach students what behaviors are appropriate and those behaviors must serve the need the student is seeking to fulfill. • We need to teach, often times explicitly, what he/she should be doing instead of the behavior in concern. For example, social stories, scripts, visual supports. • Break down expected behaviors into smaller parts and provide explicit instruction • Reinforce demonstration or attempts to demonstrate the replacement behavior. • Assist the student in generalizing the behaviors across setting and with different people.

13. Step 5 BIP Implementation • Staff Training • Observation of Plan Implementation • Data Analysis: Compare baseline data with treatment data

14. FBA/BIP Step 5 (continued) Frequency of Plan Review • Progress should be reviewed quarterly or on an as needed basis • Coincides with Report Card reviews, IEP Reviews • Provide information from BIP reviews to the parent or family consistently

15. FBA/BIP Step 5 (continued) Considerations for Evaluation of the plan • Evaluation methods should be easy to use • Factors to be evaluated must be observable • Criteria needs to unambiguous (clear and trackable) • Criteria must be directly related to the targeted behavior • Progress monitoring should occur across settings and at a variety of times throughout the day

16. Step 6 Modify Program if Needed • Should follow consistent BIP implementation and analysis of the data. • Meet as a team and include all staff in the discussion before modifications are implemented.

17. Why Do Interventions Fail? • Inadequate data for decision making • Outcome objectives not measurable • Low quality plan • Inconsistent implementation of plan • Lack of regular & sustained monitoring • Inadequate support for implementers • Failure to implement/adopt function-based approach

18. The Big Picture • Discuss the process of developing a Behavior Intervention Plan which includes reinforcement schedules, prevention strategies and response strategies • Identify best practices for the implementation of a Behavior Intervention Plan.

19. AACPS Division of Special EducationPara-educator Training VideosPre and Post Assessment Name: School: Date: • When developing a BIP, what three components should be included? • What is a prevention strategy? • What is a response strategy? • Interventions need to be _________and________, _________and_______, ___________and _________. • List at least three things that must be kept in mind when reporting progress to the parent/family.