Developing Behavior Intervention Plans for Students with ASD

1. Developing Behavior Intervention Plans for Students with ASD Module 8 Lesson 3

2. Outline • Defining Behavior Intervention Plans • The Steps for Developing a BIP • BIP example

3. Defining Behavior Intervention Plans • A Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) is part of a two-step process for determining the function of a challenging behavior and developing a set of procedures to minimize inappropriate behaviors and increase positive behaviors. • Step one entails conducting a FBA • Step two entails developing a BIP

4. The Steps for Developing a BIP Once an FBA is conducted and a hypothesis for the function of the target behavior is created, a BIP is developed by: • Indicating environmental modifications • Indicating changes to teacher/peer behavior • Developing objectives for the student • Selecting strategies to meet the objectives • Developing a plan for monitoring progress and evaluating the plan

5. Step 1:Indicating Environmental Modifications

6. Environmental Modifications • There may be times when environmental modifications can be made to minimize the occurrence of the target behavior. • This entails analyzing the data collected during the FBA process to determine how the environment can be modified to decrease the likelihood that the target behavior will occur. • See the table on the next slide for examples of environmental modifications

8. Step 2:Indicating Changes to Teacher/Peer Behavior

9. Indicating Changes to Teacher/Peer Behavior • This is typically done best by analyzing the antecedents and consequences of the target behavior. • For example, if a child is displaying a specific behavior to avoid challenging tasks, the teacher may need to alter the tasks being given so they are at the appropriate developmental level. • Another change the teacher can make is to use the behavioral momentum strategy of giving tasks that are easy prior to giving a challenging task and continuing the pattern of easy-easy-difficult-easy-easy-difficult. • An example of changing consequences may be teaching peers to provide positive reinforcement to a child when the child refrains from displaying the target behavior.

10. Indicating Changes to Teacher/Peer Behavior • The table below provides examples of changes that can be made to adult/peer behavior.

11. Strategies • The types of strategies that can be used for steps 1 and 2 can be broken into two categories: • Preventive strategies and consequence strategies • The Center for Evidence Based Practices (http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/) provides examples for each of these categories. See the “links page” for more information.

12. Step 3:Developing Objectives for the Student

13. Developing Objectives for the Student • Generate positively stated behavioral objectives that will serve as replacement behaviors for the target behavior and/or teach new skills that will decrease the likelihood of the target behavior. • For example, instead of writing a goal such as “the child will refrain from using foul language when she is angry,” the goal may be written as “the child will use strategies to calm herself down when she is angry and then tell the person why she is angry using appropriate language.”

14. Developing Objectives for the Student • Behavioral objectives should be written as specific as possible. • Instead of writing an objective such as, “The individual will make friends,” the objective should be much more specific such as, “The individual will participate in joint play for 5-7 minutes at a time with at least three different peers during unstructured social activities.” • It is important to note that not all behavioral objectives will necessarily address “behaviors.” Many times behavioral objectives are written to teach new academic skills, social skills, communication skills, or independent functioning skills to reduce the likelihood that the individual will need to resort to the target behavior to have his or her needs met.

15. Step 4:Select Strategies to Meet the Objectives

16. Select Strategies to Meet the Objectives • Select effective teaching strategies to address each behavioral objective • There are a multitude of strategies to choose from, and once a behavioral object is selected, essentially the entire bodies of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and educational literature serve as intervention resources (Crimmins & Farrell, 2006) • A variety of ABA strategies will be discussed in the slides that follow • A few examples of strategies based on educational literature include: • modeling, role play, embedding the strengths and interests of the individual into the learning activities, scaffolding, addressing multiple learning styles, explicit instruction, using visual supports, breaking tasks down into smaller segments, and increasing engagement through questioning and active participation

17. ABA Strategies • The following are examples of ABA strategies that will be discussed in the slides that follow: • Positive reinforcement • Prompting/fading procedures • Shaping • Embedded discrete trials • Time delay • Behavioral momentum • Task analysis

18. Positive Reinforcement • Providing a consequence immediately following a behavior that will increase the likelihood of the behavior occurring again in the future. • Positive reinforcement can entail natural reinforcers, social reinforcers, token reinforcers, activity reinforcers, or tangible reinforcers. The next slide shows a table with examples of each type of reinforcer.

20. Prompting/Fading Procedure • Prompting consists of providing assistance to the individual to ensure a correct response. • Prompts can be verbal, gestural, or physical. • When prompting is used, the goal is always that the student will master the skill and no longer require the prompting. • In order to accomplish this, prompts must be methodically faded so that they become less and less obvious, until they are no longer used. • Fading of a prompt may be accomplished by providing prompts less frequently, providing prompts at a lower level of intensity, and/or modifying prompts to be more like naturally occurring cues. • One way to systematically fade prompts is to use the least intrusive prompt first, moving to more intrusive prompts, only if necessary. This is called using least-to-most prompts • There may be instances when most-to-least prompts is necessary (ex. learning something new, the student is on the verge of a tantrum)

21. Shaping • Gradually getting closer to the desired behavior by positively reinforcing successive approximations of the behavior. • The technique begins with identifying the behavior that the student needs to learn. • Each step of the shaping technique should bring the student closer to the final desired behavior. • As the small steps are positively reinforced, the behavior will change as it gets closer and closer to the desired behavior. • For example, if the ultimate goal is for the child to expressively label common objects, at first the child may be reinforced for making any utterance when asked to label an item. Then the behavior is shaped by then providing reinforcement as the child attempts to make the beginning sound of the word, then is reinforced when more than the initial sound is produced, and so on until the child is able to clearly name the item.

22. Embedded Discrete Trials • O. Ivar Lovaas (1987) was able to demonstrate success teaching skills to children with autism using discrete trial training. • However, since that time there has been much controversy over the use of discrete trail training because of the problems with generalization of learned skills beyond the discrete trial sessions. • Thus, to address these problems with generalization, implementing discrete trial training within the actual contexts that students will need to use the skills is necessary. • This is called embedded discrete trials.

23. Embedded Discrete Trials • Discrete trial training entails using the A-B-C teaching sequence (antecedent-behavior-consequence). • The antecedent is the request (discriminative stimulus) • The behavior is the desired response • The consequence consists of positive reinforcement for the desired response • If the individual cannot display the desired response, the teaching sequence then looks like this: • Antecedent-Prompt-Behavior-Consequence: This entails using prompting/fading procedures to ensure successful responses.

24. Time delay • Allowing a certain amount of time before a prompt is provided (Halle, Marshall, & Spradlin, 1979) • The goal is that given the time delay, the child will respond without needing the prompt. • The use of time delay in this fashion reduces the likelihood that an individual will become prompt dependent. • When using time delay such as this, the wait time should be paired with an expectant look and/or body language in a positive, playful manner. This will reduce anxiety for the child and encourage attempts to communicate.

25. Behavioral Momentum • Making two or three requests of the child that are easy for the child before making a request that is more difficult (Davis, Brady, Hamilton, McEvoy, & Williams, 1994) • For example, if the student is learning new vocabulary, first ask her to identify two items that have frequently been labeled in the past before asking her to identify an item she has never labeled

26. Task Analysis • Breaking an individual task down into sequential steps that can be taught to the individual. • There are three ways to use task analysis including : • Whole task presentation (presenting each step of the task and gradually increasing the independence of the individual by using the prompting/fading procedure throughout the steps as needed) • Forward chaining (teaching the first step, then the second, then the third, and so on) • Backward chaining (teaching the last step first and then each step that comes before the last step until you get to the first step) • Whether you use whole task presentation, forward chaining, or backward chaining depends on the task being taught and the individual learner

27. Other Teaching Strategies • In Modules 3-7, a variety of teaching strategies were explained to address social interaction, communication, and academic skills. • These strategies can and should be embedded into BIPs as they pertain to the goals selected.

28. Dealing with Stereotypic Behaviors • Many times, the stereotypic behaviors of students with ASD are the target behaviors addressed in a FBA (ex. Vocal stims, hand flapping, spinning things, rocking) • Often, individuals create BIPs that focus on behavior reduction strategies for stereotypic behaviors • It is very important to consider the function for the stereotypic behaviors as opposed to simply trying to stop or reduce them. • Commonly, students with ASD engage in stereotypic behaviors/self-stimulatory behaviors when they are disengaged and/or anxious. • If this is the case, it is important to consider environmental modifications and modifications to instruction that could increase engagement and reduce anxiety

29. Dealing with Restricted Range of Interests • In the book, Just Give Him the Whale, Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz present strategies for dealing with students with ASD who have fascinations/passions in a specific subject (negatively known as obsessions and perseverations) • Some common areas of special interest for students with ASD are trains, superheroes, letters and numbers, computers, and dinosaurs • However, students may have a special interest in something that no other individual with ASD ever had • The next slide shows a sample of the recommendations they make in their book. For more detailed explanations and to read all 20 suggestions, obtaining a copy of the book is recommended.

30. Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths (Kluth & Schwarz, 2008) • To develop a relationship with the student • Give the student opportunities to share their special interests • To expand social opportunities • Connect students with peers who have similar interests if possible • To expand communication skills • Use their favorite topic(s) during conversations • To help minimize anxiety/comfort • If the student feels more comfortable with a special toy/object and it doesn’t distract from learning, allow it • To plan for inclusive schooling • Launch a classroom theme related to a student’s area of interest

31. Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths (Kluth & Schwarz, 2008) • To showcase talents • Provide opportunities for all students to share what they are good at or know a lot about • To boost literacy learning • Provide reading materials and/or writing assignments related to a student’s area of interest • To inspire career ideas • Use a student’s passions as a tool during transition planning • To encourage risk taking • Embed a student’s passions during a new activity or event • To connect students to standards-based content • Integrate a student’s passions into the general education curriculum content as often as possible

32. Step 5:Develop a Plan for Monitoring Progress and Evaluating the Plan

33. Develop a Plan for Monitoring Progress and Evaluating the Plan • Data collection procedures need to be devised that are the most likely to be used by the general education and special education teachers on a daily or weekly basis • Individuals responsible for documenting progress should be indicated on the plan as well as what each individual’s role will be (Scott & Nelson, 1999) • Data collection procedures for the behavioral objectives may include frequency/rate recording, latency recording, duration recording, percentage correct, or level of independence or mastery depending on the way the behavioral objective is written • Data can also be collected in the form of a checklist to document whether or not the plan is being implemented as stated • Click on the following links to see explanations and examples of a variety of data collection procedures that can be used to monitor progress: • http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/monitoring.htm#direct • http://www.polyxo.com/documents/#data

34. Develop a Plan for Monitoring Progress and Evaluating the Plan • The data collected during the implementation of the BIP should continually be analyzed to determine if the plan needs any changes. • Specific dates should be noted on the plan when the team can come together for purposes of evaluating the plan. • If the individual is not making progress the following questions should be asked: • Is the BIP being implemented as is stated in the plan? • Do additional environmental modifications need to be made? • Do additional changes to adult/peer behavior need to be made? • Do different teaching strategies need to be selected? • Do the behavioral objectives need to be changed?

35. BIP Example

36. Target Behavior and Hypothesis • Target Behavior: Adam often yells out reprimands to the peers in his general education classroom that he has previously heard his teacher say • Hypothesis: Adam yells out reprimands because he gets negative attention from his peers and teachers when he does so. Because he does not have a large repertoire of skills that enable him to obtain positive attention form his peers and teachers, he is being positively reinforced for yelling out reprimands because he is able to get attention and interact with his peers and teachers even if it is in a negative way.

37. Environmental Modifications and Changes to Teacher/Peer Behavior • Environmental Modifications: Post a visual that shows a variety of ways to get attention from a peer or adult • Changes to Teacher/Peer Behavior: The teacher will refrain from giving negative attention when Adam yells out reprimands and will teach his peers to avoid giving negative attention when Adam yells out reprimands. When the teacher sees that Adam is not engaging with peers or adults, the teacher will point to the visual that shows a variety of ways to get attention from a peer or adult to encourage Adam to use one of the positive strategies before engaging in yelling out reprimands.

38. Student Objectives • Adam will positively interact with at least three different peers across a variety of structured learning activities by participating in at least 3 back and forth verbal or nonverbal exchanges with a peer during each activity. • Adam will positively interact with at least three different peers across a variety of unstructured social activities by maintaining joint attention with a peer(s) for at least three minutes during each activity. • Adam will initiate conversations with a peer or adult in a positive manner across a variety of situations when it is appropriate to do so. • Adam will positively initiate play with a peer or join the play of others during recess at least once each day.

39. Teaching Strategies • Group Adam with peers who are likely to encourage him to interact during structured and unstructured learning and social activities. • Adult facilitation to promote interaction between Adam and his peers. This facilitation should be gradually faded out as Adam becomes more independent in his interaction with peers. • Peer mediation strategies to teach peers how to respond to Adam and how to encourage Adam to interact. The teacher and peers can follow Adam’s lead by making comments and asking questions about what he is doing to begin an interaction. Other strategies that can be used include behavioral momentum (easy-easy-difficult-easy-easy-difficult) to increase the likelihood that Adam will respond to peers, contingent imitation (imitating what Adam is doing for purposes of beginning an interaction), providing positive peer attention when Adam attempts to interact appropriately, and time delay to decrease prompt dependence. • Explicit instruction related to starting a conversation with a peer or adult and initiating play. Prompting/fading procedures to encourage Adam to initiate conversations with peers and adults and initiate play. • (These strategies will be used by the special education teacher, and the special education teacher will provide support to the general education teacher to enable the general education teacher to also implement these strategies across a variety of classroom routines and activities)

40. Monitor Progress • Continue to take data on the target behavior (yelling out reprimands) to determine if the behavior is decreasing (special education teacher responsibility). • Document the average number of back and forth interactions between Adam and a peer during structured learning activities three times each week (special education teacher responsibility). • Take duration data twice each week related to Adam’s ability to maintain joint attention with a peer(s) during unstructured social activities (special education teacher responsibility). • Use event recording to document the frequency of appropriate initiations of conversations and play (general education teacher responsibility).

41. Evaluate Plan • The team will meet on the first Monday of every month to evaluate the plan and make any necessary changes.

42. Module 8 Lesson 3 Activity • Develop a behavior intervention plan for the student that you conducted the FBA for in Module 8 Lesson 2. • Again, if you worked with another teacher who is taking this course, you can work together on the BIP and turn in one.

43. References Crimmins, D. & Farrell, A. F. (2006). Individualized behavioral supports at 15 years: It’s still lonely at the top. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 31(1), 31-45. Davis, C. A., Brady, M. P., Hamilton, R., McEvoy, M. A., & Williams, R. E. (1994). Effects of high- probability requests on the social interactions of young children with severe disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 619–637. Halle, J. W., Marshall, A. M., & Spradlin, J. E. (1979). Time delay: A technique to increase language use and facilitate generalization in retarded children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 389-409. Kluth, P., & Schwarz, P. (2008). Just give him the whale: 20 ways to use fascinations, areas of expertise, and strengths to support students with autism. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing. Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3-9. Scott, T, & Nelson, M. (1999). Using functional behavioral assessment to develop effective intervention plans. Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, 1(4), 242-257.