Developing Feasible and Effective Interventions based on Functional Behavioral Assessment Cindy Anderson and Rob Horner University of Oregon

Assumptions  Participants bring experience and knowledge about behavior support and functional behavioral assessment  Two Challenges How to efficiently move from functional behavioral assessment information to a practical, effective, comprehensive behavior support plans. How to teach and support others in the use of FBA content to build and implement behavior support plans within typical school, district and state contexts.

Goals: Define:  Current updates on guidelines for conducting functional behavioral assessments.  Use of the Competing Behavior Model as a framework for moving from FBA to Behavior Support Plan.  Elements and format for writing, monitoring and adapting behavior support plans.

Main Messages  Behavior support is about the design of effective environments.  Without a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) an intervention plan is as likely to make a problem worse as to make it better.

Main Messages  We need more attention to the process by which FBA information is used to guide the development and implementation of behavior support.

Ntina, Asteriou-Yerofoka, Yiannaros, Koutsouridis, Nanna, Papdimitriou, 2007  52 Special Education Teachers Assessed their ability to determine FBA content base on vignettes. Assessed their ability to select interventions based on FBA content.  Results “The results indicated that teachers can reliably identify the cause of the behavior but they are not yet able to link function with relevant intervention…” p. 153 Teachers were very good at identifying FBA information. Teachers were not good at using FBA information to build behavior support plans.

Functional Behavioral Assessment (The fast way)  Functional behavioral assessment is a process for identifying the events that reliably predict and maintain problem behavior.

Primary Purposes of Functional Behavioral Assessment  The primary purpose of functional behavioral assessment is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of behavior support.  Behavior support plans built from functional assessment are more effective  Didden et al., 1997  Carr et al., 1999  Create order out of chaos (define contextual information, where, when, with whom, etc)  Professional accountability (IDEA, 1997)

FBA Updates  Emphasize “Levels” of FBA  Gathering information to generate summary statements.  Build capacity for schools/districts to: Conduct FBA Move from FBA to BSP

Levels of Functional Behavioral Assessment  Informal Functional Behavioral Assessment  Done in school by typical teachers/staff  Done as part of normal daily problem solving  Level I: Simple FBA  Done by trained members of school setting  Typically involves interview(s), and brief observation  Level II: Complex FBA  Done by behaviorally trained member of school or district  Typically involves interviews and observation  Level III: Functional Analysis  Done by trained behavior analyst  Involves interviews, direct observation, and systematic manipulation of conditions.

Building FBA Capacity Teachers Staff School Specialist District Specialist Behavior Analysts Informal FBA X Level I: Simple FBA XX Level II: Complex FBA XXX Level III: Functional Analysis XXXX

Levels of Functional Behavioral Assessment  All levels of FBA focus on the same basic goals: Define the behavior of concern  Determine if behavior is a response class Identify the events that reliably predict occurrence and non-occurrence Identify the consequences that maintain the behavior in the most common “predictor conditions” Identify setting events that increase likelihood of problem behavior.  Summary statement Setting Event  Antecedent  Prob Beh  Consequence

Functional Assessment places problem behavior in “context”  Behavior  Predictors/Controlling Antecedent Stimuli  Maintaining Consequences  Setting Events/Establishing Operations  Setting --> Predictor --> Problem --> Maintaining  Event (Antecedent) Behavior Consequence

Problem Behavior  Operational Definition Observable Countable Organized in Response Classes

Antecedent Stimuli  The trigger that occasions problem behavior  Embed within “routines” Organize behavior support so routines are successful, not just so problem behavior is reduced.  Equally important to define when problem behavior does NOT happen as to define when it DOES happen.

Maintaining Consequence  Always identify the consequence in “context” Define the behavior, routine, Sd…then ask about consequence  Typically define the most powerful consequence. Avoid labeling multiple consequences.

Identifying Maintaining Consequences Given a Problem Behavior Get: Object, Activity, Sensation Avoid: Object, Activity, Sensation SocialPhysiologicalSocialPhysiological Precise Event Precise Event Precise Event Precise Event Object/ Activity Object/ Activity Precise Event Precise Event

Setting Events  Events that change the likelihood of a behavior by momentarily altering the value of the maintaining consequence.  Last item to define  Important in about 20-30% of situations  When important, they are often very important.

Setting Events Triggering Antecedents Maintaining Consequences Problem Behavior 142 3

Example:  When given math worksheets & other assignments, Caesar does not do his work, uses profanity, & disrupts lessons, especially, when he has worked alone for 30 minutes without peer contact. His work does not get completed, & he avoids teachers requests.

Setting Events Triggering Antecedents Maintaining Consequences Problem Behavior No peer contact in 30 minutes Math worksheet assignment Noncompliance & use of profanity Escape work requests & compliance requests

“Alba”  During recess Alba will steal equipment, and push to the front of lines when not actively included in a game (especially with “wall ball,” and “4 square”). This pattern is most likely when Alba has been working without peer collaboration in previous class period.

Setting EventsTriggering Antecedents Maintaining Consequences Problem Behavior Testable Hypothesis Lack of peer contact for 30 minutes. Not part of game at recess Steal ball, Push to the front of the line. Peer attention

One Tool for FBA Interviews  FACTS Gathering data to build an hypothesis statement. Interview the person(s) who knows the student best min interview Use the interview for “basic questions” and “follow up questions”  Follow up to test and clarify initial responses

Using Summary Statements to build Competing Behavior Model  List FBA summary statement  Add “Desired Behavior” and maintaining consequence  Add “Alternative Behavior”  Socially appropriate  Functionally equivalent (same function as prob beh)  Efficient

Setting EventsTriggering Antecedents Maintaining Consequences Desired Replacement Behavior Typical Consequences Problem Behavior Acceptable Replacement Behavior

Setting EventsTriggering Antecedents Maintaining Consequences Desired Replacement Behavior Typical Consequences Problem Behavior Acceptable Replacement Behavior Profanity, Hit Teacher Teacher request to do hard task Peer Conflict Avoid, escape task Perform Task Ask for Help, Ask for Break Teacher praise and more work