1. Writing a Behavioral Intervention Plan Based on a Functional Behavior Assessment
Laura A. Riffel, Ph.D.

2. Students will move up and down through services as needed
Primary Prevention:
School-/Classroom-
Wide Systems for
All Students,
Staff, & Settings
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized Group
Systems for Students with At-Risk Needs
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized Systems for Students with High-Risk Needs
Students will move up and down through services as needed
Tiered Intervention Systems- A multi-level instructional framework aimed at improving outcomes for ALL students
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3. Bob is stuck in the vicious loop of shampoo bottle
What Gives Bob? I’ve been collecting the data and you’ve been in the shower for three days man.
Help ME!
Sometimes we are like poor Bob here. He is stuck in the vicious loop of shampoo bottle directions “lather, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat.” Mark Twain tells us that the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results and yet, we do it in education all the time. I got called into a school district to help them out. They had the highest out of school suspensions in the state and they wanted to get off that list. I told them to get their data together and we’d look at it. When I got down there, they were all assembled and they were proud. They had already looked at their data and figured something out. 82% of their Out of School Suspensions were for the same reason, skipping school. Now when I want to laugh, I say “Tell me more.” They said, “Well, when a student skips they get an automatic two day out of school suspension.
I said, “Well, why would a kid skip school?” They looked at me like I was the most ignorant fool on the planet and said, “Because, they don’t want to be here.”
I said, “So at your school it’s a two’fer” They said “Huh” I said, “Well, the kid takes one and you give them two.” (that’s when the light bulb went off.) I said, “How come you do that?” They said, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
If you always do, what you’ve always done….you’ll always get what you always got.
I suggested that they consider changing procedures. I told them about a young man I know who was so smart that when his mom dropped him off at the front door, he used that great intelligence to figure out that he could go out the back door. Once the mom figured that out, she called the school and told the principal that her son was skipping and here was what was going to happen at home and wanted to know what was going to happen at school. The principal laughed and said, “Oh, boys will be boys. Don’t worry about it.” (Wrong answer)
The mom was so upset that she put her house up for sale and moved to a new district that handled skipping differently. Now, when her son skipped, she called the school and was connected to officer Bill who picked up her son in a beautiful limo decorated with red letters that said “DARE” on the side of the car. They also assigned him a Saturday detention. She delivered him to the classroom door of the Saturday detention. He never skipped again. Will that work for you? Depends on if you think it will work for you.
One more thing about this picture. If you have told a child a thousand times to do something and they still haven’t done it…the child is not the slow learner.
Bob is stuck in the vicious loop of shampoo bottle
directions: Lather, Rinse , Repeat. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

4. Multi-modal Plans Page 4
We cannot just put one plan in place and expect it to work.
It has to include three streams of implementation:
Antecedent manipulations
Behavioral replacements
Consequence modifications
It has to be effective.
We need to manage consequences to reinforce the desired behaviors and replacement skills we teach to the student.
We need to withhold reinforcement following the target behavior.
We need to use natural and least intrusive consequences that will address the function of the behavior.
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5. What is your definition of functional behavior assessment?
Write your answer on page 4

6. Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
FBA is a process for gathering information to understand the function (purpose) of behavior in order to develop an effective intervention plan.
page 4

7. Setting Events
These are things we don’t see
Page 4

8. Not enough sleep Here are some guidelines:
1-3 years old– hrs a day
3-6 years old– hrs a day
7-12—10-11 hrs a day
13-18– 8 ¼ -9 ½ hrs a day

9. Having a fight with parent

10. Talk to your neighbors- what are some other recent events
In the near distant past that might affect behavior ?

11. What are Antecedents? Page 5 Page 4 Transition Illness
An antecedent is anything that occurs prior to the exhibition of the behavior. This might occur right before the behavior, but it can also be a slow trigger that occurs earlier in the day and manifests later. Antecedents can be contexts, settings, situations or conditions. Here is a simple list of common antecedents:
Transition
Illness
Weather condition
Task demand
Presence of a certain peer or adult
Time of day
Day of week
Perceived attention
Proximity
Noises
Smells
Subjects
Activities
Changes in schedule
Emotional upset
Physical pain
Embarrassed
Tired
Frustration
Hungry
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12. Sometimes, we think we know

13. Defining Behavior Poor impulse control Angry, hostile, resentful
Paying attention
Stubborn
Lying on the floor and refusing to move
High pitched screams
Hitting with fist
Kicking over chairs
Completing work
crying
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14. Consequence is fed by function
What are they trying to get?
Teacher comes over and gives attention
Peers laugh at joke
Access to computer
Access to proprioceptive input
What are they trying to escape?
Classwork
Embarrassment over having to read aloud in class
Peers who are bullying
Temporary depression over situation
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15. Behavior Support Team Identify team members
most effective as collaborative process
Develop a profile to include:
child’s strengths
child’s needs
child’s target behaviors
Identify settings & situations that require intervention
Behavior Support Team
page 7

16. Team Members Also, the team might include any of the following people:
Parents
Teachers involved with the student
Educator with behavioral expertise
An administrative designee
Also, the team might include any of the following people:
Student themselves
Therapists
Community support (social workers, probation officers, after school care)
Transportation provider
Relatives
Support teachers
Page 6

17. Student Strengths Friendly Begins work right away Never absent
Skylar’s Strengths:
Social Strengths
Academic Strengths
Friendly
Begins work right away
Never absent
Nice handwriting
Nice smile
Brings back homework
Supportive family
Asks questions when unclear
Page 7

18. Blanks- page 37
Call everyone the day before and remind them they need to bring a list of the child’s strengths
Put these sheets out on the table to remind people of the first task.

19. Student Needs page 7 Social Needs Academic Needs
Help in keeping friendships
Help in comprehension for reading skills
Help in keeping negative opinions to himself
Help in calculations for multiplication skills at the two digit by two digit level
Help in taking constructive feedback
Help in writing a paragraph that stays on topic
Help in inviting friends over to his house to play
Help in transitioning quietly from one subject to the next

20. Methods for Conducting FBA
Indirect:
Anecdotal
Surveys
Notes
Interviews
Direct:
Observational
Data collection
Methods for Conducting FBA
Page 8

21. How much data should you collect?
Page 8
It depends on each unique situation
Do you think there is a pattern to day of the week?
In that case you might want 10 days of data
Two Mondays, Two Tuesdays etc.
Do you think it has to do with academic tasks?
You might get enough data in three days or five days
Good rule of thumb:
You need at least ten incidents of each behavior to determine the function

22. Which data form will you use?
High frequency behaviors:
Minute by Minute sheet
Frequency
Duration
Pages 8 & 9

23. Which data form will you use?
Low frequency behaviors:
Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence Data sheets
Anecdotal notes
Page 9

24. Which data form will you use?
Disruptive behaviors:
FBA data tool
Page 9

25. Scout’s Strengths and Needs
Social Strengths
Academic Strengths
Social Needs
Academic Needs
Comfortable talking in front of the whole class
Great supportive family
Vocabulary is advanced for her age
Scout is very visual and can draw pictures better than anyone in the class
Scout always turns in her work
Scout has neat cursive handwriting
Scout is very comfortable with adults but needs to make friends with peers
Scout needs help with transitions
Scout needs to keep hands and feet to self
Scout needs help with reading comprehension
Scout needs help with reading fluency
Scout needs help in learning to ask for help
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26. Meet Scout
Scout is a sixth grade student in a K-6 grade school. She is with the same teacher all day and in a class of 25 students. The school has 476 students and is a neighborhood school. She has not been retained and is a “young” student in the class compared to her peers. Her older sisters are both in high school and are very athletic and popular with many friends. Scout tends to hang out with the sisters’ friends and rarely has friends her own age over to the house.
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27. Scout- page 10
Scout is a sixth grade student with mild intellectual disabilities. Scout has two siblings who attend the nearby high school. Scout’s mother works full time and father frequently travels. He leaves on Sunday evening and returns on Friday afternoon.
Scout’s behaviors at school are disruptive outbursts, physical aggression, and throwing objects. (We changed physical aggression to horseplay).
Mom reports Scout is disorganized at home and leaves her stuff laying all over the house. Mom says she is so disorganized they have three or four fights every morning. She says she has to drive Scout to school because she would make the whole bus late if they waited on Scout. Mom says Scout eats everything in sight when she gets home from school and fights with her sisters until her Mom gets home in the evening.
Scout is included in the regular classroom with support provided by a co-teaching special education teacher who works with the regular classroom teacher.

28. Scout’s Behaviors Page 11
Throwing objects means a physical object leaves Scout’s hands with purpose and lands at least 12 inches from her body
Disruptive outburst means a loud verbal sound or word that comes from Scout and disturbs the learning environment
Horseplay means any part of Scout’s body comes in contact with another person with force (Volkswagen Slug Bug tap)
Page 11

29. You have 10 days of data – Pages 13 & 14

31. Choose one person to be the reader
The reader will flip between pages and give information to the recorders.
Recorders you will go to page 15 and start writing the information given to you.

32. Page 15 Data Analysis 379/4200= Total Days of Data: 10 days
Total Incidents: Count how many incidents occurred on those pages
Average per day (b/a) __________________
Total number of minutes engaged in target behavior ____379 minutes_______
Average length of time for each behavior (D/B)_______________________
Percent of Day (D/total minutes for entire data collection) (420 minutes per day x 10 days) ____________________________________________________
379/4200=

33. 9.02% A. Total Days of Data:___ 10 ___________
Data Analysis
Page 15
A. Total Days of Data:___ ___________
B. Total Incidents: ______ __________
C. Average per day (b/a) ______3.2 ________
D. Total number of minutes engaged in target behavior ____379 minutes_______
E. Average length of time for each behavior (D/B)____379/32=11.84 _____________
Percent of Day (D/total minutes for entire data collection) (420 minutes per day x 10 days)
9.02%

34. Recorders stay on page 15 at the bottom Readers flip through and give the beginning time of each behavior. Recorders you will make a tally in each row as the readers call them

35. Your schedule would be tailored to your day.
Behavior Analysis
Page 15
Your schedule would be tailored to your day.

36. Behavior Analysis

37. 2 2 2 2 2 2 Page 16 Behavior Analysis
You might have 3 Mondays and 1 Friday or some other combination. You add up the total tallies and divide by the number of each day of the week that you collected data. For this example there are 2 of each.

38. Behavior Analysis

39. Behavior Analysis
Page 16

40. Behavior Analysis
38 %

41. Page 17
Behaviors

42. Not enough incidents to measure
Behavior Analysis
Not enough incidents to measure

43. Behavior Analysis
Page 17

44. Behavior Analysis

45. Page 18
So if you have a transition antecedent and a disruptive outburst you would mark it in the “A” row in the “B” column.

46. Behavior Analysis

47. Just like the last one. Graph row + column.
Page 19
Just like the last one. Graph row + column.

48. Behavior Analysis

49. What pattern do you see?
Page 19

50. What pattern do you see?
Page 19

51. What pattern do you see?
Page 20

52. What pattern do you see?
c. Horseplay
Page 20

53. What pattern do you see?
c. Horseplay
Page 20

54. What patterns do you see?
c. Horseplay
Page 21

55. Which consequences were most effective?

57. Three Strands Revise the Environment Replacement Behavior Teaching
Setting the student up for success
Replacement Behavior Teaching
Teaching the what to do instead of what not to do
Reframe Our Reactions
Feeding the replacement behavior and extinguishing the targeted behavior

58. See how these fit into the strand:
Page 22
See how these fit into the strand:
Strand
Effectiveness
Stop the behavior
Did it stop the behavior- if no- look at step two
Environmental
Be proactive not reactive
Was it proactive rather than reactive? This is part of the environmental change.
Include an antecedent modification (a change in the environment)
What did you do to change the environment?
Behavior Teaching
Include a replacement behavior (we can’t just say “stop that”- we have to tell them what to do instead)
What replacement behavior did you teach them? Remember telling isn’t teaching and being told is not the same as being taught.
Consequence Modification
Include a consequence modification (We have to change how we react)
Did you change how you reacted to the replacement behavior and to the target behavior?
It has to match the function of the behavior- we have to know why they are doing what they are doing.
Do you really know why the student is doing what they are doing?

59. Here’s how we figure out the summary statement:
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a transition paired with group time
Scout has a Disruptive Outburst
c. Horseplay
c. Horseplay
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60. Here’s how we figure out the summary statement:
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a transition paired with group time
Scout has a Disruptive Outburst
To get: (redirection,choices,discussions about her behavior, and changes in her activity) adult attention.
c. Horseplay

61. Here’s how we figure out the summary statement:
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a transition paired with group time
Scout has a Disruptive Outburst
To get adult attention.
When there is a transition paired with group time, Scout has a disruptive outburst to get adult attention.

62. You do it for horseplay:
Trigger
Target
impacT
Scout engages in horseplay
c. Horseplay
c. Horseplay

63. You do it for horseplay:
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay.
c. Horseplay
c. Horseplay

64. Now do the impacT Trigger Target impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay
c. Horseplay

65. Now do the impacT Trigger Target impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay
To escape work
c. Horseplay

66. Here’s how we figure out the summary statement:
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay
To escape work
When there is new task in reading, Scout shows a engages in horseplay to escape work
Page 25

67. Now – let’s plan a behavioral intervention braid
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a transition paired with group time
Scout has a Disruptive Outburst
To get adult attention.
Environmental Change that Helps Her Be Successful
Replacement Behavior You Can Teach Her
Response Feedback Change You can Make to Feed the Replacement Behavior and Extinguish the Target Behavior
Page 25

68. Here’s what we really did-
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a transition paired with group time
Scout has a Disruptive Outburst
To get adult attention.
Environmental Change that Helps Her Be Successful
Replacement Behavior You Can Teach Her
Response Feedback Change You can Make to Feed the Replacement Behavior and Extinguish the Target Behavior
Developed a new job in the classroom- Vanna White of the Daily Schedule.
Scout is taught to announce next task to class and write on the board.
Teacher gave her attention on the front side of a transition to go change the schedule and announce changes. Teacher gives her thumbs up for switching, announcing, and writing. Teacher ignores any burping and deals with it at a later time if it doesn’t stop- child doesn’t get immediate reinforcement

69. Let’s do it for the Volkswagen Slug Bug
Page 26
Let’s do it for the Volkswagen Slug Bug
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay
To escape work
Environmental Change to Set the Student Up for Success
Replacement Behavior
Response Feedback Change to feed the replacement behavior and extinguish the target behavior.

70. Here’s what we really did
Trigger
Target
impacT
When there is a new task in reading
Scout engages in horseplay
To escape work
Environmental Change to Set the Student Up for Success
Replacement Behavior
Response Feedback Change to feed the replacement behavior and extinguish the target behavior.
Set up Check-in/Check-out for academics. Scout was pre-taught the upcoming anticipatory set of the most difficult reading activities.
Scout was taught to tug on her ear if she needed help.
Teacher came as quickly as possible to provide assistance if Scout tugged on her ear. If Scout did the slug bug, she was moved to a table at the back of the room and still required to do her work. There was no escape.

71. 1 Adult Attention Transitions Disruptive Outburst 8 7 3 2 4 6 5
Socially appropriate adult attention.
Be able to transition appropriately. 8 7
What adult or peer behaviors are reinforcing this behavior? (Negative or positive reinforcement) (Consequences)
What event or setting takes place prior to the target behavior? (Antecedent)
What behavior are you targeting to change? (Behavior)
Adult Attention
Transitions
Disruptive
Outburst 3 2 1
Writing on the board and announcing to the class the next activity.
Secret signal if she wants the teacher’s attention.
She’s getting pre-corrects of attention from the teacher prior to her Vanna White duties.
Teacher gives a ton of attention for appropriate behavior.
Teacher ignores burping. The minute she is quiet- she gets attention.
If needed private conversation.
Make her Vanna White of the Daily Schedule.
Mom works on organizing her exit from home.
Check-in/Check-out with a preferred adult.
Had her go to the office with a “message” or return a “book” to the library if it looked like she was on overload and needed attention. (Cued receivers) 4 6 5

72. 1 Escape New Task Physical Horse Play 8 7 3 2 6 4 5
To take pride in her work.
To attempt new tasks and to ask for help when she needs it. 8 7
What adult or peer behaviors are reinforcing this behavior? (Negative or positive reinforcement) (Consequences)
What event or setting takes place prior to the target behavior? (Antecedent)
What behavior are you targeting to change? (Behavior)
Escape
New Task
Physical Horse
Play 3 2 1
Teach her to use her secret signal if she is stuck so she doesn’t resort to out of seat behavior.
Keep some extra supplies over on a shelf and tell her if she is stuck to get up and go get one of those supplies. That will cue the teacher she needs help without disturbing the class.
Give tons of attention for working on seatwork.
If she does “hit”, she loses choice at recess. She still goes to recess, but she cannot play four square which is her favorite game.
If she does work well, she can earn five free answers for the whole class on the assignment.
Pre-teach her the upcoming lessons in the privacy of her check-in/check-out room.
She will know the first thing the teacher is going to ask for her anticipatory set. 6 4 5

73. Page 27
Baseline
Baseline
Intervention

74. Formula for Baseline- page 27
(I-B)/B= D*100
Intervention Frequency = 3 times per day
Baseline Frequency = 34 times per day
3-34= -31
-31/34=
-.91*100=
-91% Decrease in Behavior

75. NEW!!!! FBA Tool www.behaviordoctor.org Materials
Data Collection Tools