Creating Effective Behavior Support Plans July 27, 2006

1. Creating Effective Behavior Support PlansJuly 27, 2006 Delaware Positive Behavior Support Project Developed in part with material from Illinois PBIS Network & Bambara & Knoster, 1998

2. Meeting Norms • Breaks – Group and Individual • Reinforcers – Party Manners • Response Procedures • Other Group Preferences • Conference Code • Materials Review

3. As a result of this workshop, we willKnow, Understand, and Do Know … • Strategies to engage families and collaborate with professionals • The five step planning process for effective Behavior Support Plans Understand… • Replacement behaviors should serve same function as problem behaviors • Strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular plan, monitor student progress, and makeappropriate modifications to the plan if necessary Do... • Develop a Behavior Support Plan that flows from the Competing Behavior Pathway

4. Desired Alternative MaintainingConsequences INTERVENTION PATHWAY Maintaining Consequences Setting Events Triggering Antecedents ProblemBehavior Acceptable Behavior SUPPORT PLANNING Setting Events Manipulations Antecedent Manipulations Behavior Teaching Consequence Modifications

5. Build a Competing Behavior Pathway Completes task Failed to complete work in last math class or had argument with adult Asked to redo spelling or grammar errors in essay Gets to have computer time Verbally protests, uses profane language Teacher removes essay and focuses attention on other students Raises hand and asks for help or break

6. Individual Student Support Systems • Through a collaborative approach, a team designs an Individualized Behavior Support Plan to assist students with: - learning new or replacement skills, - improving social skills, - decreasing problem behaviors, and - generalizing the appropriate behaviors into other environments.

7. Individual StudentPositive Behavior Support • Defines the problem behavior operationally • Is based upon hypotheses derived from functional assessment • Emphasizes a collaborative, strengths-based approach, that includes proactive strategies • Leads to Behavior Support Plan that results in: Student’s increased academic and general skills, Improvement in social skills, Decreases in problem behavior, and Maintenance and generalization.

8. Guiding Principles • Appropriate and inappropriate behaviors are learned. • Problem behaviors are related to the context in which they occur. • Problem behaviors serve some function for the student. • Effective interventions are based on a thorough understanding of the student, including his/her social contexts, and the function of the problem behavior. • Positive behavioral support is grounded in person-centered values.

10. The Five-Step Planning Process • Conduct a functional behavioral assessment & gather information (data) about behavior(s) of concern. • Formulate specific and global hypotheses. • Design and implement the behavioral support plan. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. • Modify the plan as needed.

11. Effective environments make problem behaviors… Irrelevant, Inefficient, and Ineffective. (O’Neill et al., 1997)

12. In An Effective Environment… • Problem behaviors are irrelevant when Child doesn’t need to escape anymore Child has access to positive events more commonly • Problem behaviors are inefficient when Alternative behavior is available Alternative behavior is taught • Problem behaviors are ineffective when Problem behavior NO LONGER works- it does not get the child what they want to obtain or what they want to avoid.

13. In An Effective Environment… Intervention Components/Procedures: “Make Problem Behavior Irrelevant, Inefficient, Ineffective” Prevention Strategies (Make it Irrelevant): • Schedule • Curriculum (Content, Sequence) • Instruction Teaching Strategies (Make it Inefficient): • Replacement skills • Adaptive skills

14. In An Effective Environment… Intervention Components/Procedures (cont): Function/Consequence Strategies (Make it ineffective) • Increase reinforcement of desired and replacement behaviors -allow the student to get or get away from whenever they display the replacement or desired behavior • Prevent reinforcement of problem behavior -do not allow the student to get or get away from whenever they display the problem behavior

15. Behavior Support Plan Development “Support plans that are in conflict with the values of the person responsible for implementing the plan are not likely to be implemented.” (Chen, Downing, and Peckham-Hardin, 2002, p. 142)

16. Behavior Support Plan Outline

17. Behavior Support Plan Components: • Prevention Strategies • Modify setting events and antecedents (i.e., triggers), to reduce the likelihood that the problem behavior will be activated and increase the likelihood that an appropriate alternative skill will be used. • Teaching Strategies • Teach the appropriate alternative skill. • Consequence Strategies • Maximize the use consequences to strengthen the use of appropriate skills and reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors.

18. Design a Behavior Support Plan: Preventive Strategies AKA: Make the problem behavior irrelevant What modifications to the environment (academic, social, physical) may PREVENT the problem behavior? What adjustments will make the problem behavior unnecessary?

19. Examples ofPreventive Strategies Increase the effectiveness of instruction for this child (Strategy Instruction, Content Enhancement Routines) Increase academic skill levels (Ongoing assessment to ensure instructional match & success) Modify the curriculum (Interests, preferences, choice, sequence) Modify the demands (Quantity, difficulty, input, output, groupings, alternative tasks) Clarify the expectations (Use of schedule, charts w/ visual cues of steps) Reorganize the physical & interactional setting (Supplies available, pair or independent seats, structure interactions)

20. Antecedent/Setting Event Strategies • Remove a problem event. • Modify a problem event. • Intersperse difficult or unpleasant events with easy or pleasant events. • Add events that promote desired behaviors. • Block or neutralize the impact of negative events.

21. Design a Behavior Support Plan: Teaching Strategies AKA: Make the problem behavior inefficient What skills can be taught to the student that: 1) will meet the same need, or function, as the problem behavior, AND 2) will improve the student’s ability to cope and adjust to the circumstances?

22. Alternative Skills to be Taught • Replacement Skills: One-to-one replacement skills that serve the exact function as the problem behavior. • General Skills: Broad skills that alter problem situations and prevent the need for problem behaviors. • Coping and Tolerance : Skills that teach students to cope with or tolerate difficult situations. (Bambara & Knoster, 1998)

23. Replacement SkillsMatch Skills to Function Obtain: Attention, Activity, Objects • Express choice or preferences • Follow schedule & participate in routines • Request help • Initiate interaction or gain attention • Self-manage within activities • Work toward delay of reinforcement

24. Replacement SkillsMatch Skills to Function Avoid / Escape: Activity, Attention, Demands • Use schedule or checklist to self-manage • Set own work goals • Express preferences or choice • Request and take break • Participate in steps or portion of routine • Request or seek help

25. Communication Skills How to ask for or signal for: help a break interaction attention time alone reduced demands more time alternative assignment choice opportunity to move around

26. General Skills • Academic Skills • Use of Technology – Hi & Lo Tech • Organization Skills • Leisure Skills • Social Interaction Skills -Initiate and respond to interactions -Make friends -Problem solve -Deal with stress (Janney & Snell, 2000)

27. Self-Management or Coping Skills • Positive Self – Talk • Guided Imagery • Deep Breathing • Muscle Relaxation • Physical Stress Relievers Relaxation Techniques

29. “Not only must the targeted alternative behavior match the function of the problem behavior, …(it) must also be more efficient to complete than the problem behavior.” (Horner, Sprague, O’Brien & Heathfield, 1990) “To be effective, an intervention’s targeted alternative behavior…must be functionally equivalent to the problem behavior…” (Carr & Durand, 1985)

30. Skill Building Consequence Strategies • Reinforce the use of alternative skills • Respond immediately & consistently • Select natural consequences to the skill • Use praise & social interaction • Incentives should be age-appropriate & logically related to the behavior • Use Contingency Contracts

31. Contingency or Behavior Contracts An agreement developed through collaboration and mutual agreement that specifies… • Expected behaviors • Conditions for behaviors to occur • Rewards earned when student meets responsibilities • Criteria for completion or revision • Method for documenting success • Responsibilities of people involved

32. Contingency Contracts - Cont. • State the contingencies, if any, for when the student does not fulfill his stated responsibilities. • Include maintenance goals to sustain the student’s progress. • Conclude with a signature section. • Emphasize the benefits in meeting the terms of the contract.

33. Contingency Contracts - Cont. • Use a data recording system to monitor progress under the contract. • Schedule regular review sessions with the student. • Avoid the temptation to consequate behaviors not specified in the contract.

34. Contingency Contracts - Cont. • Any participant can request a renegotiation of the contract at any time. • Keep contracts simple enough to be meaningful to the student and to be administered easily by you.

35. Reduction Oriented Consequence Strategies • Principles to Guide the Selection of Reductive Procedures: • The Least Restrictive Alternative • The Functional Alternative • Data-Based Changes

36. Responding Strategies • Focus on teaching use of new skills • Non-response to problem behavior • Redirect to use alternate skill • Reinforce alternative behavior • Use of natural or logical consequences • Maintain respect for student (Janney & Snell, 2000)

37. Crisis Management • Protect the student and others • Help student through crisis cycle • Crises should be followed by team problem-solving to prevent reoccurrence (Colvin, 2004; Janney & Snell, 2000)

38. Long Term Prevention Strategies • Quality-of-Life Adaptations: • Relationships among family & friends • Choice and control • Preferred activities • Inclusion • Informal and formal supports for family • Maintenance Strategies: • Help student generalize skills, set and monitor goals, increase problem-solving skills • Enlist staff, family, and peers to respond to student and provide accommodations

39. Supports for Team Members • Consider what supports are needed to: • conduct FBA and generate hypotheses? • collect and summarize data? • implement the preventive changes to the activities, environment, or interactions? • teach the selected alternative skills? • implement the positive reinforcement or consequence strategies? • address long term prevention issues?

40. POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT PLAN EVALUATION Name: ____________________________________ Date: _________ Participants:______________________________________________________________

41. Evaluating a Behavior Support Plan Measuring Progress - What Information to Collect: • Increases in use of alternative skills • Reductions in occurrence of problem behavior • Positive side effects (e.g., improved grades, increased attention, peer acceptance) • Improvements in quality of life (e.g., increased participation in typical activities, increased choice/decision making, inclusion) • Improvements in consumer satisfaction (e.g., student, family, staff, and others) • Improvements in health or well being

42. Evaluating a Behavior Support Plan Measuring Progress - How to Collect Information • Interviews (e.g., teachers, students, parents, service providers) • Informal and anecdotal reports (e.g., communication logs with parents, teacher progress notes) • Rating scales (e.g., student effect, social scales, opportunity for choice) • Natural documents (e.g., report cards, incident reports, medical records, placement records) • Direct observation (e.g., frequency counts, measures of duration, observation logs)

43. Modifying the Behavior Support Plan • Based on evaluation of effectiveness, the team should modify the plan as appropriate (i.e., make changes in proactive or reactive strategies as needed, or re-examine hypotheses). • Important that plan development & modifications are hypothesis and data- driven.

44. Pathway Example

45. Desired Alternative MaintainingConsequences INTERVENTION PATHWAY Maintaining Consequences Setting Events Triggering Antecedents ProblemBehavior Acceptable Behavior SUPPORT PLANNING Setting Events Manipulations Antecedent Manipulations Behavior Teaching Consequence Modifications

46. Let’s reflect… What do you value about what you learned today? Please share one or two thoughts with the group!

47. Delaware Websites:www.delawarepbs.orgwww.doe.state.de.usNational Resources:http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/resources.asp Select Individual Resources – “Facilitator’s Guide: Positive Behavior Support”http://www.specialconnections.ku.eduSelect Behavior Support Planswww.PBIS.org Resources

48. References For full reference citations, please refer to the Delaware Positive Behavior Support Project workshop binder: Functional Behavior Assessment & Behavior Support Plan Training Section 8