Challenging Behavior

ABC 3-term Contingency

Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence

•Antecedent: anything that happens before the behavior

•Behavior: any observable act of the individual

•Consequence: anything that happens after the behavior

Notes on Reinforcement

•Any change in the environment that increases the future probability of behavior.

•Can include the addition of good things.

•Can include the removal of aversive things.

•Undesirable attention such as reprimands can be reinforcing.

•Reinforcement can be delivered by others and can result from engaging in activities that do not involve other people.

Instructional ControlDefinition

•The likelihood that your instructions will generate a correct response from your learner.

•Conditioning the instructional setting as a source of reinforcement for the learner.

Resource:

•www.pattan.net

Behavior and Cooperation

•Problem behavior often occurs because the teaching environment has been paired with worsening conditions for the student.

•Learners will be more likely to cooperate if the environment where teaching occurs has been paired with their favorite things and is reinforced, bettering conditions.

Things to Avoid

•Free access to motivating items/reinforcers.

•Placing too many or too difficult demands.

•Reinforcing problem behavior.

•Not reinforcing quickly enough.

•Misidentifying motivating items (preferences vs. reinforcers)

•Introducing too many new/unknown tasks - introducing new/hard tasks before instructional control has been established!

Preference Assessments

•Choices that are activities create limited options and create a challenge to use as a reward.

•In one study the total accuracy of asking a student what they like and the item actually serving as a reinforcer was 57%.

•Preference assessments are not the same as reinforcer assessments, they are just a prediction.

Descriptive and Functional Assessment

Why Behavior Occurs

•Curriculum Issues - too easy or too hard.

•Unclear expectations.

•Inability to communicate wants and needs.

•Environment has a history of negativity.

•Social challenges.

•Repetitive/Restrictive behaviors increase resistance to change.

Prevent Challenging Behavior

•Keep student engaged and busy.

•Plan for change and transitions.

•Use effective instruction.

•Make sure ongoing appropriate behavior results in things getting better for child (use reinforcement).

•Look at child when delivering reinforcement, not when problem behavior occurs.

Defining the Problem

•There are reasons for behavior (it is not random).

•Problem behavior helps the individual in some way (at least in the short run).

•Frequently there is no effective alternative skill that works for the child.

•If the behavior makes things better, even for a little while, the behavior will likely occur again in the future.

Descriptive Assessment

•Clearly Define Behavior

•FAST

•MAS

•Functional Assessment Interview (FAI)

•http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/

Function Based Interventions

Behavior Intervention Plans

Four areas to address

•Antecedent interventions – prevention.

•Training and teaching - alternative behavior as a replacement.

•Consequence interventions - carefully selected.

•Identify what to avoid - keep everyone working with the student on the same page.

Function of Behavior - Gain Attention

•Possible causes?

•How is it reinforced?

•What can be changed?

Behavior - Gain Attention Prevention

•Non-contingent attention (give attention for “free” on a schedule).

•Provide lots of reinforcement for appropriately requesting attention or other items, as well as for independently engaging in activities.

•Be consistent and sincere.

•At first may need to reinforce gaining attention appropriately every time.

•Once the appropriate behavior is occurring, fade reinforcement gradually over time (may not be able to ever completely fade all reinforcement).

•Arrange the environment so that the child is engaged during times when you cannot provide direct attention

Behavior - Gain Attention Replacement

•Teach requesting skills across a broad range of categories (items, activities, people)

•Teach waiting for attention

•Provide more valuable reinforcers for engaging in appropriate attention seeking behaviors or other appropriate behaviors (preference ranking).

•Provide sufficient opportunities to practice/contrive the environment

•Social Skills Training

Behavior - Gain Attention Consequence•Differential Reinforcement

(DRO/DRL/DRA) - Resources here to find more information/website

•Extinction (planned ignoring)

•Blocking/Interruption - following by redirection or correction

•Time-out (teacher-initiated time-away- teacher turns away)

Behavior - Gain Attention Avoid

•Avoid giving attention/reinforcers when the child is engaging in problem behaviors.

•Avoid reinforcing as soon as the behavior stops (wait a few seconds). When needed, prompt an appropriate behavior, then reinforce that behavior.

•Avoid direct eye contact and dialogue about the problem behavior but monitor child. This dialogue is non-productive and provides added attention to the problem behavior.

Function of Behavior –Gain Tangible Item

•Possible Causes?

Behavior - Gain Tangible Item Prevention

•Non-contingent access to an activity (schedule time with these items)

•Utilize items as reinforcers (initially high ratios, fade)

•Visual supports indicating when access is available

•Use of a promise reinforcer

Behavior - Gain Tangible Item Replacement

•Teach functional communication skills

•Requesting tangible items

•Requesting more time with an item/activity -“Wh” Questions - When/What can I have?

•Teaching waiting (activity might be available, but not immediately)

Behavior - Gain Tangible Item Consequence

•Implement a token economy/response cost

•Blocking/Interruption

•Time-out from activity - loss of activity is a result of challenging behavior

Behavior - Gain Tangible Item Avoid

•Providing access to desired item following a challenging behavior

•Passage of too much time or requiring too many demands/tasks before allowing access to tangible

•Assuming the learner knows when access is coming/item is available

•Assuming the learner can ask for what they want (even if they have asked in the past)

Function of Behavior - Escape

Possible Causes

•Things are too hard for the child and/or out of developmental sequence. (i.e. language ability does not support instructional or task level).

•Things require too much effort.

•Too many demands at once.

•Makes lots of errors and not successful.

•Activities and/or instructions are too long.

•Activity/event is slow paced.

•Activity has no value to the child.

•Demand results in interruption or delay of preferred activity.

Behavior - Escape Prevention

•Gain instructional control.

•PAIRING - Pair yourself, desk, school, materials, etc.

•Allow for reinforcers to remain in or near work areas.

•Help the child be successful and experience lots of reinforcement for success.

• Use developmentally sequenced curriculum that is relevant to the child - use what they like.

• Build on success and fade in demands.

• Make it easy for the child to respond - gradually increase difficulty.

• Reduce errors by providing prompts if necessary.

•Mix and vary effort - easy/hard/intermediate.

•Be realistic with length of time the student is expected to stay engaged - scaffolding and visual supports.

•Offer choices (which work do you want to do?).

Behavior - Escape Replacement

•Teach the student to request a break or time-away appropriately - Teach student to accept limited # of breaks

•Teach learner to ask for help (help with specific)

•Teach student to make a choice

•Teach student to indicate yes/no

•NOTE: Make sure things are a lot better for the student when he/she cooperated vs. when problem behavior occurs.

Behavior - Escape Consequence•When possible, do not allow the

problem behavior to result in removal of the task or demand – modify the task.

•Redirect the student to take a break or request help (reinforcing communication even if assisted).

•Redirect to visual support indicating how much work there is or time before a break or the reinforcement.

A note on consequences: You may need to reinforce the earliest (and less problematic) problem behavior in a chain of challenging behaviors.

Behavior - Escape Avoid

•Allowing access to preferred items during a break.

•Removing all preferred items from area or housing them in another room or location – they should be on hand but unavailable.

•Requiring work that is too easy, too hard, too slow, or too fast-paced.

•Requiring too many tasks/demands before allowing access to a break/escape.

•Scheduling back-to-back less preferred activities for the student.

Function of Behavior - Automatic Repetitive

Sensory

•Possible Causes?

Behavior – Repetitive Sensory Replacement

•Keep student actively engaged.

•Identify competing reinforcers and allow/provide many opportunities for student to access other reinforcers.

•Minimize effects by using protective equipment (gloves, arm guards, helmet, etc.)

•Identify and promote stimulus conditions - behavior may be acceptable in some scenarios, but not others (masturbation).

•Introduce sensory-related activities/diet

•Teach exercise routines or activities that promote increased motor activity

•Teach an alternative behavior that simulates challenging behavior, but is socially acceptable

•Teach requesting of these activities

•Teach student how to request and access sensory activities

•Teach stimulus discrimination

Behavior – Repetitive Sensory Consequence

•Blocking/Interruption - redirect to competing activity.

•Sensory extinction (if access to reinforcer can be prevented).

Behavior – Repetitive Sensory Avoid

•Verbally reprimanding the child for engaging in the behavior

•Extinction (self-injurious behavior or when engaging in activity can not be prevented)

Behavior Plans

•Function matches intervention!

•Redeploy Card—adults have a signal or card to indicate to another staff member that they are having problems staying neutral with a student during a crisis. Staff members trade positions.