The ABC's of IEP's

By Sheila Wolfe - IEP Services

This month we are going to cover the evaluation of dysfunctional behaviors and the appropriate way to address such behaviors. If we want a child to exhibit a certain behavior, and they are not engaging in that behavior, we can write a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) to create the appropriate conditions and reinforcement for the student to start engaging in the desired behavior.

Before we write a BIP, we must first evaluate the unwanted behavior we are trying to replace. Students do not engage in a behavior unless it is working for them. As parents and professionals, we must determine the function (the “why”) of the student’s behavior before we can write an appropriate BIP.

To determine the function of the behavior, the school must conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). An FBA consists of direct observation of the student in a variety of environments, but certainly the environments where the dysfunctional behavior exists. The evaluator collects detailed data on all behaviors observed during each period. This data must include the Antecedent (the thing that happened immediately prior to the behavior); the Behavior (what the student did); and the Consequence (what happened immediately after the behavior). By carefully analyzing the ABC data, the case conference committee will usually be able to see a pattern, which will lead them to a theory regarding the function of the student’s behavior – or simply WHY the behavior is occurring.

Let’s look at an example. Sam is yelling at his homeroom teacher at various times during the day and is in some cases trying to kick her. Sam never acts like this with any other teacher. An FBA is conducted which reveals that every time the homeroom teacher asks the students to read anything (the Antecedent) Sam starts screaming or trying to kick the teacher if she gets close to him (the Behavior) at which time he is sent to the principal’s office (the Consequence). Now one might think that getting sent to the office would help correct this behavior. However, if we observe carefully and reflect on this pattern of data, we come to understand that Sam can’t read (or at least believes he is not a good reader) and, therefore, does not want to be forced to read aloud.

Every time the teacher asks the students to read, Sam has a behavior so he can escape the demand being made. By sending Sam to the office, we are actually rewarding him by giving him what he wants…to escape the demand of reading. We can expect the behavior to continue because, as we already know, the behavior is working for Sam. In this case, the BIP would need to address the function of Sam’s behavior (escaping reading) because of a lack of confidence in his ability. Therefore, we need to develop a BIP, which does not allow Sam to escape reading but also teaches a replacement behavior.

The behavior we want to see is the requested behavior of reading aloud. This could be done by allowing Sam to read aloud in a 1:1 setting while providing positive reinforcement for compliance. This would help increase his confidence while also increasing his reading ability. Obviously, if Sam needs additional reading instruction, this must also be provided. As Sam’s confidence and ability increase, he could move to a small reading group with increased reinforcement. Eventually, the goal would be for Sam to join his classmates and be able to read aloud at the teacher’s request without feeling a need to escape the situation.

All BIP’s should be written to teach an appropriate replacement behavior, which addresses the same function as the maladaptive behavior. If a student is kicking a peer because they want the peer’s attention, the BIP must teach a replacement behavior to allow the student to gain the peer’s attention without kicking them. In this case, appropriate replacement behaviors would be teaching the student to greet the peer, engage in a conversation (if appropriate), ask the peer to join the student for a preferred activity (play a game), etc.

It is important to collect plenty of data regarding the effectiveness of a BIP once it is implemented and make any necessary adjustments quickly if the plan is not working. An inappropriate BIP can create even more maladaptive behaviors if it is based on false assumptions about the function of the behavior and, therefore, must be closely monitored.

Sheila A. Wolfe IEP Services, LLC sheilawolfe@sbcglobal.net

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