Behavior Supports in the
Classroom
Disruptive Behavior
 Evidence:
 Off-task talking, out-of-seat, competitive activities
 Culprits:
 Classroom management, curriculum, teaching strategies
 Deficits in skills
 Attention seeking (given more attention for disruptive
behavior than appropriate behavior)
Solutions
 Understand the function
 Often it is attention seeking—so give them attention for
appropriate behavior . . . often!
 School-wide and classroom interventions
 Well-written, and enforced, class rules (clear expectations)
 Well-planned systematic response (consistency)
 Self-discipline and self-management
Noncompliant Behavior
(e.g. Oppositional Defiant Disorder—ODD)
 Evidence
 Passive noncompliance, direct defiance, simple refusal,
and constant negotiation.
 Culprits
 Attention as correction-only/power-struggles
 Indiscriminant attention (lack of clear expectations,
consistency and follow-through)
 Preference of being seen as ‘bad’ rather than
‘dumb’
 Promotes escape-type behaviors
Solutions
 Say what you mean, mean what you say (consistency
and follow-through)
 Reinforce compliant behavior
 Research suggests that the most effective intervention
for non-compliance is providing positive consequences
for appropriate behavior as well as reprimands for noncompliant behavior.
 So extinction is not effective!
 Since escape is a primary suspect—suspension in not effective
either.
Impulsivity
 Evidence
 Erratic and poorly controlled behavior
 Acts without all information, often calls out in class, difficulty
organizing materials
 Difficulty reflecting on inappropriate actions (including academic
work)
 May also have disruptive and noncompliant behaviors
 Culprits
 Attention-seeking
 Self-gratification (including hitting to stop someone from bothering
them)
 Biology
Solutions
 Teach skills
 Waiting behaviors
 Self-control and relaxation
 Deliver smaller, shorter tasks
 Check for accuracy often
 Provide more feedback
 Do not rely on medication!
Attention
(e.g. ADHD)
 Evidence
 Difficulty starting and finishing tasks
 Distractibility
 Not paying attention vs. paying attention to everything!
 Decision-making
 Can also occur with hyperactivity and impulsivity
 Culprits
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Boredom
Skill deficits
Self gratification
Escape and/or attention seeking
Solutions
 Teaching skills
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Motivating curriculum
Appropriate pacing
Teach skills that demonstrate attention (‘sit and listen’).
Smaller, shorter tasks with more feedback
 Understand the function. If it is skill deficits—teach the
skills!
 Reinforcement systems work well for this behavior-particularly preferred activities (kinesthetic)
 Self-monitoring at timed intervals
Hyperactivity
 Evidence
 Often associated with inattention and impulsivity—but is not
exclusive to it!
 Immature behavior
 Disruptiveness/aggressiveness
 Seems unable to connect with peers—may look to adults for
friendships
 Culprits
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Self-gratification
Attention seeking
Biological and environmental
Family schedules and interactions
Solutions
 Consistency
 Deliver reinforcement and consequences
 Social skills training
 Cognitive behavior management
 Teach academic skills where there are deficit areas
Aggressiveness
 Evidence
 Hostile: Intent to harm
 Instrumental: Intent to gain something
 Physical or verbal
 Culprits
Power, control, affiliation
Skill deficits
Escape, attention-seeking, and/or self-gratification
The behavior has been trained or is being modeled
by someone
 The media
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Solutions
 Understand the pattern of aggression
 Over-aroused (excitability), impulsive (blow-ups), affective
(rageful), predatory (vengeful), and instrumental
(intimidation)
 Understand the stages (p. 442) so intervention can take
place before dangerous behavior
 Social skills training
 Proactive vs. reactive
 Empathy (e.g. role-playing)
 Peer acceptance
Tantrums
 Evidence
 Aggressive, non-compliant behavior
 Acting out behaviors (crying, screaming, jumping up and down)
 Common in young children
 Culprits
 The behavior gets them what they want!
 Mostly connected to parents and other caregivers (including
teachers) giving in.
 Attention seeking
Solutions
 Extinction is highly effective with this
behavior.
 Say what you mean, mean what you say!
 Routines
 Transition warnings
Stereotypy
 Evidence
 Self-stimulation (e.g. ‘flapping’)
 Self-inflicted injury (e.g. SIB)
 Repetitive behaviors (e.g. OCD)
 Culprits
 Deficits in communication skills (speech and language)
 Attention-seeking /escape
Solutions
 Increase ability to communicate
 Social skills training
 Sign language
 Decrease gains from behavior (e.g. attention, tangibles,
escape, etc)
 This does not necessarily mean extinction!
 Very responsive to behavior management-based
interventions
Depression
 Evidence
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Low energy or fatigue
Concentration /decision-making issues
Sleeping /eating issues
Social skills issues
Sadness and/or aggression
 Culprits
 Biological or environmental
 Short- or long-term
Solution
 Know when to seek additional information and refer to
professionals!
 Combination of professions
 Medication, behavioral, and psychological
 Skills training
 Social skills
 Cognitive behavior management
Something to Think About
Utah has highest rate of mental illness and depression in the US
 In Utah, 14% of adults and adolescents reported experiencing severe
psychological distress, and 10% said they’d had a major depressive
episode in the past year. Bad mental health days come three times a
month for those living in Utah.
 The states found to have the highest suicide rates had fewer resources
for mental health care, and barriers such as cost made it harder for
people in those states to access what resources were available.
 Researchers also found that the more highly educated a state’s
population is, the lower its rate of depression.
Depression and ADHD
 18% of children diagnosed with ADHD suffer from
depression as teens
 10 times higher rate than peers
 5 times more likely to consider suicide (not attempt it)
 Those with combined types evident between ages 4-6
were at greatest risk for depression and suicidal
thoughts
 Includes depression, ODD, conduct disorder
 Although boys have higher rates of diagnosed ADHD,
girls have the greater risk for depression
 Having a mother with depression increases the risk
*The study appears in the October 2010 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry
Functional Behavior
Assessment
And Behavior Intervention Plans
Rationale
Behaviors never occur in isolation!
Historically
 ‘Problems occur in people’
 Lead to trying to change the person
Present-Day
 ‘Problem-behavior occur in contexts’
 Leads to trying to change the context
Steps for Conducting a FUBA
from the U.S. Department of Education
1. Define the behavior
2. Gather information
3. Hypothesize the function
4. Develop a plan
5. Monitor behavior
Step 1: Define the Behavior
 Concrete definition
 Observable
 Measurable
 Objective
 Conditions under which it occurs
Step 2: Gather Information
 Interviews
 Questionnaires
 Record Reviews
 Direct Observations
Step 3: Hypothesize the Function
 Use data
 Question: When are the behaviors most/least
likely to occur (a.k.a. setting events)?
 Think of ways the behavior is serving the
student
Step 4: Develop a plan (BIP)
 Determine the appropriate behavior that
would serve the same function
 Arrange the environment to prompt desired
behavior
 Develop plans for reward and consequence
systems
Step 5: Monitor behavior
 Verify hypothesis
 Validate intervention
 If successful, the assessment is complete
 If unsuccessful, return to step 2 (gather
information)