2/11/2013
Utilizing Functional Behavior
Assessment (FBA) to
Develop a
Positive Behavior
Intervention & Support Plan (PBIS)
L. Lynn Stansberry-Brusnahan, Ph.D.
University of St. Thomas
Autism Spectrum Disorder Programming
llstansberry@stthomas.edu
Individualized Supports for Students
Vision
Gather direct (specific)
information
Responses to
problem
behavior
Teach alternative
skills
Implement, evaluate,
& modify plan
ABCs of FBA
Consequences
Behavior
Target
Triggering
Events
- Slow triggers
-Fast triggers
Occurrence
NOT
immediately
before
behavior
B
C
Behaviors
Consequences
Observable
actions – it is
what we do!
May serve to cue,
trigger or set the
stage for certain
behaviors
Events that occur
after/follow a behavior
that determine whether
the behavior will be
repeated or not.
Serve to maintain,
increase or decrease
behavior.
C
Replacement
(Problem ) (Appropriate)
Behavior Behavior
Goal:
Occurrence
immediately Decrease
before
behavior
behavior
Goal:
Increase
behavior
&
Acquire
skill(s)
Summary Statement
Outcomes/Function
B
A
Setting
Events
A
Antecedents
5
Antecedents
Factors that influence /
predict behavior
pbis.org
3-Term Contingency
Events that occur
before behaviors.
Develop behavior
support plan
Adapted PBIS.org
for Students with
At-Risk Behavior
4
with Problem Behaviors, p. 50
Antecedent &
Setting event
interventions
for Students with
High-Risk Behavior
Secondary
Prevention:
Specialized
Group Systems
Strengths
Develop hypothesis
Summary statement
Bambara and Kern, 2005
~15%
Primary
Prevention:
School &
Classroom
Wide Systems
~80% of Students
Preferences
Conduct functional
assessment
Gather indirect (broad)
information
~5%
Tertiary
Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized
Systems
For All Students,
Staff, & Settings
http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/Autism/WIDPI.pdf
Prioritize & define
problem behavior
Tiers of
Behavior
Prevention &
Support
Reinforcement
Punishment
Access
Avoid/Escape
Gain
something:
Get out of
something:
Sensory
Power/control
Sensory
Attention
Tasks
Acceptance
Socialization
Affiliation
Consequences
Gratification
Stress/anxiety
Tangibles
Activities
Justice/revenge
Individuals
Etc…
Etc…
The summary statement is an outcome of FBA &
includes 3 components:
• Prediction “When”
▫ Situation in which behavior occurs
• Description “What”
▫ Specific problem behavior to target
• Function “Why “
▫ Intended outcome or function of behavior
We need this information for Intervention!
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2/11/2013
Hypothesis Template
Summary Statement
Simple, clear approach to organizing FBA data for problem
behaviors so that you can develop a hypothesis.
Setting Events
Triggering
Antecedents
setting events and
antecedents associated
with problem behavior
Problem
Behavior
Maintaining
Consequences
description of the problem
consequences
behavior to target for intervention
maintaining
behavior
Competing Pathways Model
Desired Behavior
Maintaining
Consequences
Challenging
Behavior
Maintaining
Consequences
2. the student
does…
(describe
problem
behavior)
1. When this
occurs…
(describe
circumstances/
antecedents)
When the student is in an
environment that is loud & includes
lots of people, the student hits his
head which results in him being
removed and thus he escapes the noise
& the crowded room
Use FBA &
Design Effective Supports
• Problem behaviors are irrelevant
Triggering
Events
Setting Events
▫ Remove aversive events
▫ Provide access to positive events
• Problem behaviors are inefficient
setting events and
antecedents associated
with problem behaviors
description of the desired,
problem & possible alternative
replacement behaviors
Alternate
Replacement
consequences
maintaining
behaviors
Behavior
▫ Make available appropriate behavioral
alternatives
▫ Teach appropriate behavioral alternatives
• Problem behaviors are ineffective
▫ Do not reinforce problem behaviors
▫ Reinforce desired behavior
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Prevent Teach Reinforce Framework
Prevent
Teach
•Identify
antecedents
•Choose
replacement behavior
•Determine
how to alter or
eliminate
•Teach replacement
skills that serve the
same purpose as
problem behavior
•Modify or
eliminate
problem antecedent
events
• Introduce
positive
antecedents events
• Teach coping and
tolerance skills
•Teach
general/adaptive skills
to expand overall
competence
•-Social
•Communication
Reinforce
Adapted from Bambara and Kern,
2005 Individualized Supports for
Students with Problem
Behaviors, p. 59
•Determine what is reinforcing
challenging behavior
•Use to reinforce a different
behavior.
•Determine other ways to
reinforce behavior .
•Change our responses so that
they no longer reinforce
challenging behavior.
•Increase rewards for appropriate
behaviors
• Reduce outcomes for problem
behavior
3. to get/to
avoid…
(describe
consequences)
Design
intervention to
PREVENT
behaviors
Setting Events
Triggering
Antecedents
Feels
challenged
by authority
in front of
audience
Prevent
•Pre-correct peers
• Practice
answering
questions ahead
•Adapt request for
answering
questions
Teach to request
to pass or ask to
leave the room
appropriately
Reinforce
function of
behavior and
appropriate
behavior
Desired
Alternative
Typical
Consequence
Problem
Behavior
Maintaining
Consequences
refuses to
follow
directions by
ignoring,
shutting down,
refusing to
participate
To obtain
attention from
staff and status
from peers
Acceptable
Alternative
•Provide instructive feedback/
introduce logical consequences
•Sensory
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2/11/2013
Prevent Intervention: Visual Supports
Visual support are a NPDC on ASD Evidence Based Practice.
Use Visual Supports to provide more information about what is
currently happening in the environment, future events in the
environment, as well as scheduled changes in routines
• Consider using when student has …
▫
▫
▫
▫
Transition challenges
Difficulty understanding options or choices
Difficulty engaging in activities or tasks
Does not understand expectations that are not clearly defined or
established
• Examples
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Schedules
First-then boards
Choice boards
Finished folders
Expectations
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
Prevent Intervention:
Transition Strategies
Use Transition Supports to provide students with a cue or
sequence of cues prior to changing in activities
• Consider using when…
▫ Student doesn’t understand what is expected
▫ Student has difficulty reengaging in the next activity or
ending a preferred activity
• Examples of cues
▫ Auditory (bell or song)
▫ Visual (picture or timer)
▫ Motor (physical movement “freeze”)
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
Prevent Intervention: Adaptations
(Accommodations & Modifications to Curriculum & Instruction)
Use Adaptations to provide accommodations & modifications (changes) in instructional
tasks that lessen the likelihood of challenging behavior. This could be changes in
curriculum or instruction
• Two main categories of instructional adaptations
▫ Change content of instruction
▫ Change in presentation of the task
• Consider using when student…
▫ Is presented with non-preferred academic task
▫ Engages in challenging behavior to escape academic tasks
• Examples
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Embed/alter tasks
Divide tasks in small chunks (when finished with each receive reinforcement)
Provide choices
Vary tasks
Alter task difficulty
Incorporate task preference
Make task more meaningful, functional, and relevant
Adapted from Dunlap et al. (2010)
Prevent Intervention: Choice Making
Use Choice-Making to provide a choice between 2 or more
options
• Consider using when…
▫ Antecedent is related to task demands
▫ Transitioning from preferred to non-preferred activity
▫ Control seems to be an issue for student
• Examples
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Choice of materials within a task
Choice between different tasks
Choice of where to work
Choice of when to do the task
Choice of who to work with
Choice of when to end an activity
Adapted from Dunlap et al. (2010)
Prevent Intervention:
Differential Reinforcement
Differential Reinforcement is a NPDC on ASD Evidence Based
Practice.
Use differential reinforcement to reduce challenging behavior.
and increase appropriate and desirable behaviors.
• Consider using when the student…
▫ Enjoys attention and praise from adults
▫ Gets more acknowledgement from the adults when
performing challenging behavior and less
acknowledgement when performing appropriate behavior
• Examples
▫ Interact more frequently around appropriate behavior than
challenging behavior
▫ Use positive language, even when redirecting
▫ Strive towards 4:1 ratio positive to negative statements
Desired
Alternative
Design
Setting Events
intervention
to TEACH
behaviors
(Both
desirable and
acceptable
alternative
behaviors)
Typical
Consequence
Follow
directions and
participate
appropriately
Triggering
Antecedents
Feels
challenged
by authority
in front of
audience
Problem
Behavior
refuses to
follow
directions by
ignoring,
shutting down,
refusing to
participate
Maintaining
Consequences
To obtain
attention from
staff and status
from peers
Acceptable
Alternative
Ask for help
appropriately
Help teacher
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
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2/11/2013
 Amount of physical effort
 Speed of effect
 Number of time performed to get reward
• Honor function of the behavior …
▫
▫
▫
▫
To escape, avoid, or delay tasks
To gain attention from staff or peers
To obtain tangibles
To delay transitions
• Examples
 Ask for assistance
 Request a break
 Request attention
Challenging
behavior
Teach Replacement Behaviors that…
• Produce SAME outcome as problem behaviors
• Are socially appropriate
• Are as (or more) efficient than problem behavior
Replacement Behavior
Replacement Behavior
Teach Intervention:
Replacement Behaviors
When
Then
When
student
is required
to
end art or
music and
begin
independent
work
activities
in reading
and math
Then, she
will yell,
scream,
throw
objects
and/or hit
As a result
As a result he/she is
allowed
to delay or escape
the independent work
activities (sent to timeout or to the behavior
Then she
will ask for room or allowed to stay
a break
in art or music classes )
to obtain attention
from the behavior
specialist
From
Dunlap
et al.
(2010)
Adapted from Dunlap et al. (2010)
Teach Intervention:
Replacement Behavior
Desired
Alternative
Teaching Replacement Behaviors:
1. Identify function of behavior
2. Identify replacement behavior
3. Ask, can you honor the function
4. Directly teach using pre-correction strategies
and visual prompts
5. Provide opportunities to use replacement
behavior
6. Reinforce behavior with same outcome as
problem behavior
7. Build in a tolerance for delay of reinforcement
Replacement Behavior
Key Questions
Is this behavior
in the student’s
repertoire of
skills?
Acceptable
Alternative
1.Same Setting Events
consequence
2.Socially
acceptable
3.Very
efficient
Work quietly
at desk on
tasks he can do
independently
Triggering
Antecedents
Independent
work time,
working on paper
pencil task quietly
at desk
Teacher helping
other students.
Problem
Behavior
Tears up
paper and
throws it
across
room
Typical
Consequence
Behavior
points,
praise,
Call home,
etc.
Maintaining
Consequences
Teacher
redirect sand
helps student
get to work.
Function:
Teacher
attention.
Acceptable
Alternative
Ask
for
help
Teach Intervention:
Social Skills Instruction
Is this behavior as
easy or easier to
produce than the
challenging
behavior?
Will it work to elicit the
same response as
challenging behavior?
Social Skills Groups are a NPDC on ASD Evidence
Based Practice.
Social skills groups would be considered a
secondary tier intervention.
Teaching Social Skills:
• Important to teach social interaction skillsand ways to
appropriately interact with peers.
• Social skills groups are small-group instruction practices
with a shared goal or outcome of learned social skills in
which participants can learn, practice, & receive
feedback.
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
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2/11/2013
Teach Intervention:
Problem Solving
Teach Intervention:
Self Regulation Strategies
Teaching Problem-solving Strategies :
• Consider using when the student has challenging
interactions with peers and doesn’t know how to deal
with appropriately.
Designed to increase social understanding & help individuals
with social challenges problem solve social situations & see
differences between their own and others’ perspectives.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Social Autopsies
SOCCSS
Solving Problems Before They Become Problems
Social Behavior Mapping
Teaching Coping or Self-Regulation Skills:
• These skills provide strategies for students to help
them with self-control
• Consider using when




Student has issues responding to socially challenging situations
Student demonstrates inability to control responses or reactions
Student is easily frustrated
Student is unable to effectively communicate frustration
▫ Examples
 Anger management
 Negotiation strategies
 Practice giving and accepting criticism
• Program
▫ Five-point scale (http://www.5pointscale.com/)
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
Behavior can be changed by…
Teach Intervention:
Self Management
Self Management is a NPDC on ASD Evidence Based
Practice.
• Consider using when the student…
▫ engages in behavior to get attention
▫ seeks to escape tasks or activities
▫ attempts to delay transitions
▫ becomes frustrated
Steps include:
1.Define behavior student will self-manage.
2.Establish self-recording method & when & how student will record.
3.Teach student how to self-observe. self-evaluate, record & reinforce.
4.Monitor for accuracy &make changes as needed.
Teach
expected
behavior
Enforce
meaningful
consequences
Provide
meaningful
positive
incentives
•teaching expected
behaviors
•recognizing & providing
reinforcement when
appropriate behaviors
occur
•enforcing meaningful
consequences when
inappropriate behaviors
occur
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
Desired
Alternative
Follow
directions and
participate
appropriately
Setting Events
Design
intervention
to
REINFORCE
behaviors
Triggering
Antecedents
Feels
challenged
by authority
in front of
audience
Problem
Behavior
refuses to
follow
directions by
ignoring,
shutting down,
refusing to
participate
Acceptable
Alternative
Ask for help
appropriately
Help teacher
Typical
Consequence
Classroom
acknowledgem
ent and teacher
recognition
Maintaining
Consequences
To obtain
attention from
staff and status
from peers
Response Interventions
For response strategies to be effective they must
• Occur following the appropriate replacement or
desired behavior
• No longer occur after the challenging behavior
Response Interventions are in 3 categories
1. Reinforce replacement behaviors that are
functionally equivalent to the problem behavior
2. Reinforce appropriate behaviors
3. Plan how to respond to challenging behavior
(Utilize extinction if appropriate)
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2/11/2013
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a NPDC on ASD Evidence
Based Practice.
Beginning Step
1. Identify the behavior you want to increase
2. Identify the reinforcers
▫
Reinforcer menu or sampling
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
Reinforce Replacement Behaviors
Immediately reinforce student’s response when he /she
engages in selected functional replacement behavior .
The replacement behavior…
▫ Serves same function as challenging behavior
▫ Is equally or more efficient in producing same
outcome as challenging behavior,
▫ Replaces challenging behavior with a more
socially appropriate way of getting same outcome
Adapted from Dunlap et al. (2010)
Examples of Functionally Equivalent
Behaviors and Reinforcers
Function of
Behavior
Obtain assistance
from adult
Obtain Attention
from adult or peer
Avoid or escape
task
Avoid nonpreferred activity
Replacement
Behavior
Request
Assistance
Request
Attention
Request break
Reinforcer
Obtain assistance
from adult
Obtain Attention
from adult or peer
Avoid or escape task
Request different Different activity
activity
Reinforcement Implementation
• Immediately reinforce
• Once consistently using the replacement
behavior then implement a plan for fading the
immediacy and frequency of the reinforcement
• Tolerance for delay of reinforcement is a good
strategy to pair with replacement behaviors.
Response Efficiency
RATE OF
REINFORCEMENT
QUALITY OF
REINFORCEMENT
(how often are reinforcers (is the quality of
delivered?)
reinforcement higher for
appropriate behavior than
challenging behavior?)
RESPONSE
EFFORT
IMMEDIACY OF
REINFORCEMENT
(Is the replacement
(How quickly is a reinforcer
behavior easier to display delivered following a
than challenging
response?)
behavior?)
Extinction
Extinction is a NPDC on ASD Evidence Based
Practice.
• It’s important for the team to change how adults and
or peers respond to the students challenging
behavior so that the student no longer gets a desired
outcome (e.g., obtain attention, escape task, etc.) for
the problem behavior
• The goal is that the challenging behavior no longer
“pays off” for the student so that the challenging
behavior will lesson.
To learn more visit the Autism Internet Module .
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