The Behavior Intervention Plan
Function of the Behavior
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Attention
o Like stage performers; they require an audience
o I feel: irritated, annoyed
o React by: scolding, coming to the rescue
o When given attention, the behavior usually stops
Escape
o Any behavior whose purpose is to avoid or escape present or future
circumstances
o I feel: professional concern, frustration/anger, like giving up
Self-Stimulation
o Stimulating sensations produced by behaviors (loop talking, pulling
hair out, etc)
o I feel: embarrassed, irritated, professional concern
Power/Control
o They constantly challenge us through words and actions trying to
prove they are in charge. Often power seeking students don’t act out
until they’re assured of an audience. (attention)
o I feel: angry, frustrated, fear of losing control of the situation or class
Basic Guidelines
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All behavior is purposeful, learned and predictable.
All behavior is maintained by reinforcement.
It is more efficient for people to use existing behaviors.
Changing behavior is a process, not a form.
If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting Changing student behavior means changing your behavior FIRST!
If the horse is dead … get off! (If your intervention doesn’t work, stop
doing it!)
Definition of a Behavior Intervention Plan: A BIP is an intervention plan with
strategies to teach/replace skills students need in order to behave in a more
appropriate manner. Interventions based upon control often fail to generalize and
many times they serve only to suppress behavior.
Why do a Behavior Intervention Plan?
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To identify proactive strategies to prevent rather than suppress undesirable
behaviors
To develop interventions that are logically related to functional categories.
To teach replacement behaviors instead of suppressing behaviors through
punishment.
Step 1 – What we want the student to do…
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Learn an alternative socially acceptable behavior or new skill that serves the
same function.
Replacement behaviors:
o Arguing – discusses appropriately
o Out of seat – Purposeful, planned movement
o Fighting – Use identified anger management techniques
o Swearing – Use appropriate, socially acceptable language
o Negative comments – Walks away from teasing and tries to find an
adult
o Incomplete assignments – Completes assignments with adaptations &
modifications
Skill Deficit: One the student cannot do or lacks the necessary information or
skills to do.
Performance Deficit: One the student is not motivated to do; has performed
the skill previously or does it in some settings but does not generalize to
other settings.
Step 2 – What the teacher will do…
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Change the demands in the environment
o Alter pace of instruction
o Change the tasks
o Insert easy activities along with difficult activities to increase probability
of success
o Change the peers
o Change the materials
o Alter adult’s behavior
Provide opportunities to make choices
o Type of task
o Order of task
o Type of reinforcer
o Peers
o Materials
o Level of assistance
Sample Interventions
o Attention - Give positive attention before the disruption occurs
Meet at door & verbally greet
Use diminishing quota: question cards, paper clips, rubber bands
Positively reinforce student when replacement behavior is
exhibited.
 Remind student of expected behaviors prior to beginning activity
(Pre-corrects)
 Organize transitions
Escape
 Encourage positive self-talk
 Teach procedures for becoming “Unstuck”
 Create opportunities for individual instruction & reinforcement
 Make reasonable academic expectations
 Divide academic assignments into smaller chunks
 Opportunities to escape the setting but continue the work
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Self-Stimulation
 Verbal or visual cue to stop behavior
 Schedule self-stimulation time
 Self-monitoring or behavior checklists
 Remove stimulating object for specified period
 Teach replacement behavior
o Power/ Control
 Develop cues
 Allow student to save face
 Respect student’s personal space
 Give redirection and walk away
 Give student choices in activities/assignments
 Find ways in the classroom/school that the student can have
some power and control
 Use respectful tone of voice when working with student
Reinforce approximations of the appropriate behavior. What you see may not
be perfect, but it is getting closer to desired behavior.
Antecedent teaching procedures such as cues, prompts, assistance,
collaborative activities & modeling
Errorless teaching procedures such as guiding responses so student is
successful – not about right or wrong, it’s about participation
Teach the student an appropriate way to request:
o Assistance
o Breaks from tasks
o An end to the activity
o Alternatives to activities or tasks
Develop the relationship – it’s never just about the technique, it’s always
about the relationship
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Step 3 – Rewards and Reinforcements
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Types of reinforcements:
o Tangible
o Intrinsic
o Activity
o Social
Determine your type of reinforcers
Step 4 – Consequences
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An agreed upon procedure for responding to problem behaviors
Consistent across environments
Reduces the likelihood that someone will inadvertently reinforce the problem
behavior
Spells out for the teacher and the student what will happen when the “old”
behavior occurs, while learning the new one.
Is “one size fits all” fair?
What do we do to make the child successful?
Fair consequences are the ones that change behavior.
Clear, concise, enforceable, related to the behavior – Using consequences
implies that the student knows what to do instead.
Consequence Procedures:
o Positive Practice - Following an episode of noncompliance, you deny
the student the reinforcer until they have positive practice.
o Extinction - A decrease in a behavior through the removal of the
reinforcer. A reinforcer that normally follows a behavior is no longer
given, and as a result the behavior decreases.
o Redirection - Restate or reword the direction and walk away.
o Time-out – An interruption of a student’s unacceptable behavior by
removal from the scene
o Response cost - A "toll" or "fine" imposed in response to the student's
display of inappropriate behavior.
o Restitution - An appropriate payback for inappropriate behavior. It
requires the student to lesson the negative impact of their behavior.
Punishment, inappropriately applied, never teaches a student a new
behavior. It creates:
o Resentment
o Revenge
o Rebellion
o Retreat