Understanding Behaviors and the FBA

 

Currently, I am going through the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) process with one of my Kindergarteners. Let me tell you, the first month of school hasn't been an easy one! While writing and preparing the FBA with my team, I decided to learn more about it. Instead of reading another article, book, or website, I listened to two podcasts from Education to the Core: Where the Primary Things Are. In two podcasts, Christopher Olson outlines 30 preventive strategies and 20 instructive strategies to do before and during a behavior. Chris Olson has a PhD in Special Education with a focus in young children with challenging behaviors. He has worked in Early Intervention and Emotional Support Classrooms. 

Side note - For those of you who do not know what an FBA is, here are the basics:

• it is a process schools use to figure out what is causing challenging behavior from a student

• a team of school staff (school psychologist, guidance counselor, lead teacher, and possibly other service providers) collaborate and observe the student

• the data often leads to a plan with strategies to improve the behavior

Olson had some great preventive and instructive strategies for behavior management based on the four functions of behavior (gaining or avoiding attention, gaining items or objects, escaping or avoiding demands or activities, or gaining or avoiding sensory stimulation). Let's start with preventive strategies! The best/most effective strategies Olson described were; giving periodic attention, offering preferred activities, using transitional warnings, using when/then statements, increasing accessibility, increasing predictability, modifying tasks, enriching the environment, and increasing access to materials. I will mention that in my current situation, our student is non-verbal and aggressive towards... well, everyone... so a lot of these strategies, while great, would be harder to implement. We believe his main functions are gaining items and objects and avoiding sensory stimulation. 

As for the instructive strategies, while a student is exhibiting a behavior, Olson mentions there are 3 main types of instructive skills; teaching strategies, coping and tolerance, and general adaptive skills. Here are some of the best/most effective strategies and tips Olson suggests.

1. Teaching Strategies: use words in a way that match the desired function, consider honoring requests, prompt student to communicate, consistent praise, model expected behavior, teach more acceptable ways to avoid tasks, set clear limits, make available another way to stimulate.

2. Coping/Tolerance: enforce should do-need to do, delay reinforcement, help student self-manage with goals and monitoring, teach the student anger control and triggers, teach social problem solving. (Again, very difficult with a non-verbal 5 year-old)

3. General Adaptive Skills: teacher the student skills to empower the situation, learn what skills are needed for prevention and to promote meaningful lifestyle improvements, make sure to involve student interests. 

So much quality information to take in! What we struggle with is understanding our kiddo's motives for each function. He is OBSESSED with my teacher computer and the smart board. He will constantly lunge at my desk while I am teaching to try to slam it shut or turn off the board (he has been successful at both multiple times). The frustration is that it keeps happening. He knows what will happen when he has obtained what he wants, yet he still does it. When he is unable to get what he wants, he will lash out with tantrums, aggression, and eloping. This is constant throughout the school day. We also believe avoiding sensory stimulation is a possible function of behavior. He HATES when students are moving, dancing, laughing, playing with centers... everything. He tries to hurt them and when he is blocked, he'll act out aggressively towards anything in his path. Good thing we have a 1-1 with him! His behaviors are very concerning so I am glad this FBA process has begun! We only want the best for him and his classmates. 

For more information, here are corresponding blog posts from Education to the Core:

30 Preventive Strategies To Do Before A Behavior

20 Instructive Strategies To Do During A Behavior