Transcript Engagement as Prevention of Behavior Problems

Embedded Intervention:
Addressing Children’s
Goals in Daily Activities
Amy M. Casey
Center for Child Development
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
What is Embedded
Intervention?

A recommended approach for
addressing the individualized goals of
children with disabilities in their
natural environments
Why is This Important?

Practical

Learn new skills in context where
they’ll be used
Multiple learning opportunities
 Classroom membership
 Independence
 Engagement

What is Engagement?
Participation, being active, being
involved, playing, on-task behavior,
learning
 Engagement is the amount of time
that children spend involved with the
environment (adults, peers, or
materials) in a way that is appropriate
given their age, abilities, and
surroundings.

The Importance of
Engagement

Improving engagement leads to
positive change in children’s
Behavior
 Interactions with others
 Thinking and reasoning skills

Engagement in Children
With Disabilities

Compared to typically-developing
peers, children with disabilities spend
More time passively nonengaged
 Less time interactively engaged with
adults
 Less time attentionally engaged with
peers
 Less time in master-level engagement
with materials

Levels of Engagement

Level 1: Nonengagement

Unoccupied behavior
•
•
•
•
•
•
Crying
Whining
Aggression
Wandering aimlessly
Staring blankly
Needless waiting
Levels of Engagement

Level 2: Casual Attention
Scanning the environment
 Attending to a range of things instead
of paying attention to one object or
person


Level 3: Undifferentiated Behavior
Repetitive actions or vocalizations
 Simple, low-level play

Levels of Engagement

Level 4: Focused Attention
Intent watching or listening
 Limited motor activity


Level 5: Differentiated Behavior
Active interaction with the
environment
 Playing
 Participating in routines

Levels of Engagement

Level 6: Constructive Behavior
Materials
 Making, creating, or building
something
 Intentionality


Level 7: Encoded Behavior
Social
 Using context-bound, understandable
language

Levels of Engagement

Level 8: Symbolic Behavior
Pretend play
 Talking about someone/something
that is not present


Level 9: Persistence
Problem solving
 Challenge
 Changing strategies or using the
same strategy repeatedly

Persistence
Symbolic
Encoded
Sophisticated
Constructive
LEVELS
Differentiated
Focused Attention
Undifferentiated
Casual Attention
Nonengaged
Unsophisticated
Developmental Hierarchy
Engagement Continuum
Ways to Focus on
Engagement
Room arrangement/materials
 Fun activities
 Zone defense scheduling
 Incidental teaching

Room Arrangement

Break up the middle of the room
Creates 4 zones
 Prevents wandering, running laps


Scatter centers throughout zones
instead of lining them up on walls

Most nonengagement occurs in wide
open spaces
Materials

Quantity
Enough toys for everyone
 Matching toys to encourage parallel
play


Quality


Accessibility


At or slightly above skill level
On low shelves
Variety

Swap toys/activities on regular
schedule
Activities
Fun and exciting!!
 Interesting things to do and talk about
 Focus on process and skill
development (not final product)
 Focus on promoting independence,
social relationships, and engagement

Zone Defense Scheduling
Method for organizing adults
 Creates environment in which
engagement is the focus

ZDS Basics
Man-to-man defense: assignment to a
specific player/child
 Zone defense: assignment to an area
of the court/classroom
 The ZDS prevents teachers from
chasing specific children around the
classroom

ZDS Roles
One adult is assigned to the
scheduled child activity and is focused
on child engagement
 One adult is in charge of extra
classroom tasks, such as cleaning up,
preparing the next activity, changing
diapers, taking phone calls, helping a
child who needs individual assistance,
etc.

ZDS Transitions

During transitions between activities,
one adult is at the old zone and one
adult is at the new zone
Children can transition at their own
pace
 Children can begin the new activity as
soon as they arrive at the zone

Example 2-Person ZDS
Time
Person 1
Person 2
8:00-8:15
Arrival
Set Up
8:15-8:30
Set Up
Story
8:30-8:45
Free Play
Set Up
8:45-9:00
Set Up
Circle
9:00-9:15
Small Toys
Set up
9:15-9:30
Set Up
Centers
9:30-9:45
Set Up
Centers
9:45-10:00
Snack
Set Up
10:00-10:45
Set Up
Bathroom and
Outside/Hallway
10:45-11:00
Music
Set Up
11:00-11:15
Set Up
Art
Incidental Teaching
What to do when you’re the adult
assigned to focus on the ongoing
activity and child engagement
 Method for basing interactions on a
child’s interest in order to elaborate on
existing engagement

Steps for Incidental
Teaching
1. Arrange the environment
2. Catch the child engaged
3. Approach the child
4. Elicit elaboration of existing
engagement
5. Provide reinforcement
1. Arrange the Environment

Provide
Accessible materials
 Preferred toys
 A defined space
 Sufficient quantities
 Opportunities for peer interaction

2. Catch the Child Engaged
In any routine or activity
 With peers or materials

3. Approach the Child

Think about the child’s level of
engagement


What are you aiming for? A higher
level of engagement? If so, which
one?
Consider the child’s learning style

Is it better to interact with the child? Is
it better to sit near him and engage in
parallel play? Is it better to encourage
a peer to approach him?
4. Elicit Elaboration of
Existing Engagement

Options are
More engagement (continue the
behavior for a longer amount of time)
 Higher engagement (use more
sophisticated behavior)
 Skill development (work toward a
developmental goal)

5. Provide Reinforcement

Natural reinforcement


Verbal reinforcement


The activity or outcome appeals to the
child’s interests and intrinsic
motivation
Be specific
Tangibles
Using Incidental Teaching

Incidental teaching comes naturally to
most teachers, but it can always be
used more often

Our research shows that rates of
incidental teaching are low before
awareness training; after training
teachers are able to increase their
rates of incidental teaching to
changing criterion levels
Classroom Modifications

Modify the environment
Create opportunities for engagement
• Ensure that activities are
appealing and have a variety of
materials available
 Sabotage is not necessarily a bad
thing
• Example: Set out all needed
materials except for one, requiring
children to ask for the missing item
or problem solve

How would you address his
goal to use word
approximations?
Classroom Modifications

Modify the task demands
Ask the child to do something that is
slightly above his current skill level
(and provide as few prompts as
possible) to encourage higher
engagement
 Ask the child to do something that is
slightly below his current skill level
(and provide reinforcement) to
encourage more engagement

How would you encourage
higher engagement?
Classroom Modifications

Modify your expectations
Rather than focusing on the goal of
the activity, focus on one of the child’s
goals
 Example: Maggie’s goal is to use
words to request items or help.
During art, do not focus on getting
Maggie to make the expected product.
Instead, focus on providing multiple
opportunities for her to request
materials.

Classroom Modifications
Use multiple routines to address the
same goal
 Create opportunities for peer
interaction


Example: Have peers without
disabilities use a buddy system to help
a child with disabilities take his coat
off after playing outside
How would you encourage
more engagement?
Is It Working?
Measure class-wide engagement with
the Engagement Check II
 Measure an individual child’s
engagement with the Scale for
Teachers’ Assessment of Routines
Engagement (STARE)

Engagement Check II

Method for teachers to determine
percentage of children engaged
during activities
Engagement Check II
(McWilliam, 1999)
Interval
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Number
Present
Number
Nonengaged
Number
Engaged
Percent
Engaged
Engagement Check II
Procedure

Every 5 minutes, count and record
The number of children who are
nonengaged
 The total number of children present


At the end of the observation,
calculate
The number of children who were
engaged in each interval
 The percentage of children engaged
across the session

STARE
Method for teachers to document their
impressions of an individual child’s
engagement in each classroom
routine
 Helps teachers determine

With whom or what the child was
engaged
 Complexity of child’s engagement

Scale for Teachers' Assessment of Routines Engagement
R. A. McWilliam
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
© 2000
Directions: Observe the child for 10 minutes in each of the following routines. First, rate the amount of time the child
is engaged with adults, peers, and materials. Second, rate the complexity of the child’s engagement. There is space to
add additional or alternate routines at the end of the scale.
Almost none
of the time
Little of the
time
Half of the
time
Much of the
time
Almost all of
the time
With Adults
1
2
3
4
5
With Peers
1
2
3
4
5
With Materials
1
2
3
4
5
Nonengaged
Unsophisticated
Average
Advanced
Sophisticated
1
2
3
4
5
Arrival
Complexity*
STARE Procedure
Observe child in routine
 Rate amount of time spent with adults,
peers, and materials



Can rate high in more than one
Rate complexity of engagement

How the child spent the majority of his
or her time (not the highest level
observed)
Other Strategies for
Embedding
Prompts
 Time delay
 Reinforcement
 Peer-mediated strategies

Prompts
Something the teacher does before
the child responds
 They increase the likelihood that a
child will respond in a certain way
 Types

Physical
 Verbal
 Gestural

Time Delay
Wait time
 Allows the child to respond
independently before the teacher
provides support

Reinforcement
Reinforcers = things (words, activities)
that follow a behavior
 Reinforcers are what teachers do
immediately after the child’s behavior
or response

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement – something
that follows a specific response and
increases the likelihood that the
response will happen again
Example: Child asks for ball and
teacher gives it to him.
 Example: Child puts coat on and
teacher says, “Wow – you zipped your
coat!” and puts a star on her chart.

Differential Reinforcement of
Other Behavior
Catch the child displaying a desired
behavior (doing something good) and
let him or her know about it
 Use this when you’re trying to
decrease a challenging behavior by
providing positive reinforcement for
replacement (incompatible) behavior


Example: For a child who flits from
one activity to another, provide
feedback when the child stays at an
activity and plays
Peer-Mediated Strategies
Peer management
 Peer modeling
 Peer tutoring

Tips for Embedding

Use multiple routines to address the same
goal


When goals are functional, they will naturally
occur in multiple routines
The Examination of the Implementation of
Embedded Intervention through Observation
(EIEIO) can be used to assess the frequency
with which goals are addressed
Examination of the Implementation of Embedded Intervention, through Observation (EIEIO)
Center:
Class:
Goals
List high priority goals (check all that are
addressed in each 15-minute block of
observation)
Teacher:
Child:
Date:
Observer:
15-Minute Blocks of Observation
(Record the name of the routine in which the child with disabilities was participating for each
15-minute block of observation)
Routine:
Routine:
Routine:
Routine:
C W A Notes
C W A Notes
C W A Notes
C W A Notes
C= Could the goal be addressed? W= Was the goal addressed? A= Was the goal addressed appropriately?
Appropriately: Developmentally appropriate, individually appropriate, normalization principles, relevant
to what others are doing, doable by teaching staff, contextually appropriate.
Tips for Embedding

Plan when (during which routines) specific
goals will be targeted and who is
responsible


Higher priority goals (as decided by the
family) should be planned to occur in more
routines
The Intervention Matrix can be used as a
one-page summary of intervention priorities
and planned implementation times
The Intervention Matrix
Child:_______________________________________ ID:_____________________ From:________to________
* T= Teacher; F= Family; SC= Service Coordinator
Priority
#
*Person
Responsible
Objective
SE
SLP
Arrival
PT
Free
Play
OT
Meals
Structured
Activity
Circle
Music
Art
Outdoors
Transitions
Nap
Personal
Hygiene
Home
Summary

Focus on engagement by





Arranging your classroom to promote
participation
Providing interesting materials and fun
activities
Organizing the adults in the classroom
Using incidental teaching
Consult with service providers to identify the
most useful strategies for embedding
intervention into daily routines
For Additional Information

Contact Amy Casey at
[email protected]
 615-936-3986


Visit our websites

www.IndividualizingInclusion.us

www.VanderbiltImprovingEngagement.us

www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/engagementclassroom