Transcript Behavior - Grant Wood AEA

Behavior Strategies
Presented by:
Lindsay Stangeland, GWAEA Challenging Behavior Consultant
Margo Grolmus, GWAEA Autism Consultant
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
There is a reason…
 Problem behaviors serve a purpose for the
individual. Most often, they engage in the
problem behavior to get something (toy, hug,
adult attention and approval, sense of pride)
or avoid something (bad grade, reprimand,
loud noise, embarrassment). All behavior
that persists over time does so for a reason.
 Understanding the function is important to the
design of effective interventions.
 We cannot determine interventions for
specific behaviors like noise making without
first looking at the behavior functionally.
 FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment)
Replacement Behaviors
 Must be as easy for the student to accomplish
as the problem behavior
 Must gain the exact same thing the problem
behavior gained (i.e., meet the same function)
 Put original problem behavior on
extinction…must be unsuccessful in gaining
what it previously gained
 Initially, reinforce replacement behavior often
Escape/Avoidance
Potential Interventions
 Reinforce for compliance…frequently!
 Teach how to seek help
 Reinforce for absence of problem
 Initially remove or reduce task demands, then
gradually increase or reintroduce task demands
Escape/Avoidance
AVOID!
Removing the assignment, sending the
student to the office, or using time-out
Attention Seeking
Potential Interventions
 Increase attention for appropriate
behaviors…LOTS of it!
 Withhold attention for problem behaviors (ignore
or NEUTRALLY redirect)
 Teach acceptable alternatives
 Use time-out as a last resort…disclaimer!
Attention Seeking
AVOID!
Verbal reprimands or other forms of
attention…
Eye contact
Lecture
Argument
Excessive Redirection
Access to Items
Potential Interventions
 Deny access
 Teach appropriate alternatives to obtain access
Access to Items
AVOID!
Access to food, item, or attention
following problem behavior
Important…
 It may take a few weeks to “feel” change with
problem behaviors that occurred frequently
 Behaviors often get worse before they get
better
 Data is another way to tell us if it’s working
 It is only an opinion unless you have data to
back it up