Autism and Special Education - Research Paper Example

Positive Behavior Support Plan for Autism with Focus on Special Education Teacher I. Introduction With increasing behavior problems and challenges in schools across the world, there has been growing interest in positive behavior support (PBS). For example, Newby (2014) notes that an increase in violence incidents in American schools has created more demand for safer schools. The area of positive behavior support has undergone significant development in terms of research and application (Carr et al., 2002). There are multiple research studies on PBS that have led to the identification of research-based PBS models and aspects that have been used in enhancing PBS strategies in various settings including individual settings, group settings, school settings, and community settings. The growing interest in PBS is still driven by growing incidents of behavior problems in society and the burnout of those responsible for administering PBS programs. It is worth noting that there is a unique trend in the growing focus towards the PBS providers including teachers dealing with children with disabilities. Positive behavior support entails the assessment and changing of environments with the aim of helping persons with behavior problems experience higher quality of life and reduce the occurrence of the problem behaviors (Horner, 2000). This provides an important definition of PBS as is widely used. From the definition, several aspects stand out. First, PBS is a deliberate and well-organized process. The fact that PBS is targeted towards persons with behavior problems implies that it is intended and has to be well structured to meet the desired goal. Second, PBS is administered by people with the knowledge and skills. It is apparent that the persons with behavior problems are the targets of PBS. Therefore, they cannot be responsible for designing, planning, and administering their own PBS. There have to be other people with the necessary capacity to implement the PBS. In most cases, PBS interventions are offered in school settings. Therefore, special education teachers are likely to be the ones responsible for planning and implementing the interventions. Finally, PBS combines various elements including valued outcomes, validated procedures, behavioral science, biomedical science, and systems change. In this regard, PBS is a holistic concept bringing various disciplines together. The success of the PBS program is based on several things. Some of these include administrative support, policy alignment, capacity and skills of support providers, consistency with overall vision, values, and mission of the system, collaboration among stakeholders, and availability of resources. All these factors can affect the implementation and success of the PBS intervention. For example, with adequate skills and capacity, support providers may be unable to perform their roles effectively. Additionally, without adequate administrative support and resources, the implementation of the PBS may be jeopardized. The purpose of this paper is to present a traditional review of literature on PBS interventions for children with autism with a specific focus toward classroom special education teachers. The paper will identify relevant literature for review from multiple sources especially online databases and books among others. An in-depth review of the literature will be performed to identify the major themes, which will then be used to write the review. Ultimately, the paper will conclude with identification of the most critical educational implications for classroom special education teachers regarding PBS intervention for children with autism. The paper is organized into several sections starting with the introduction, which provides an overview of the topic and purpose of review. The next section identifies positive behavior patters plans for autism. This will be followed by the section on PBS plans for special education teachers dealing with children with autism. The next section will identify and discuss evidence-based practices applied by special education teachers providing PBS interventions for children with autism. This will be followed by a section that presents related research studies. Finally, the paper will end with the discussion section that will identify the main implications for special education teachers providing PBS interventions for children with autism. II. Positive Behavior Plans for Autism Children with autism are unique in the sense that they are more vulnerable to acquiring challenging behaviors that could interfere with their development, learning, and functioning. Such challenging behavior can be categorized into disruptive behaviors or repetitive behaviors. Disruptive behaviors are those that have a greater interference effect on children with autism including throwing tantrums or being aggressive. Repetitive behaviors are not as serious as the disruptive behaviors but may also inhibit development, learning, and normal life of a child (Neitzel, 2010). Irrespective of the type of behavior that children with autism develop, the main concern is that these challenging behaviors often inhibit them from engaging in meaningful activities and interactions with people. Therefore, it is important for parents, teachers, and all stakeholders to work closely with such children in trying to help them overcome these challenging behaviors by developing positive ones. This should happen through creation of positive behavior plans that are specific to children with autism. Positive behavior plans for autistic children are structured plans that are designed to address the specific behavior needs of individual children. These plans are based on the tenets of applied behavior analysis (ABA), which form the foundation of PBS. The positive behavior plans should be based on functional understanding of each child’s antecedents and consequences that lead to the emergence of the challenging behaviors. One of the main factors to consider when developing these positive behavior plans is that they should be customized for each child with autism. Every child with autism should be treated individually because he or she may differ with other children with the same condition. Based on these individual differences, a standard positive behavior plan may not be appropriate. The positive behavior plan for autism has three main parts. The first part involves the antecedent and setting event supports/strategies. In this part, the special education teacher works with other stakeholders such as the child’s parents to identify events or environments that trigger the interfering behavior (Kern & Clarke, 2005, p. 202). The second part entails teaching new behaviors. In this part, focus shifts to teaching the child with autism new skills. According to Halle, J., Bambara, L., M., & Reichle, J. (2005, p. 238), these alternative skills can be general adaptive skills, tolerance and coping skills, or replacement skills. The general adaptive skills include skills that teach the children with autism to change conditions or situations associated with specific challenging behaviors hence eliminating the need for such behaviors. For example, the special education teacher can teach a child with autism how to tackle simple mathematical problems that would eliminate the need for engaging in disruptive behavior in an attempt to seek assistance. Tolerance and coping skills enable children with autism to cope with challenging situations effectively without developing disruptive behavior. These skills are necessary when avoiding such difficult situations is not good. For example, the teacher may need to teach to child to wait for her turn to play a game instead of disrupting other children unnecessarily. Finally, the replacement skills serve similar functions as the challenging behaviors. Usually, replacement skills are socially acceptable. For example, rather than become aggressive to obtain assistance in class, the special education teacher could teach a child with autism to ask for assistance politely. The final part involves reinforcement of new behavior. After acquiring or learning the new behavior, the next step is for the teacher to reinforce the new behavior such that it becomes the norm. III. Positive Behavior Support Plans for Teachers Special education teachers providing behavior support for children with autism need to acquire the skills, knowledge, and capacity to discharge their duties effectively. Staff development is one of the core factors in PBS intervention. Staff development entails equipping the positive behavior support staff with the knowledge, skills, and capacity to provide PBS interventions for the children with behavioral problems. Usually, the training is well structured and organized. Specifically, the training is organized into three parts including pre-service training, ongoing training, and individual behavior support plans. To have a better understanding of the training needs for support staff, it is worth examining the PBS three-tier level (see diagram 1 below). Diagram 1: PBS Three-Tier Model Source: (Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 8). Primary prevention –this first tier is also referred to as the universal tier. It involves prevention plans whose goal is to prevent harm from occurring. At this level, the prevention plan targets all children enrolled in a school. No screening or referrals are needed at this primary level, which allows any child to join. A good example of a primary prevention plan is adopting policies to prohibit bullying and violent behavior (Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 8). Secondary prevention – the secondary tier is also referred to as selective tier because it focuses on specialized groups rather than the entire student population. For instance, the secondary tier will focus on children with autism alone. Therefore, there is screening to ensure that only children with autism are included in the secondary PBS intervention. The secondary prevention is more intensive and focused than the primary prevention. The goal of secondary intervention is reversing harm (Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 8). Tertiary prevention –the top most level, tertiary or individualized tier, is narrower and most intensive. It focuses on students who do not respond effectively to the primary and secondary prevention efforts. These students typically have complex behavioral problems, which require more intensive and individualized interventions. The goal of the tertiary prevention is reducing harm (Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 8). 1. Pre-Service Training Pre-service training, as the name suggests, is offered before the PBS implementation begins. This training is primarily meant to familiarize the positive behavior support staff with PBS and its basic elements. The pre-service training is offered to a section of the staff who will then train the other staff members. This training could be provided by an internal or external person with PBS knowledge and experience. With regard to special education teachers providing behavior support to children with autism, the pre-service training would include the introduction to PBS and the logic behind it. Additionally, the pre-service training would include components of PBS implementation such as functional behavior assessment, ABC (antecedent, behavior, consequence) model, teaching alternative skills, and PBS strategies among others (McKevitt &Braaksma, 2008, p. 738). The overall purpose of pre-service training is to equip the special education teachers will the knowledge, understanding, skills, and capacity to implement the PBS interventions. 2. Ongoing Training Apart from the pre-service training, the positive behavior support staff will also need on-going training. The on-going training takes place as the PBS intervention is being implemented. This training is meant to boost the capacity of the PBS staff after the pre-service training. Specifically, this training provides new information and any changes that need to be implemented as part of the PBS intervention (McKevitt & Braaksma, 2008, p. 738). It is worth noting that the PBS framework comprises of three levels including the primary, secondary and tertiary levels (see Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 8). Therefore, when implementing the PBS intervention for children with autism, the on-going training will be crucial in ensuring that the special education teachers help the children to transition effectively from one level to another. For example, the ongoing training may focus on the specific sub-population of autism. The special education teacher would need additional training on autism because this is the specific area that he or she is dealing with. The teacher would need training on autism to enhance his or her understanding of the autism condition, its characteristics, and any other aspect of the condition that would be instrumental in providing behavioral support for the children with autism. It is important to note that at this level, the PBS implementation will be at the secondary level where focus shifts from the universal level to the group level where students with autism and displaying similar behavior patterns are included (Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 9). 3. Training On Individual Behavior Support Plans Based on the three-tier PBS model, the next level of staff development of PBS staff entails training on individual behavior support plans. At this level, the training is narrowed down to the direct support providers rather than the group. Just like in the tertiary level of the PBS model where focus is narrowed down to individuals (see Lane, Kalberg & Menzies, 2013, p. 9), the training is narrowed down to individual support providers. This training starts with the process of functional behavioral assessment. The author of the plan trains the individual support staff on how to go about functional behavioral assessment including aspects of individual focus and emphasis on prevention among others. The special education teachers are trained on the behavior support plans to enable them implement the plans to each child with autism. The author of the plan/trainer then monitors the implementation through various methods including data collection, staff interviews, and observations. Finally, based on the outcomes from the monitoring process, the direct care staff (special education teachers) is then taken through a retraining of the behavior support plan to ensure they are well versed and fully capable of implementing it (Sincoff, 2008). IV. Evidence-Based Practices Although it is widely agreed that PBS intervention for children with autism should be individually-based, there is need for supporting the intervention strategies and roles of special education teachers based on evidence-based practices. Evidence-based practice is a concept that implies an intervention strategy is grounded in scientific research that is reliable. Evidence-based practices can be derived from scientific journals that have undergone peer review and that apply single-subject design studies, randomized studies, quasi-experimental studies, and or a combination of evidence (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2011). In the positive behavior support for children with autism, several evidence-based practices have been identified. Some of these include; i. Prompting –this is a teaching strategy based on behavior where the support staff assists the child with autism to perform an activity or task. Various types of prompts can be use based on level and type of assistance needed. These include verbal prompts, gesture prompts, and physical prompts. For example, the special education teacher can use verbal prompts to teach a child with autism a task such as asking questions or raising hands (Odom et al., 2003).Special education teachers can therefore use different types of prompts when providing PBS interventions to children with autism at any level of the intervention. ii. Time delay –this strategy entails waiting for some few seconds, up to 10 seconds, after issuing the instruction before prompting the response or answer from the child with autism. For example, a special education teacher may instruct a child with autism to pick a ball of a specific color. Before prompting the child, the teacher waits for several seconds (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2011). iii. Reinforcement –reinforcement techniques are used by positive behavior support staff to either increase or reduce the likelihood of a learner repeating a particular behavior. This is usually based on rewards. These rewards can take various forms such as words, toys, and other non-verbal aspects. The special education teacher can use these rewards to reinforce a positive learned behavior in a child with autism (Odom et al., 2003). For example, when a child with autism learns a new skill, the special education teacher can reinforce that skill by clapping every other time the child repeats the skill. This encourages the child to continue mastering the skill until it becomes part of him. iv. Visual supports – visual supports are used to provide visual cues or prompts to children with autism. The visual supports can be in the form of diagrams or pictures, which the prompts the learners to perform a particular task or stop it. Multiple studies have shown that the use of visual support by positive behavior support staff such as special education teachers can be effective in creating positive behavior patterns (Odom et al., 2003). v. Peer-mediated intervention – in this evidence-based practice, normal children are taught to engage with children with autism to enhance their ability to socialize and communicate effectively (Odom et al., 2003). Based on this evidence-based practice, special education teachers can actually use normal children to help the children with autism develop positive behavior indirectly. This practice would be suitable in the primary/universal intervention level of the PBS model where normal children are put together with children with autism in a school-based environment. vi. Functional behavior assessment – this is a systematic approach to determine the antecedent for negative behavior among children with autism. The approach is important in developing an appropriate intervention plan for specific children with autism. In applying the functional behavior assessment, the special education teacher describes the specific problem behavior, then identifies the antecedent and or consequent events controlling the behavior, and finally develops and tests an appropriate hypothesis for the particular behavior (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2011). vii. Parent/family involvement – scientific research has shown that parents or family members can be effective in providing positive behavior support for children with behavior problems. In fact, most positive behavior models include the parent or family as part of the support group. Therefore, special education teachers dealing with children with autism can involve the parents and families of the children in the PBS intervention through training and facilitation (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2011). V. Presenting Related Research Studies Several studies have been conducted in the field of positive behavior support for autism with a focus on special education teacher. One such study is Sustaining Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS)by Pressley Johnson. In this single case qualitative study, Johnson aimed to determine the sustainability of PBIS (positive behavior interventions and supports) model as a model for managing behavior in schools. The case study was based on middle school located in North Caroline and spanned a period of six years. The findings from the study provided support for the sustainability of PBIS. The study also established that teacher buy-in was an important element of this sustainability. Apparently, the sustainability of PBIS was based on getting teacher buy-in, communication, teacher voice, teacher leadership, commitment, and program effectiveness. When teachers felt that the PBIS was owned or forced on them by the school administration, they were less committed to it, which adversely affected its sustainability (Johnson, 2014). This study provides support for the PBS intervention strategies for special education teachers dealing with children with autism. The study emphasizes the effectiveness of the PBS interventions in helping such children overcome the disruptive behaviors and adopt positive behaviors. However, the findings emphasize the centrality of the teacher in the PBS intervention. From the onset, the special education teacher must be actively involved in designing the PBS plan and in its implementation. If the teacher is not actively involved from the beginning, there is a high chance that the intervention will fail because the teacher will not feel a sense of ownership and commitment to the program. Another study to determine the perception of teachers regarding PBIS had interesting findings and implications. The study involved K-12 teachers who were randomly selected from the State of Mississippi and were issues with a perception survey containing 32 questions, which were based on five research questions. The five research questions sought to determine the significance of four factors in influencing the teacher perception of PBIS. The four factors included number of years in teaching, number of years with PBIS experience, level of education attained, and socioeconomic status of the learners. The final research question sought to determine which among the four factors was the most significant in determining the perception of teachers regarding PBIS. The study established that most of the factors were not significant in determining how teachers perceived PBIS. However, it emerged that the number of years that PBIS had been implemented at school was the most significant. This finding implies that teachers’ perception of PBIS was largely influenced by the length of time that PBIS had been implemented in the school (Thornton,2012).Linking these findings to the findings of the previous study, it appears that gaining teacher buy-in would be easier in schools that have already had PBIS for longer periods. Perhaps this has to do with the issue of teacher competence and capacity. In a school where PBIS has been implemented for long, the teacher is likely to be committed to the program because he or she has some level of confidence that the program is effective. However, if the PBIS is new, the teacher may feel less confident about its effectiveness. VI. Discussion From the extensive review of literature above, it is apparent that the special education teacher plays a significant role in positive behavior intervention and support for children with autism. Although there are many other stakeholders involved including parents, professionals, and school administration, the teacher is at the core of the intervention. This highlights the importance of teacher-related factors in the PBS interventions such as teacher buy-in, teacher commitment, and teacher capacity to provide the support interventions. While all these factors are relevant and important, the buy-in of the teacher seems to be the most significant. Special education teachers need to have the conviction that PBS will work and that they can be influential in ensuring that it works. It is incumbent upon school administrations and other stakeholders to ensure this by providing the necessary support to the special education teachers. First, the school administration should support the special education teachers by providing and facilitating training in PBS. This training equips the teachers with the knowledge, skills, and capacity to provide the necessary support to children with autism. This training should be continuous. Apart from equipping them with the knowledge and skills, the training will also boost the confidence of the special education teachers in their ability to implement successful PBIS for children with autism. Second, the school administration should allow the special education teachers to play an active and leading role in the PBIS. As it has emerged from Johnson’s (2014) study, the sustainability and effectiveness of PBIS is largely based on whether the special education teachers are allowed to exercise leadership and have a voice in the intervention. Since these special education teachers are directly involved with the children, they should feel that they are in control rather than being controlled. Finally, teacher buy-in can be achieved through providing adequate resources. The success of PBS is not only tied to the teacher’s perceptions and commitment. It is also affected by other factors including the availability of resources and alignment with school policies. In conclusion, the review of literature has highlighted the need for special education teachers to adopt evidence-based practices. There are many evidence-based practices that these teachers can apply to ensure the success of the supportive interventions with children with autism. These evidence-based practices have been proven to be effective in other situations. This implies that such evidence-based practices could also be effective in different situations. Therefore, the training on PBS should also incorporate training on the various evidence-based practices. VII. References Halle, J., Bambara, L., M., & Reichle, J. (2005). Teaching alternative skills. In L. M. Bambara & L. Kem (Eds.), Individualized supports for students with problem behaviors: Designing positive behavior plans (237-274). New York: Guilford Press. Horner, R., H. (2000). Positive behavior supports. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 15(2), 97-105. Johnson, J., P. (2014). Sustaining positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS). Western Carolina University. Kern, L., & Clarker, S. (2005). Antecedent and setting event interventions. In L. M. Bambara & L. Kem (Eds.), Individualized supports for students with problem behaviors: Designing positive behavior plans (201-236). New York: Guilford Press. Lane, K., L., Kalberg, J., R., & Menzies, H., M. (2013). Developing schoolwide programs to prevent and manage problem behaviors: A step-by-set approach. New York: Guilford Publications. McKevitt, B., C., & Braaksma, A., D. (2008). Best practices in developing a positive behavior support system at the school level. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best Practices in Psychology V 3 (735-747). 5th Ed. National Association of School Psychologists. Neitzel, J. (2010). Positive behavior supports for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders. Preventing School Failure, 54(4), 247-255. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2011). Evidence-based practices in educating children with autism. Retrieved from http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/disability-resources/autism-spectrum-disorders/evidence-based.pdf Odom, S. L., Brown, W. H., Frey, T., Karasu, N., Smith-Canter, L. L., & Strain, P. S. (2003). Evidence-based practices for young children with autism contributions for single-subject design research. Focus on autism and other developmental disabilities, 18(3), 166-175. Sincoff, D. (2008). Staff training for behavior supports. Retrieved from http://www.opra.org/clientuploads/Education/2012/2012%20Spring%20Conference/Session%20Materials/Day%20Two/Sincoff,%20David%20-%20Session%2029%20-%20presentation.pdf Thornton, L. J. S. (2012). Teacher perceptions regarding positive behavior intervention support (Order No. 3514721). 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