Description of Behavioral Concern - Example

Positive Behavior Intervention Support Plan Student Name: Troy Clever Date: 22. 10. 2014 Student Number: 34123 Teacher of Record: Mr. Gilbert Student Grade: School: GC Academy Step 1: Description of Behavioral Concern Troy Clever has difficulties in interacting with peers. This has been the major challenge for him in class activities, sports activities and playing with the peers in the apartments play court at home. According the observation that was made in the classroom, the following behaviours were identified: a) Troy does not give time to the peers to complete their turns during the different social games. b) Troy does not listen to the teacher when he does mistake c) Troy uses offensive language to both the adults and the peers, the teacher estimates that this behaviour happens at a frequency of 3 out of 5 times in a social activity. Step 2: Functional Behavior Assessment Data Setting Events: Activity table where students are learning social skills of taking turns by completing of puzzle and stacking games. Antecedents: Mr. Gilbert, the class teacher monitors Troy, he asks him to follow the provided class order. Functions: Taking turns and listening: Troy clever, is impatient and unwilling to listen to the teacher, he gets annoyed easily. Step 3: Replacement behaviors and methods to teach replacement behaviors (Task Analysis) The skills of taking turns and listening will be taught to Troy. Teaching will be conducted by a teacher with special skill training. The teaching will employ Positive Behaviour Support Strategy and Discrete Trial Teaching Strategy (DTTS) that are supposed to reinforce the skills to Troy and enhance social skills. The social skills teaching will be integrated to daily social activities in which Troy is involved. This will include during sports, and at class work. The teaching will also include a programme in which the parents will be involved in monitoring and reinforcing the identified positive behaviour to Troy. The teaching of the skills will include the following activities: I. Cooperative story telling II. Field activities (sports) III. Board games IV. Video and computer games In the various activities, Troy will follow the following instructions: i. Listen to the teachers instructions ii. Give turn when requested iii. Raising the hand and request requesting for favors instead of demanding. iv. Always following the instructions the instructor has given. Step 4: Proactive Strategies (Positive Behaviour Support Strategy and Discrete Trial Teaching Strategy) The proactive strategies are core in the management of challenging behaviours, they make sure that the person gets what they need. In a behaviour support plan, the needs of the person act as reinforcers to the positive behaviour change (Champlin, 2009). A. To develop the social skills, both the positive behaviour support strategy and discrete trial teaching will be used. The discrete trial method will entail dividing the teaching process into antecedent, prompting and responses (Ruef, Higgins & Glaeser, 2000). The positive responses will be rewarded by earning points.. This will be designed as a token economy process in which tokens will be exchanged for the back up reinforcers during the social activities. In each section, a positive consequence response will earn Troy points. Five (5) points will be given for positive response. An accumulation of 25 points will qualify Troy 10 extra minutes in activity of interest. Consistency on awarding points will be maintained. According to Matson and Boisjoli (2009) consistency helps in motivating the learner and reinforces the positive behaviour. The tokens (points) will be renewed depending on the needs of Troy. This will be depended on need adjustment in which the difficulties in behaviour will be determinants of the demand and hence influence the supply (Filcheck et al, 2004). For example, if Troy masters positive behaviour in the activities, the points for earning tokens will be raised. For example, When Troy earns the 25 points for five consecutive activities; the points will be revised for the 25 points to result to 5 minutes reinforcement, instead of 10, this will keep on being adjusted until he achieves 100% consistency. B. To ensure success of the intervention strategies, the reinforcers will be developed in a participatory manner in which Troy will be involved in the development of the reinforcers. The benefits (reinfrocers) include activities of interest to Troy. The activities are aimed at enhancing the social skills; the peers will be included in the program to enhance the skills. C. The design of the intervention plan for Troy will involve the class teacher, the parents and other teachers. The teachers and parents will be providing feedback on the progress in different class activities that Troy is involved in. Step 5: Positive Methods to Modify the Environment Social skills of taking turns and listening influence how an individual interacts with other people, and the likeability of the individual. It through likeability, that an individual gains acceptance. A research conducted by Cooke et al (2007) found that children with good social skills were found to be happier and readily accepted by other children; they could be admitted in games faster compared to the children who had not learned the skill. Poor social skills in class interferes with the learning environment of the others students. For positive behaviour change to be achieved, the learning environment should be conducive for the learners to express themselves in a positive manner (Feinstein, 2003). To modify the learning environment the following steps will be implemented. A. Troy will be given opportunity to choose when he wants to take turn. (For example in the activity room, Troy will choose whether to be the first or the second in the activity that involves taking turns). However, the opportunity does not mean he can take turn during other students’ turn. B. The instructors will sit next to troy in the different activities, this will allow him to request for an activity without shouting. It will also draw his attention and make concentrate on listening to the teacher. Step 6: Reactive Strategies Reactive strategies are developed to ensure that the negative behaviours exhibited are managed. An example of a reactive strategy is giving reminder to a student whenever she/ he goes against the set code of behaviour (Champlin, 2009). A. If Troy exhibits, negative behaviour, the teacher will remind him by deducting the already earned points and advices him to work hand to regain the points. B. Troy will be prompted by teacher to retract and relax which will allow him to make a request. Positive de-escalation technique will earn him extra points (i.e. he will gain the lost points and an extra point). The reactive strategy is aimed at reducing behaviours that the teachers have identified as negative. The reduction in the negative behaviours and improvement in the desired behaviors normally improve the child performance and is a precursor towards achieving the required skill (Doggett, 2001). C. The de-escalating steps the teacher is to use in prompting Troy to retract to positive behaviour will include: i. Use a friendly tone and calmly remind troy of losing points due to the negative behaviour. ii. Tell him the right thing he should have done. iii. Award him a token (point) if he listens and obeys to the direction. iv. Encourage the other students to congratulate him whenever he does the right thing (note: This should be done in a manner that does not interrupt the normal class process). Step 7: Progress Monitoring The reinforcement programme will be aimed at improving the Troy’s behaviours both in the classroom and during other outdoor activities. This will ensure that Troy is motivated to participate in the class work activities and in interaction activities at the field in a positive manner. To gauge whether Troy is acquiring the intended skills the following will be used as pointers to progress a) Troy Clever ability to earn 25 points in five consecutive activities in which he will have demonstrated ability to interact with other students, i.e. giving them time to take turn in the activities and listening to teachers corrections. b) The parent will provide data to the class teacher on weekly basis detailing how he has been interacting with the little sister and other children in the play court. c) In the various class and school field activities, the teacher will also gather data on the ways troy interacts with other children. d) Gathered data will be analysed after every two weeks to determine whether there was positive progress. This data will act as pointer to areas of change in the program. e) On mastering the required behaviour, strategies will be set to reinforce the acquired trait and ensure that he does not retracts to the bad behaviour. Step 8: Intervention Outcome The teacher in charge, Troy’s parents and Troy will discuss the outcome of the intervention at five weeks interval. The progress achieved will be quantified in percentage of what has been achieved in various activities. References Champlin, G. (2009). Proactive and reactive strategies. Wyomissing Behaviour Analysts, Ltd. Cooke, M., Ford, J., Levine, J. Bourke, C, Newell, L and Lapidus, G. (2007). The effects of citywide on implementation of ‘Second Step’ on elementary school students’ pro social and aggressive behaviours. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 28 (2), pp. 93-115. Doggett, R. Edwards, R., Moore, J. and Tingstrom, D. (2001). An approach to functional assessment in general education classroom setting. School Psychology Review, 3 (3), pp. 313-328. Feinstein, S. (2003). School wide positive behaviour supports. Journal of Correctional Education, 1(1), pp. 163-173. Filcheck, H. A., McNeil, C. B., Greco, L. A., and Bernard, R. S. (2004). Using a whole-class token economy and coaching of teacher skills in a preschool classroom to manage disruptive behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 41, 351-361. Jiron, A., Brogle, B. and Giacomini, J. (2013). How to teach your child to take turns. Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention (TACSB), 1 (1), pp. 1-7. Matson, J. L., and Boisjoli, J. A. (2009). The token economy for children with intellectual disability and/or autism: A review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30, 240-248. Ruef, M, Higgins, C and Glaeser, E. (2000). Positive behaviour support strategies for teachers. Intervention in School and Clinic, 34 (1), pp. 21-32. Read More