2/15/19
1
Bridging Roles to Support Young Children with Challenging Behavior
Charis Lauren Price, PhD, BCBA-D (not present)Cheryl Light Shriner, PhD, BCBA-D
Dani Pizzella, M.Ed., BCBA
BCBA Type 2 Credits
Agenda●Introductions●Scenario●Overview of ABA Dimensions, DEC Recommended Practices, and MTSS●Toolkit○Strategy 1○Strategy 2○Strategy 3
●Small Group “Breakout” ●Closing
Introductions● Cheryl Light Shriner, PhD, BCBA-D, Teaching Assistant Professor of Special
Education, University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana
● Dani Pizzella, M.S.Ed, BCBA, Applied Behavior Analysis Administrator for Special School District of St. Louis County, and doctoral student at the University of Missouri St. Louis
● Charis Lauren Price, PhD, BCBA-D, Assistant Professor of Special Education, The Ohio State University (not present)
● Audience Survey (next slides)
Audience Survey
Scenario IntroductionA new student, Madison, begins in your early childhood preschool classroom shortly after she turns 3.
She is bright, curious, and has many interests. She is also aggressive towards peers. Seemingly out of nowhere, she will hit, kick, and bite other students.
Parents are worried and concerned since the school administrator has stated that this may not be the correct placement for Madison.
You refer Madison for an assessment by the district’s behavior support specialist who is a BCBA. The BCBA attends an introductory meeting to meet the IEP team.
2/15/19
2
Scenario: Meeting the IEP TeamAt the IEP team meeting, the district’s BCBA is introduced to the team members. The following people are at the meeting: Madison’s father, OT, SLP, You (Madison’s teacher), a paraprofessional who assists in the classroom setting, the school principal (administrator), and the district’s behavior support specialist/BCBA.
After introductions, the BCBA asks the team to talk about the problem behaviors and why they think the problems are occurring (their best guess).
You (the teacher): She is very aggressive but I really think Madison is just adjusting to a new environment and needs a little more time to learn the routines. She may not like what we are doing and maybe she doesn’t understand what she is supposed to do and why.
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team Continued
TA: She has been here a couple of weeks now and I think she just doesn’t know that it is wrong to hit others. I always tell her she shouldn’t be doing that and make her apologize. She can’t get by with that behavior here.
OT: I think she is overreacting to the loudness of the environment and gets anxious. I see her kicking and yelling at other children when they are loud. Whenever I see this in the classroom, I send her to the calm down corner which is in a quieter corner of the classroom. She seems to calm down there, if she stays. Sometimes, we have to chase her back.
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team ContinuedSLP: She definitely has trouble expressing herself with words. If she is not interested in changing activities or if another child take a toy she wants, she is more likely to act first (yell or hit or kick) rather than use verbal language to protest. She and I are working on producing sounds of words. She does not have many functional spoken words yet. I am still assessing her receptive communication skills.
Madison’s Dad: I am so sorry that Madison is behaving this way. She is an only child and I’m afraid she does not have to share her toys or our attention with anyone else at home. I think she just needs to learn how to play and be around other children. We really do not see much yelling or aggression at home.
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team Continued
BCBA: Thank you! This is very helpful information. Throughout my FBA, I will need to talk with each of you individually and collect some observational data to determine a better hypothesis of function before we can discuss possible behavior intervention. My beginning steps will be to operationally define the target behaviors, interview key people on the team, have you collect scatterplot and ABC data to identify triggers and maintaining consequences, and to conduct a reinforcer assessment to identify effective reinforcers. In addition, I will conduct behavioral observations….
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team ContinuedBCBA: ...Then we can come together again for me to present the results of my assessments, and I can present the hypothesis of function for each of the operationally defined behaviors you have identified. Then, I will propose some function-based interventions that address the functions of behavior. At this point, this team can make decisions about what interventions fit the environment and skill level of the implementers. The next step would be to develop the behavior support plan, data collection systems, and schedule training for the entire team on how to implement the behavioral supports and how to collect data on Madison’s behavior and progress. How does that sound to everyone?
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team Continued
2/15/19
3
Comments from Team Members: Huh? FBA? What type of interviews? What will I have to do and how long will it take? Scatterplot? ABC? Reinforcers (like M & Ms)? Functions? Operational Definitions? What kind of support options? What type of training? Will there be a lot of data collection? We do not have much time throughout the day to do this. This sounds like it will take a very long time. What are we supposed to do if she bites someone while you are doing the assessment? I thought you would tell us what we can do right now to fix the problem.
Scenario: Meeting the IEP Team Continued Scenario: BCBA Thoughts About the Meeting
● Not all team members agree on problem behaviors or reason child
demonstrates the problem behaviors.
● Not all team members understand terms, definitions, or FBA and BIP
process
● Everyone has a different idea of what to do or what is necessary to
develop appropriate behavioral supports to address challenging behavior
● The team members have differing thoughts and experiences with data
collection
Scenario: BCBA Thoughts About the Meeting
● What strategies can the team use to find common ground in order to develop an appropriate behavior support plan?
Overview of ABA Dimensions, DEC
Recommended Practices, and MTSS
Rationale for Bridging Roles● Increase of young children with challenging behavior entering early
childhood classrooms (Burgess, Chien, Morrissey, & Swenson, 2014)● Teachers may have limited knowledge and training to support children
with persistent challenging behaviors (Snell, Berlin, Voorhees, Stanton-Chapman, & Hadden, 2012)
● Increased incidence of preschool suspension and expulsion (Gilliam, 2005; U.S. Department of Education, 2017)
● Collaborative partnerships increase the likelihood that practitioners fluently implement evidence-based practices with fidelity (Division for Early Childhood, 2017)
ABA Dimensions (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968)● Applied: Socially significant problems, natural settings● Behavioral: Identify behaviors that are observable and measurable.● Analytic: Identify & systematically demonstrate how events affect the
problem behavior. ● Technological: Define & describe terms, concepts, & interventions for
shared understanding & replicability. Procedures are precisely defined for implementation.
● Conceptual Systems: Apply interventions that are consistent with behavioral principles.
● Effective: Interventions produce socially significant change in behavior ● Generality: Changes in behavior is evident across conditions.
2/15/19
4
DEC Recommended Practices● L3. Leaders develop and implement policies, structures, and practices that
promote shared decision making with practitioners and families.● L12. Leaders collaborate with stakeholders to collect and use data for
program management and continuous program improvement and to examine the effectiveness of services and supports in improving child and family outcomes.
● A11. Practitioners report assessment results so that they are understandable and useful to families.
● INS9. Practitioners use functional assessment and related prevention, promotion, and intervention strategies across environments to prevent and address challenging behavior.
DEC Recommended Practices● TC1. Practitioners representing multiple disciplines and families work
together as a team to plan and implement supports and services to meet the unique needs of each child and family.
● TC2. Practitioners and families work together as a team to systematically and regularly exchange expertise, knowledge, and information to build team capacity and jointly solve problems, plan, and implement interventions.
● TC3. Practitioners use communication and group facilitation strategies to enhance team functioning and interpersonal relationships with and among team members.
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support● PBIS is closely related to ABA and includes all 7
dimensions of behavior analysis (Horner & Sugai, 2015)● Role of behavior analysts typically considered as Tier 3
support as opposed to Tier 1 or Tier 2 supports (Putnam & Kincaid, 2015)
● Collaboration with behavior analysts in Tiers 1 and 2 can reduce number need for Tier 3 supports (Putnam & Kincaid, 2015)
● Appropriate use of MTSS can reduce discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, when behavior analysts involved, these areas can decrease further (Horner & Sugai, 2015, Putnam & Kincaid, 2015)
The Pyram id M odel Toolkit
Strategy OneTeam members discuss terminology used related to problem
behaviors, how to define and measure problem behaviors, how to determine the function of problem behavior.
Strategy One: Guiding Questions to Consider
● What words do team members use related to problem behaviors and how do these words differ among team members?
● What is the common understanding among team members about functional behavior assessment as a first step to addressing behavior behaviors?
● Have all team members agreed upon a target behavior that can be observed and measured?
2/15/19
5
Strategy One Continued
What words do team members use related to problem behaviors and how do these words differ among team members?
● Different disciplines have different terminology related to behavior● Commonly many words describe the same thing● Misunderstandings of terminology can easily lead to conflict within teams● Essential to find a common language
Price, C. L., Light-Shriner, S., Pizzella, D. (2019, February). Bridging roles to support young
children with challenging behavior. Session presented at Association for
Positive Behavior Support. W ashington DC.
Strategy One Continued
What is the common understanding among team members about functional behavior assessment as a first step to addressing behavior behaviors?
● Steps of FBA process should be clearly defined for the team● Identifying and defining target behaviors essential first step in FBA (The
Division for Early Childhood, 2014). ● Behaviors should be observable and measurable, should avoid
hypothetical constructs
Strategy One Continued
● Data collections procedures should be clearly explained and defined (ABC data, scatter plot, etc)
● All team members should understand how tools help identify function (importance of interviews, observational data, and historical records)
Child/Student: Kyle Observers: Billy, Bobby, and Cindy Dates of Data Collection: 2/15-2/22
Target Behavior: Aggression Operational Definition (What does the behavior look like?) Aggression- any instance or attempt at hitting, kicking, pinching, or biting
Behavior Did Not Occur Behavior Occurred 1 or 2 times
Behavior Occurred 3+ times ------ No Opportunity to observe/document
Time Scheduled Activity Dates
9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 9/22
8:00-8:10 Arrival ------------ ----------
8:10-8:30 Choice Time
8:30-8:45 Circle Time (Group)
8:45-9:15 Centers
9:15-9:30 Bathroom ---------- ----------
9:30-10:00 Snack
10:00-10:30 Gross Motor
10:30-10:45 Individual Skill / Special
10:45-11:15 Group
11:15-11:30 Departure routine
Price, C. L., Light-Shriner, S., Pizzella, D. (2019, February). Bridging roles to support young
children with challenging behavior. Session presented at Association for
Positive Behavior Support. W ashington DC.
2/15/19
6
Strategy One Continued
How are FBA results and implications shared and discussed with the team?
● All members input included● Results should be easily understandable● Hypothesis statement then created● Hypothesis should be a consensus of team member but also should align
with data
Strategy TwoTeam members share expertise, discuss recommendations, and
together develop a behavior support plan that includes evidence-based interventions.
Strategy Two: Guiding Questions to Consider● How are FBA results and implications (hypothesis statements, environmental
variables, events, consequences) shared and discussed with the team?● What does the team understand about evidence-based interventions and
practices to address the function of problem behaviors?● What is the common ground among team members related to acceptable and
feasible interventions for each unique setting?● Have all team members offered recommendations and been involved in the
development of the final behavior support plan?
Strategy Two Continued● How are FBA results and implications (hypothesis statements, environmental
variables, events, consequences) shared and discussed with the team?
Strategy Two Continued● What does the team understand about evidence-based interventions and
practices to address the function of problem behaviors?
Strategy Two Continued● What is the common ground among team members related to acceptable and
feasible interventions for each unique setting?
2/15/19
7
Strategy Two Continued● Have all team members offered recommendations and been involved in the
development of the final behavior support plan?
Strategy Two Continued● BCBA presents evidence-based options for specific functions of behaviors.
(examples)
● Team members share expertise, discuss recommendations, and together develop a behavior support plan that includes evidence-based interventions.
● Team can use Planning Tool to fill in interventions that fit the environment and situations in Madison’s classroom, school, and perhaps home.
Strategy ThreeTeam members reliably implement the behavior support plan within natural settings and collect data to monitor outcomes and behavior
changes.
Strategy 3: Guiding Questions to Consider● Have all aspects of the early childhood environment and team members’
responsibilities been considered within the behavior support plan?● Have all team members received sufficient training on how to implement
the behavior support plan, and been provided with sufficient supports while implementing the behavior support plan?
● Have data on the problem behavior and alternative behaviors been collected to monitor progress?
2/15/19
8
Strategy Three ContinuedHave all aspects of the early childhood environment and team members’ responsibilities been considered within the behavior support plan?
Before implementing a behavior plan, the team should ensure:
● Behavioral objectives are clearly defined and should include:○ The conditions under which the expected behavior will occur○ The target (replacement) behavior○ The mastery criteria
● Teaching times are identified○ When and how is best to work on replacement behaviors○ When to work on generalization
Strategy Three ContinuedHave all team members received sufficient training on how to implement the behavior support plan, and been provided with sufficient supports while implementing the behavior support plan?
● All members of the team should be trained● Self monitoring should occur with a procedural checklist● Team members can conduct integrity checks● Behavior analyst and other highly trained team members should be readily
available to provide support in the beginning of the new plan
Step Task Was the step implemented? Yes
(Y) or No (N)?
1 Prior to math, the teacher reminds Kyle that he can request a break. For example, the teacher says, “Remember when you want a break during math, you can say ‘break’ (teacher points to the ‘break’ symbol on
Kyle’s visual schedule).
Y / N
2 During math, Kyle’s teacher notices that he begins to demonstrate signaling behaviors (i.e., hand flapping).
Y / N
3 Kyle is given the verbal direction by his teacher, “Remember when you want a break during math,you can say ‘break’ (teacher points to the ‘break’ symbol on Kyle’s visual schedule).
Y / N
Strategy Three ContinuedHave data on the problem behavior and alternative behaviors been collected to monitor progress?
● Data should be collect on BOTH problem behaviors and replacement behaviors
● The team should continue to meet every few weeks to monitor progress and answer questions that may arise
● If behaviors are not decreasing or increasing as planned, plan should be modified
Small Group Breakout
In Break Out Groups - Think about and write notes
on the handout….● What are the main issues with the initial meeting in the scenario?● What guiding question were most helpful in determining the needs of the
team?● What are some strategies that could be used to improve the initial and
subsequent meeting of Madison’s IEP team? What tools were helpful?● Which ABA Dimensions can be addressed within the team process and the
behavior support plan?
2/15/19
9
Small Group Breakout - Handout Small Group Breakout - Handout
Report Out
● What are the main issues with the initial meeting in the scenario?● What guiding question were most helpful in determining the needs of the
team?● What are some strategies that could be used to improve the initial and
subsequent meeting of Madison’s IEP team? What tools were helpful?● Which ABA Dimensions can be addressed within the team process and the
behavior support plan?
To wrap up...We hope that following this presentation you are able to:
● Identify ways to bridge the knowledge and skills across the roles of the members of the IEP team.
● Use specific questions and collaboration tools to to help all team members have a voice and role in providing behavior supports for young children.
● To align supports and interventions with ABA Dimensions and Professional Recommended Practices
Questions or Comments?
Thank you!Charis Price, PhD, BCBA-D
Cheryl Light Shriner, PhD, BCBA-D
Dani Pizzella, M.S.Ed, BCBA
2/15/19
10
ReferencesBurgess, K., Chien, N., Morrissey, T., & Swenson, K. (2014). Trends in the use of
early care and education, 1995–2011: Descriptive analysis of child care arrangements from national survey data. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (2017). Position statement on interventions for challenging behavior, [Online]. Available: www.decsped.org
Gilliam, W. S. (2005). Prekindergartners left behind: Expulsion rates in the state prekindergarten programs. New Haven, CT: Yale University Child Study Center.
ReferencesHorner, R. H., & Sugai, G. (2015). School-wide PBIS: An example of applied
behavior analysis implemented at a scale of social importance. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8(1), 80-85. doi:10.1007/s40617-015-0045-4
Price, C. L., Light-Shriner, C. L., Pizzella, D. M. (2018). Using collaborative strategies to bridge perspectives on behavioral interventions with preschoolers with disabilities. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Putnam, R. F., & Kincaid, D. (2015). School-wide PBIS: extending the impact of applied behavior analysis. Why is this important to behavior analysts?. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8(1), 88-91. doi:10.1007/s40617-015-0055-2
ReferencesSnell, M. E., Berlin, R. A., Voorhees, M. D., Stanton-Chapman, T. L., & Hadden,
S. (2012). A survey of preschool staff concerning problem behavior and its prevention in Head Start classrooms. Journal of Positive BehaviorInterventions, 14(2), 98-107.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (2017, January). Dear Colleague: Preschool LRE. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/preschool-lre-dcl-1-10-17.pdf
Recommended