Behavior Assessment, Plans, and Positive Supports

Behavior as Communication

• Why does my kid do that?
  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/behaviorprob_qt/assessing_motivation.pdf
  This document helps you find the reasons behind misbehavior in children. 

• What does defiant behavior mean?
  www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/inclusivecommunities/challenging_behavior.html
  PBS offers many resources for parents of children with disabilities, including this brief called Challenging Behavior in Children.

• Behavior serves a purpose.
  http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/
  The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) offers a number of family briefs on behavior, but if you want to know more about how behavior is a form of communication and why some children choose inappropriate behaviors as a way of communicating, try CECP's brief called Functional Communication Training to Promote Positive Behavior. A natural follow-up is CECP's brief called Planned Ignoring as an Intervention Strategy for Parents and Family Members.

• What are children trying to tell us?
  http://csefel.uiuc.edu/briefs/wwb9.html
  What Works briefs from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning summarize effective practices for supporting children's social-emotional development and preventing challenging behaviors. This 4-pager talks about functional behavior assessment and how it's used to figure out the purpose or function of a child's problem behavior--in effect, what the child is trying to say. Spanish version is available at:
  http://csefel.uiuc.edu/briefs/wwb9-sp.html

• More on the function of behavior: Achieving the purpose in appropriate ways.
  http://ici2.umn.edu/preschoolbehavior/strategies/genintro.htm
  The Early Childhood Behavior Project offers many materials on challenging behavior, including this Introduction. Also extremely interesting---and useful---is the project's page on ways to provide the child with an appropriate communication alternative that will achieve the original purpose of the problem behavior. Find this latter information at: http://ici2.umn.edu/preschoolbehavior/strategies/default.html

• Is this behavior normal, a phase, a development issue, or something more serious?
  www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childbehaviordisorders.html
  Family members and teachers may see a range of behaviors out of children and still not be sure if a particular behavior they're seeing indicates a childhood behavior disorder. Visit Medline Plus's page, which connects with various resources to help you decide, including Development and Behavior; You and Your Child's Behavior; Children's Threats: When Are They Serious?; and specific aspects, such as aggressive behavior; children who won't go to school; conduct disorders; fighting and biting; helping the child who is expressing anger; and know when to seek help for your child.

Behavior Assessment

• So what exactly is a Functional Behavioral Assessment?
  www.air.org/cecp/fba/default.htm
  This page answers the basic questions of "FBA: What is it?" It covers how to conduct and FBA, and how to use the results to create a positive behavioral intervention plan and supports. The information is broken down into digestible sizes and is easy to read and consume.

• Another quick description of FBA.
  www.pbis.org/english/Functional_Assessment_of_Behavior.htm

• Details about the process involved in FBA.
  www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/letter/novdec02.pdf
  This 6-page newsletter defines the process of FBA. It gives clear descriptions and specific examples. A great, reader-friendly overview!

• Here's another reader-friendly overview.
  www.pacer.org/parent/php/php-c79.pdf
  FAPE is the Families & Advocates Partnership for Education. Although the project is no longer in operation, its 8-page brief on functional behavioral assessment and positive behavioral interventions is still available online. So is the Spanish version, at:
  www.pacer.org/parent/php/PHP-c79s.pdf

• Take a look at this review of research on Functional Analysis of Problem Behavior.
  http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2003/jaba-36-02-0147.pdf
  This research review was originally published in Applied Behavior Analysis in Summer 2003. 

• What is "Multimodal Behavior Analysis"?
  http://mfba.net/index.html
  The Duquesne University School Psychology Program provides a thorough description of the process of conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment and writing a Behavior Intervention Plan.

• What do they mean by "strength based assessment"?
  www.air.org/cecp/interact/expertonline/strength/empower/1.htm
  This method of assessment empowers child by building on their personal strengths and resources, rather than focuses on their problems.

• The IEP team is definitely involved!
  The IEP team might find these two resources helpful in understanding FBA and what comes next: (1) An IEP Team’s Introduction To Functional Behavioral Assessment And Behavior Intervention Plans (available at: www.air.org/cecp/fba/problembehavior/main.htm); and (2) Conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment (available at: www.air.org/cecp/fba/problembehavior2/main2.htm).

Behavior Intervention Plans

• What exactly is Positive Behavior Support?
  www.nau.edu/ihd/positive/ovrvw.html
  This excellent, reader-friendly guide to Positive Behavior Support is provided by Institute for Human Development at Northern Arizona University. A Spanish version is available at: www.nau.edu/ihd/positive/sumario.html

• What are the components of Behavioral Support?
  www.state.ky.us/agencies/behave/homepage.html
  This site offers information on a 3-tier model of behavior support: (1) school-wide, (2) small group, and (3) individual. It gives information on what all students need to be successful.

• Positive behavioral interventions and supports.
  www.ldonline.org/article/6035
  This article from LDOnline explains why PBIS is important and outlines key principles of practice.

• More about PBS and its individualized approach to managing challenging behavior.
  http://csefel.uiuc.edu/briefs/wwb10.html
  This What Works brief from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning summarizes PBS and talks about how it works, factors that will limit its effectiveness, and whether it's really just "giving in" to the child. A Spanish version is available at:
  http://csefel.uiuc.edu/briefs/wwb10-sp.html

• Tips for parents: How to get behavior supports into the IEP.
  www.pbis.org/files/parentiep.doc
  This guide, a collaboration between the Beach Center on Disabilities and the Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, contains a wealth of suggestions for parents.

• Need training materials for parents on positive behavioral interventions?
  www.fape.org/pubs/idea_training_materials.htm#POSITIVE
  These training materials, subtitled Parents Need to Know, include 37 overheads and a curriculum for trainers. The set is available in Spanish as well and on CD-ROM.  

Yet More Resources

• There's a center focusing exclusively on PBIS.
  www.pbis.org/english
  The Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to provide information, training, support, and guidance to the nation on addressing behavior problems in research-based and effective ways. They offer information in English and in Spanish.

• Check out this one-stop-shop on behavior!
  www.bridges4kids.org/PBS/PBS.html
  This site has info for both families and teachers on FBAs, behavior intervention plans, bullying, and discipline issues.

• Don't forget to check out the other NICHCY A-Z pages on behavior.
  www.nichcy.org/resources/default.asp
  They're listed and linked at the top of this file, and offer quick connections and resources on other behavior-related issues.