5: Developing the Behavior Intervention Plan

Developing the Behavior Intervention Plan

Video Script

Once you have completed the Functional Behavioral Assessment, and you think you understand what function the behavior is serving, what comes next? The next step is to use the information from the FBA, to develop a plan. We call this a Behavior Intervention Plan. The behavior intervention plan usually addresses two components – we call them prevent and replace. The first part of the plan consists of changes we can make that will make the behavior less likely to occur, we call these prevention strategies. If, for example, the function of a behavior is to get attention, then we might ask a parent or teacher to pay extra attention to the child throughout the day, preferably when the child is behaving well, but not only then. By providing the student with a high level of attention, the child should have no need to “act out” to get attention. The challenging behavior should be largely prevented because the child is already receiving high levels of attention. In addition, we would recommend that if the behavior does occur, the parent or teacher should provide the minimum amount of attention necessary to control the situation. If attention serves as a reward for an inappropriate behavior, we certainly don’t want to give a reward for that behavior. Returning to the example of Alison, if she takes toys from peers to get her teachers attention during center time, we would ask the teacher to pay attention to her every few minutes during center time, particularly if she is playing nicely. If she does take a toy from another child without permission, the teacher may return the toy to the other student, but say little or nothing to Alison for 15 to 30 seconds. The second component of a behavior intervention plan is to teach the child a new skill to replace the inappropriate behavior. But it can’t be just any new skill. We want the new, replacement behavior to serve the same function as the problem behavior, but to do so in a more appropriate way. The technical term for this is functional-equivalence. The idea behind this is that an inappropriate behavior will go away if the child has a more efficient way to get what he or she wants. If the new behavior, the functionally-equivalent replacement behavior, can result in the same outcome as the problem behavior, but with less effort, in less time, and with greater social approval, then the child is more likely to use this new replacement behavior in the situations in which the challenging behavior used to occur. Returning to Alison, we want to teach her during center time to look periodically at the teacher and solicit attention, perhaps by saying, “Look what I’m playing with!” We would expect the teacher to respond with a comment (“I see you’re playing with the blocks.”), an open-ended question (“How many blocks can you stack up there?”) or perhaps a praise, like (“I like seeing you play so nicely!). Note that these are all responses we would expect any caring adult to give to a child who solicits attention in this way. If we are correct in our understanding of Alison’s behavior, we will have taught Alison a way to request the attention that she wants, while asking the teacher to provide that attention when Alison wants it. We would expect that this will be more efficient for Alison to use our phrase of requesting attention than to take her peer’s toys. Why do we expect that this will work? If we believe that attention is rewarding, we have given Alison a perfect way to get it in this setting. After determining the replacement behavior for Alison, we needed to develop a plan for teaching her the new skill. We need to identify a style of instruction that we think she will respond to, a time and place to teach her, an instructor, and whether her peers will be present during initial instruction or not. In our example, we would expect that this could occur quite easily with direct instruction during center time from the teacher who is already present. We also want to make sure that we need to plan for the skill to be generalized, or used in other settings. We may also want to begin teaching Alison other ways to get attention that might be more acceptable in different settings. During group instruction, for example, we might teach Alison to raise her hand when she wants the teacher’s attention. And finally, we might want to consider teaching Alison better ways of sharing and playing with her peers. This will be an important skill for her in the long run, but is a lesser priority for her Behavior Intervention Plan in the short term because of her interest in gaining adult attention. Once the behavior plan is in place, it is possible that the problem behavior will occur again. Included in the Behavior Intervention Plan should be instructions on how to respond to the problem behavior if it occurs again. Consider the function of behavior when choosing how to respond. For example, if Alison should engage in the toy taking behavior again, minimize the amount of attention given to her when responding to the problem behavior. Finally, we find it important to obtain a written commitment from all parties who will be implementing the plan so that you can be sure that everyone is aware of their responsibilities. In the segments so far, we have talked about the use of positive behavioral supports for recurring problem behaviors and the importance of understanding the reason for or the function of the behavior when developing a plan. We have talked about behavior intervention plans, and the strategies that can be used to prevent the behavior and provide the child with a replacement behavior to getting her needs met. In the next segment, we will provide a few additional examples of behavior intervention plans for children with more complicated and challenging behaviors. But first, click on the Evaluation link to complete the behavior intervention plan for your student or child.

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Components of a Behavior Intervention Plan

O’Neill et al.[1] suggest that “the heart of a behavior support plan lies in the extent to which the plan is (a) based on functional assessment results, (b) consistent with fundamental principles of behavior, and (c) a good contextual ‘fit’ with the values, resources, and skills of all people in the setting.”

Iovannome and colleagues[2] have established the following components as those necessary to include in every behavior intervention plan:

Description of the Target Behavior (operationally defined, easily observable and measurable, includes examples and nonexamples)
Hypothesis Statement (developed based on information gathered during the FBA)
Antecedent Modifications (What can be done to prevent the occurrence of the fast triggers? Describe the modifications in enough detail for them to be implemented)
Replacement Behaviors (What new behavior will be taught or what current behavior will be increased that serves the same function as the behavior targeted for reduction and allow the student to achieve the same outcome?)
Strategies for Reinforcing the Replacement Behavior (What is the immediate benefit to the student? How will the student be rewarded for engaging in the new or emerging behavior in a way that addresses the function of the behavior?)
Strategies for Reducing the Target Behavior (What will be the response should the target behavior occur?)
Crisis Plan (Should the strategies for reducing the target behavior not be effective if the target behavior occurs in a manner that jeopardizes the safety of the student or others, how should others respond?)
Data Collection and Monitoring of the Target and Replacement Behaviors (What type of data will be collected, when, and by whom? Once the data are collected, how often will the date be monitored and by whom? Based on the data, how often will updates be made to the BIP? What are the criteria for determining that the intervention has been successful?)
Staff Training and Monitoring (Who is responsible for training others to implement this BIP? What is the process for training others to implement the plan? How often will staff be observed to ensure they are implementing this plan as written? When will this plan be reviewed again?)

Prevention strategies, or antecedent modifications have been discussed in several other modules. A few examples of prevention strategies will be described next.

[1] O’Neill, R. E., Horner, R. H., Albin, R. W., Sprague, J. R., Storey, K., & Newton, J. S. (1997). Functional assessment and program development for problem behavior. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

[2] Iovannone, R., & Christiansen, K. (March 2011). Evaluating the Technical Adequacy of FBAs and BIPs: How are Schools Doing? Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for Positive Behavior Support, Denver, CO.

Iovannone, R., Christiansen, K., & Kincaid, D. (2010). Current functional behavior assessment practices in schools: An examination of technical adequacy. Manuscript in preparation.

Prevention Strategies

You’ve probably heard this old joke: A man says to his doctor, “Doctor, when I do this [make an arm movement], it hurts.” The doctor says, “Well, stop doing this” [make same arm movement].

This is really just an example of prevention strategy – changing what is going on before a behavior, or in this case pain, occurs to reduce or prevent the likelihood that behavior (or pain) will happen.

Examples of Prevention Strategies for School

Modify Structure and Organization of the Environment

Dimming the lighting in the classroom
Creating specific areas within the classroom in which different behaviors are expected (sitting quietly in the individual work space, talking in the small group space).
Balancing activities across the day, activity, or class (e.g., quiet/noisy, active/passive, large group/small group, adult-directed/learner-directed.
Zoning – classroom staff are assigned different areas and activities within the roomthroughout the day to assist with transitions and encourage on-task behavior.

Modify Instructional Delivery

Using preferred or high-interest materials
Providing choices
Altering task difficulty or duration
Pre-activity interventions (warnings about transitions or schedule changes)
Ensuring students have prerequisite skills

Use Behavior Management

Incentive plans
Structuring time within activities (utilizing visual timers, etc.)
Visual cues/visual schedules
Access to appropriate behaviors (Allow chewing gum instead of playing with saliva.)

(Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007)

Examples of Prevention Strategies for Home

Verbally or visually prepare children for transitions
Use a visual schedule to outline the day
Provide choices
Use "if-then" statements
Adjust your expectations for your child when there is a lack of sleep or eating habits have changed
Provide your child with your undivided attention for 10 minutes per day
Be animated in your positive interactions - don't save the passion for negative interactions

Functionally-Equivalent Replacement Behavior

In this Module, we provided you with an overview of a behavior intervention plan and focused primarily on prevent and replace sections of the BIP. Both of these sections of the behavior intervention plan address behavioral function. There are many steps to developing a successful behavior intervention plan. Completing the functional behavior assessment is merely the starting point for identifying the function, or purpose, of a specific behavior. Once this information is known, then functionally-equivalent replacement behaviors (FERB) should be identified. Functionally-equivalent replacement behaviors may be any behavior that allows a person to access the same outcome as the target behavior.[1] In other words, the FERB will serve the same purpose as the target behavior.

In the example illustrated above, a child is presented with a task and then begins to scream and yell. Subsequent to the child screaming and yelling, the task is removed. A FERB, would be any behavior that would allow the child to access the same outcome. Some possible options might be: (a) raise hand to indicate task refusal; (b) request an alternate activity instead; (c) request a break; (d) place head on desk; or (e) point to an icon to have task removed.

Once a functionally-equivalent replacement behavior is identified, then the focus of the plan should be on teaching the replacement behavior. By focusing on the replacement behavior, occurrences of the target behavior should be ignored if at all possible. Ultimately, once the FERB is occurring consistently, then the focus of the behavior intervention plan can shift so that the individual is required to increase their effort (in this example, participation in the task) in order to access the same outcome. This pattern would continue until the outcome is the child completing the assigned task.

[1] Renshaw, T. L., Christensen, L., Marchant, M., & Anderson, T. (2008). Training elementary school general educators to implement function-based support. Education and Treatment of Children, 31, 495-521.

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