Functional Behavioural Intervention Plan Essay

Case Description
The subject of the meeting for the Behavioural Intervention Plan (BIP) is Asher Collins, a 12-year old African-American male student at Caledonia Elementary School in Caledonia, Mississippi whose parents have recently gotten a divorce. School records coupled with other information sources reveal a long history of disciplinary issues and poor academic performance. These reports indicate that this student has had repeated incidences of class disruption in addition to showing aggressive behaviour and being non-compliant even to the school staff. Due to this behaviour, the student has previously been charged with a number of suspensions for using profane language, the physical aggression of his peers, and possessing dangerous weapons in school. His teachers complain of frequent rage outbursts, disruption, and difficulty in staying seated. Prior to the
meeting, Bethany Rogers, a licensed clinical worker with the school requested for services to address the classroom disruption and aggressive behaviour of the student.
Discussion at the Meeting
A Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) refers to a variation of procedures that have been developed to ascertain reasons behind specific behaviours exhibited by individuals.
The investigatory procedures used in the assessments are derived from the orientation and the analysis of the applied behaviour (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). The conduction of an FBA assessment before the development of a behavioural intervention plan is very significant because the formation of the latter is usually based on the results of the former. Consequently, the FBA aids in determining several significant factors such as the appropriateness of the subject’s educational placement and whether changes would help in gearing acceptable behaviour, identifying positive interventions capable of minimizing the undesirable behaviour as well as appropriate substitute behaviours to replace those that are inappropriate. Usually, the FBA assessment is based on the assumption that challenging behaviours have a reason behind their occurrence, which are usually governed by specific stimuli and the consequences set up for such
actions.
In the assessment of the student’s target behaviours, both antecedent and consequence stimuli and conditions play significant roles. Antecedents are stimuli which precede an individual’s behaviour and often provide insight into finding out the target behaviour but do not cause the behaviour (Steege & Watson, 2009). In this scenario, there may be a number of antecedents including getting tasks to complete from a teacher, and when the latter focuses her attention on other students as well, which may result in the student fidgeting, gazing at others, whispering to neighbours and other off-task or non-compliant behavioural activities. Discriminative stimuli and motivating operations are based on the concept that the behaviour of an individual is based on their current and past situations with specific stimuli which can either change the consequential value of the behaviour or its probability. While the discriminative stimulus (SD) is based on the availability of the cue or behaviour to be reinforced and provides an opportunity for responses in either punishment or reward, motivational operations are mainly centred on promoting the effectiveness of the reinforcer, and thereafter aligning the substitute behaviours and strategies according to his preferences or aforementioned consequences.
As a result, analysing Asher’s motivating operations and discriminative stimuli make it simpler to modify his behaviour in measurable and observable methods. In contrast, consequence stimuli refer to those cues which a learner responds to, usually an action or response. Just like antecedent stimuli, the consequence stimuli are also significant in the analysis because it provides a basis for modifying Asher’s behaviour through shaping and reinforcement. In this case, positive and negative reinforcement will increase his probability of following particular behaviours. Positive reinforcement occurs when the desired behaviour is followed by a rewarding stimulus, increasing frequency of the desired behaviour and vice versa refers to the negative reinforcement, in which behaviour is followed by removal of aversive or undesired stimuli. Consequently, automatic reinforcement involves favourable outcome of behaviour without outside involvement. These factors all help in maintaining or promoting the desired behaviour in individuals.
During the process of conducting Asher’s FBA, the Indirect Functional Assessment procedures that may be implemented include interviews, checklists, and record reviews. Interviews with the key persons in his life on what they think may be the triggers to his behaviours will provide the needed insight in fostering desirable behaviour. As a result, interviews are conducted to find an appropriate source of reinforcement for the student’s behaviour. Checklists are given to his parents, teachers and other caregivers to identify the possible antecedents and consequences that he may be exposed to whenever he engages in different behaviours. Checklists, therefore, provide a basis for the analysis of the precursors to his behaviour and the strategies are aligned accordingly. Third, the record reviews include an evaluation of the academic, psychological and behavioural reports that can provide information on social skills, setting events, academic strengths, and other issues that contribute to his quality of life.
Consequently, the Direct Descriptive Assessment procedures that may be put to use in Asher’s case include observation forms, scatter plots and A-B-C analyses. The main advantage of the direct descriptive assessment over the former is that it is more objective as it involves direct observation and assessment of behaviour. The A-B-C analysis will involve an observation into Asher’s typical activities when in school where this behaviour is likely to happen. This observation should be done repeatedly to get a comprehensive idea about the student’s behaviour. Here, antecedents and consequences are recorded. The role of the A-B-C analysis is to help in developing a hypothesis on the possible reasons for unwarranted behaviour.
Observation forms structured into checklist formats providing information on the predictors, setting events, antecedents, perceived reasons for specific behaviour, consequences delivered, and time information. Another procedure is the scatter plots whose role is to enable the observer to monitor specific targeted behaviours for extended periods of time. On the graph, the time is on the vertical axis while the successive days are on the horizontal. The role of the scatter plot is to be able to identify if the target behaviours occur at predictable time intervals. This information is useful in setting specific routines and environments for interventions.
Two ethical concerns that should be addressed within this scenario include the fact that consent should be obtained from the subject before any analysis or assessment is done (informed consent) so that his autonomy is not tampered with, and to respect the rights of confidentiality, free will, and privacy while making sure that all legal and ethical observations are followed (Sieber & Tolich, 2013).
Conclusion
The meeting for the behavioural intervention plan took place after services were requested by Bethany Rogers, a clinical officer working with the aforementioned school, on a student who had been identified as being aggressive and non-compliant by the school staff. Examples of his behaviour during class were discussed to show the extent of aggressiveness and non-compliance in order to come up with informed decisions. Strategies for developing a Functional Behavioural Assessment were conducted and its importance related to the development of a Behavioural Intervention Plan established. Different techniques and rationale for identifying appropriate interventions to foster desirable behaviour have been discussed, including the indirect and direct descriptive methods of assessment. Ethical concerns and considerations have also been made to establish the rationale for performing an evaluation and assessment of the student. The importance of privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent have been emphasized, failure to which the operation may become a failure. References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis.
Sieber, J. E., & Tolich, M. B. (2013). Planning ethically responsible research (Vol. 31). Sage.
Steege, M. W., & Watson, T. S. (2009). Conducting school-based functional behavioral assessments: A practitioner's guide. Guilford Press.