Effective Behavior Intervention Plans

                The article I chose to review for this week’s blog is Developing Effective Behavior Intervention Plans: Suggestions for School Personal.  This author from this article discusses the steps of how to design a BIP.  The author also talks about some common errors with the BIP process and how to avoid those errors. 

                The first step that is required to develop a BIP is to complete a functional behavior assessment (FBA).  An FBA consists of an observation and interviews that determine the antecedent, behavior, and consequences.  According to Killu, “the underlying theme to the FBA is that all behavior has a function and occurs for a reason.  The primary outcome of the FBA that summarizes these findings is a hypothesis statement that describes the problem and the variables correlated with its occurrence and the non-occurrence.” (Killu, 2008) 

Killu offers these 12 steps to develop a hypothesis: “(1) consensus on the problem behavior, (2) a precise definition of the target behavior, (3) a review of the student’s records and past interventions, (4) interviews with the student or all relevant parties, (5) team discussion, (6) assessment scales, (7) direct observation and measurement of the target behavior, (8) scatterplot data, (assessment of antecedents to and consequences of the target behavior, (10) identification of reinforcers, (11) examination of the ecological context to the problem behavior, (12) analog experimentation of the proposed hypothesis.” (Killu, 2008)

                The next step in the development of an effective BIP is to assess antecedent variables and setting events.  According to Killu, “setting events may occur just prior to a target behavior, or even days before.  They may involve environmental factors (e.g., method and delivery of instruction, curriculum, the physical setting, number of people in the environment), physiological factors (e.g., illness, medical conditions, side effects of meds) or social factors (e.g., family circumstances, interactions with peers on the school bus).” (Killu, 2008)  The third step is to establish the validity of reinforcers.  Killu addresses that many BIPs focus on rewards and consequences that are contingent upon the occurrence of desired behavior.  However, there is a drawback from this method according to Killu.  Killu states that “unless the future occurrence of the behavior increases after the reward is presented, reinforcement has not occurred.” (Killu, 2008) Killu suggests using negative reinforcement, like positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement can increase the future probability of a response.  The difference between the two is negative reinforcement is followed by taking away or reducing a stimulus.  Killu concluded “that the important consideration for reinforcement and punishment is that they are not things, but rather effects and these effects impact the occurrence/ nonoccurrence of desirable and undesirable behaviors.” (Killu, 2008)  The fourth step in the process is to describe and specify target behaviors and intervention strategies.  One problem that occurs often is that when one describes a problem behavior, it is too general or too specific.  According to Killu, “a description of a target behavior should be so specific that an individual unfamiliar with the student should be able to identify the student and the target behavior when it occurs.  The term operational definition has been used to describe the precision with which target behaviors should be identified.” (Killu, 2008) The target behaviors need to measurable and clear, and the characteristics of the response should be the same.  The fifth step in the BIP process is to consistently collect data.  Killu states, “If a student’s behavior warrants implementing a BIP, it stands to reason that steps must be taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in changing the behavior.  Without observation and measurement, there is no standard, objective method for determining the effectiveness of a BIP.” (Killu, 2008) To have an effective BIP, the student’s behavior needs to be observed, measured, and recorded before, during, and after the implementation of the BIP.  The sixth step the author discusses is to implement the plan accurately and consistently.  There are certain issues that may contribute to the BIP’s integrity, procedural integrity, which is the accuracy and consistently of implementation and can result in a poorly defined target behavior or a poorly developed plan.  The next step in developing an effective BIP is to program for generalization and maintenance.  Simply implementing a BIP does not guarantee that a student’s behavior change will sustained or extend into other environments.  In order for the BIP to be effective, the student may need to be taught self-monitoring and self-management skills to maximize the success of the BIP.  The last step in the process is to provide sufficient time, staffing resources and supports.  Teachers should allow time for progress to be made from the student.  Also, sufficient personnel must be on board to implement the BIP, they need to be supplied with materials to implement the programming, ongoing consultation, or training. 

                Overall, I found this article useful and worth reading.  The author was clear about the steps to take when developing a BIP.  I really liked how the author gave specific examples of how to measure and collect data when creating a BIP.  Also, I liked that the author discussed using negative reinforcement, which I agree can be very useful when trying to change a behavior.  I believe that in some cases, taking away privileges or a stimulus can be more effective than rewarding positive behaviors.  Another part of this article I liked was that the author provided a BIP checklist that could be reproduced and used by teachers.  The checklist in the article gave bullet points of the process and the essential BIP elements. 

                In conclusion, I found this article interesting and informative, I would recommend this article to special ed. teachers and gen ed. teachers.  The steps of how to write and implement a BIP were clear and to the point, and the checklist at the end of the article was an excellent resource.     

References

Killu, K. (2008). Developing Effective Behavior Intervention Plans: Suggestions for School Personnel. Intervention In School And Clinic, 43(3), 140-149.                         

5 Steps to Effective Transition Planning for Students WIth ASD

The article I chose for this week was about five steps for developing effective transition plans for high school students with autism spectrum disorder.  The authors in this article discussed challenges for transition plans for students with ASD, examples of how to write their plans, and common errors associated with transition plans for students with ASD.  The authors did the research at a rural medium size high school with an increasing number of students with ASD. 

                First, I will discuss the five steps the authors wrote about effective transition planning.  Step one is to identify transition goals.  According to the authors, “when designing a transition IEP, the team should begin by considering the student’s needs in the area of postsecondary education, employment, and independent living.” (Smith, Szidon, Ruppar, 2015) To obtain this information, the authors suggest the team gives the student a formal transition assessment.  According to the authors, “one common error in transition assessment and goal writing for students with ASD is the failure to consider and assess student challenges in core areas that are associated with autism.” (Smith, Szidon, Ruppar, 2015) Even though students with ASD can test high in academic areas, they often have significant challenges in their social and adaptive skills that can affect their independence.  To assist with this, the IEP team should develop a well-rounded plan to teach these important skills.  The second step the authors discuss in this article is to link postsecondary goals with IEP goals. 

The authors state, “There should be a clear connection between postsecondary goals (to be achieved after graduation) and IEP goals (to be achieved in an academic year). A common error in transition IEP writing is to have measurable postsecondary goals and measureable IEP goals with no link between the two.  This is especially problematic for students with ASD, for whom generalization of skills is particularly difficult.” (Smith, Szidon, Ruppar, 2015)

                The third step is to troubleshoot and adjust transition and IEP goals. The authors determined the IEP goal need to have four key components: (a) the student’s name, (b) an observable skill that the student will improve, (c) the condition under which the skill should be performed, and (d) a criterion for reaching the goal.  The authors also offered three pitfalls to assist IEP with the troubleshooting step.  The pitfalls are: (a) goals that amount to only passive participation, (b) goals that are too specific to a particular curriculum, and (c) goals that measure only episodic events.  The fourth step is to provide opportunities to teach skills. 

According to the authors, “For students with a full load of academic instruction, finding time to offer adaptive skill development or social curriculum may require creative planning and difficult decision making on the part of the IEP team. Ongoing evaluation of student needs and high school offerings is one way to help support a flexible curriculum that can adapt to the unique and varied needs of students with ASD.  For instance, it may be necessary to add a communication class as an option for students who need individualized instruction in social skills.” (Smith, Szidon, Ruppar, 2015)                          

                Step five is to evaluate progress.  For data to be collected easily, the student’s goals must be written in a manner that is observable, and the performance conditions and criteria are well articulated. Because standardized academic scores may not be collected often enough to inform teachers of instructional changes, teachers should consider to measure progress based upon general impressions of student performance or global observations of the student.  According to the authors, “without a careful analysis of the pattern of social and adaptive skill acquisition, teachers risk over or underestimating their students’ skill levels, leading to future problems engaging in desired postsecondary goals.” (Smith, Szidon, Ruppar, 2015)  

                Overall, I thought that this article was well written and to the point.  I thought that the authors of this article explained the steps of how to write the goals thoroughly and they were clear while doing explaining.  Also, I liked how the authors gave specific examples of how to write transition plans and they also gave examples of unclear goals and how to change them.  I would recommend this article to any special education teacher who plans to teach high school and will need to make transition plans.  I was able to observe an adult transition meeting at my school, the student did not have autism, however, there is an increasing amount of students with ASD in my school.  Therefore, knowing these steps and how to write clear measurable goals is important for me.

                In conclusion, I found this article about how to write adult transition plans for students with autism informative.  The authors gave clear examples of how to write the goals and they also gave great examples of how to rewrite unclear goals.        

References

Szidon, K., Ruppar, A., & Smith, L. (2015). Five Steps for Developing Effective Transition Plans for High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 47(3), 147-152.

Module 9 Blog

                The article I chose for this week’s blog discusses strategies and intervention for students who are diagnosed with autism and emotional behavior disorders.  I was interested in this article because at the alternative school I work at, there has been several students I have worked with that are diagnosed with both ASD and EBD.  The authors in this article researched a multi-tiered problem solving model (MTPS) and how to implement this model for these students. 

                The authors begin the article with a brief review of the prototypical MTPS model which is a useful framework to address a wide range of student learning and behavioral problems. 

According to Magyar and Pandolfi,  “Several core components guide assessment and intervention practices and include: (a) a standardized assessment protocol with decision making guidelines for evaluating and addressing student support and intervention needs, (b) use of evidence-based interventions and protocols to address skill deficits related to participation and learning, (c) a professional development protocol for capacity building, and (d) a protocol for monitoring the integrity of model implementation.” (Magyar, Pandolfi, 2012)

                The assessment protocol includes activities such as surveillance, screening, and progress monitoring.  “The assessment protocol enables personnel to describe the student’s unique developmental, learning, and behavioral characteristics.” (Magyar, Pandolfi, 2012)  The authors also suggest that the surveillance must be formal for students with ASD regardless of their placement.  The reason the surveillance must be formal is because of the neurodevelopmental nature of ASD, specific symptoms can change over time and through interactions with different contexts.  The author recommends that this assessment is applied prior to the emergence of EBD issues.  The next component in the MTPS model is the intervention protocol.  The structure and interventions of this protocol are very similar to the three tier RTI triangle model.  The first tier is supports and interventions, the second is targeted intervention, and the third tier is more targeted supports and interventions.   

According to Magyar and Pandolfi, “Tier 1 supports include: (a) direct instruction on classroom routines and the establishment and training on scheduling and visual support systems to support independence in executing the routines, (b) a formalized classroom management system to assist students in meeting behavioral expectations that includes posting of classroom rules/expectations, teaching of the behaviors that enable a student to meet expectations, and differential reinforcement for appropriate behavior, and (c) various incidental teaching methods to assist the student to learn and apply functional communication and social interaction skills needed for classroom participation.” (Magyar, Pandolfi, 2012)

According to Magyar and Pandolfi, “Tier 2 targeted interventions will be needed for functional communication, social skills, self-regulation of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, and the self-regulation of emotions and behavior.” (Magyar, Pandolfi, 2012) 

According to Magyar and Pandolfi, Tier 3 addresses student problems that have not responded to Tier 1 and 2 interventions.  They include development of formalized behavior support plans, referral for wraparound and mental health services, and in some cases, placement in specialized settings (for those students in the general education setting).”  (Magyar, Pandolfi, 2012)

Finally, the authors discussed a case study of this model at a rural school serving about 5,500 students from diverse backgrounds.  The superintendent reported that approximately five percent of students are diagnosed with ASD.  However, the superintendent believes that many more students present ASD symptoms and are either undiagnosed or not diagnosed with ASD.  Also, the superintendent reported a high percentage of EBD students among the ASD student population.  To implement this model the school had to establish a professional learning committee, establish an assessment protocol, establish the intervention protocol, professional development: implementing the ASD support model, and monitoring implementation.  The authors reported that the school had success with the MTPS model.  The short comings of the program were the teachers needed additional professional development, and the teachers who were not part of the PLC needed the most training on how to implement the model.  The author did not discuss the success rates of the students or if the model was more effective in a general education setting or an alternative setting. 

Next, I will discuss if the article is useful and if I would recommend this article to other professionals.  Overall, I thought this article was well written and the research was clear and to the point.  I liked how the authors summarized the model and the methods to implement the model in a school.  I thought the three tier intervention graphic and explanation of the tiers was very informative.  Also, I thought case study was informative and after reading how the school was able to roll out the model, I was clear about the process.  However, the authors in this article did not discuss the students and there was not data to state if the program was successful. I would have liked to see more technology examples and examples of activities the PLC team used as interventions.  I would recommend this article to my colleagues mainly because the tier graphic and explanation of the tiers was very informative.

In conclusion, because ASD is now classified as a high-incident disability, and many of the symptoms of EBD can co-exist in students with ASD.  I believe it is important to find more interventions and research to best serve students who are diagnosed with ASD and EBD.                

 

References

Magyar, C. I., & Pandolfi, V. (2012). Considerations for Establishing a Multi-Tiered Problem-Solving Model for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Comorbid Emotional-Behavioral Disorders. Psychology In The Schools, 49(10), 975-987.

 

                     

           

Stuttering and Autism Blog

                “Stuttering and autism can co-occur and when they do it presents a significant communication challenge.” (Brundage, Whelan, & Burgess, 2013)  The article I will review this week is about a study that measured strategies and the impact they had on students with autism who stutter.  There are two widely used methods of stuttering treatment, stuttering modification and fluency shaping.  Fluency shaping focuses on the behavioral aspects of stuttering and the goal is to teach a new way of speaking that is incompatible.

                The purpose of this study was to document the effectiveness of a rule-based fluency intervention program in decreasing his stuttering. (Brundage, Whelan, & Burgess, 2013)  The participant was a 21 year old male who was diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder.  The participant had a full scale IQ of 82 and he had never received treatment for his stuttering.  The participant was also taking Prozac and Wellbutrin during the study.  One year prior to this study, the participant was evaluated for his stuttering, the evaluation indicated severe stuttering as well as a lack of awareness of his stuttering behavior.  “To measure the behavioral aspect of stuttering during all phases of this study, conversational samples of 400-500 words were collected, transcribed, and coded for percentage of stuttered words.” (Brundage, Whelan, & Burgess, 2013)

                The treatment the experiment used for this program was the fluency rules program (FRP), which is a fluency shaping program originally developed for children who stutter.  “The FRP aims to decrease stuttering by teaching a set of speaking rules to follow in order to speak fluently.  Examples of these rules include: Speak slowly and Say a word only once.” (Brundage, Whelan, & Burgess, 2013)  This method of treatment has been proven to reduce the frequency of stuttering without changing the speaking rate or words spoken.  The participant in the study learned the rules of the program by writing them repeatedly until he was able to state the rules independently.

                The results of this experiment were measured in the percentage of stuttered words (%SW) in conversational speech.  The baseline of this participant averaged 14.57 %SW in conversational speech.  By the end of the program the participant maintained a low level of 2.07 %SW.  The author concluded the article by suggesting that the FRP has promise in reducing the frequency of stuttering when autism co-occurs with it.  “However, to date, no published research studies exist that described the effectiveness of treatments for persons who exhibit both ASD and stuttering.” (Brundage, Whelan, & Burgess, 2013)

                I chose to write about this article because I had a mild stutter when I was younger and I always want to learn more about stuttering and stuttering treatment.  I found this article interesting because it addressed stuttering and ASD.  Another reason this article was interesting because the participant had a limited awareness of his stuttering behaviors and social norms.  Currently, I do not work with any students who stutter and have ASD.  However, since ASD is becoming more common among school aged children, I believe that more speech problems will arise in time.  Therefore, learning different strategies to help with their speech is important for teachers and school staff. 

                Overall, I found this article useful and I would recommend this article to teachers and school staff.  I liked that the authors were thorough with the different variables in the experiment; such as, the medication, age, and IQ of the participant.  Also, I thought that the author was very accurate with the percentage of the words stuttered before and after the study.  However, this article was brief and I would have liked to read more about the strategies and materials the testers used for this participant.  Also, I think that the author could have included sample work or activities for the studies.  Other than those small criticisms, I thought that the article was well written and the research was thorough. 

                In conclusion, stuttering and autism can co-occur in school aged students and adults.  Since autism is occurring more often with students, it is important to know strategies to address speech deficits for these individuals.                     

References

Brundage, S. B., Whelan, C. J., & Burgess, C. M. (2013). Brief Report: Treating Stuttering in an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders, 43(2), 483-489.