Ask About Behavior:



Ask About Behavior:

The A. in D.A.S.H.

Slide: Introduction

• Provide the knowledge needed to ASK about behavior

o How do you learn about the behavior through the interview process?

o Who do you interview?

o What questions do you ask when you conduct an interview?

Now that we’ve learned how to DEFINE behavior, it’s time to move on to the next letter in the D.A.S.H. process.

In this presentation, we will provide you with the knowledge needed to ASK about behavior. When you ASK about the behavior, you are going to learn about WHEN and WHERE behavior occurs and apply everything you learned about antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. In order to understand WHY a behavior occurs, we must first ask key people about WHEN and WHERE behavior occurs. In this process, we are literally going to ASK those individuals who observe the behavior what they see. We will do this through an interview process.

ASKING questions to get information about what happens before and after a behavior will be essential to providing an appropriate intervention.

In this presentation, we are going to cover the following topics:

• How do you learn about the behavior through the interview process?

• Who do you interview?

• What questions do you ask when you conduct an interview?

Slide: ASK about behavior: The interview

• Put information to work in the ASK part of the D.A.S.H. process

• When doing the interview and asking about behavior, you will be gathering information about setting events, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences

• The interview narrows the focus and helps us break down the interfering behavior

Now that we’ve learned some fundamentals of the behavior chain, it’s time to put that information to work in the ASK part of the D.A.S.H. process. As you address the interfering behavior of a student with ASD you may use a practical approach or an intensive approach when you do the Functional Behavior Assessment. Regardless of which approach you use, you will want to complete this step as asking people about the behavior will give you critical information. The number of people and the number of questions you ask will vary depending on the approach you use.

When doing the interview and asking about behavior, you will be gathering information about setting events, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to learn more about WHERE and WHEN behavior occurs. This information from the interview can be used to identify interventions, but may also be used to guide observations you will do with the student. It is like looking under the hood of the car. The interview narrows the focus to help us break down the interfering behavior.

Slide: Who do you interview?

• Interview those who know the student the best such as his or her parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals

• Sit with the interviewee and guide them through the questions

• Include the student with ASD

The first consideration with the interview is to determine who to interview. First, it is extremely important to interview those who know the student the best such as his or her parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals. Interview the person or people who have observed the behavior. This is usually the teacher and then based on that interview extend to other staff that may be helpful in providing information about the student.

You should sit with the interviewee and guide them through the questions and record their responses as you go. It’s ok to ask extended questions or to clarify information as needed. After all, interviews are about getting information! It may be tempting due to time restraints to simply drop the interview questions off to the teacher or parent and have them complete the questions then return them to you or to simply send an email. This is not the best method to obtain accurate information. A face to face format is recommended! Be an investigator and ask follow-up questions to get specific information you can use to inform the summary.

Remember when we talked about the philosophy of Positive Behavior Supports? It’s important to remember the key point of including the student with ASD throughout the assessment process. Be sure that during the interview process that you interview the student if at all possible so that you can gain an understanding from the student perspective of the interfering behavior.

Slide: Interview questions

• You can develop your own or you can even use structured interviews that have already been developed

• In general there are six steps to the interview process

• The 6 steps should provide the information you need to understand the behavior and develop interventions

So where do the interview questions come from? You can develop your own or you can even use structured interviews that have already been developed and available for public use. There are many you can find on the internet or your school district may have their own developed. Interviews that are already developed can lead the interview but you can also ask questions of your own to get the information you need to accurately summarize the data. In the upcoming slides we will discuss how you can outline your own questions during the interview. In general there are six steps to the interview process. Let’s look at these steps closely. The 6 steps should provide the information you need to understand the behavior and develop interventions. As you go through these steps, please download the document titled Functional Behavior Assessment Interview Questions.

Slide: Step 1) Start with strengths

• Step 1

• The first step in the process is to always start with the student’s strengths when conducting an interview

The first step in the process is to always start with the student’s strengths when conducting an interview. If you’ll remember, this too is an important key to the philosophy of Positive Behavior Supports. You want the person being interviewed to list at least three strengths of the student to start the interview on a positive note.

Slide: Student example: Shane

Let’s go back to a student we’ve mentioned before: Shane. Remember Shane is demonstrating many interfering behaviors. Shane’s educational team hopes to create positive changes in Shane’s behavior. We are going to use Shane to go through the interview process in this presentation. In this video you will see Shane in class and see his behavior for yourself.

Teacher: Okay take out your math book, turn to page 47 please. Look at problem number one. Shane, would you take out your math book? Turn to page 47? Shane would you work out that problem for me. Who’d like to work it? Okay. Okay nice work. Problem 2. Shane.

Shane: I don’t even know what page we’re on.

Teacher: We’re on page 47. Why don’t you have a seat in the back of the room? With your math book. Who’d like to work problem 2? Anybody? Okay. Is that correct Shane? Shane? Is that correct? Hey we’re not going on till you answer me. Is it correct?

Shane: I’m not playing your stupid game!

Teacher: Excuse me! I need you to have a seat! Shane! Don’t walk away from me! Shane!

Slide: Step 1) Start with strengths example

Strengths

|Shane has a great memory and remembers long routines |

|Shane has 2 close friends who he spends time with after school and on the weekend |

|Shane has good language skills and is learning new vocabulary every day |

Here is an example of a student’s strengths

|Shane has a great memory and remembers long routines |

|Shane has 2 close friends who he spends time with after school and on the weekend |

|Shane has good language skills and is learning new vocabulary every day |

Slide: Step 2) Identify the student’s daily schedule

• Identify the student’s daily schedule

• Determine where, when and with whom the behaviors most likely occur

o List the activities the student participates in throughout the day

o Identify the activity or routine in which the interfering behavior occurs

o List who the staff members are during this routine

o Rate the likelihood of the interfering behavior occurring

Step 2 is to have the interviewee identify the student’s daily schedule. This portion of the interview is to help you determine where, when and with whom the interfering behaviors are most likely to occur. In this section, do the following:

-First, list the activities the student participates in throughout the day. For example, you could write down algebra, history, art, English, lunch, gym, biology, homeroom, and bus for Shane our high school student. Second, have the person being interviewed identify the activity or routine in which the interfering behavior occurs. Third, have them list who the staff members are during this routine. Finally, have the person rate the likelihood of the interfering behavior occurring during each time/activity/routine on a scale from 1, being low probability, and 4, being high probability. For behaviors that are rated 3 or 4 have the person indicate the specific interfering behaviors and indicate any interventions that are currently in place to address the interfering behavior during this time. On the next slide you will see an example of this section of the interview.

Slide: Step 2) Identify the student’s daily schedule example

|Time/Activity |Staff present |Likelihood of behavior |Specific behavior |

|Algebra |Mr. Jones |1 2 3 4 |Walking around room, not completing work, |

| | | |ignoring teacher |

|History |Mrs. Martin |1 2 3 4 |Not completing work, ignoring teacher’s |

| | | |questions |

|Art |Mrs. Sampson |1 2 3 4 | |

|English |Ms. Austin |1 2 3 4 |Not completing work |

Here is an example of an interview regarding Shane.

|Time/Activity |Staff present |Likelihood of behavior |Specific behavior |

|Algebra |Mr. Jones |1 2 3 4 |Walking around room, not completing work, |

| | | |ignoring teacher |

|History |Mrs. Martin |1 2 3 4 |Not completing work, ignoring teacher’s |

| | | |questions |

|Art |Mrs. Sampson |1 2 3 4 | |

|English |Ms. Austin |1 2 3 4 |Not completing work |

Slide: Step 3) List the activities in priority

• Examine the daily schedule and identify the activities with the highest and lowest ratings

• Select the activities or routines that require further analysis

• Ask about those times when interfering behavior is at its highest and at its lowest

Once you have gathered the information from steps 1 and 2 quickly examine the daily schedule description. When you review this information you will identify the activities that have the highest ratings. From these activities you will select the activities or routines that require further analysis and prioritize which activity you will begin with.

Ask questions to the person being interviewed about those times when interfering behavior is at its highest. You also need to ask questions about those activities and routines with the lowest ratings as this tells you when the behavior does not occur. It is often helpful to compare the situations in which the behavior does and does not occur to see the differences and similarities between the activities. For example, behaviors may frequently occur with some staff but not with others and may only occur during specific activities but not during others. It is helpful to know this information.

Slide: Step 3) List the activities in priority example

Based on the table in a previous slide, we would want to ask our interviewee about the following:

• Algebra with Mr. Jones as behaviors occurred frequently and had a rating of 4

• History with Mrs. Martin as behaviors occurred frequently and had a rating of 3

• Art with Mrs. Sampson as there are no interfering behaviors reported in this class

Here is the analysis for Shane.

Based on the table in a previous slide, we would want to ask our interviewee about the following:

Algebra with Mr. Jones as behaviors occurred frequently and had a rating of 4.

History with Mrs. Martin as behaviors occurred frequently and had a rating of 3.

Art with Mrs. Sampson as there are no interfering behaviors reported in this class.

Slide: Step 4) Ask about the antecedents

• Remember that the antecedent is what happens before the behavior

• Ask about the antecedents or what triggers the behavior

o What task is occurring when the behavior happens?

o What happens immediately preceding the problem behavior?

o What involvement do the peers have surrounding the behavior?

The next two steps require that you recall the ABC’s of understanding the function of behavior. Remember that the antecedent is what happens before the behavior occurs and the consequence is what happens directly after the behavior occurs.

In step 4 you want to ask about the antecedents or what triggers the behavior. Directly ask the following questions:

-What task is occurring when the behavior happens?

-What happens immediately preceding the problem behavior? Ask the person being interviewed to be specific and describe in detail as to what the activity is prior to the behavior. Ask the person to provide examples.

-What involvement do the peers have surrounding the behavior?

You should have enough information so that if you wanted to set up the student to engage in the interfering behavior you would know exactly what components need to be included in order to trigger the behavior.

Slide: Step 4) Ask about the antecedents example

|What task is occurring when the behavior happens? |The teacher is providing group instruction. Shane is scribbling or |

| |drawing. |

|What happens immediately preceding the problem behavior? |When asked a question in algebra he ignores teacher. |

| |When given independent work Shane walks around room. He does not do |

| |the work. |

| What involvement do the peers have surrounding the behavior? |Most students in the room are paying attention to instruction. |

| |Students are raising hands to answer questions. Students ignore Shane.|

Here is the list of antecedents for Shane.

|What task is occurring when the behavior happens? |The teacher is providing group instruction. Shane is scribbling or |

| |drawing. |

|What happens immediately preceding the problem behavior? |When Shane is asked a question in algebra he ignores the teacher. |

| |When given independent work Shane walks around the room. He does not |

| |do the work. |

| What involvement do the peers have surrounding the behavior? |Most students in the room are paying attention to the instruction. |

| |Students are raising hands to answer questions. Students ignore Shane.|

Slide: Step 5) Ask about the consequences

• Ask about the consequences or what the response is to the behavior

o What happens to the student after the behavior?

o What are the possible pay offs for the student?

o What payoff is most valuable for the student?

Step 5 of the process directs you to ask about the consequences or what the response is to the behavior. It is essential that you know what happens immediately following the behavior. You need to know how peers and adults respond to the behavior. Ask the following questions:

-What happens to the student after the behavior?

-Think about why the student might be engaging in this behavior? What are the possible pay offs for the student?

-What payoff is most valuable for the student?

Slide: Step 5) Ask about the consequences example

|What happens to the student after the behavior? |When teacher asks a question and Shane ignores teacher, teacher asks the |

| |question to another student. Shane continues to draw. |

|Think about why the student might be engaging in this behavior? |Shane gets out of answering hard questions in front of the class. |

|What are the possible pay offs for the student? |Shane gets out of doing his algebra work. |

| What payoff is most valuable for the student? |Escaping from work. |

| |Not getting negative attention from the teacher or peers. |

Here are examples of consequences for Shane.

|What happens to the student after the behavior? |When the teacher asks a question and Shane ignores the teacher, the teacher |

| |asks the question to another student. Shane continues to draw. |

|Think about why the student might be engaging in this behavior? |Shane gets out of answering hard questions in front of the class. |

|What are the possible pay offs for the student? |Shane gets out of doing his algebra work. |

| What payoff is most valuable for the student? |Escaping from work. |

| |Not getting negative attention from the teacher or peers. |

Slide: Step 6) Ask about the setting events

• Remember that setting events are biological, physical or social events

• Ask follow-up questions that will provide a clearer picture

o Do you know of any biological events?

o Do you know of any social events at school or at home?

o Do you know of any physical events at school or at home?

In addition to the antecedents and consequences to the behavior you will also need to address possible setting events. Remember that setting events are biological, physical or social events that have an indirect impact on interfering behavior. Setting events either increase or decrease the likelihood that a behavior will occur.

Since setting events often happen at home or previously in the school day, it is not uncommon for teachers to be unsure of setting events. After identifying the most common setting events ask any follow-up questions that will provide a clearer picture of the impact and occurrence of setting events. You may want to follow-up with the student or parent interview for more information on setting events. Many parents and educators have quick and easy communication channels to convey information about setting events from the morning routine or night before. One parent was known to email the teacher updates on her son’s morning status by saying: “There’s a CAT 5 Hurricane looking to make landfall in your classroom by 8am.” Now that’s a warning!

Ask the following questions about possible setting events:

-Do you know of any biological events that may impact the student in a negative way?

-Do you know of any social events at school or at home that may impact the student in a negative way?

-Do you know of any physical events at school or at home that may impact the student in a negative way?

For each question you ask about setting events, it will be helpful to provide examples and help the interviewee to brainstorm.

Slide: Step 6) Ask about the setting events example

|Do you know of any biological events that may impact the student in a |There are no known biological events |

|negative way? | |

|Do you know of any social events at school or at home that may impact |Shane rides the bus with 3 of the classmates in algebra. The |

|the student in a negative way? |classmates have bullied him in the past and have been caught making |

| |fun of him. |

|Do you know of any physical events at school or at home that may |There are no known physical events |

|impact the student in a negative way? | |

Here is the summary for setting events for Shane.

|Do you know of any biological events that may impact the student in a |There are no known biological events |

|negative way? | |

|Do you know of any social events at school or at home that may impact |Shane rides the bus with 3 of the classmates in algebra. The |

|the student in a negative way? |classmates have bullied him in the past and have been caught making |

| |fun of him. |

|Do you know of any physical events at school or at home that may |There are no known physical events |

|impact the student in a negative way? | |

Slide: Summarize the interview

1. Identify the strengths

2. List the activities when the behavior is most likely to occur

3. Identify the staff who are present when the behavior is most likely to occur

4. Identify the antecedents that are most common

5. Identify the consequences that are most common

6. Identify any setting events that may be a possibility

Now that you have collected information you will want to summarize the interview or interviews. You will take the information you received from your interviewees and prioritize it. You can do this by:

1. Identify the strengths that may be helpful in providing an intervention for the interfering behavior

2. List the activities when the behavior is most likely to occur

3. Identify the staff who are present when the behavior is most likely to occur

4. Identify the antecedents that are most common

5. Identify the consequences that are most common

6. Identify any setting events that may be a possibility

Write the highest ranked item from each of these areas.

Slide: Summary of the interview example

|Strengths |Great memory |

| |Has several friends |

|Activities |Algebra – group instruction |

| |History – group instruction |

|Staff |Mr. Jones |

| |Mrs. Martin |

|Antecedents |Asked a question in front of entire class |

|Consequences |Teacher moves on to another student and lets Shane continue scribbling |

|Setting events |Shane has been bullied by 3 peers in his classes |

Here is an example for Shane.

|Strengths |Great memory |

| |Has several friends |

|Activities |Algebra – group instruction |

| |History – group instruction |

|Staff |Mr. Jones |

| |Mrs. Martin |

|Antecedents |Asked a question in front of entire class |

|Consequences |Teacher moves on to another student and lets Shane continue scribbling |

|Setting events |Shane has been bullied by 3 peers in his classes |

Slide: Considerations when summarizing the interviews

|Antecedent |Behavior |Consequence |

|Are the identified triggers of behavior clear |Is the behavioral definition clear enough? |Have you clearly identified the environmental |

|and specific enough to know how to prevent |Have you clearly identified any escalating |responses to behavior (staff or peer) linked |

|problem behavior from occurring? |behavior patterns? |with the function of behavior? |

It is important to be specific and clear when you are summarizing the information from the interview. Part of the purpose is to gather information about the behavior so you can develop an intervention. However, another purpose is to help with determining how you may provide further assessment of the behavior. This simply means the activities or routines that you will want to directly observe. We will talk more about this in the next presentation as we get to the “S” in the D.A.S.H. process.

As you summarize ask yourself, the following questions:

|Antecedent |Behavior |Consequence |

|Are the identified triggers of behavior clear |Is the behavioral definition clear enough? |Have you clearly identified the responses to |

|and specific enough to know how to prevent |Have you clearly identified any escalating |behavior (staff or peer) linked with |

|problem behavior from occurring? |behavior patterns? |maintaining behavior? |

Once you have summarized the interviews, you will want to consider the function of the behavior. Ask yourself, can you identify the function of behavior? What has the student learned that maintains the behavior or makes it pay off?

If you are unclear of the answers to any of these questions you will want to investigate the behavior further by doing direct observation of the behavior in the settings and during the activities that have been identified.

Slide: Interview process

• Shane

• Math teacher

• Art teacher

• Parent

• Administrator

Let’s go back to a student we’ve mentioned before: Shane. Shane’s educational team hopes to create positive changes in Shane’s behavior.

In the next set of videos you will see various team members interviewed about Shane’s behavior. In the first group, you will see the substitute math teacher interviewed. Remember, this is a class where there is a high rate of behavior. Next, you will see the Art teacher interviewed. This is a time when Shane’s behavior is very low. Next, you will see his mother interviewed. Finally, you will see an administrator interviewed. The videos will not show every team member interviewed. For example, you do not see his history teacher interviewed. However, they are designed to provide an example of the process.

Slide: Video

Interview 1 part 1

Yes it’s an academic related behavior. I think a related to is difficultly mapped.

Interview 1 part 2

From what I’ve observed, the teachers simply move onto someone else. Power struggling with Shane has not been affective.

Interview 1 part 3

I’ve seen Shane outright ignored with math teachers questions in class and becomes hostile when pressed on the issue. So the teachers generally backs off. Since I’ve been teaching that math class, I haven’t asked him to do much but he’s done everything I’ve asked. Even with his last math teacher, I noticed that he paid attention when someone was demonstrating a problem but became oppositional when the teacher pressed him to participate orally. From my observations, I think his math skills are a tad below the rest of the class.

Interview 2 part 1

You know I’ve really never have had a problem with Shane, but I do know he doesn’t like to be embarrassed in front of his peers or put on the spot. If I were to do something to embarrass him, he’ll quickly withdraw till I move attention away from him.

Interview 3 part 1

On the very rare occasion that he’s ever had a problem in my class, I’ve just ignored him and gone on to someone else.

Interview 5 part 3

Shane always done well in school but he’s never liked math. He just doesn’t believe he can do it so he doesn’t even try. His father and I have talked him about it, but sometimes he can be just so stubborn.

Interview 5 part 5

Shane has been in my office on a few occasions, every time after problems in math class. He is very pleasant with me and when I ask him why he has problems, he tells me he just doesn’t like math. That’s why I’ve sent him to see Mr. Adler.

Slide: Apply It!

• Go to the question titled Interview

• Select one of the students and interfering behaviors from your list

• Select one person to interview. Ask the questions

• Once you have completed the interview, summarize the results

It is time for your next Apply It! activity. Please get your Participant Handbook. Go to the question titled Interview. You will want to get the information you wrote down from your other Apply It! activities. You should have identified and described at least one interfering behavior for several of your students. In other activities, you further refined the definitions.

For this Apply It! activity,

1. Select one of the students and interfering behaviors from your list.

2. Select one person to interview. Ask the questions provided in this presentation and document your answers for each question.

3. Once you have completed the interview, summarize the results.

Slide: Summary

• All the information each step of the D.A.S.H. brings to our investigation is there to help us uncover the function, or pay-off, of a student’s behavior

• The next step is to observe the behavior, as it occurs, in the context of the environment and interactions

Gathering information about setting events, antecedents, and consequences will help provide you with the bigger picture of why the behavior is happening. All the information each step of the D.A.S.H. brings to our investigation is there to help us uncover the function, or pay-off, of a student’s behavior. After interviewing key people, you’ll have a much better sense of when and where interfering behavior is occurring. The next step is to observe the behavior, as it occurs, in the context of the environment and interactions. It’s time for the third step in the D.A.S.H. process—SEE the behavior!

Slide: Reference

Information for this presentation was taken from Practical Functional Behavioral Assessment Training Manual for School Based Personnel written by Sheldon Loman, Ph.D. and Christopher Borgneier, Ph.D. at Portland State University.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download