Ask About Behavior

VCU-ACE - Strategies for Supporting Positive Behaviors in Students with ASD Online Course

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

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.

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.