NICHCY: National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilitites

• Behavior Expertise
• Behavior Assessment, Plans, and Positive Supports (you're here!)
• Behavior at Home
• Behavior at School
• Bullying

This page focuses on Behavioral Assessment, Plans, and Positive Supports. Without a doubt, a critical first step in addressing problem behavior is determining why the student is exhibiting the behavior. To do so, a behavior assessment must generally be conducted. Only when more is known about the cause or causes of the student's behavior can appropriate positive supports be identified and provided.

The list below isn't intended to be exhaustive of the behavior resources available, but it will certainly get you started and connect you with lots of useful information.

• Why does my kid do that?
  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/behaviorprob_qt/assessing_motivation.pdf
  This document helps you find the reasons behind misbehavior in children.
  
  
• What does defiant behavior mean?
  http://www.pbs.org/parents/inclusivecommunities/challenging_behavior.html
  PBS offers many resources for parents of children with disabilities, including this series of web pages called Challenging Behavior in Children.
  
  
• Behavior serves a purpose.
  http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/
  The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) offers a number of family briefs on behavior, but if you want to know more about how behavior is a form of communication and why some children choose inappropriate behaviors as a way of communicating, try CECP's brief called Functional Communication Training to Promote Positive Behavior. A natural follow-up is CECP's brief called Planned Ignoring as an Intervention Strategy for Parents and Family Members.
  
  
• What are children trying to tell us?
  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/briefs/wwb9.html
  What Works briefs from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning summarize effective practices for supporting children's social-emotional development and preventing challenging behaviors. This 4-pager talks about functional behavior assessment and how it's used to figure out the purpose or function of a child's problem behavior--in effect, what the child is trying to say. Spanish version is available at:
  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/briefs/wwb9-sp.html
  
  
• More on the function of behavior: Achieving the purpose in appropriate ways.
  http://slhslinux.cla.umn.edu/ParentHandbook/PH1.html
  The Early Childhood Behavior Project offers many materials on challenging behavior, including this Introduction. Also extremely interesting---and useful---is the project's page on ways to provide the child with an appropriate communication alternative that will achieve the original purpose of the problem behavior. Find this latter information at: http://slhslinux.cla.umn.edu/Topic4/index.html
  
  
• Is this behavior normal, a phase, a development issue, or something more serious?
  www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childbehaviordisorders.html
  Family members and teachers may see a range of behaviors out of children and still not be sure if a particular behavior they're seeing indicates a childhood behavior disorder. Visit Medline Plus's page, which connects with various resources to help you decide, including Development and Behavior; You and Your Child's Behavior; Children's Threats: When Are They Serious?; and specific aspects, such as aggressive behavior; children who won't go to school; conduct disorders; fighting and biting; helping the child who is expressing anger; and know when to seek help for your child.
  
  

• So what exactly is a Functional Behavioral Assessment?
  http://cecp.air.org/fba/default.asp
  This page answers the basic questions of "FBA: What is it?" It covers how to conduct and FBA, and how to use the results to create a positive behavioral intervention plan and supports. The information is broken down into digestible sizes and is easy to read and consume.
  
  
• Details about the process involved in FBA.
  http://www.aboutourkids.org/files/articles/nov_dec_2.pdf
  This 6-page newsletter defines the process of FBA. It gives clear descriptions and specific examples. A great, reader-friendly overview!
  
  
• Here's another reader-friendly overview.
  www.pacer.org/parent/php/php-c79.pdf
  An 8-page brief for parents on functional behavioral assessment and positive behavioral interventions. There's also a Spanish version available at:
  www.pacer.org/parent/php/PHP-c79s.pdf
• FBA: What, why, when, where, and who?
  From Wrightslaw.
  http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/discipl.fab.starin.htm
  
  
• Take a look at this review of research on Functional Analysis of Problem Behavior.
  http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2003/jaba-36-02-0147.pdf
  This research review was originally published in Applied Behavior Analysis in Summer 2003.
  
  
• What is "Multimodal Behavior Analysis"?
  http://mfba.net/index.html
  The Duquesne University School Psychology Program provides a thorough description of the process of conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment and writing a Behavior Intervention Plan.
  
  
• What do they mean by "strength based assessment"?
  http://cecp.air.org/interact/expertonline/strength/sba.asp
  This method of assessment empowers child by building on their personal strengths and resources, rather than focuses on their problems.
  
  
• The IEP team is definitely involved!
  The IEP team might find these two resources helpful in understanding FBA and what comes next: (1) An IEP Team’s Introduction To Functional Behavioral Assessment And Behavior Intervention Plans (available at: http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior/main.htm); and (2) Conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment (available at: http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior2/main2.htm).
  
  

• How do you go about developing a behavioral intervention plan?
  www.ldonline.org/article/6180
  This article explains the requirements of the IDEA regarding addressing problem behavior. It provides a step-by-step guide to conducting a functional behavioral analysis, and writing a behavior plan.
  
  
• Writing the plan for school involves the IEP team.
  http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/docs/BEHAVIORALMEETINGS.pdf
  The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) offers a number of family briefs on behavior. Two were mentioned above under "Behavior as Communication." If you'd like to know more about how to write a BIP, read CECP's Behavioral Planning Meetings, which describes what BIPs are and how parents and the school system work together to write one.
  
  
• Suppose the IEP team doesn't know much about behavior, FBA, or BIPs?
  http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior/main.htm
  If the IEP team isn't real sure how to address a student's problem behavior, then members might find this CECP resource helpful: Addressing Student Problem Behavior, Part I: An IEP Team's Introduction to Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans. It's available at the link above. Also to the point is Creating Positive Behavioral Intervention Plans and Supports, available at: http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior3/main3.htm
  
  
• Would a sample form help?
  http://www.circleofinclusion.org/english/formsarticles/
  forms/10challengingbehavior/form10index.html
  The Circle of Inclusion (for early childhood service providers and families of young children) offers a number of sample "Forms to Support a Child with Challenging Behaviors." These include: (1) a behavior log; (2) a blank behavior intervention program; (3) a sample behavior intervention program; (4) an environmental and curricular checklist; (5) social skills training; and (6) problem behavior analysis.
• How about examples of BIPs for children with specific disabilities?
  http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialeducation/qt/behaviorplan.htm
  Have a look if the child you're concerned about has: ADHD, Asperger syndrome, autism, bipolar disorder, fetal alcohol effects. LD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  

• What exactly is Positive Behavior Support?
  http://www.pbis.org/
  There's no one better to ask than the PBIS Center funded by OSEP. There's so much info on this site, you may never be seen again! If you're looking for info in Spanish, you'll find it at:
  http://www.pbis.org/spanish/main-es.htm
  
  

• What are the components of behavioral support?
  www.state.ky.us/agencies/behave/homepage.html
  This site offers information on a 3-tier model of behavior support: (1) school-wide, (2) small group, and (3) individual. It gives information on what all students need to be successful.
  
  
• Positive behavioral interventions and supports.
  www.ldonline.org/article/6035
  This article from LDOnline explains why PBIS is important and outlines key principles of practice.
  
  
• More about PBS and its individualized approach to managing challenging behavior.
  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/briefs/wwb10.html
  This What Works brief from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning summarizes PBS and talks about how it works, factors that will limit its effectiveness, and whether it's really just "giving in" to the child. A Spanish version is available at:
  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/briefs/wwb10-sp.html
  
  
• Tips for parents: How to get behavior supports into the IEP.
  www.pbis.org/spanish/files/parentiep.doc
  This guide, a collaboration between the Beach Center on Disabilities and the Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports contains a wealth of suggestions for parents.

• There's a center focusing exclusively on PBIS.
  http://www.pbis.org/default.aspx
  The Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to provide information, training, support, and guidance to the nation on addressing behavior problems in research-based and effective ways. They offer information in English and in Spanish.
  
  
• Check out this one-stop-shop on behavior!
  www.bridges4kids.org/PBS/PBS.html
  This site has info for both families and teachers on FBAs, behavior intervention plans, bullying, and discipline issues.  
  

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