Prioritizing Behavior Worksheet and Paper

Prioritizing Behavior

PART 1

Consider the following three potential target behaviors that have been identified for Matt, a 5-year-old student who attends a half-day regular kindergarten program. Matt’s case study can be found on page 210 in your Functional Assessment text.

1. Inappropriate social greetings.
2. Rocking stereotype.
3. Refusal to do work.

PART 2

Use the Worksheet for Prioritizing Potential Behaviors in the resources to prioritize Matt’s behaviors for treatment. Use the key as identified on page 8, Table 1-1 of your Functional Assessment text to carefully rank each of Matt’s potential target behaviors by the extent to which it meets or fulfills each prioritization criterion. You may add NA (not applicable) and UNK (unknown) to the key. You are required to submit this worksheet with the rest of your assignment.

PART 3

For each of Matt’s three target behaviors, explain why you gave each rating (on the 0–4 scale) for each of the nine points to consider when prioritizing behavior (that is, health and safety, longevity, likelihood of success, and so forth). Please note that Part 3 of this assignment is only asking how you would prioritize each behavior for eventual assessment and treatment. You are not to write an assessment or treatment plan. You are only required to describe your decisions for determining priorities.

ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style guidelines.
• Resources:A sufficient number of scholarly or professional resources. Resources should include the course texts, and a combination of seminal works.
• Length: 2–3 double-spaced pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

MATTS Case Study

Matt

Matt is a five-year-old student who attends a half-day regular education kindergarten program. This is his first school experience. There are 21 other students in his classroom, one teacher, and one teaching assistant who is assigned to the classroom because of other students who have IEPs. However, the assistant also works with Matt due to his challenging behavior.

Matt’s teacher describes him as an alert student who tries to participate in all academic and social activities and routines. He likes peers and often tries to interact with them; however, his initiations are a bit rough, and many peers are afraid of him and avoid interacting with him.

Matt’s favorite activities are dramatic play, art and writing activities, and activities that involve gross-motor skills.

Matt exhibits several behaviors that concern his teacher, Mrs. Yellin-Clarke. She feels that these behaviors interfere with Matt’s learning and progress and those of other students in the classroom. For example, Matt often rocks wildly in his chair, puts materials and fingers in his mouth, seeks hugs from adults and peers, and constantly changes position or moves to different locations during activities. He also often will leave activities and begin a different, self-selected activity.

Mrs. Yellin-Clarke says that Matt also has trouble waiting in line or for his turn during activities. He often runs during transition instead of putting materials away and following transition routines. Finally, Mrs. Yellin-Clarke indicates that Matt does not follow whole-class instructions and often takes much individual attention from her or the assistant to begin an activity, continue working on an activity, and behave appropriately during an activity. She feels that the amount of time Matt requires reduces the amount of time that she should be devoting to other students. Mrs. Yellin-Clarke believes that the behaviors she has described warrant placement in a self-contained special education classroom. She has referred Matt for special education evaluation. As part of the multidisciplinary case study evaluation, Dr. Calder conducts a functional assessment of Matt’s behavior.

The following information is a sample of Dr. Calder’s observations using the ABC recording form:

The function of Matt’s challenging behavior is sensory regulation/sensory stimulation increase. Matt’s challenging behavior typically produces sensory input such as movement, auditory, tactile, and oral stimulation. He engages in challenging behavior during passive and unstructured activities in which he is not actively involved or is expected to wait, sit quietly, or listen. He also seeks very stimulating materials and activities during free-choice periods such as recess and open centers and refuses to engage in passive activities during these free-choice periods. The sensory regulation/sensory stimulation increase function also was identified because Matt engages in appropriate behavior during activities with high levels of stimulation. For example, his behavior was appropriate when his group acted out the “Three Little Pigs” story.

In addition to seeking activities that are highly stimulating and increasing stimulation during passive activities, Matt exhibits problems with sensory regulation. For example, he was not able to calm or reduce his level of stimulation following recess (a very active activity) to the level of stimulation needed to participate in the more passive one-to-one activity with the teaching assistant.

Although Matt’s challenging behavior often results in attention or interaction with a peer or adult, the function of his behavior is not positive reinforcement. If it were positive reinforcement (i.e., attention, in this case), he would continue to seek attention when he is left alone. He does not consistently do this. Therefore, it is likely that the attention or interaction that he receives functions as a form of stimulation. When that form of stimulation is not available, Matt simply seeks a different form of stimulation such as rocking or running.

Negative reinforcement was not selected as the function of his challenging behavior because although Matt often left activities, this behavior consistently occurred only after he had participated in the activity for a period of time, and it always followed attempts to produce stimulation through less active means such as rocking or mouthing objects. If escape from activities were the function, he would engage in challenging behavior at the start of potentially aversive activities. The activities themselves were not aversive for Matt. Rather, it was the passive stimulation level of the activities that was important (i.e., he needed higher levels of stimulation). In other words, the consistent antecedent variable was not a particular activity but rather the level of stimulation provided by the activity. On the other side of the behavior equation, Matt’s behavior did not always result in escape or termination of an activity. Rather, it resulted in a change in the level of stimulation within the activity.