Think Differently! Moving Away from Traditional Functional Behavior Assessment

Dr. Barry Grossman Author

04/10/2023 Added

26 Plays

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2023 Conference Session

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[00:00:00.000]All right, thank you all for being here today.
[00:00:02.670]Dr. Aspy wasn't, she's not going to be able to join us,
[00:00:06.180]but I'll just tell you a little bit about us.
[00:00:09.053]Ruth and I are both psychologists.
[00:00:11.610]We work with the Ziggurat Group.
[00:00:14.365]We're, our background, oh gosh,
[00:00:17.610]we worked in the schools for many, many years
[00:00:19.890]as school psychologists
[00:00:21.960]and went into private practice many years ago as well.
[00:00:26.490]We've been around many, many years.
[00:00:28.410]And so we wrote the Ziggurat model,
[00:00:32.490]and we like talking about both intervention and assessment.
[00:00:37.710]And that's why we're here today.
[00:00:41.670]We wanna talk to you a little bit
[00:00:43.812]about thinking differently,
[00:00:44.730]moving a little bit beyond
[00:00:45.930]the functional behavior assessment.
[00:00:48.060]And so I'm hoping that people both in the room
[00:00:51.570]and then those of you who are joining me online can,
[00:00:55.643]we're gonna do a little activity real quickly,
[00:00:57.690]and you can, if you want to,
[00:00:59.310]you can write this down or you can just think about it.
[00:01:02.310]But I want y'all to,
[00:01:03.177]I'm kind of curious about how many of you have been involved
[00:01:05.880]with a student where an FBA was requested?
[00:01:09.150]Maybe you were a teacher,
[00:01:11.070]and you were involved in that request,
[00:01:14.310]or maybe you were a part of the team that was doing the FBA,
[00:01:18.570]maybe in the last two years,
[00:01:20.100]think about how many of you have been involved.
[00:01:22.440]And I see people in the chat room here, all,
[00:01:25.890]many, at least a few people are already saying
[00:01:28.380]they've been involved.
[00:01:29.213]Yep, yep, yep.
[00:01:30.780]Okay, lots of yeses.
[00:01:32.730]And then the second part of this question is,
[00:01:34.800]for those of you who this applies to,
[00:01:38.010]think about what the reason was, why that FBA,
[00:01:42.300]that functional behavior assessment was requested.
[00:01:47.550]Think about that reason,
[00:01:49.620]and I'm willing to bet that almost all of you
[00:01:53.820]have written down something or thought about something
[00:01:56.848]and that that reason had to do with discipline.
[00:02:01.650]And so the reason why the FBA was requested
[00:02:04.290]is the student had broken the student code of conduct
[00:02:07.410]or maybe was having some significant discipline problems,
[00:02:11.400]and that's the reason that the FBA was requested.
[00:02:15.120]And so today we're going to try to push that envelope
[00:02:20.370]a little bit and think about why are we,
[00:02:22.530]maybe there's some different reasons
[00:02:25.020]that would be good reasons for us to be thinking about,
[00:02:31.050]in depth about the needs of autistic students.
[00:02:37.350]Very quickly wanna talk about FBA and the law.
[00:02:42.501]Where is this coming from?
[00:02:44.490]This functional behavior assessment.
[00:02:46.320]I'm gonna flash the law up here just very briefly,
[00:02:49.440]but in summary, the FBAs are required for misconduct,
[00:02:53.970]when the student is removed, you know,
[00:02:55.500]for more than 10 school days,
[00:02:57.420]something called a manifest determination.
[00:02:59.968]And so these are behaviors that are interfering
[00:03:02.940]with the learning environment.
[00:03:04.080]These are just examples of when the FBA is requested.
[00:03:09.420]And some districts have their own policies
[00:03:11.670]that they've kind of added onto that
[00:03:13.770]of when we might do an FBA,
[00:03:14.967]and there's something called a behavior intervention plan
[00:03:17.220]or a BIP, and often these go together,
[00:03:19.770]but here it is in the law.
[00:03:21.690]This is talking from IDEA,
[00:03:23.700]talking about manifest determination.
[00:03:25.380]And you'll see we highlighted here
[00:03:28.426]a violation of the student code of conduct,
[00:03:30.600]or here in determining
[00:03:33.120]whether something was a manifestation or not,
[00:03:35.820]we're required to conduct a functional behavior assessment,
[00:03:39.780]and implement a behavior intervention plan.
[00:03:43.920]And another section in the IDEA talking about, again,
[00:03:47.820]there's a behavior violation.
[00:03:49.410]We're looking at a functional behavior assessment.
[00:03:53.340]Another section in the law that talks about
[00:03:56.010]that need to conduct one
[00:03:58.380]when there's been a change in placement.
[00:04:00.240]Again, that's a significant behavior
[00:04:02.760]that has kind of triggered this request.
[00:04:05.940]So again and again and again in our law,
[00:04:07.680]the reason why we're requesting an FBA,
[00:04:10.350]a functional behavior assessment
[00:04:11.790]is because there's been some kind of violation
[00:04:14.130]of the code of conduct, some significant behavior.
[00:04:17.640]And today, we want y'all to learn about thinking differently
[00:04:21.930]about this process because in short,
[00:04:25.380]we would say that there are times
[00:04:27.090]in which we need to think critically about students' needs,
[00:04:31.650]but it doesn't always require
[00:04:34.200]that there be a significant behavior problem,
[00:04:37.860]certainly not a conduct problem,
[00:04:40.080]and that's what I wanna kind of give you a little hint,
[00:04:42.690]a little taste of that.
[00:04:44.040]And we're gonna talk about that in depth today.
[00:04:47.400]First, I wanna talk about
[00:04:49.560]the traditional functional behavior assessment.
[00:04:52.500]These are the ABCs, antecedent, behavior and consequence,
[00:04:57.270]and we are doing a very brief overview.
[00:04:59.820]I'm assuming that many of you are well acquainted with this.
[00:05:03.296]And so we wanna focus more on, not on the components
[00:05:08.880]and the how to for doing this,
[00:05:11.970]but rather on thinking about things a little differently.
[00:05:15.450]And so, why do we do these FBAs?
[00:05:17.550]What's the purpose?
[00:05:19.478]And the FBA, when we think critically about
[00:05:20.520]when we do this assessment,
[00:05:22.020]it can help us to look at the patterns
[00:05:24.450]and determine the function of a behavior
[00:05:27.355]and the relationship of that behavior
[00:05:30.150]to the events and conditions.
[00:05:32.220]And so again, we say the ABCs,
[00:05:34.470]and here they are,
[00:05:35.303]the antecedents, the behavior, the consequences.
[00:05:38.190]And so we say that careful analysis,
[00:05:40.200]and we really look at these patterns.
[00:05:43.770]The before, kind of the during and the after if you will.
[00:05:46.860]We look at these patterns that that will help
[00:05:49.500]to give us some insight into what function
[00:05:52.350]this behavior might serve for the student.
[00:05:54.900]And therefore, when I understand that function,
[00:05:56.940]then I can better plan for how to address
[00:06:02.100]this student's needs.
[00:06:04.410]All right, let's look a little bit more in depth here
[00:06:07.020]at the ABCs.
[00:06:09.477]And the A is the antecedent.
[00:06:11.340]And this is defined as events or circumstances
[00:06:15.030]that occur before behavior.
[00:06:16.530]And there are different kinds of antecedents.
[00:06:19.238]The one that we most likely are thinking of
[00:06:21.780]when we think about antecedents,
[00:06:23.700]the fancy word is called trigger stimuli.
[00:06:25.890]These are the things that happen exact, you know,
[00:06:28.140]just immediately before a behavior like maybe losing a game,
[00:06:32.160]right, or a loud noise or a transition.
[00:06:35.760]These are examples,
[00:06:36.840]and we can see how some students might have,
[00:06:40.170]we would then see some type of behavior displayed
[00:06:42.780]after that trigger stimuli.
[00:06:44.220]So every time the child loses a game, we see this behavior.
[00:06:47.760]Or every time we pair this student,
[00:06:50.370]these two students together, we would see this.
[00:06:53.220]Another antecedent, it's more distant,
[00:06:56.460]but they're called setting events.
[00:06:57.750]These are factors outside that immediate environment,
[00:07:00.600]but they influence that behavior.
[00:07:04.230]And so some examples here,
[00:07:05.970]maybe poor sleep or a significant change,
[00:07:08.970]like maybe the birth of a new baby sibling.
[00:07:13.710]So here's some examples of some common antecedents:
[00:07:16.470]time of day.
[00:07:17.400]Maybe some students have more difficulty during, you know,
[00:07:20.790]specific times of day or specific settings
[00:07:25.290]during a school day.
[00:07:27.360]Transitions, changes in routine.
[00:07:30.360]There could be sensory factors,
[00:07:32.338]many other others to consider.
[00:07:34.770]These are just some examples of some common antecedents.
[00:07:39.300]And now the B of the ABCs is behavior, and for behavior,
[00:07:43.710]we need to think more precisely.
[00:07:46.950]Oftentimes behaviors are described kind of vaguely.
[00:07:50.550]Well, he just misbehaves.
[00:07:52.440]Well, that's not good enough.
[00:07:54.600]We need to use precision
[00:07:56.160]when we're doing this type of assessment.
[00:07:58.380]And so what we say is the behavior has to be something
[00:08:00.840]that's observable and measurable.
[00:08:03.690]And the third one talks about non-judgmental.
[00:08:07.170]And this one, I bet y'all have seen this many times.
[00:08:10.380]Have you seen words like refuses written down
[00:08:14.580]on a piece of paper?
[00:08:16.260]Johnny refuses to follow directions is an example of one.
[00:08:22.050]And so we see this language, and that language is judgmental
[00:08:25.115]because it really is implying an intent.
[00:08:28.770]An intent, you know, on purpose, right?
[00:08:30.930]We're refusing on purpose.
[00:08:33.060]And when we are going through this process,
[00:08:35.310]we need to be a little more scientific,
[00:08:37.170]which means we have to be more open-minded
[00:08:39.255]about the behavior, and so in order to do so
[00:08:43.140]we wanna take a non-judgmental approach.
[00:08:45.450]We're not sure what the reason is yet.
[00:08:47.850]And so we don't want to use terms like refusal or, you know,
[00:08:52.498]those kind of judgmental purposes.
[00:08:54.810]Rude, even the word rude or on purpose.
[00:08:57.319]And oh, behavior is well defined
[00:09:00.660]when, you know, you would have two or more people,
[00:09:03.450]if they were using that definition, they would both count,
[00:09:06.420]you know, the same number of occurrences.
[00:09:08.820]So you could have two people in a classroom.
[00:09:11.100]And yep, sure enough, this, you know,
[00:09:12.930]if one person says this behavior occurred,
[00:09:15.060]the other person would say it did as well.
[00:09:17.250]So that's a observable, measurable, non-judgmental,
[00:09:21.360]non-vague, very specific definition.
[00:09:24.690]The C in the ABCs is consequences.
[00:09:27.120]Oftentimes people hear that word consequence
[00:09:29.760]and what they really think is punishment,
[00:09:33.330]and that's not the case here.
[00:09:35.760]Consequences in this, you know, context
[00:09:39.630]simply means what happens after a behavior.
[00:09:43.260]And so these are events that occur after,
[00:09:44.970]and they might include positive things or negative things
[00:09:47.730]or maybe neutral events that might occur.
[00:09:50.610]So maybe, you know, the student might lose recess
[00:09:53.790]or might get attention from peers
[00:09:55.320]or maybe delays, you know, some type of work.
[00:09:58.530]So they kind of get a break from an assignment.
[00:10:01.320]And so those are the consequences.
[00:10:04.980]And the notion behind an FBA is once we kind of look at
[00:10:08.676]all the data, we've got the antecedents, the behavior
[00:10:10.977]and the consequences, the ABCs, then we could infer
[00:10:15.540]what a function, what's a function of this behavior?
[00:10:18.630]And here are four of the most common functions that we have.
[00:10:22.260]One is escape avoidance.
[00:10:23.670]We have attention.
[00:10:25.458]Tangible, that means access to some type of preferred item
[00:10:30.116]or activity, and then the last one, it's called automatic.
[00:10:35.400]And what that means is that the behavior itself
[00:10:38.160]is reinforcing.
[00:10:39.390]It provides its own reward.
[00:10:41.250]Sometimes common examples would be like sensory stimulation,
[00:10:45.300]maybe rocking back and forth might be pleasurable
[00:10:48.840]or rewarding for that student.
[00:10:51.240]And so that's an example of an automatic reinforcer.
[00:10:56.040]Okay, well, we wanna take some of these common functions
[00:11:01.800]and kind of describe 'em in non-scientific,
[00:11:05.100]but common language.
[00:11:06.360]And then we wanna think about a different interpretation.
[00:11:10.050]We call it the kind interpretation.
[00:11:12.420]And so at the top of the screen here, escape avoidance.
[00:11:15.510]Commonly we'll hear someone say,
[00:11:17.220]well, they're just trying to get outta work.
[00:11:19.560]That's what they mean.
[00:11:20.550]That's what escape avoidance really means.
[00:11:23.820]He's just trying to get out of it.
[00:11:25.740]And we think, no, a kind interpretation
[00:11:28.590]would be to ask this question.
[00:11:30.759]You know, could it be, or is it the autism?
[00:11:34.098]And Ruth and I say, we really think that the best
[00:11:39.030]right out of the gate, the kind thing to do
[00:11:42.210]would be to first assume that there is a relationship
[00:11:46.830]between the behavior and the underlying condition,
[00:11:49.830]in this case autism.
[00:11:51.750]And let's assume that first,
[00:11:54.390]because we don't want to be in a situation
[00:11:56.310]where we might end up punishing someone for,
[00:11:59.010]well, for their disability.
[00:12:01.080]And so here's what the kind interpretation
[00:12:03.330]of escape avoidance might be.
[00:12:05.220]What's overwhelming to this student?
[00:12:07.440]Or maybe what do they need?
[00:12:09.540]And so, you know, you might have a student who, you know,
[00:12:12.690]is in the cafeteria, and they frequently,
[00:12:15.390]maybe they elope from the cafeteria
[00:12:18.330]because that sensory environment is challenging for them.
[00:12:22.334]And so, you know, again, the common interpretation,
[00:12:25.740]they're just trying to get outta the cafeteria.
[00:12:27.660]They don't wanna be there.
[00:12:28.710]They're getting outta there.
[00:12:29.880]Well, a kind interpretation might be to say
[00:12:32.040]what's overwhelming to this student?
[00:12:34.470]And what is it that they might need?
[00:12:36.300]In this case, maybe they need to have lunch
[00:12:38.040]in a different setting
[00:12:38.873]or they might need a shorter duration,
[00:12:41.070]or maybe they need noise canceling, you know, headphones
[00:12:43.500]or something of that nature.
[00:12:44.860]But the point is we don't wanna force students
[00:12:47.799]into situations where they're,
[00:12:50.070]you know, where it's not comfortable for them,
[00:12:53.910]for their nervous system, right?
[00:12:55.522]Okay, let's look at the next one.
[00:12:58.050]Attention, and a common interpretation is
[00:13:01.230]they're just spoiled.
[00:13:02.220]They just want attention.
[00:13:04.199]That's what that's about.
[00:13:05.190]And we say, hold on a minute.
[00:13:06.300]A kind interpretation would be to say, is this the autism?
[00:13:09.360]Let's think about it through that lens a little bit.
[00:13:11.970]Maybe they're seeking connection.
[00:13:13.650]What is it that they might need?
[00:13:15.630]And so often, you know, students on the spectrum,
[00:13:18.660]maybe they want to, they want that connection.
[00:13:21.750]They wanna join play
[00:13:22.980]or they want to invite someone to play or initiate play,
[00:13:26.010]but they may not know how.
[00:13:27.750]And so sometimes they might do so, you know, in ways,
[00:13:31.170]you know, like maybe they'll, you know,
[00:13:32.970]touch another peer or say something
[00:13:35.282]that others might think is rude,
[00:13:37.770]but that's their way of initiating just an example.
[00:13:40.800]Tangible, they just want it their way.
[00:13:43.230]I hear that all the time.
[00:13:44.400]They just, they're just bossy.
[00:13:45.960]They just want it their way.
[00:13:47.820]And we think, well, a kind interpretation might be,
[00:13:50.880]you know, do they know the right way to get what they want?
[00:13:54.300]What is it that they are actually needing
[00:13:56.970]and why don't they have what they want?
[00:14:00.000]And so we again wanna take that kind interpretation.
[00:14:03.180]Can kids on the spectrum be whipper snappers?
[00:14:05.700]Sure they can.
[00:14:06.533]All kids can.
[00:14:07.800]But we think, again, it's best to,
[00:14:09.510]let's take that kind interpretation right out of the gate
[00:14:13.170]as we are trying to understand better
[00:14:15.510]what's underlying this, and we need to look, you know,
[00:14:18.592]carefully to understand the underlying needs.
[00:14:22.740]And the last one, automatic.
[00:14:24.210]Well, they're just stimming.
[00:14:25.860]And we would say,
[00:14:27.712]are they overstimulated or under stimulated?
[00:14:29.190]Maybe they're regulating, right?
[00:14:30.600]That's what oftentimes repetitive behaviors, you know,
[00:14:36.000]these automatic behaviors are regulating and calming
[00:14:39.240]to the individual.
[00:14:40.470]Are they dysregulated?
[00:14:41.640]What is it that they need?
[00:14:43.800]And so again, those are just some questions
[00:14:46.110]that we would have when we think about
[00:14:48.270]the kind interpretation when we're looking at functions.
[00:14:52.530]Well, let's look at some of the additional limitations here
[00:14:55.920]of the FBA.
[00:14:58.470]You know, right here, front and center,
[00:15:00.300]if you think about what we're actually doing,
[00:15:02.393]the FBA is based on the principle
[00:15:05.055]that all behaviors result from factors in the environment.
[00:15:11.100]And so here's an example. John takes Lucy's toy.
[00:15:14.280]Lucy hits John.
[00:15:15.690]Well, the function was tangible, right?
[00:15:17.430]There was something that Lucy wanted,
[00:15:19.740]and she wanted that toy back, and that's why she hit John.
[00:15:24.378]But what we know is that this may not always be the case.
[00:15:31.050]Right, it's not always resulting from factors
[00:15:33.330]in the environment.
[00:15:34.890]Here's one of the shortcomings here,
[00:15:36.990]is that anything that is not observable may be ignored
[00:15:41.250]by a strict behaviorist, right?
[00:15:42.960]And so what we say is anything between the ears,
[00:15:47.130]thoughts, emotions, even the autism itself
[00:15:50.430]is between the ears.
[00:15:52.260]And those factors can't be observed or measured,
[00:15:55.890]and not easily, at least.
[00:15:57.460]Quick example, I work with a student who,
[00:16:00.990]elementary student, and his behavior changed pretty suddenly
[00:16:06.000]at school, but it was very significant.
[00:16:08.490]Over the course of a few weeks,
[00:16:10.560]the teachers were seeing increased,
[00:16:13.197]well, he was off task more and more, and they,
[00:16:16.440]so they were asking him to, you know, to do work,
[00:16:18.720]and he just kind of was quiet,
[00:16:20.520]and he wasn't responding.
[00:16:22.440]He wasn't asking for help.
[00:16:25.260]He wasn't getting his work done.
[00:16:27.270]And at times teachers might make a request, like, you know,
[00:16:31.620]like maybe he was on his school device, like an iPad.
[00:16:35.790]You know, they had, and they might say,
[00:16:38.130]let's put away the iPad, it's time for math.
[00:16:40.410]And they found that he was playing a game,
[00:16:42.780]and he kind of persisted in that.
[00:16:44.880]So he had a hard time transitioning
[00:16:46.770]from something that was kind of fun
[00:16:49.340]to something that might not be fun.
[00:16:50.730]And boy, they pulled him into the principal's office.
[00:16:54.300]They called the parents.
[00:16:56.220]He was suspended from school.
[00:16:59.580]Well, it turns out that his grandmother died, okay?
[00:17:07.560]And for him, this behavior was pretty new.
[00:17:10.470]Teachers hadn't seen it before.
[00:17:12.630]And he was sorting out,
[00:17:15.210]this was the first time a family member
[00:17:17.430]or close family member had died,
[00:17:19.890]and he's in elementary school.
[00:17:21.390]So this was not, you know, a frequent occurrence for him.
[00:17:24.810]And his whole world changed.
[00:17:27.120]And so he was sorting that out,
[00:17:29.370]and in the best way he knew how,
[00:17:31.890]and so he became more quiet.
[00:17:33.540]He was more off task.
[00:17:36.120]He had difficulty focusing.
[00:17:38.100]He was, you know, showing behaviors
[00:17:40.260]that were a little unusual and had difficulty transitioning.
[00:17:44.220]And all those things that I described,
[00:17:46.050]this is all essentially what's happening between the ears.
[00:17:49.410]And if we think about it,
[00:17:50.670]well, let's say we did an FBA on him.
[00:17:53.460]Was he escaping, avoiding?
[00:17:55.650]Was he seeking adult attention?
[00:17:57.540]Was it tangible?
[00:17:58.470]Was there something he wanted?
[00:17:59.670]Was it automatic?
[00:18:01.080]And so we say there are times
[00:18:02.580]in which really looking at function
[00:18:04.620]is kind of an oversimplification.
[00:18:07.230]And so FBAs, while they can be very helpful,
[00:18:10.320]I'm not trying to dismiss that.
[00:18:12.240]They could be extremely helpful in understanding things.
[00:18:15.000]And one could argue obviously
[00:18:16.350]that the death of his grandmother was the setting event.
[00:18:19.995]But when we looked at what was going on with him,
[00:18:23.610]kind of looking for a function there isn't very fruitful.
[00:18:28.775]And what was going on with him
[00:18:31.170]is he was dealing with a huge change in his world,
[00:18:34.500]a huge change in routine.
[00:18:36.690]Maybe he was quite sad or even depressed at this new,
[00:18:42.300]this huge change.
[00:18:44.400]There are some additional shortcomings of the FBA.
[00:18:47.154]Oftentimes these behavior challenges
[00:18:50.100]are really better seen not as behavior problems,
[00:18:53.790]but as a mismatch between the person's strengths and needs
[00:18:57.600]and the environment.
[00:18:59.070]And so, you know, you're in a kind of,
[00:19:02.130]you're a neuro diverse individual
[00:19:04.170]in a neuro majority environment,
[00:19:06.420]and sometimes there can be some challenges in that.
[00:19:11.940]And so there can be a mismatch.
[00:19:14.190]And so of course,
[00:19:15.210]what can we do to try to get these environments
[00:19:17.837]to be more aligned?
[00:19:19.200]What kind of accommodations, supports,
[00:19:21.210]what skills might we need to teach, et cetera?
[00:19:24.135]So these challenges can occur.
[00:19:27.660]The characteristics of autism itself is sometimes, you know,
[00:19:31.800]dealing with changes in routines, sensory differences,
[00:19:35.074]social differences, communication differences,
[00:19:38.490]and there can be skill deficits.
[00:19:41.592]And so anytime there's lots of skill deficits,
[00:19:43.800]looking for a function becomes kind of fruitless.
[00:19:47.850]And so we think there's still something you can do though,
[00:19:51.570]and we want you to look critically at what's going on
[00:19:54.960]and develop good supports to address,
[00:19:58.170]to really dig deep and address those underlying needs.
[00:20:01.920]All right, so let's look at the path we've gone down here.
[00:20:05.730]For those of you may not recognize this,
[00:20:08.640]this is Alcatraz here, right?
[00:20:10.590]And this is the path here.
[00:20:13.140]And we have this situation where FBAs
[00:20:15.870]are really tied into disciplinary issues.
[00:20:19.320]That's what it's gotta take
[00:20:21.630]in order to get someone to look critically
[00:20:24.360]at what's going on and to help this person
[00:20:27.392]and think through this,
[00:20:29.370]there has to be some behavior problem,
[00:20:31.230]some behavior violation.
[00:20:33.355]It's gotta get pretty severe.
[00:20:36.210]And what we say is sometimes the struggles
[00:20:38.220]that students have may not manifest as these, you know,
[00:20:40.920]externalizing problems, as these behavior violations
[00:20:43.980]and punishable even problems,
[00:20:46.620]but they're still significant, and they're still meaningful.
[00:20:50.310]You know, what about Johnny
[00:20:51.390]who's having trouble making friends,
[00:20:53.040]and he's feeling pretty lonely, and he's walking around
[00:20:55.980]the perimeter of the playground every day.
[00:20:58.680]That's still significant, and that's still meaningful.
[00:21:02.160]And we need to look carefully at what's going on
[00:21:05.079]and kind of assess that situation
[00:21:08.040]and address Johnny's underlying needs, right?
[00:21:12.141]But we're not looking for a function there,
[00:21:14.220]but it's still very important.
[00:21:16.230]And so that's kind of where we are right now.
[00:21:18.510]So we say, let's think differently
[00:21:21.150]about when we wanna really spend time
[00:21:24.450]focusing on understanding behaviors,
[00:21:26.460]and FBAs can be done in other circumstances,
[00:21:29.850]not just discipline.
[00:21:32.190]Gonna tell you a quick story about a student,
[00:21:34.530]and this is a story that really illustrates
[00:21:37.858]kind of bad FBA if you will and a behavior plan here.
[00:21:42.150]This is Laura.
[00:21:43.410]Laura was from a small town,
[00:21:46.410]and she was in a very small classroom.
[00:21:49.500]Her IEP had her in a classroom
[00:21:51.510]with a real small student to teacher ratio.
[00:21:54.570]Well, she moved to a new school district, a large city.
[00:21:58.950]And for some reason, this is the question
[00:22:01.020]we still don't know the answer to,
[00:22:02.760]the school when they transitioned her to the,
[00:22:05.940]transferred her, they didn't exactly replicate her program.
[00:22:10.200]They put her in all general education classes.
[00:22:13.440]And so she really didn't have a good IEP or a similar IEP
[00:22:17.160]to what she had had.
[00:22:19.058]So the student to teacher ratio much different,
[00:22:21.570]and Laura was pretty anxious about going to school,
[00:22:25.620]especially going to a much larger school.
[00:22:28.350]And so her mom told her before, you know, the first day
[00:22:34.140]said, you know, Laura, here's the deal.
[00:22:36.660]If you're feeling nervous or if you're feeling anxious,
[00:22:38.730]if you need help, you can call me anytime you want.
[00:22:42.810]And so that was the instruction Laura was given
[00:22:45.990]by her parents.
[00:22:47.910]And so she goes in to school,
[00:22:51.060]and this is kind of what happened.
[00:22:53.730]She knew that if she got overwhelmed,
[00:22:55.470]she could always call home for support.
[00:22:57.870]And so she transitioned to the new school,
[00:22:59.910]but then something happened.
[00:23:01.110]She had conflicting instructions.
[00:23:03.390]She was in the classroom feeling kind of overwhelmed,
[00:23:06.296]and she wanted to talk to her mom.
[00:23:10.080]And so she rose her hand and asked to go, you know,
[00:23:13.410]can I go to to the office and call my mom?
[00:23:16.890]And her teacher said no.
[00:23:19.050]So we had conflicting instructions.
[00:23:21.480]So Laura's anxiety grew and grew,
[00:23:24.690]and at one point she just eloped from the classroom,
[00:23:27.360]she went to the office,
[00:23:29.070]and this is kind of before cell phones
[00:23:31.890]or maybe before she was the age
[00:23:34.080]where she would carry a cell phone,
[00:23:35.940]so she went to the office to use the phone there,
[00:23:39.240]and the office staff members, you know, were wondering,
[00:23:43.920]why are you here?
[00:23:44.820]And what are you doing picking up the phone?
[00:23:47.160]And this turned into a much bigger ordeal.
[00:23:49.980]She's screaming, she's crying.
[00:23:51.810]You know, at one point the office person
[00:23:53.790]removed the phone from her hand.
[00:23:56.100]And poor Laura, I mean, she was rather anxious.
[00:23:58.230]And this is the instruction she had been given
[00:24:00.270]is I'm supposed to call my mom, and that's what I'm doing.
[00:24:04.590]And so Laura, they did an FBA on her,
[00:24:10.710]and here's what happened.
[00:24:12.540]After that incident, by the way, she was arrested,
[00:24:14.730]I forgot to tell you that by the school resource officer.
[00:24:18.930]And then she was suspended,
[00:24:21.618]but she didn't come back after her suspension
[00:24:25.981]or her attendance was really spotty after that.
[00:24:30.450]And so they were looking at the absences, and they said,
[00:24:33.540]well, the reason why she's absent, it's escape.
[00:24:37.181]And then they said that she refused to follow instructions.
[00:24:41.640]And this is real.
[00:24:42.930]This is, and you'll see there, it says refusal.
[00:24:45.420]And that's that judgmental language we talked about.
[00:24:48.300]And their best guess at that was that was control.
[00:24:51.840]And then there were,
[00:24:54.877]the other thing they were concerned about
[00:24:55.710]was her fixation on topics.
[00:24:57.270]And that, of course, they just said
[00:24:59.430]the function was unknown.
[00:25:00.570]They couldn't figure that out.
[00:25:02.460]And if y'all are chuckling now,
[00:25:04.080]like we chuckled a little bit when we saw that.
[00:25:06.540]I hope you are.
[00:25:07.620]Then you're thinking what we were thinking was, well,
[00:25:09.930]these people clearly didn't understand Laura,
[00:25:11.896]and that's part of her autism.
[00:25:14.610]She was fixated on topics,
[00:25:16.170]but they just couldn't figure it out.
[00:25:19.110]And so they developed, you know,
[00:25:21.300]this elaborate plan for her.
[00:25:22.860]This was her behavior plan.
[00:25:24.570]It wasn't really elaborate.
[00:25:26.070]I'm really being sarcastic.
[00:25:27.600]It was kind of one of those, maybe you've seen these,
[00:25:29.520]it's almost like a form with check boxes.
[00:25:32.394]And so that's what they did.
[00:25:34.050]They checked off the box, well-defined limits.
[00:25:36.360]They checked off the box, remove distractions,
[00:25:39.259]and you can see the other boxes they checked off.
[00:25:42.360]And this was her plan that was developed based on her FBA,
[00:25:47.040]where she was declared to be, you know,
[00:25:49.050]a student who was trying to escape and control.
[00:25:52.470]And they just clearly didn't understand her.
[00:25:55.380]Okay, so here we are, we're in prison again, right?
[00:25:59.970]So the only time, Laura needed help.
[00:26:02.220]She needed a lot of help,
[00:26:03.600]but she's not gonna get help
[00:26:05.640]until there's some type of behavior infraction
[00:26:08.730]and some type of discipline thing.
[00:26:10.470]And so what we're saying is,
[00:26:11.820]let's think this through differently.
[00:26:13.590]Let's take FBAs outta that punitive scenario.
[00:26:17.490]They're quite helpful when we need them for those scenarios,
[00:26:20.550]absolutely, but let's put them into a more caring scenario.
[00:26:24.390]And so let's think beyond
[00:26:25.800]traditional functional behavior assessment.
[00:26:28.920]And Ruth and I have something,
[00:26:31.320]this is part of the Ziggurat model.
[00:26:32.790]It's called the ABC iceberg or the Ziggurat FBA.
[00:26:36.600]I actually kind of prefer the ABC Iceberg
[00:26:40.410]because as we've discussed before, the F, the functional,
[00:26:43.901]looking at function isn't always helpful
[00:26:47.261]when we're looking at, sometimes when it's the autism,
[00:26:52.740]anything between the ears essentially, right?
[00:26:55.410]Skill deficits, things of that nature.
[00:26:57.840]But the ABC iceberg or the Ziggurat FBA.
[00:27:00.720]And so this is the iceberg metaphor.
[00:27:02.610]Maybe y'all have heard this before.
[00:27:04.710]We didn't invent this,
[00:27:06.498]but the notion is that there's the tip of the iceberg,
[00:27:08.340]and that's what we can see, of course.
[00:27:10.260]And then there's all this that's beneath the iceberg.
[00:27:12.900]So the tip is the behavior, in this case,
[00:27:15.300]Laura's absences or you know, whatever it may be, elopement.
[00:27:20.850]And then there's everything
[00:27:21.870]that's beneath the surface of the water.
[00:27:23.670]These are the things that are harder to see.
[00:27:25.740]And and so you'll see here on our screen we have,
[00:27:28.710]this is autism, social behavior, communication,
[00:27:31.500]sensory and so forth.
[00:27:33.090]This is what we see in autism.
[00:27:37.860]And so that's what's different about the Ziggurat FBA
[00:27:40.710]is we are taking a look critically
[00:27:43.950]at the tip of the iceberg,
[00:27:46.530]but we're looking at what's underneath
[00:27:49.080]through that lens of autism.
[00:27:50.670]And so we've adapted the functional behavior assessment,
[00:27:54.060]and we're trying to, you know,
[00:27:57.300]help to really wanna view the behavior
[00:27:59.670]through that lens of autism.
[00:28:02.100]And this is what it looks like a little better here.
[00:28:05.550]You have the ABCs.
[00:28:07.380]The B is the tip of the iceberg, right?
[00:28:09.150]That's the behavior, but we're looking at those patterns.
[00:28:12.120]We think it's very important to look at those patterns,
[00:28:14.850]but looking at them in the context,
[00:28:17.490]and the context of autism.
[00:28:19.620]And so we have a way of measuring, of assessing
[00:28:23.141]what's going on beneath the surface
[00:28:26.520]while we're also looking at what lies above,
[00:28:30.450]the tip of the iceberg.
[00:28:32.550]And when we do it this way, we're able to understand
[00:28:39.990]those underlying needs a little better.
[00:28:42.090]And so we wanna highlight just a few things here.
[00:28:44.820]As we've mentioned before,
[00:28:46.530]there's this question all the time.
[00:28:48.000]How do I know if it's behavior or the autism?
[00:28:50.430]Do y'all ever get that question?
[00:28:52.320]And so our response is,
[00:28:53.940]let's always operate under the assumption, when in doubt,
[00:28:56.790]let's first assume that the difficulty
[00:29:00.780]is related to the underlying aspects of autism.
[00:29:05.820]And we may be wrong,
[00:29:07.050]but we would much rather be in this position
[00:29:09.030]because when we make this assumption, we answer the,
[00:29:13.500]we start asking better questions.
[00:29:15.900]When the question is what supports does this person need?
[00:29:19.290]What does this person need to learn?
[00:29:21.090]You know, et cetera,
[00:29:23.370]as opposed to, how can I punish this person?
[00:29:26.430]And we think that's a much better question.
[00:29:29.100]Okay, so again, we're targeting those underlying needs.
[00:29:34.020]That's what we wanna do.
[00:29:34.853]We wanna target what's beneath the surface of the water.
[00:29:37.830]It's gonna lead to a better support plan.
[00:29:42.270]We're asking better questions.
[00:29:43.830]What do we need to teach?
[00:29:44.850]How can we address his or her autism?
[00:29:47.160]It's more proactive,
[00:29:48.240]it's more sustained.
[00:29:49.260]It's more fundamental.
[00:29:50.790]If we focus just on the tip of the iceberg,
[00:29:53.730]we call those band-aid interventions, right?
[00:29:57.060]We don't wanna do band-aid plans.
[00:29:58.680]We don't wanna just focus on the tip of the iceberg up here.
[00:30:02.550]This is a bandaid.
[00:30:03.720]Oops, lemme see if I can get there.
[00:30:04.980]That's a bandaid plan, right?
[00:30:06.945]All I'm doing is addressing what I can see.
[00:30:10.050]No, I wanna address what's beneath the surface of the water
[00:30:13.950]down here.
[00:30:15.480]And yes, we'll do some antecedent interventions.
[00:30:17.640]Those are preventative.
[00:30:18.570]And yes, we'll do behavior interventions.
[00:30:20.340]Those are teaching new skills.
[00:30:22.080]And yes, we'll do consequence interventions.
[00:30:24.150]For us, that means reinforcement, right?
[00:30:27.000]We're not looking, trying to encourage punishment,
[00:30:30.210]but we're doing so through that lens of autism,
[00:30:32.610]looking at everything underneath.
[00:30:34.350]We want to address those social, communication, sensory,
[00:30:38.220]et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:30:39.450]That's what we're trying to do.
[00:30:40.710]Let's consider those patterns
[00:30:42.420]in addition to the underlying characteristics of autism.
[00:30:45.630]That's gonna lead to a better understanding
[00:30:47.820]of what's going on, and it's gonna lead to a better program.
[00:30:51.750]So these are the steps to developing a Ziggurat FBA.
[00:30:55.470]And here they are.
[00:30:56.670]We've got something called the UCC,
[00:30:58.920]Underlying Characteristics Checklist.
[00:31:01.230]This is our assessment tool,
[00:31:02.640]and it's combined with the ISSI,
[00:31:04.440]Individual Strength and Skills Inventory.
[00:31:06.630]That's looking looking at strengths and skills.
[00:31:09.600]So we're looking at what are the needs
[00:31:11.220]and what are the strengths of this individual?
[00:31:13.980]And once we've done that assessment,
[00:31:16.290]we're absolutely gonna look at those patterns.
[00:31:18.780]That's the ABC iceberg.
[00:31:20.517]And we're looking at the antecedents, the behavior,
[00:31:23.160]the consequences,
[00:31:24.480]but we're looking at them in context of the autism.
[00:31:27.990]Then we develop a comprehensive plan,
[00:31:30.150]and we can implement that plan.
[00:31:31.890]I hope y'all have learned or heard of CAPS.
[00:31:33.870]It's Comprehensive Autism Planning System.
[00:31:36.270]This is by Sean Henry.
[00:31:38.010]It helps to give you an implementation plan
[00:31:40.200]to take these supports that you're developing
[00:31:43.380]and kind of map 'em out throughout the school day.
[00:31:46.170]All right, very quickly I wanna talk to you
[00:31:48.180]about that UCC.
[00:31:49.560]There's actually, there's five versions right now.
[00:31:52.200]We're working on a sixth.
[00:31:54.210]There's the early intervention,
[00:31:55.560]that's for our preschool age, ages three months through 72.
[00:31:59.880]We have our classic, our high functioning.
[00:32:02.182]Then there are self-reports.
[00:32:05.250]And these, I can't say enough positive things about it.
[00:32:09.180]The child self-report is the one we're developing right
[00:32:11.910]now, but we have an adolescent and an adult self-report.
[00:32:16.098]And through the use of the UCC,
[00:32:19.080]you're better able to get a quick snapshot
[00:32:21.210]of what the strengths are but also the needs
[00:32:23.862]as it relate to autism.
[00:32:25.560]That gives us a better picture
[00:32:27.120]about what's going on beneath the surface.
[00:32:30.510]I'm gonna tell you a quick story here.
[00:32:32.280]This is Cindy.
[00:32:33.480]She's 13 years old.
[00:32:34.950]She took, she was evaluated three times,
[00:32:39.739]and no one found her autism.
[00:32:42.699]Well, the third person that was us, we found her autism.
[00:32:46.650]It was there.
[00:32:47.880]It wasn't hiding, but it was there all along.
[00:32:50.940]But one of the reasons
[00:32:52.350]why other people had trouble finding it
[00:32:55.950]is Cindy was very good at masking.
[00:32:59.070]And so that was one of many, some of the challenges.
[00:33:02.970]But we think it's really important to get a good assessment
[00:33:06.960]of the felt perspective of individuals on the spectrum.
[00:33:11.400]And you'll see I've highlighted a few here in yellow.
[00:33:14.760]These are actual responses here.
[00:33:16.680]And you can see that like item 31 here,
[00:33:18.600]finding it difficult to know what to talk about.
[00:33:20.970]And here's what Cindy wrote.
[00:33:22.350]I feel too embarrassed to talk at times.
[00:33:25.530]Well, again, that's between the ears, right?
[00:33:28.890]That's what's going on between the ears.
[00:33:30.270]And you're not gonna get that with an FBA,
[00:33:33.210]but when we talk to Cindy, we're gonna get that.
[00:33:35.610]And that's helpful to know.
[00:33:37.350]Or I don't know what others are interested in.
[00:33:39.360]She says difficulty talking about others' interests,
[00:33:41.718]and she's injuring herself.
[00:33:43.470]She says, I hit myself when I feel I did something stupid
[00:33:47.370]or embarrassing.
[00:33:48.960]And the last item here, will do almost anything I'm asked
[00:33:52.290]in order to be liked.
[00:33:53.760]She said, I'll, you know, I'll say I like a band
[00:33:56.277]just because others like it,
[00:33:57.840]but I don't really know what I like and what I don't like.
[00:34:01.140]And when we look at these examples, these are giving us,
[00:34:03.810]highlighting really how this type of tool can help us
[00:34:08.460]to understand this person better
[00:34:10.650]in ways that we could never observe.
[00:34:12.840]And so that's what it is.
[00:34:14.880]And so it can help us, can help for diagnosis,
[00:34:18.630]but also think about goals.
[00:34:20.040]IEP goals and objectives, are you thinking about,
[00:34:22.470]I hope you are,
[00:34:23.730]some things you might do for Cindy.
[00:34:25.890]Maybe if you're a speech pathologist or a classroom teacher
[00:34:28.830]or a psychologist, a school psychologist, social worker,
[00:34:32.970]what could you do for Cindy to help her?
[00:34:37.560]And so this is really helping us to think critically.
[00:34:41.688]Let's come back to Laura, and these are her ABCs.
[00:34:46.057]She went, she has a large student to teacher ratio.
[00:34:49.770]Remember this is Laura,
[00:34:51.376]who had the challenge where she went from a small district
[00:34:56.520]to a large district and was rather anxious.
[00:34:59.456]So there was a change in school.
[00:35:01.590]Her mom told her you can call.
[00:35:03.090]The teacher said, don't you dare call.
[00:35:05.160]And so she wasn't following instructions,
[00:35:08.880]that was the behavior.
[00:35:09.840]She wasn't responding to verbal instructions.
[00:35:12.540]She went to the office without permission, et cetera.
[00:35:15.240]She was ticketed.
[00:35:16.110]She missed days of school.
[00:35:17.400]She was placed on home bound, and truancy was filed.
[00:35:21.660]Well, let's take a look at what's beneath the surface there.
[00:35:26.550]And this is some of Laura's underlying autism
[00:35:29.580]and other needs.
[00:35:31.198]Like she has difficulty recognizing
[00:35:32.031]the thoughts and feelings of others,
[00:35:34.230]difficulty with transition, change,
[00:35:36.390]literal interpretation of language,
[00:35:38.550]difficulty expressing her own thoughts and feelings
[00:35:41.100]and following instruction.
[00:35:42.360]And look at this last one.
[00:35:44.520]Laura was diagnosed with a sensorineural hearing loss.
[00:35:48.060]And the district hadn't considered that hearing loss
[00:35:51.025]as they were looking at this behavior,
[00:35:54.480]not following instructions.
[00:35:58.140]So that's a pretty important consideration.
[00:36:02.520]Here are some of the pitfalls to her plan.
[00:36:04.560]It was a bandaid plan.
[00:36:06.390]It focused just on the tip of the iceberg.
[00:36:08.820]It failed to consider everything
[00:36:10.680]that lies beneath the surface of the water.
[00:36:13.440]It was a piecemeal plan.
[00:36:15.180]They were trying to address one or two of her needs,
[00:36:18.270]but Laura needed much more support than just that, right?
[00:36:22.545]We need to comprehensively look at a wide range of needs,
[00:36:26.760]including her anxiety and other skills as well.
[00:36:31.830]And so it's just much more complex.
[00:36:35.190]Let's take a, we're just gonna,
[00:36:36.690]I'm gonna highlight a few more examples,
[00:36:38.340]and then we'll open this up to some questions.
[00:36:41.730]Again, I wanna highlight, we don't just do these,
[00:36:44.040]we don't just do these analyses
[00:36:47.010]where we are looking critically like an FBA
[00:36:49.680]when there is behavior problem or violations
[00:36:52.424]of behavior or student code of conduct.
[00:36:55.650]We can look at them in other situations as well.
[00:36:58.470]This is Cara, she's seven.
[00:37:00.780]And she was just having difficulty
[00:37:02.220]interacting with her peers without, you know, guidance,
[00:37:05.070]prompting, support.
[00:37:06.720]And so we looked at her ABCs.
[00:37:08.970]This is not a behavior problem that would require
[00:37:13.139]a change in placement, removal from the classroom,
[00:37:17.700]a manifest determination, nothing like that.
[00:37:20.580]But it's still very important.
[00:37:22.920]And look at these underlying characteristics here
[00:37:26.130]that were identified that are connected.
[00:37:29.760]They're linked to this problem that she's having.
[00:37:32.910]She's, again, having difficulty interacting with peers
[00:37:35.610]without support.
[00:37:36.900]She has difficulty understanding
[00:37:38.160]the thoughts and feelings of others, difficulty joining.
[00:37:40.950]She didn't understand the social rules.
[00:37:43.590]Difficulty understanding others' non-verbal communication,
[00:37:47.850]difficulty with transition and change.
[00:37:49.853]And we're seeing rules of conversation
[00:37:54.660]that are problematic for her,
[00:37:56.940]difficulty following instructions, et cetera.
[00:37:59.880]And so what we wanna do is develop a plan
[00:38:02.430]that addresses everything underneath the water here,
[00:38:05.880]all these items.
[00:38:07.380]So Cara would have a plan where there are supports
[00:38:11.130]and strategies that are addressing everything down here
[00:38:15.600]because this is what's going to help,
[00:38:19.454]not just through a bandaid plan,
[00:38:21.420]but a good comprehensive plan for her.
[00:38:24.810]This is another example of Alicia,
[00:38:27.420]and she's just off task in the classroom, but again,
[00:38:30.780]not a significant behavior problem per se,
[00:38:34.380]but it is important for her.
[00:38:35.640]It's impacting her learning some.
[00:38:37.620]And so, again, look at all the items,
[00:38:40.200]all the concerns that were identified
[00:38:43.770]underneath the iceberg here.
[00:38:45.780]And so we wanna be sure that as we move forward,
[00:38:49.050]we're understanding her underlying autism,
[00:38:52.050]that we're going to address,
[00:38:53.976]create a good comprehensive plan
[00:38:56.670]to address these needs that are identified.
[00:39:02.280]The last one here, this is Lucas, and he did have,
[00:39:05.854]this is just illustrating how this approach can be used
[00:39:09.780]for those behaviors that may be problematic
[00:39:15.540]and where schools may need be taking a punitive approach.
[00:39:20.460]This student was kind of aggressive or destructive.
[00:39:22.740]He was hitting others and calling them names.
[00:39:25.170]And so we looked at the ABCs,
[00:39:28.136]but we also looked at the underlying autism,
[00:39:31.227]and we did that using the UCC
[00:39:34.094]and got a better understanding of what kinds of things,
[00:39:41.700]supports and needs he has
[00:39:44.910]so that we can address those more comprehensively.
[00:39:48.870]This is an example of our worksheet that we use.
[00:39:51.570]It's the ABC iceberg.
[00:39:53.280]And again, it just shows we're looking at the ABCs,
[00:39:56.430]antecedent, behavior and consequences,
[00:39:58.470]in the context of the autism.
[00:40:00.960]How do we measure the autism?
[00:40:02.820]We do that
[00:40:04.110]by looking at the underlying characteristics checklist.
[00:40:09.030]Okay.
[00:40:10.680]The last part here I want to talk about is now
[00:40:15.690]what do we do with this information?
[00:40:18.671]And there are, this is part of the Ziggurat model,
[00:40:26.490]and let me tell you quickly about that.
[00:40:28.590]What you see here is this is what a Ziggurat is.
[00:40:32.880]There's these little stair step layers,
[00:40:36.390]and that, it kind of looks like a pyramid,
[00:40:38.100]but it's a little stair step.
[00:40:39.960]And here's what it looks like.
[00:40:41.790]There's five levels of intervention:
[00:40:44.400]sensory, and respectful reinforcement, structure,
[00:40:48.780]visual, tactile supports, task demands and skills to teach.
[00:40:52.440]Those are the five layers of support.
[00:40:55.050]And what we wanna do is address the underlying autism.
[00:40:58.440]That's these characteristics on the left.
[00:41:01.050]This is what we're assessing when we do that UCC,
[00:41:04.320]that underlying characteristics checklist.
[00:41:07.080]And we wanna address those on five levels.
[00:41:10.680]And those are the supports.
[00:41:13.849]These supports are critical.
[00:41:17.280]We don't wanna leave off a level.
[00:41:20.520]Ruth likes to say that they're,
[00:41:22.380]it's kind of like a dam holding back water.
[00:41:24.690]You want enough sandbags, sandbags are our supports,
[00:41:27.510]our strategies, our interventions, modifications,
[00:41:30.390]accommodations, whatever.
[00:41:32.190]And you need to have sufficient sandbags on each level
[00:41:35.790]so that the water doesn't, you know, seep in
[00:41:38.160]or seep over or seep under, right?
[00:41:40.620]And so if we, sometimes,
[00:41:43.320]the most common one that we see overlooked is the sensory
[00:41:48.270]and biological, and this is our foundation.
[00:41:51.960]And if we leave off this,
[00:41:53.640]but this is where we need to start.
[00:41:55.380]If we are not addressing those sensory differences,
[00:41:58.530]if we're not addressing those biological needs,
[00:42:00.930]this is a place where problems are gonna seep in, right?
[00:42:04.560]It's difficult if we're uncomfortable, if we're in pain,
[00:42:09.660]if we're hungry, if we're tired, if we're fatigued,
[00:42:12.630]if we're anxious, like Laura was anxious.
[00:42:15.660]And that's a biological need.
[00:42:17.190]It's difficult to get to that point.
[00:42:18.870]Look at the top, skills to teach.
[00:42:20.580]How do we learn skills?
[00:42:21.600]How do we teach, learn skills if we're not comfortable,
[00:42:24.969]if we're so dysregulated?
[00:42:26.370]So we've gotta have good sandbags on that level.
[00:42:29.550]That's the sensory differences and biological needs level.
[00:42:33.057]And that's what that's about.
[00:42:35.580]Sometimes it requires, you know,
[00:42:38.100]getting extra information and extra support.
[00:42:40.948]Not always, but we wanna make sure
[00:42:43.560]that we have built in good strategies and supports
[00:42:46.590]on this level.
[00:42:47.730]And having a basket of fidgets in the classroom
[00:42:50.910]that's not the same, right?
[00:42:52.770]Just having available fidgets or sensory, you know,
[00:42:56.010]tools in the classroom.
[00:42:57.120]No, we need to, this needs to be a program that's planned
[00:43:01.470]and designed and making time for, you know, sensory breaks,
[00:43:05.550]et cetera, you know,
[00:43:07.350]and teaching the individual when they might need it
[00:43:09.870]and so forth.
[00:43:10.800]So sensory differences, biological needs.
[00:43:13.770]The next level is respectful reinforcement.
[00:43:16.890]We added that word respectful recently
[00:43:19.050]because we wanted to really emphasize
[00:43:21.510]that when we think about reinforcement,
[00:43:23.250]you think about what it is we're reinforcing,
[00:43:25.140]what are we working on?
[00:43:26.280]We wanna be mindful about that.
[00:43:28.680]We don't want to create a system
[00:43:31.530]where we're trying to like reinforce someone
[00:43:34.710]for staying in an environment
[00:43:37.200]that's not healthy for them, right?
[00:43:39.090]And so you might have a student, again,
[00:43:40.920]who's very uncomfortable in the cafeteria or the gymnasium,
[00:43:46.271]and we're, well, we're gonna provide this reinforcement
[00:43:49.140]if you stay in the cafeteria the whole period.
[00:43:50.880]No, that's not right, right?
[00:43:53.070]We don't wanna, that's not what we're,
[00:43:54.930]we don't wanna force, you know, something,
[00:43:57.412]this disruption to their nervous system.
[00:44:02.070]And so we need to be respectful
[00:44:03.390]about what kinds of things we're reinforcing
[00:44:05.490]and thinking about neuro diversity.
[00:44:07.350]Some people, you know, other classic, you know,
[00:44:10.350]bad examples are like, I'm gonna reinforce eye contact.
[00:44:14.190]No, that's not right either, right?
[00:44:16.500]Let's think respectfully about what it is we're working on.
[00:44:20.070]Let's work on being very careful
[00:44:21.900]about what skills we're selecting,
[00:44:24.068]making sure we're addressing skills
[00:44:26.310]that are gonna be helpful for this individual.
[00:44:28.950]What's gonna give them a better quality of life?
[00:44:30.960]What's going to help address the goals, you know,
[00:44:35.769]that that they would have for themselves,
[00:44:38.160]help them to be more independent and so on.
[00:44:40.410]And so we need to be respectful
[00:44:42.300]about how we approach reinforcement.
[00:44:45.240]Structure, visual/tactile supports.
[00:44:48.000]Well, structure is about, you know, creating predictability.
[00:44:51.390]And so often when our world is not predictable,
[00:44:55.500]we're going to see some challenges.
[00:44:57.810]It could be meltdowns or shutdowns or just lack of progress.
[00:45:01.740]And so having structure is really important for so many.
[00:45:06.990]And that's what,
[00:45:08.649]that's one of the pieces on this level.
[00:45:13.200]The other is visual and tactile support.
[00:45:17.100]A visual support holds information still in time.
[00:45:21.846]And so oftentimes individuals on the spectrum
[00:45:27.240]need things to be more explicit,
[00:45:29.310]and visual is a strength for them,
[00:45:32.640]and let's write things down.
[00:45:34.020]Let's use, you know, whether it's calendars or drawings
[00:45:38.640]or social stories and these kinds of things,
[00:45:40.830]it's held still in time.
[00:45:42.120]That helps them to learn it using their strength.
[00:45:47.190]The next level is task demands and positive environment.
[00:45:50.730]Task demands, this is about,
[00:45:52.800]we need to think critically about the demands we're placing
[00:45:58.609]on this student and what skills they have.
[00:46:02.430]And sometimes we inadvertently put students in a situation
[00:46:07.140]where the demands exceed their skills.
[00:46:10.950]And we may not, we're not doing it on purpose, but it just,
[00:46:13.410]it just, you know, this happens.
[00:46:14.970]So oftentimes, you know, think about how much support
[00:46:17.700]we might provide students in the classroom setting,
[00:46:20.370]but what support do we provide in the restroom
[00:46:23.220]or the hallways or maybe even during recess or cafeteria?
[00:46:27.420]And so sometimes these settings may be
[00:46:29.850]because there's less structure, there's less support,
[00:46:32.880]no support, these settings can be overwhelming,
[00:46:35.880]too demanding.
[00:46:37.290]And so task demands is about being mindful of that.
[00:46:39.990]And what can we do to remove obstacles?
[00:46:42.030]So how can we either reduce the demands
[00:46:44.610]and/or increase the support
[00:46:46.770]so that this student can be successful in this setting
[00:46:50.580]or with this demand.
[00:46:52.770]Positive environment.
[00:46:55.020]This is, these are things we do to create,
[00:46:58.590]well, to create a positive environment.
[00:47:00.180]They're not earned, right?
[00:47:01.320]This is non-contingent.
[00:47:03.870]And creating a positive environment
[00:47:06.330]helps to reduce the obstacles and lower demands as well.
[00:47:14.190]The last one is skills to teach.
[00:47:16.050]And if you think about those first four levels,
[00:47:17.940]these are things we're doing, we're nurturing,
[00:47:20.130]creating a supportive environment.
[00:47:22.560]But the last level,
[00:47:23.730]and if you just did those first four levels,
[00:47:27.270]you might have a student who does really well in school,
[00:47:29.550]gets through all the transitions in the day,
[00:47:32.511]you know, completes classwork,
[00:47:35.190]et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
[00:47:36.420]We've created this safe cocoon.
[00:47:38.767]But what happens when we're not in that cocoon?
[00:47:42.270]And so skills to teach,
[00:47:43.680]this is helping this person to generalize,
[00:47:45.780]this is helping this person to have these skills, you know,
[00:47:49.350]outside the setting.
[00:47:50.820]And so we need to be thinking about that level too,
[00:47:53.580]and not forget skills to teach.
[00:47:55.890]Okay,
[00:47:57.600]so that's what the Ziggurat model is in a nutshell here.
[00:48:01.050]We're looking at the underlying characteristics
[00:48:03.480]of autism, and we are developing a comprehensive program.
[00:48:06.660]Comprehensive means five levels.
[00:48:08.490]We're not leaving any levels off,
[00:48:10.140]a comprehensive program to address their underlying autism.
[00:48:14.460]And so when we look back at this iceberg here,
[00:48:18.480]that's what we're doing.
[00:48:19.830]We're asking the question,
[00:48:21.150]what can we do to address the underlying autism?
[00:48:24.510]That's what's beneath the surface of the water.
[00:48:26.580]We don't want to do a bandaid approach.
[00:48:28.590]Bandaid is that we just addressed the tip of the iceberg.
[00:48:32.040]No, we're going beneath the surface.
[00:48:33.840]What's driving this?
[00:48:35.010]What's the source of this?
[00:48:37.020]And that's what's beneath the surface of the water.
[00:48:41.940]So this is what the Ziggurat model is in a nutshell.
[00:48:45.270]And we say this model is, it works across the spectrum
[00:48:50.280]and also across the lifespan.
[00:48:52.350]And so indeed we have adults using this model on themselves,
[00:48:56.880]a self-help approach.
[00:48:58.620]We have college students.
[00:48:59.940]We have individuals who are functioning at all levels
[00:49:04.320]and all ages, and so those are the five levels
[00:49:09.030]of that Ziggurat.
[00:49:10.710]The last slide I wanna show you,
[00:49:12.677]this is just an illustration of a worksheet.
[00:49:14.940]This was for one of the students.
[00:49:16.470]His name was Jacques.
[00:49:17.400]This was the one who was having this here,
[00:49:19.740]the aggressive behaviors.
[00:49:21.930]And you can see here how these were all
[00:49:25.560]those underlying characteristics
[00:49:27.420]here in the upper right hand corner,
[00:49:28.710]everything that was beneath the surface of the water.
[00:49:31.380]And what we wanna do is make sure
[00:49:33.030]we have a comprehensive program to address those needs.
[00:49:37.350]And so if you were to look at his complete worksheet,
[00:49:39.720]you'd see all of these underlying needs
[00:49:42.060]are going to be on that worksheet.
[00:49:44.970]And there's gonna be supports and strategies
[00:49:47.573]for each of these underlying characteristics.
[00:49:52.980]So at the end, we have a comprehensive program.
[00:49:55.615]We have a better understanding of what his needs are.
[00:49:59.010]We've used the iceberg.
[00:50:00.180]We're looking at the patterns, the ABCs,
[00:50:02.307]but we're looking at this through the lens of autism.
[00:50:05.940]We're not oversimplifying it by just focusing on function.
[00:50:10.770]We're taking a look at what's underneath the surface
[00:50:14.437]of the water, what drives this,
[00:50:16.620]and that's the underlying autism.
[00:50:20.040]Want to take a a few minutes for questions,
[00:50:24.690]I'm not sure how best I'm gonna get questions,
[00:50:26.040]whether it'll be typed or whether y'all can have audio.
[00:50:29.490]I see there's one question already.
[00:50:30.930]Can you use the same model
[00:50:32.869]if students have not been diagnosed with autism?
[00:50:34.470]Sure, absolutely.
[00:50:38.010]So Ashley, I see your question there.
[00:50:40.770]For students who maybe you suspect they have autism,
[00:50:43.230]you can use the UCC, and that will help you to,
[00:50:46.500]again, get a good snapshot of what those needs are.
[00:50:49.400]Maybe the student doesn't have autism at all,
[00:50:51.810]and we know they don't have it,
[00:50:53.280]but there's still that principle,
[00:50:55.320]that iceberg where you're looking at those underlying needs.
[00:50:59.010]So what's beneath the iceberg?
[00:51:01.260]Maybe you have a different way of looking at that,
[00:51:03.570]but absolutely you can use this approach for people
[00:51:08.070]who may not be on the spectrum
[00:51:10.476]but they're neuro diverse in some other way.
[00:51:19.680]Dr. Grossman, I'm checking for any questions here
[00:51:22.590]in the classroom.
[00:51:24.210]Thank you, Amy.
[00:51:25.410]You bet.
[00:51:28.950]Anyone?
[00:51:35.130]I think we're good here.
[00:51:37.530]Okay, well, if you do have questions after,
[00:51:43.837]you're welcome to please email us or check out our website
[00:51:48.216]and then give feedback about this presentation on the survey
[00:51:52.920]that'll be sent out after the conference.
[00:51:55.140]And I'll stay for a few more minutes
[00:51:59.070]if anyone has questions online.

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Think Differently! Moving Away from Traditional Functional Behavior Assessment

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