Friday, February 23, 2018

The Functional Behavior Assessment Steps Professionals Take To Better Assist Struggling Students

By Michelle Patterson


If you have a child who can't seem to adjust to the classroom, has trouble concentrating and sitting still, and becomes disruptive when bored, you have probably already talked to the teacher. You may have had meetings with the school administrators to discuss your child's issues. At some point, when the usual remedies have been tried and proven unsuccessful, professionals may recommend taking functional behavior assessment steps.

To be an effective partner in the process, you have to understand exactly what functional behavior assessment, or FBA, involves. Most educators genuinely care about the youngsters they teach. When children struggle, they want to help. Inappropriate behaviors don't just happen. There are reasons for them. Finding those reasons and changing them into positive energy is the goal.

A lot of times the school psychologist is chosen to lead the FBA team. She meets with educators and others who frequently interact with your child to get their thoughts on the situation. She will meet privately with your little one and might do some behavioral testing. Administrators, special education and classroom teachers, the child, and the parent are usually members of the team.

Before inappropriate behaviors can be assessed, they have to be defined. Generalizations like disruptive and inappropriate are too vague to have much value. What is required are accurate, unbiased details regarding specific incidents that have occurred in and out of class. The more information the professionals have, the better the eventual plan will be.

Once the information has been compiled, it can be analyzed. The specialists look at when the conduct occurs, and if there are commonalities in what goes on immediately before. They want to know how often the behaviors are occurring and who is there when they happen. On the other side, these specialists need to understand if there are certain times, places, and people where the inappropriate behaviors are consistently absent.

With the data they have gathered, the professionals are usually ready to try and get to the root of the behaviors. This can be difficult and time consuming. Some children act out when they feel threatened, frightened, or confused, and want to avoid or escape those feelings. The way they behave is their attempt to do that.

Finally, the specialists have to come up with an intervention plan to teach positive behavior and reward it. Each child is unique, so every plan must be tailored to the specific issues surrounding the individual child. This can involve changing teaching methods, routines, physical environment, or consequences for negative actions. Before the plan is put in place, trusted professionals sit down with the child to explain their expectations and assess his motivation to change.

Being a kid is harder for some than others. Sitting still, listening instead of talking, and being judged by test papers can be too much for certain types of kids. Getting to the root of the reasoning behind inappropriate responses to classroom routine can set a special child on the road to academic success.




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