SOLUTION: Joseph is an 8-year-old third grader who has recently received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Joseph is not currently eligible for special education services because he has an average to above average IQ and prior to the last few months the ADHD did not adversely affect his academic performance. However Joseph’s parents and teachers have concerns regarding his off-task and out of seat behaviors. Joseph’s parents currently are not willing to utilize medication to regulate the symptoms of his ADHD. They would like the school to identify some positive behavior approaches to support Joseph. Joseph’s parents would also like to learn more positive ways to support him while at home. Joseph lacks self-confidence, expressing frustration to his parents and teachers regarding his difficulties in school. He wants to do well, but struggles to maintain his attention to the task. To gather more information on the issues his parents are seeing at home, Joseph’s teacher provided them with an interview form and survey. According to the information from his parents, Joseph’s behaviors have begun to escalate to the point of aggression, as he will refuse to complete work, whine, and shove papers.
Target Behavior:
At school, Joseph’s behavior has not yet escalated to the point of aggression, but he is often off-task and out of his seat. Other times he refuses to complete tasks and will put his head down on his desk. Joseph’s teacher started to collect data regarding his off-task and out of seat behaviors. She utilized a frequency count method for collecting data in class. The teacher collected data during reading class in the morning and in science class in the afternoon. SOLUTION: Joseph is an 8-Year-Old Third Grader
- Based on your analysis of the FBA data and the operational definition for Joseph’s behavior identify an appropriate replacement behavior
- Replacement behavior and specific steps to be implemented that will help Joseph reach each goal.
- Strategies to manage activities and social interaction through collaboration with general educators and other colleagues
Observations:
During a one hour reading lesson the teacher observed that Joseph was out of his seat 15 times for a total duration of 25 minutes. While out of his seat, he asked the teacher several off-topic questions, got a drink of water, and sharpened his pencils. He often tapped his foot against the desk to get a peer’s attention. Given the frequency with which he is out of his seat, he did not complete his assignments on time. Joseph required many redirects, positive reinforcement, and prompting throughout the day to stay on task. SOLUTION: Joseph is an 8-Year-Old Third Grader. In the afternoon science class, however, the teacher observed far less instances of Joseph leaving his seat. He was only recorded out of his seat four times during the 40-minute science lesson. When he left his seat, twice he sharpened his pencils, once was to get a Kleenex, and once was to get another lab worksheet because he had spilled water from his water bottle on his first one. He seemed more engaged overall during this time.
Functions of Behavior Data Collection Plan:
Over the next eight days, you as the special education teacher decide to collect data daily across the following functions of behavior:
- Seeking attention (negative behavior to gain attention of others),
- Seeking something tangible (behavior to gain an item or activity), and
- Escape (to avoid situations or tasks).
The data tables below indicate the number of off-task and out of seat behaviors Joseph engaged in during approximately 40 minutes of class time across eight days.