Functional Assessment Report Structure

Functional Assessment Report Structure

Functional Assessment Report

To prepare for your assignment, read the case study about Casi in your Functional Assessment text, pages 235-238. Then complete the Functional Assessment Report, as described below.

Functional Assessment Report Structure and Content

In your functional assessment report:

Provide an overview of the case.
Summarize the information obtained from the interview.
Summarize the ABC data.
State the hypothesis clearly in one concise sentence. Then describe Casi’s problem behavior and how you arrived at your initial hypothesis about the function of his problem behavior.
Design the functional analysis conditions.
Using the information you gathered from the indirect and direct assessment (interview and ABC data), explain the need for a functional analysis.
Describe the functional analysis procedure you would use to test your hypothesis about the behavior’s function.
List the conditions that would be included in your functional analysis and provide a description of how these conditions would be carried out.
Include information regarding how you would gather data, and ensure interobserver agreement (IOA) and proper implementation of the conditions.
Describe the type of results you expect from the functional analysis procedure by including a hypothetical graph demonstrating the results of your functional analysis.

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, citations, and headings are formatted according to current APA style guidelines.
Resources: 1–2 scholarly or professional resources.
Length: 5–7 double-spaced pages of content, in addition to a title page and a references page.

CASE STUDY: Develop an Intervention Plan

Your job for this case study is to develop an intervention plan based on the function of behavior. The case study will provide a brief description of the student, the student’s classroom setting, and an ABC recording chart presenting the antecedents and setting events (context) related to the behavior and the consequences that follow it. The case study also identifies the function of challenging behavior and provides a rationale for selecting that function.

After reading the case study, you will have the opportunity to develop a comprehensive intervention plan to decrease challenging behavior and increase appropriate behavior to replace the challenging behavior. In developing your intervention plans, you should consider changing the antecedents and setting events as well as the consequences.

Casi

Casi is a fourth-grade student with autism. She is enrolled in a regular education classroom with 26 other students. Casi receives occupational therapy two times per week. She also receives a combination of in-class support from the special education teacher, teaching assistant, and peer tutors.

Casi’s teacher, Mr. Quelle, likes Casi a lot and is happy to have her included in this classroom. He indicates that Casi usually comes to school happy and ready to participate. She greets teachers and peers and sits quietly at her desk, waiting for all students to arrive. Unfortunately he states that problems with Casi’s behavior increase during the day. Mr. Quelle says that as the day wears on and during particular activities, Casi often screams, refuses to participate, does not attend to instructions, and can become aggressive against peers. When he attempts to guide participation through physical prompting, Casi often seems to shut down by either rolling her body into a ball while lying on the floor or by putting her head on her desk and crying.

Mr. Quelle is concerned with Casi’s behavior for several reasons. First, her behavior disrupts the classroom and interferes with his teaching and student learning. Second, other students have begun to make fun of Casi and to call her names. Some also have requested that she not be placed in their work groups. Finally, Casi is not making progress on her IEP goals or in the regular education curriculum.

Mr. Quelle is afraid that Casi will have to be placed in a more segregated classroom if her behavior does not improve. This is not something that Mr. Quelle wants to happen because he believes in inclusion and feels that Casi could benefit from the regular education curriculum and from interacting with typically developing peers. As a result, he has requested that the special educator develop a plan (in consultation with him) to address her challenging behavior. The special educator conducts a functional assessment by observing in the classroom and interviewing Mr. Quelle, the occupational therapist, peer tutors, and Casi and her parents. This information led the team to identify the function of Casi’s behavior as sensory regulation/sensory stimulation decrease. The following ABC recording form presents observations across one day, beginning with school arrival and ending with school departure. The team agrees that these observations are typical of the activities and routines that occur during each day and of Casi’s behavior during these activities and routines.

Antecedents and Setting Events

Behavior

Consequence

Morning arrival

Greets teacher and peers, moves to desk, looks at comic book

Peers and teachers respond to greetings

Pledge of allegiance, announcements, review and questions about daily schedule, Casi has own picture schedule to arrange

Pledges with peers, listens to announcements, arranges her daily picture schedule with peer tutor

Peer interaction, schedule is in order

Expressive writing activity, working on computer

On task

Left alone, occasional praise

Partner reading

Reads with peer partner

Peer interaction, praise

Teacher writes spelling words on board

Copies spelling words

Left alone during work

Spelling bee in groups

Turns back to group, copies words again

Teacher prompts participation

Teacher prompts participation

Refuses to participate

Asks peer tutor to review words

Peer tutor reviews spelling words

Spells words for peer tutor

Peer interaction

Physical education in school gym

Lines up, moves to gym with peers

Peer interaction

Trampoline activity

Refuses to take turn on trampoline

Prompted by teacher

Teacher prompts

Screams, “No!” sits on floor, and refuses to move

Loss of points, next peer in line takes turn

Left alone

Sits in corner, watches peers take turns on trampoline

Left alone

End of activity

Lines up, moves to room, talks with peers

Peer interaction

Lunch

Sits with favorite peer, eats lunch

Peer interaction

Several peers join group, talk and laugh

Leaves group, sits by self, completes lunch

Reduction in peer interaction and sensory input

Bell rings, students return to classroom

Covers her ears, walks to classroom with peer

Decrease in auditory input, peer interaction

Music, students play instruments

Refuses to select instrument, sits in corner

Instructed to get an instrument

Teacher hands her the tambourine

Pushes tambourine away

Teacher leaves to work with other students

Music begins

Rolls in ball on floor, cries

Teacher asks her to join the group

Math worksheets

Works with special education teacher

Praise, completes worksheet

Note: At this point, Casi leaves the classroom and attends a half-hour occupational therapy session.

Group activity (note high noise level)

Participates with her group

Peer interaction

Team recognition at end of half-hour group activity (also high noise level)

Pushes peer next to her who is clapping and yelling for his group

Peer moves to other end of the table

Ending circle, review homework assignment, peer tutoring

Copies homework assignment, follows departure routines, says good-bye to peers and teacher

Peer and teacher interaction

Note: On a previous observation, music involved listening to examples of different types of music. Casi readily participated in this activity.

The function of Casi’s challenging behavior is sensory stimulation/sensory regulation decrease. Casi engages in challenging behavior during highly stimulating activities and routines. She does not generally engage in challenging behavior during passive, quiet activities and tasks. Casi’s challenging behavior functions to either decrease sensory input or prevent her participation in highly stimulating tasks and activities. It is interesting to note that not only does Casi engage in challenging behavior during highly stimulating activities and tasks but also her tolerance for such tasks decreases during the day. An exception to this was seen when an active group task followed occupational therapy. This is to be expected because occupational therapy probably altered her level of stimulation (i.e., resulted in sensory regulation) so when she returned to the classroom, she was able to respond appropriately to stimulating tasks, at least for a short period of time.

Casi’s behavior is not a function of positive reinforcement. Although it is clear that she enjoys interacting with peers and teachers, she prefers not to interact with them if they are engaged in activities that are too stimulating for Casi such as physical education and group work. For example, if the function of her behavior had been positive reinforcement, Casi would have remained with her peer tutor during lunch when additional peers joined their group. She also would have continued to participate during group recognition when her peers were clapping and shouting for their group. Instead, in these situations she engaged in behavior that effectively reduced the level of noise (i.e., stimulation).

Negative reinforcement also was not identified as the function of Casi’s challenging behavior. Casi did not consistently escape or avoid particular academic or social tasks; rather, the level of stimulation within a task (antecedent/setting event context) determined whether she engaged in challenging or appropriate behavior. For example, she was appropriately engaged during the spelling activity until the activity level increased during the spelling bee. In this example, it was the activity level that changed as a result of her challenging behavior (consequence), not the activity itself (i.e., she still completed the spelling activity).

The increase in Casi’s challenging behavior throughout the day is another clue as to why negative reinforcement was not the function of her behavior. Her tolerance for stimulation decreased throughout the day, probably in response to repeated or cumulative sensory stimulation. With each exposure to levels and types of stimulation that for Casi were excessive, her tolerance and ability to behave appropriately decreased. If Casi’s behavior had been a function of escape, she would have been equally as likely to engage in challenging behavior at the beginning of the day as she was at the end of the day.

1. In designing an intervention plan to address Casi’s behavior, you should match the function of her behavior. In other words, the intervention should, in part at least, allow Casi to achieve the same function as she currently achieves through challenging behavior. Your intervention plan also should address what will happen if/when challenging behavior does occur.
2. Finally, in addition to addressing appropriate replacement behaviors and the supports for those behaviors, you also should think about how to change antecedent conditions so you can prevent Casi from engaging in challenging behavior.

Student has agreed that all tutoring, explanations, an