For students with severe or complex challenging behavior, incorporating hypothesis testing as a component of functional behavior assessment (FBA) is often warranted. Several hypothesis testing strategies (i.e., functional analysis, antecedent analysis, concurrent operant analysis) can confirm whether and how features of a student's environment…

The central school district obligation for disciplinary changes in placement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to answer the question of whether the conduct at issue is a manifestation of the individual student's disability. School psychologists often play a key role in this team-based manifestation determination…

Within the context of a multi-tiered framework for behavior support, intervention intensification is warranted when a Tier II intervention fails to adequately address a targeted behavior. A traditional approach to intensification is to shift from standardized supports at Tier II to individualized and more resource-intensive supports at Tier III.…

Functional Communication Training (FCT) involves arranging extinction for problem behavior and reinforcement for a more desirable, functionally equivalent, communicative response (FCR). Although effective under ideal arrangements, the introduction of delays to reinforcement following the FCR can result in increased problem behavior. Austin and…

We conducted a school-wide training for Japanese preschool teachers based on the behavioral and functional approach to children with problem behaviors. Twenty-five Japanese teachers at a kindergarten and nursery school participated in the program, attending six training sessions and four case-study meetings. The training sessions consisted of (a)…

Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is an integral component of treatment development for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The continuum of FBA methods includes indirect, direct, and functional analysis assessment methods. However, there is not a standard for the best approach to the FBA process. This evaluation compared…

Functional communication training (FCT; Carr & Durand, 1985) is a common function-based treatment in which an alternative form of communication is taught to reduce problem behavior. FCT has been shown to result in substantial reductions of a variety of topographically and functionally different types of problem behavior in children and adults…

This article extends Dr. Bob Remington's call for collaborations between those supporting behavioral approaches and those supporting more natural developmental approaches to beginning communication intervention. This article expands areas previously discussed by Dr. Remington. Topics that are addressed include pivotal behaviors that may facilitate…

This archival small-study meta-analysis was an examination of the across-study and in-study effects of functional behavioral assessment--based interventions on time-on-task for students with or at risk of emotional disturbance (ED)/emotional behavioral disorder (EBD). A sample of 15 across-study K-6 learners (11 males, 4 females; ages 5-13) was…

School practitioners increasingly use functional behavior assessments to design behavior intervention plans when students engage in challenging behavior that is not improved by classroom management or standard interventions. Behavior intervention plans should aim to produce behavior change that maintains across time and generalizes to relevant…

The trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) offers several advantages in natural settings, such as time efficiency and ecological validity. Previous studies have successfully trained or coached a variety of professionals and parents to conduct a TBFA utilizing in-person training procedures; however, no study has evaluated the effectiveness of…

Objective: ADHD and autism are complex and frequently co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions with shared etiological and pathophysiological elements. In this paper, we attempt to differentiate these conditions among the young people in terms of intrinsic patterns of brain connectivity revealed during resting state using machine learning…

Research has shown that most children with emotional disturbance (ED) are struggling to use communication skills and they may tend to use inappropriate behaviours as a form of communication to disclose their needs. A function-based communication intervention might be an effective approach to decrease inappropriate behaviours of children with ED.…

Research has suggested that students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., students of color and those with disabilities) have received higher rates of exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) than their peers who are White and without disability. Various interventions have been implemented to address this…

Despite the early onset of challenging behaviors, there is a lack of research investigating the function of challenging behavior in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DDs). The current study evaluated group differences in the frequency and severity of five functions of challenging behavior (i.e.,…