Although the conceptual foundations of PBS at the universal level have been widely described and presented in the literature, secondary and tertiary interventions have been presented through very limited examples. This paper defines the key features of secondary and tertiary interventions and presents a decision-making process to guide schools…

Functional analysis has been demonstrated to be an effective method to identify environmental variables that maintain problem behavior. However, there are cases when conducting functional analyses of severe problem behavior may be contraindicated. The current study applied functional analysis procedures to a class of behavior that preceded severe…

We investigated the use of a popular measure, the Children and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS), in treatment outcome research. The sample included 70 children who had been discharged from an elementary therapeutic classroom (Intensive Mental Health Program). Significant relationships were found between decreases in CAFAS scores and…

Children with Down syndrome are at an increased risk for engaging in challenging behaviour that may present problems within community, leisure, and educational settings, and, in many instances, precludes them from accessing these environments. Factors contributing to the occurrence of challenging behaviours include characteristics associated with…

Precursor behaviors are innocuous behaviors that reliably precede the occurrence of problem behavior. Intervention efforts applied to precursors might prevent the occurrence of severe problem behavior. We examined the relationship between precursor behavior and problem behavior in three individuals with developmental disabilities. First, a…

Research suggests that including leisure items in the attention condition of a functional analysis may produce engagement that masks sensitivity to attention. In this study, 4 individuals. initial functional analyses indicated that behavior was maintained by nonsocial variables (n = 3) or by attention (n = 1). A preference assessment was used to…

The purpose of this study was to provide insight regarding the impact that the alternative to suspension program Achievement Character Excellence (ACE) has on the students who are placed there. The study utilized four achievement indicators to track the level of improvement of students after they were placed in the ACE program and after they were…

As the need to train more teachers to work in inclusive classrooms increases, college instructors should identify and implement course assessments measuring their effectiveness in training practices. Skills in managing the challenging behaviors of students with disabilities, such as autism and emotional disturbances are important for teachers…

Objectives: Services to children and adolescents with a severe emotional disturbance (SED) have long been inadequate. The wraparound approach has emerged as a promising practice that could address the needs of children with SED and their families through a strength-based, individualized, family-focused team process that emphasizes flexible service…

Matthew Stagner and Jiffy Lansing chart developments in the field of child maltreatment and propose a new framework for preventing child abuse and neglect. They begin by describing the concept of investment-prevention as it has been applied recently in fields such as health care and welfare. They then explain how the new framework applies to…

This fact sheet provides answers to frequently asked questions about psychological evaluations for infants, children and adults who are deaf-blind, we hope to clarify the evaluation process and the active roles that may be taken by everyone who is involved--family members, professionals, educators, and the student. Finally, by discussing quality…

A brief functional analysis was conducted in an analogue setting to identify the maintaining variables for upright walking in a woman with developmental disabilities supported in an outpatient setting. All conditions required modification, since treatment outcomes were intended to increase, rather than decrease, the target behavior. The…

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of two time-out (TO) procedures in reducing escape-maintained noncompliance of 4 children. Noncompliant behavioral function was established via a functional assessment (FA), including indirect and direct descriptive procedures and brief confirmatory experimental analyses. Following FA, parents were…

To heal the hurt child, one begins not as a clinician but as a person trying to witness how the child experiences trauma. This requires more than just talking since the child's terrifying memories are stored in the brain's senses and visual imagery, not in rational thoughts and words. The goal is to change these frightening sensory experiences…

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) is defined as behavior-analytically conceptualized talk therapy. In contrast to the technique-oriented educational format of cognitive behavior therapy and the use of structural mediational models, FAP depends on the functional analysis of the moment-to-moment stream of interactions between client and…