Schools are the primary environment in which to conduct prevention programs for school-age children. Educators, policy makers, and psychologist argue that prevention efforts should begin as early as possible to maximize their effectiveness. Surprisingly, there are relatively few school-based prevention programs targeted for preschoolers. Given the…

Professionals and parents need effective systems of teamwork for planning restorative outcomes with troubled children and youth. This article taps the resilient problem-solving process C*L*E*A*R, which is drawn from the Response Ability Pathways (RAP) curriculum. Participants examine the timeline of Challenges, Logic, Emotions, Actions, and…

To date, only a limited number of studies have focused on functional assessment with typically developing populations. The most commonly reported method of functional assessment with this population seems to be descriptive assessment; however, the methods used in the descriptive assessment often are unclear. This is unfortunate as researchers and…

Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children (SET-C) is a comprehensive behavioral treatment combining social skills training, peer generalization experiences, and individualized in vivo exposure for the treatment of social phobia in youth. SET-C results in positive treatment outcome and its effects are maintained at least 3 years later. In this…

The use of toys in child clinical contexts is advocated by a number of researchers in the field as a means of overcoming developmental constraints on children's reports of their psychological states and their experiences. This paper reviews the literature relating to the impact of toys on children's ability to recall and communicate clinically…

Children who fail to become fluent readers by the end of the primary grades are likely to achieve below same-age peers throughout their school careers. With growing use of curriculum-based measures (CBMs), it is easier to identify those students who are achieving below same-age peers. Moreover, a process of conducting individualized assessment and…

Discriminatory ability of several pediatric outcome tools was assessed relative to Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level in patients with cerebral palsy. Five hundred and sixty-two patients (400 with diplegia, 162 with hemiplegia; 339 males, 223 females; age range 4-18y, mean 11y 1mo [SD 3y 7mo]), classified as GMFCS Levels I to…

The primary goal of this project was to increase schools' resources and staff skills in providing function-based behavior support to individual students with chronic problem behaviors. Over the course of a 3-year period, 10 school teams received training in and on-site consultation on functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavior support…

A functional assessment interview was conducted with care providers of 100 children (ages 2-5) with autism regarding reinforcement contingencies contributing to maintenance of disruptive behavior. Gaining access to perseverative activities and escaping demands while engaged in these activities frequently contributed to disruptive behavior in the…

School psychologists and other prereferral intervention team members have expressed a need to develop skills in two key areas: selecting interventions that are conceptually relevant, and providing teachers with the resources and support needed to ensure successful plan implementation. This paper describes various strategies that have been shown to…

Illustrates and evaluates the reliability and accuracy of an efficient performance-based behavioral recording procedure to record both appropriate and problem behaviors with persons with developmental disabilities. The results demonstrate that performance-based behavioral recording procedures are precise and efficient methods of recording…

Evaluates the concept of "establishing operation" (EO) in the functional analysis of problem behavior in people with developmental disabilities. Suggestions for detecting "conditioned establishing operations" are offered. Also discusses the development of treatment strategies that seek to modify EOs, extinguish EOs, and modify…

This discussion of positive behavior support for people with disabilities identifies four themes: (1) behavior support should reduce problem behavior and affect how a person lives; (2) functional assessment is the foundation for understanding patterns of problem behavior; (3) behavior support should be comprehensive in structure and scope; and (4)…

This study surveyed 60 persons involved in research and training with functional assessment procedures concerning use of such procedures with students who have mild disabilities. Results suggested there is little consensus as to the necessary and sufficient procedures for performing functional behavioral assessments with high incidence…

Discussion of family involvement in functional assessment (FA) with individuals who have autism or related disabilities first provides a rationale for family involvement, then reviews the literature and offers guidelines including: recognize, respect, and accommodate families' individuality; create a context for family centered participation; take…