My Journey to Improve My Son's Challenging Behavior Through Positive Behavior Support: Part 4 - Analyzing Data and Goal Setting

Part 4: Analyzing Data and Goal Setting - What did we learn?

It was time to gather all the information collected from our PBS team members and begin analyzing the data. Some members of our PBS team were diligent about collecting data and information for two consecutive weeks.  I gathered information received from Richie’s ESE teacher, PE teacher and myself. I didn’t collect data and information from all members of the PBS team, but remember we mentioned in Part 3 that even if this happened, we can continue to move forward with the PBS process. The information I did have was plenty for us to review and analyze. All of the forms, information and data we collected were going to help us understand Richie’s behavior.  We were going to begin taking the next steps towards creating a successful positive behavior support plan that would work at home and at school.   

The Quality of Life Questionnaire is a rating tool that assesses a person’s skills based on their ability to do them independently.  After reviewing the forms our team submitted, our behavior consultant pointed out that there were some areas on the forms for which I rated Richie’s skill with a high score, while other team members gave him lower scores.  This tells us about how different Richie performs certain skills in various settings. It also gets us thinking about why that is happening. If he is performing certain skills better at school than he is at home, then we need to start exchanging strategies or ideas that are working better for others. These types of discussions are important for maintaining consistency across all settings, especially since our goal is to maximize Richie's success rate for improving behavior and teaching him new skills. 

Before anything else, it was important for us to first develop a set of broad goals for Richie. What skills did we want him to improve or learn? The Quality of Life Questionnaire was instrumental with helping us identify skills Richie has mastered, skills that need improvement, and skills that need to be learned.  The following broad goals were drafted:

• Health and safety – Going to sleep and staying in bed.
• Self-advocacy –                                                                                                                         i.Communicate to request positive interaction, activities and avoid or delay                        undesirable activities.

             ii.Select a sequence order of activities that he would enjoy doing

• Social Relationships – Engage in sustained give and take interaction with others around him (e.g., basketball, swimming, board games, conversation book and cooking).
• Productive Activity - Complete self-care and daily living skills independently.                      i.Dressing and remaining clothed during bathroom times.

             ii.Bathing self and brushing teeth.
             iii.Laundry, putting away items, clearing table.
             iv.Cooking and baking, cleaning.
             v.Recycling plastics and taking out the garbage.

• Tolerance/Cooperation: Transition away from a preferred activity to something less desirable. 

This process taught me so much about what I never considered.  I never considered the fact that there had to have been times that Richie was simply just bored.  How would he let us know that he wanted to go to the park?  Play a game with us? Ride a bike? Go swimming in the pool? What about giving him the opportunity to participate in our family’s routines or daily activities?

The FBA Questionnaire gave us a clear picture of Richie’s behavior across all settings (Who is Richie? What are Richie’s interests, What does he like to do? And just as important, What doesn't he like?).  The information collected in these forms were pretty consistent across all contributing members of the team.
 
After analyzing all of the information collected, we narrowed our focus down to the things that were most important to address.  The ABC (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence) data helped us to identify four patterns of behavior.  These patterns were pretty obvious and easy to spot, because they were consistent across different settings.   

 Identified Patterns for Richie’s Behavior

Antecedent  
1. When Richie is told to put away his iPad or told he cannot have access to it at the time.      



2. When Richie is asked to perform a task (e.g., self care, initiate new activity at school).​ 



3. When Richie is exposed to sounds that bother him (or possibly a repetitive activity).



4. When a preferred adult's attention is focused elsewhere or Richie is not socially engaged following initiation.                

Behavior
1. He may moan, pace, and shriek - followed by aggression towards others, property destruction, and/or self-injury.


2. He may moan, pace, and shriek - followed by aggression towards others, property destruction, and/or self-injury.


3. He may moan, pace, and shriek - followed by aggression towards others, property destruction, and/or self-injury.

4. He may moan,pace and shriek - followed by aggression towards others, property destruction, and/or self-injury. 

Consequence  
1. Although the iPad may be removed, he is often asked to do something (e.g. soft touches, brief task) and then the iPad is returned.


2. He is often removed from the situation (e.g. taken to behavior room) or the task is delayed, demands reduced, or he gets help.


3. Adults may try to soothe him (e.g. with singing) or give him items or activities to calm him. 


4. He may receive attention or a preferred activity or item until attention becomes available.  

​Richie’s teacher had contacted me to schedule a meeting with our behavior consultant, along with all members of the IEP/PBS team. It was perfect timing, as it was time to review our analysis of Richie’s behaviors and ask them if they agreed with the behavior patterns charted above.  
 
The meeting took place at Richie’s school an hour before the first morning bell.  As luck would have it, Samantha was not able to watch Richie for me that morning, so he had to come to the meeting with me.  This, of course, caused a disruption in his morning, because the meeting was taking place in his classroom and so many of us (who shouldn't have been there) were invading his space. Richie started to become aggressive, so we had to move the meeting into the library and one of the therapists had to stay behind to keep an eye on him. Still, we were able to review the information together, while I took notes.  Our behavior consultant , Meme, led the discussion and reviewed the information with the team. She asked everyone if they agreed with the broad goals written and four behavior patterns identified.  All members agreed they were accurate and that no changes were needed.  We talked about strategies that were used at home that could be tweaked for school.  

The next step was for us to brainstorm preventative strategies, ideas for teaching new skills, and the appropriate consequences for when behaviors surface.  We were each given a little homework. Our behavior consultant gave our team a behavior planning worksheet to use for this part of the process. A worksheet would need to be completed for each of the four behavior patterns, it would include proactive, teaching and management strategies. We were also given a proactive strategies tool that truly served as a helpful guideline.  

Since the only person who knows 100% why the behaviors observed are happening is Richie, we are left with having to guess (hypothesize) why these behaviors are happening.  Although I’m sure we come pretty close with guessing why behaviors happen most of the time, there is always a chance we could be wrong.  This is why continuing to track behaviors and record data is so important. It must be said, that within a a few days of implementing just a few strategies and ideas shared, we began to see improvement in Richie's behavior. I was excited to start designing the plan and begin making the recommended changes at home.  
 
Part 5: Developing a Positive Behavior Support Plan