Welcome to my blog! My name is Amanda Stevens and I am a Preschool Special Education Teacher in a public school. I have been in the field of special education for 10+ years specifically working with students who present with maladaptive behaviors. I have a passion for connecting with families and answering questions that parents may have in reference to their child and behavioral concerns in school.
10/5/24- "The school my child attends has been calling me regarding behaviors he is having and keeps talking about tier intervention and using a bunch of acronyms I don't understand!" - Signed, a concerned Mom.
Hi Mom! Thank you for reaching out. First and foremost, I applaud you for seeking out your own information to help you get a better understanding of what services your child might be receiving at school. Schools often use many acronyms regarding discussing behavioral interventions so I will break down some of the commonly used ones with the hopes that you can take the information to help you form decisions with the school.
FBA- Functional Behavioral Assessment (This assessment is used to gather information and data to identify why a behavior is happening (the function)
BCBA- Board Certified Behavioral Analysis (This is a professional in the district who often will administer the FBA (with parent consent!) to identify the function of the behavior.
Tier Model
Below is a visual of the tier behavioral model. When schools reference tier-level support they are referring to which level of support (which color on the triangle) is appropriate for the student. The bottom portion of the triangle (green) is a universal approach that all students receive which is proactive and school-wide. The middle tier (yellow) is a targeted group of students who based on data would benefit from small-group instruction to help support social emotional and behavioral needs. The top portion (the red) is for students who need an individualized and specialized approach to target behaviors.
Reference- Home. (2024, October 2). U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/
10/11/24- I worked with a student two years ago who started Kindergarten mid-year. This student quickly presented with physical aggression towards peers, elopement, and verbal aggression. The student had been removed from their Biological Mom and placed with their Biological Dad due to reasons of suspected drug use. When living with Mom the child was often left unattended for periods of time. As a teacher who has training in trauma-informed practice, I quickly determined that this child's behavior was related to trauma. I worked with school mental health workers and we quickly came up with a plan to help the child feel safe and connected. As a trauma-informed educator, I know that the child needed to feel safe at school and connected to me before I could teach him skills. I also knew that because trauma was the primary reason for the maladaptive behavior I was working with a child who needed to learn how to trust adults and peers around him. It would have been easy to look at the behaviors and provide consequences however, with this child it was important to address the behaviors in a strategic and intentional way so he felt safe.
Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. (2022, March 21). Setting New Standards with Trauma Informed Care - Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. https://ppimhs.org/newspost/setting-new-standards-with-trauma-informed-care/
10/18/24- Help! My 5-year-old kindergartener has been eloping out of his classroom and has been aggressive toward his peers. During a PPT my district recommended a BIP after an FBA and I don't understand what that means or entails? Signed- A worried Mom
Hi Mom! The good news is that it sounds like your district is doing a great job of providing your son with the interventions needed to help him be safe and successful in school. A BIP is a "behavior intervention plan". This plan is written after an FBA determines the function of his behavior. The plan will look at steps to replace negative behaviors with more appropriate ones. This will help your son get his needs met without having to elope or show aggression. The team will discuss in detail what the plan is, what skills will be taught, and how data will be taken and analyzed. This plan is a legal document just like an IEP and will help adults who work with him understand what is needed to meet his needs in the school setting. I had a student who had a BIP for elopement and aggression towards peers and one of the steps on his plan was we introduced a break card for him that was non-contingent. He used the card to ask for a break at any point in the day to teach him a way to appropriately ask for a break as his function was escape. Your child's plan may look different depending on the function of his behavior.
References
Miller, G. (2023, January 5). What is a behavior intervention plan? Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/what-is-a-behavior-intervention-plan/
10/27/24- Utilizing "timeout" as an effective and age appropriate intervention
My learning in research this week helped me look at how I am utilizing my break space in my room for my young learners. I do NOT use the word "timeout" rather I call it the "cozy corner". This space is for students when they are unavailable for learning. Examples include, aggression, tantrums, unsafe behavior etc. I use this space to process with students and give them an area where they can process their emotions. I am passionate about supporting social emotional learning and utilizing restorative practice in my classroom. I think it is important that even when teachers are out of their classroom they continue to use this model of intervention when outside the classroom. For example- On the playground this week I had a student (A) who pushed another student down. Instead of putting student (A) in "time out" I asked him to sit with me on the bench. We processed and discussed how he was feeling and why putting hands on friends is unsafe. I then had the other student join our conversation so that student (A) had a chance to made it right and make sure his friend was ok. Using this approach teaches the social skills rather then provide strictly a consequence. This correlates to my learning this week in how the interventions of time away should be used. Removing the given stimuli to decrease the maladaptive behavior. (Student A was removed from playing but supported in a way that supports his social emotional learning)
Reference
Coping Skills in School — Coping Skills for Kids. (n.d.). Coping Skills for Kids. https://copingskillsforkids.com/coping-skills-in-school
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