Sally was not available for learning.
When Sally started with Lauren, at 4 years old, she did not make any requests using her words, did not sit for more than one minute and did not follow a large majority of directions. She engaged in biting, elopement and non-compliance. Sally did not play or engage with her preferred items for more than 1 minute at a time nor label non-preferred items. Lauren knew that her maladaptive behaviors were a barrier to her skill development. Every behavior has a function, or purpose. This can vary for each person. For example, if two people engage in biting, one may be doing it to gain attention and the other may be biting to escape a demand. Lauren assessed Sally to determine the functions of her behaviors, as well as her skills.
Following these assessments, Lauren determined that the function of Sally’s maladaptive behaviors was escape. Therefore, Lauren had to come up with replacement behaviors to Sally’s maladaptive behaviors, that would serve the same purpose, of escape. The treatment plan that Lauren created for Sally included a Behavior Intervention Plan to reduce the biting, elopement and non-compliance behaviors, while increasing the replacement behaviors of using her words to request, remaining in her designated area and following directions within 10 seconds. She was encouraged to use her words to request breaks, was provided verbal praise while remaining in her designated area, was given breaks for engaging in these behaviors for a specified period of time and escape extinction was used. Escape extinction involves ensuring that the person’s maladaptive behaviors do not allow escape from the task at hand; Sally was required complete the task even if she eloped, bit or did not comply. Her plan included reinforcement on a thick schedule, continuous preference assessments, behavior momentum and the Premack Principle of “first/then.” Sally’s behaviors targeted for decrease did in fact decrease and were replaced with her targeted behaviors for increase. This allowed her to be available for learning, letting us work on and increase her skill set.
Decreasing Sally’s maladaptive behaviors and increasing appropriate replacement behaviors has helped Sally’s skill set grow significantly. She engages in conversations about her day, makes requests when asked what she wants and spontaneously, answers “wh” questions, answers important questions about personal safety and follows directions the fist time they are given. Her parents express that she is always excited for her ABA sessions, asking when her friends will come over. Her awesome and hysterical personality really shines now.
Area of Focus
Sally exhibited maladaptive behaviors that hindered her from building her skill set in the fashion in which she was capable.
The Goal
The initial goal with Sally was to decrease the hindering behaviors and replace them with appropriate replacement behaviors. Once we achieved this, Sally would be available for learning and we could focus on increasing age appropriate skills.
The Tools
We conducted a functional behavior assessment to determine the functions, or purpose, of these maladaptive behaviors. We created a behavior intervention plan that included appropriate replacement behaviors that would fulfill these functions.
Results
Sally did decrease these maladaptive behaviors, replacing the with the appropriate behaviors from her behavior intervention plan. She was then able to focus on increasing her skill set, which she has successfully done. It has also allowed her personality to shine.