[GUITAR MUSIC]
When we talk about our field in early childhood,
we always think of very young years.
And they're magical years, indeed.
But really, we're setting the foundation for the future.
You know, one of the things we always have to keep in mind,
this little child one day is going
to graduate from high school, hopefully will go to college,
will have a family.
They will live in our community.
So we're talking about our future citizens,
our future neighbors, the kids that
are going to be playing with our own kids
in the street, who are going to be working together.
So I think if we look at a long-term implication
of the work that we do at a very young stage,
you're really setting that up.
So the same way that we do--
why we read books to children because we really
want to install the love of books
that will carry on down the road to read newspapers, and read
textbooks, and be able to work in our society.
So when we think about behaviors,
what kind of patterns, healthy patterns,
we can establish very early on so that that child can feel
comfortable once they go to elementary school,
and middle school, and high school,
and be able to function with other children,
and certainly later on, other citizens, other neighbors,
other co-workers--
so when we think about our work in early childhood,
we're laying the foundation, not only just
for the sense of academics, for example,
but we're really looking at the whole social-emotional life
of human beings.
And this is the best time of life, these first five
years that we work with them, to set great role models
and be able to set them on the road to a successful life.
The program titled Behavioral Planning
I covered the first three steps of the six steps
included in the development of a behavioral intervention plan--
1, define the behavior.
2, collect information on the child's use of the behavior.
And 3, form a best guess about why the child is
using the behavior.
Now, we'll see how to use that best
guess to develop a behavioral intervention
plan in Behavioral Planning II.
The final three steps covered in this program are 4,
set goals, 5, develop and implement strategies, and 6,
evaluate success and make needed changes.
Step 4 of the planning process is to set goals.
Behavioral intervention plan goals
are based on your best guess about the function
of the behavior and an evaluation of why
the child isn't using an appropriate behavior to meet
her needs.
Goals identified in a child's behavior plan
include both the final objective or long-term goal,
and the steps along the way, or short-term goals.
A long-term goal should be directly related
to the team's best guess about why the child is
using the challenging behavior.
For example, if the best guest statement was
"when Maria wants something another child has,
she pushes, hits, or threatens other children
to try to get the object," then the long-term goal
should enable Maria to get what she
wants with the use of positive behaviors.
If the team determined that Maria
had a skill deficit, for example,
didn't know how to use her words,
you might write the long-term goal
as "Maria will use words that are appropriate, such as,
may I have a turn next, when she wants
something another child has."
If the team decided instead that Maria has the skills
to ask nicely for a turn or a toy
but is limited by a performance deficit,
then you might write her long-term goal
as "Maria will control her frustration when she needs
to wait for a turn or a toy."
Let's say we've determined Maria has a skill deficit.
Maria's short-term goals may include steps
like short-term goal number one, "Maria
will go to an adult to help her get what she needs."
Short-term goal number two, "Maria
will talk with the adult to problem-solve
how she can get a turn."
Short-term goal number three, "Maria
will use words, not physical touch or harm,
to tell the other child or children
that she would like a turn."
As Maria accomplishes the short-term goals,
she's making progress toward the long-term goal
of helping her learn to use her words to take turns
and play nicely with her friends.
One of my favorite anecdotes is I was in a Head Start class
once talking with a teacher.
And a kid on the other side of the room
said, really loudly, to another, you damn son of a bitch.
I was kind of curious what the teacher was going to do.
And this is what she did.
She went over to where this child was,
knelt down next to him, put her arm around, and whispered
in his ear.
And one of the things she whispered was I'm proud of you.
She whispered a couple of more things,
then came back to where I was standing.
As she came back, the little boy turned to the kid next to her
and said, I'm sawwy.
And the other kid said, you're not supposed to swear.
You're supposed to use friendly words.
The kid said, I know.
Would you still be my friend?
The child said, yes, I will.
The teacher got back to where I was standing.
And I said, you know, I thought I heard him swear,
and I think I heard you say you were proud of him.
She said, that's right, Dan.
Until last week, when he got upset, he would hit or kick.
We've been telling him to use words.
He used words.
I'm proud of him.
I gave him some other words to use though
because those words bother people in Head Start.
And I asked him how he could help
that other child feel better.
And you heard what he said.
What this teacher did was recognize
that the goal of helping this kid express strong emotions
in non-hurting ways was a long-range goal that
was going to take time to meet.
There would be little steps of progress
that wouldn't be perfect steps, but they'd
be indicators that he was learning
what he needed to be learning.
Because that ultimate goal was there.
And the teacher knew the kid so well,
she knew what was progress and could complement it.
She used a compliment sandwich 'cause
she told him a couple of things that she was proud of.
But then she gave him a suggestion
for what he could do that wouldn't bother kids
next to him the next time that he got upset.
Step 5 in the behavioral planning process
is to develop and implement strategies.
The strategies you choose should be
based on your best guess about why the child is
using the behavior.
Remember, your goal is not only to eliminate the behavior.
You also need to help the child learn an effective replacement
behavior.
As you think about what strategies might work,
consider, what are the child's strengths and areas
of interest?
How will adults work to prevent or control
the circumstances that lead to the child's use
of the challenging behavior?
If the child has a skill deficit,
how will parents and teachers help
the child learn new skills?
If the child has a performance deficit,
how will parents and teachers help
the child control the factors that make it difficult
for him to use his skills?
Intervention strategies are usually
more effective when they build on the child's strengths.
Maria's parents have described her great love of books.
A strategy that may work for Maria
is to use small group and one-on-one direct instruction
through children's books to teach her friendly behaviors
and how to use her words.
[CHATTING]
The team can identify a list of books
that will be available to Maria in both the home and school
environments.
Her teacher may even work with her
to problem-solve through the characters in the book.
After the book is finished, the teacher
can apply the lesson to things that have recently
happened at school.
Maria's parents may take the book home
over the weekend to continue the lesson
and discussion with Maria.
Maria's positive peer interactions
in the small group settings and the problem-solving techniques
she will learn will give her opportunities
to develop more positive behaviors
and learn the words to use when she wants to have a turn.
These more appropriate behaviors are referred to as replacement
behaviors because they are the more positive behaviors
we hope will replace the challenging behaviors.
We think that replacement behaviors are new skills
that you're teaching the child.
Skills that the child should use in place of the problem
behavior should be taught at times when the problem
behavior is not occurring.
And so there's this tendency to use challenging behavior
as an opportunity to teach, whereas what we should really
be doing is teaching replacement skills, social skills,
emotional competencies at times when the child is not engaging
in the challenging behavior so that when
those opportunities come up, the child has the behavior they
need in place of that.
Having said that, it also makes the most sense
to teach those skills at times that the child would naturally
need to use them.
So you might do some one-on-one instruction with the child
around learning this skill, role play in this skill,
so that they cognitively understand it.
But then it's important to find opportunities
throughout the day where that skill's
important for the child, that you
can scaffold their use of that skill in kind
of natural settings.
And then, to really identify opportunities
where you know that times of the day, activities, opportunities,
where you know that there is a likelihood that the child will
engage in the problem behavior, and scaffold
the child to use of the new skill at those times as well.
Building new skills is what intervention strategies are all
about.
As you evaluate Maria's success in reaching her goals,
you should agree on how you will respond
when Maria uses her replacement behavior
and how you will respond if she uses the challenging behavior.
The team decided that what will work best for Maria
is to give immediate positive attention and reinforcement
whenever she uses the appropriate behavior
and meets a short-term goal.
The plan includes examples of specific language adults
should use like, "Maria, you came
to find me to help you get a turn with the ball.
It looks like you and your friends
are happy when everyone takes a turn.
Keep it up."
Also, the teachers decided to provide Maria with a ticket
each time she uses the replacement behavior.
These tickets are placed in a small bag
and sent home at the end of each day.
At home, Maria's parents discuss her tickets with her,
offer positive reinforcement, and then put the tickets
in a small, clear jar.
Maria is told that once she fills the jar with 10 tickets,
the family will get to go to the library
together, where she can choose a new book.
Adult responses to Maria's continued use
of challenging behaviors should be discussed in detail
so you can agree on a response that all adults feel
comfortable using when Maria displays difficult behavior.
It's a good idea to practice the response
when not under the stress of an actual incident.
The process of implementing strategies
will occur over a period of between two and six weeks.
After the agreed upon time period,
the team will meet again to evaluate the effectiveness
of the strategies.
You shouldn't expect that intervention strategies
will immediately eliminate the child's challenging behaviors.
The behaviors may even temporarily
get worse as the child displays a behavior that
has worked in the past.
It will take time for the child to learn
that replacement behaviors will lead to more positive play
experiences.
A key component of successful implementation is persistence.
Challenging behaviors often have developed
over the course of time and are likely to take as much time
to resolve as they took to develop.
Well, some intervention strategies
really require multiple examples,
multiple opportunities for a child
to learn what's expected of them.
And especially in the case of a child
who might have done something over and over
and over as they're developing and growing up,
and it always got the same reaction from their parents
or people around them, and now, you're suddenly doing something
different, they're likely to keep
trying and trying and trying to get
you to respond the way that everybody always
responded before.
So we call that an extinction burst.
When you stop paying attention to something
that previously you would have attended to
or somebody else attended to, and you
stop doing that, the child's going
to try even harder, and maybe even with more intensity,
to get you to respond the way they're expecting.
So we have to really be persistent, stay the course,
know what the intervention is likely to produce
and how long it's going to take, and know that child well enough
to be able to read the cues that they're beginning to get it.
Before the team ends the behavioral planning meeting,
you should do two important things.
First, decide how you will record progress during the two
to six weeks the strategies are being implemented.
The teams should continue to record information and collect
data on the child's use of both a challenging behavior
and the times when the child uses a more appropriate
replacement behavior.
Documentation will be important in monitoring
the child's progress.
This information will be vital in evaluating
what is working, what isn't, and why.
It's often helpful to identify a person who will periodically
check in with all team members to make sure the strategies are
being implemented and additional information is being collected.
The second important thing to determine
before the meeting comes to a close
is the date on which the team will meet again.
Everyone involved in the creation
of a behavioral intervention plan
should receive a copy of the plan at the end of the process.
A written plan will allow everyone
to check the plan to make sure its strategies are being
implemented consistently by all of the adults
caring for the child.
In addition, the child's progress
will be easier to monitor when everyone is
working with the same document.
Step 6 in the behavioral planning process,
which occurs at the follow-up meeting,
is to evaluate success and make needed changes to the plan.
At this meeting, documentation of the child's success
and continued use of challenging behaviors
will be reviewed and discussed to decide on next steps.
If the behavioral intervention plan
doesn't seem to be making a difference,
three possible reasons the child's behavior may not
be improving are 1, the team's best guess
about why the child is using the behavior is wrong.
2, the strategies were not consistently applied
or were not given a chance to work.
Or 3, the manner in which adults are encouraging the child's
use of replacement behaviors is no longer
reinforcing for the child.
When it's clear a behavioral intervention plan isn't
working, the team should restart the planning process
to gather more accurate information.
It can be frustrating when an intervention plan doesn't work.
But you shouldn't give up on the process.
A functional assessment leading to the development
of an intervention plan is the best way
to help a child displaying challenging behaviors.
I think I can make a difference by offering them something
that no one else may have offered.
Once you have a child in your class,
if you see that there is something missing, whether it
be someone giving them a hug, whether it
be someone making an attachment with them
where they feel safe and secure, if that's what they're missing,
then that's what I'm going to offer them, whatever it is
that they need me to give them.