Running head: BEHAVIOR SUPPORT PLAN 1

Behavior Support Plan (BSP)

Flor R. Perez

University of Utah
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Purpose

The following behavior support plan (BSP) describes recommendations to reduce Maria’s

use of interfering behavior and to increase her use of acceptable alternative behaviors.

Recommendations in this document describe actions that staff should use before and after the

occurence of Maria’s interfering behavior, and also describes recommended changes to the

environmental contexts that currently allow the continuation of interfering behaviors. Appendix

A includes a visual overview of the recommendations described in this BSP.

Operational Definition of the Target Behavior

The behavior targeted during this functional assessment process was ​elopement​.

Elopement is defined as follows:

● Leaving her seat or instruction area without staff permission​ - More than 3 feet away

from her chair without adult permission for any duration of time.

● Running away from adults​ - Any period or time being more than 10 feet away from an

adult without permission and then not complying with staff direction to go to a specific

location or engage in a specific activity.

Non-examples would be when Maria is allowed to roam during free time and during lunch.

Behavioral Function - Summary Statement

A functional behavior assessment (FBA) was completed in October 2019 to determine

the function of Maria;s use of elopement. The following summary statement describes the result

of this FBA:
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When staff or peer is in the room or nearby but not paying attention to the student, Maria

is likely to engage in elopement behavior in order to gain attention from staff or peers. This

pattern is more likely to occur when Maria has not been reinforced with frequent verbal praise.

Setting and Situation Targeted Through This BSP

Although Maria uses elopement in several school environments to gain attention from

staff and peers, this BSP will focus on her use of elopement to gain attention from staff and peers

during whole-group and small-group instruction. This situation was selected because Maria

predictably uses aggression at the highest rate in this situation, and because of the social

significance of maintaining or increasing her access to the general education setting and

academic instruction aligned to the Essential Elements curriculum. When Maria uses elopement,

she is missing out on scheduled instruction tied to her math and language arts IEP goals. This

occurs multiple times a day.

A comprehensive BSP would address each of the settings and situations in which Maria

uses the target behavior, but is beyond the scope of this class-assigned project. Next steps in a

comprehensive “live” intervention would include development and implementation of behavioral

support plans to include each of the setting and scenarios in which Maria uses elopement during

the school day.

Foundational or Lifestyle Considerations from Student Description

A review of student information collected in October 2019 shows that there are

foundational considerations that may contribute to Maria’s use of interfering behavior to

communicate her want need for attention. Addressing these foundational considerations may

allow Maria more self-initiated control over the setting events and antecedent that precede her
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use of challenging behavior, and may therefore serve to reduce the level at which she currently

uses elopement for attention-seeking. The following table describes these foundational

considerations, their potential effect on Maria’s use of interfering behavior, and their

implications for instruction.

Foundational Consideration and Potential Implication for Instruction

Effect on the Use of Interfering Behavior

Communication is limited to grabbing and Explicit communication instruction is needed

reaching as well as “leading” others to desired to Expand Maria’s repertoire of socializing

items; when Maria does not have an and requesting

appropriate communicative means to make

her wants known, she may use interfering

behavior as a way to communicate with others

David requires a high level of social Instruction is needed to teach Maria to

reinforcement to complete academic routines complete academic and daily living routines

and routines of daily living. Continuous without high levels of reinforcement from

requests and demands by staff members may staff. Including self-management strategies

provide maria with ongoing opportunities to during daily routine instruction may allow

use interfering behavior more independence

Limited social/self-advocacy skills; Maria Instruction is needed to teach Maria to

does not advocate for her social preferences advocate for her preferences in social
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until an immediate antecedent occurs (staff situations where she will be asked to complete

say “Time to work” or similar) – at this time directives or tasks (e.g. to say hi instead of

she uses interfering behavior asking what’s this)

Behavioral Antecedents and Predictors

The following table describes the antecedent and predictors variables that typically

precede Maria’s use of elopement, as well as recommendations for updates to the environment

and to staff behaviors that may “neutralize” these variables. When these variables are

“neutralized,” the interfering behavior becomes irrelevant. The neutralization of antecedents and

predictors can cause a person’s use of interfering behavior to drop, allowing staff to introduce

instruction of acceptable and alternative behaviors

Behavioral Antecedents and Predictors Strategies to Neutralize

Antecedents and Predictors

● When Maria misses the bus and her ● Communicating with mom that riding

mom brings her to school later the bus leads to a better day for Maria

● Working less motivating reinforcer ○ If Maria’s mom does bring her

(preferred items are hair braiding, to school, remind her to leave

painting nails, snacks, and I-Pad) her in the office instead of

● Instruction that is not one-to-one walking her to class

instruction (whole-group and ● Immediately remind Maria of what

small-group instruction) she’s working for to set her up to a

● Peer tutors are present positive work session

● Staff and peers are not in close ● Provide Maria lots of attention when

proximity engaged in appropriate behavior

● Physical proximity to Maria during

work times to prevent her from getting

out of seat

Consequence Strategies Following Use of Aggression

In this case, the use of attention extinction (not acknowledging Maria while she is out of

her seat) is not recommended in the school setting. Maria’s elopement behavior has become

aggression (scratching and grabbing) due to what we believe is an extinction burst. Peer tutors,

peers, and staff may incur injury through the use of this procedure and safety concerns may lead

to the use of seclusionary time-out. The following strategies will be used to minimize the

effectiveness of elopement to gain attention from staff and peers. When Maria uses the target

behavior following presentation of a task, staff will:

● Increase praise/reinforcement for staying in seat and completing work.

● Increase one-on-one adult attention during scheduled break times and when appropriate.

● If Maria receives less than three marks on her card, she can earn extra reinforcement.

● When Maria gets out of seat/off task during instructional times

○ Do not respond to what she says (e.g., hi, what’s this, knuckles, curly hair) quietly

ask her to go back to her seat, and mark her card.

○ Each time she is out of her seat, she receives a mark on her card.

○ Three marks on her card means loss of preferred activity or item.

Teaching an Acceptable Alternative Behavior

Maria will be taught to hand a staff member a 3 inch by 6 inch “Break” card attached to

her desk with velcro to request that staff have her work for 10-15 more minutes and then allow

her to ask for a break. At first, touching the “Break” card will allow an immediate break. Over

time, Maria will have to complete work for an increasing amount of time before a break is

granted. The lesson plan in Appendix B contains the series of behavioral approximations that

Maria will learn, as well as information about prompting strategies and instructional logistics.

Goals of BSP

The goals of this behavior support plan are to reduce Maria’s use of interfering behavior

and to increase her use of acceptable alternative behaviors.

Reduced use of interfering behavior. ​Maria currently uses elopement an average of 46

minutes per day during instructional periods, as per an FBA conducted in October 2019. One

goal if this BSP is to support a reduction in her use of elopement during whole-group and

small-group instruction in the special education self-contained classroom. The following goals

and benchmarks describe intervention targets for the next 12 weeks.

Goal​:

Within 12 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations described in this

BSP, Maria will use elopement at an average of or lower than 5 minutes per day during
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whole-group and small-group instruction in the special education self-contained

classroom.

Benchmark 1:

Within 3 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations described in

this BSP, Maria will use elopement at an average of or lower than than 20 minutes

per day during whole-group and small-group instruction in the special education

self-contained classroom.

Benchmark 2:

Within 6 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations described in

this BSP, Maria will use elopement at an average of or lower than than 10

minutes per day during whole-group and small-group instruction in the special

education self-contained classroom.

Benchmark 3:

Within 9 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations described in

this BSP, Maria will use elopement at an average of or lower than than 7 minutes

per day during whole-group and small-group instruction in the special education

self-contained classroom.

The behavioral team (classroom staff, school administration, and Maria’s parents) will

meet in person or via telephone every 3 weeks for the next 12 weeks to review effectiveness of

recommendations outlined in this BSP. If the rate of Maria’s use of elopement does not meet or

exceed the intervention targets described in the goal and benchmarks within 6 weeks of using the
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intervention described in this BSP, behavioral team members will reconvene to adjust

recommendations provided in this plan.

Increased use of alternative behavior. ​A second goal of this BSP is to support Maria’s

use of an acceptable alternative behavior. Currently, Maria never uses a “Break” card to request

a break during whole-group and small-group instruction in the special education self-contained

classroom. The following goal and benchmarks describe instructional targets for the next 12

weeks.

Goal​:

Within 12 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations provided in this BSP,

Maria will work for 10-15 more minutes after independently handing a staff member a 3

inch by 6 inch “Break” card attached to her desk with velcro and will then be allowed to

take a 5 minute break.

Benchmark 1:

Within 3 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations provided in

this BSP, Maria will work for 3 more minutes after independently handing a staff

member a 3 inch by 6 inch “Break” card attached to her desk with velcro and will

then be allowed to take a 15 minute break.

Benchmark 2:

Within 6 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations provided in

this BSP, Maria will work for 5 more minutes after independently handing a staff

member a 3 inch by 6 inch “Break” card attached to her desk with velcro and will

then be allowed to take a 10 minute break.

Benchmark 3:

Within 9 weeks of beginning implementation of recommendations provided in

this BSP, Maria will work for 10 more minutes after independently handing a

staff member a 3 inch by 6 inch “Break” card attached to her desk with velcro and

will then be allowed to take a 5 minute break.

Plan for Training Staff and Measuring Intervention Fidelity

All school staff providing instruction or assistance to Maria, school administration, and

Maria’s parents will receive training on the information and procedures described in this

behavior support plan. The following behavioral skills training (BST) activities will be

documented:

Task Who Will Lead Task? Date of Completion

1. Verbal description or Classroom Teacher Classroom Staff:

presentation and discussion of (BSP author)

information included in this Administrator:

document

Parents:

2. Written copy of this Classroom Teacher Classroom Staff:

document provided (BSP author)

Administrator:
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Parents:

3. Demonstration of Classroom Teacher Classroom Staff:

procedures used to teach the (BSP author)

acceptable alternative Administrator:

behavior and reaction to use

of aggression Parents:

4. Role-play practice with Classroom Teacher Classroom Staff:

observation and feedback: (BSP author)

procedures used to teach the Administrator:

acceptable alternative

behavior and reaction to use Parents:

of aggression

An implementation fidelity checklist is included in Appendix C. This implementation

fidelity checklist will be used during classroom staff training: during Monday morning meetings,
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the classroom staff members will observe one another and score the checklist. This practice will

continue until classroom staff can demonstrate proficiency of the implementation fidelity

checklist to the head teacher. This implementation fidelity checklist will be used weekly during

alternative instruction with Maria to determine if classroom staff continue to use BSP procedures

as written.

Safety Plan

Not needed.
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Figure 1.​ Aim line describing the goal and benchmarks for reduction of Maria’s use of

elopement through recommendations provided in this behavior support plan.

Appendix A
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Appendix B

Successive Approximations Chart

Appendix C