Erin Percacciolo

Dr. Wolpert

November 23, 2014

Functional Behavioral Assessment
Functional Behavioral Assessment: Alexander

1) Identify the Target Behavior. What kind of change do you want to make?
Alexander is a seven-year-old male child in my second grade ICT classroom setting. He is one of
twenty-eight students, and a general education student within the ICT setting. The target
behavior that I would like to decrease is:

Having an episode when he is corrected or told a direction

Alexander tends to get really excited when he knows the correct answer to a question and shouts
out the answer. It is almost on instinct. This behavior occurs most often during our math period
after lunch. Alexander also has episodes where he becomes aggressive kicking, punching, and
destroying school property. This happens most often when he is told to correct something or is
corrected for having given the wrong answer. His behavior is a distraction to his classmates and
disruptive to the learning environment.
2) How would you take a baseline of the existing behavior? Would you look at frequency,
duration, or latency? Would you use a check sheet or a graph? How long would your
baseline last?
I will complete a frequency chart as Alexanders baseline of the behavior. The baseline will last
for 2 weeks, and evaluation will occur on a daily basis for the duration of the school day.
Frequency recording sheet
Date / Day
Monday 10/13/2014
Tuesday 10/14/2014
Wednesday 10/15/2014
Thursday 10/16/2014
Friday 10/17/2014
Monday 10/20/2014

Tuesday 10/21/2014
Wednesday 10/22/2014
Thursday 10/23/2014
Friday 10/24/2014

Time
9:06am 9:18am
12:11pm 12:36pm
10:22am 10: 41am
1:55pm 2: 18pm
2:13pm 2:31pm
1:35pm 1:54pm
1:46pm 2:04pm
2:22pm 2:35pm
10:10am 10:28am
12:04pm 12: 22pm
1:09pm 1: 24pm
1:30pm 1:50pm
10:36am 10:49am
12:01pm 12:22pm
12:14pm 12:32pm
8:35am 8:47am

# of Episodes
2
2
1
1
2

3
1
2
1
2

Duration
Episode 1 = 12 min.
Episode 2 = 25 min.
Episode 1 = 19 min
Episode 2 = 23 min
Episode 1 = 18 min
Episode 1 = 19 min
Episode 1 = 18 min
Episode 2 = 13 min
Episode 1 = 18 min
Episode 2 = 18 min
Episode 3 = 15 min
Episode 1 = 20 min
Episode 1 = 13 min
Episode 2 = 21 min
Episode 1 = 18 min
Episode 1 = 12 min

10:40am 11am

Episode 2 = 20 min

3) Carefully describe the behavior in reference to its antecedents and consequences. What is
the function of the students challenging behavior? What purpose does it serve for the
student?
Date / Time
Monday
10/13/2014

Antecedent
Conditions
E #1: Alexander
was told to move
his name down
for not
completing his
homework.
E #2: He got a
problem wrong
on his math
work.

Tuesday
10/14/2014

E #1 A piece of
pencil that
Alexander was
playing with was
taken from him
E #2 He was
asked to move
his name down
for playing
around in the
bathroom

Wednesday
10/15/2014

Thursday
10/16/2014

E #1 He got
frustrated when I
told him he
needed to include
details when
describing
characters in a
story.
E #1 He didnt
want to be
certain

Behavior

Kicking desks,
loud grunting,
pounding his
fists against the
desk, tearing
papers

Banging against
the bookshelf
while on the rug,
stomping his
heels to the
ground

Consequences
He was left alone
and excluded
from the lesson.
His name was
moved down on
the behavior
chart. He was
told he would not
participate in any
classroom
rewards that
were given
He was told that
if he didnt stop
he would have to
return to his
desk. Sat at desk
for rest of lesson.

Kicking desks,
loud grunting,
pounding his
fists against the
desk, tearing
papers

Moved his name

down.

Tore his papers

out of his writing
notebook and
threw them on
the floor.

He was told he
couldnt go to
lunch until he
cleaned his desk
area up.

Openly
expressed it and
refused to

He was not able

to participate in
the group

Initials

Friday
10/17/2014

Monday
10/20/2014

Tuesday
10/21/2014

Wednesday
10/22/2014

classmates
partner for a turn
and talk.
E #1 During
math instruction
he got a problem
wrong
E #2 Refused to
take out his book
baggie and bring
it home because
he wasnt aloud
to go book
shopping
E #1 Was upset
when the school
psychologist
came in to get
another student
and it wasnt
him.

participate.

activity.

Put huge Xs all

over every
problem on the
page.

Got a 0 for math

participation that
day. His name
was moved
down.

Began banging
his hand on the
desk and
grunting

He was last in
line for
dismissal.

Kicked his desk,

banged his hangs
on his desk, and
grunted loudly
saying, I hate
school.

His name was

moved all the
way down to
parent contact

E #2 Someone
Began grunting
cut him in line on and went to the
the way to gym.
back of the
classroom and
refused to leave
with the rest of
the class.

The supervisor
had to come
upstairs and
intervene.

E #3 Couldnt
find his
manipulatives
baggie for math.

Refused to join
the class on the
rug for the
lesson.

E #1 Purposely
got someone else
in trouble and
then stuck his
tongue out at
someone.
E #1 I told him it
was not time to
read his library
book.

Began slamming
his fists on his
desk.

He got a 0 for
participation that
day. His name
was moved
down.
A note went
home to his
mother and
father

He took out his

scissors and
began cutting
everything in

The scissors
were taken and
he never got
them back.

sight rather than

completing his
work.

Thursday
10/23/2014

Friday
10/24/2014

E #2 Something
had happened at
lunch that
already set him
off.
E #1 During
math instruction
I took away
something he
was playing
with.
E #1 He forgot
his homework

Kicking and
banging his desk.

Supervisor was
called into the
classroom.

Refused to
participate and
was distracting
those next to him
on the rug

His name was

moved down.

His name was

moved down.

E #2 Alex got
upset when his
writing work
wasnt chosen
for the
Wonderful
Work Wall.

Began banging
on his desk,
grunting, and
ripped up his
homework
packet.

The school
psychologist was
called to
He began kicking intervene.
and grunting and
destroying his
seating area.

Alexander misbehaves for attention. I personally feel like he is neglected at home so he acts out
in school to receive the attention he doesnt get from his parents. When Alexander acts out
physically it gives him a sense of control. He feels in control of his body and its actions. He
realizes that such actions attract attention and that they cannot be ignored due to the harm he is
causing his classmates and myself as well as the other teachers. He doesnt like being told he is
wrong, or being given a direction. Therefore when he acts out physically it is his way of showing
us that he is refusing to do what is asked of him and he is in control of the situation because he
controls his own body.
4) Create a hypothesis and develop an intervention plan. How would you modify the
already existing contingencies that set up the challenging behavior?
Unfortunately, I cannot change the amount of attention Alexander receives at home. If I could,
and if his parents paid him more mind I think it would help Alexander in school. He wouldnt
seek that desire to receive so much attention because he wouldnt lack it at home. I also feel a
smaller setting may be helpful in this situation. I also think Alexander should be evaluated. He

acts in ways that are suspicious and could possibly be signs of an emotional disturbance. If he is
placed in a smaller setting, he will receive more attention and the distractions will be lessened.
He is affected by the way his peers perceive him, especially when he has an episode. If he sees
his peers are looking on, he becomes even more violent and aggressive. Ms. Taveras and I have
tried several things. We have encouraged Alex to behave and made accommodations for him
with our behavior chart. If Alexander makes the decision to join us on the rug for a lesson, we
reward him by allowing him to move his name up on the behavior chart. If a student reaches
outstanding by the end of the day they receive a Brag letter home to their parents elaborating
on their excellent behavior. We also decided to use a fidget toy with Alex. If we see him
becoming frustrated and signs show it could lead to an episode we give him the fidget toy, which
is like a stress ball of some sort. He is allowed to have the fidget toy for three to five minutes to
relax him. When that time is up he must return the fidget toy to either Ms. Taveras or me and
make the right decision. Hopefully the fidget toy will distract him from having a physical
outburst or episode. If Alexander sees that he can get his name moved up by choosing to make a
right decision and potentially receive a brag not home, maybe he will try harder to listen to do
what is asked of him. This intervention plan with be tested for two weeks, and documented in a
frequency chart and a duration chart to view any positive changes as they occur.
Frequency recording sheet
Date

Episode

Successful Intervention

10/27/2014
10/28/2014
10/29/2014
10/30/2014
10/31/2014
11/3/2014
11/5/2014

5) How and when would you evaluate your success?

Although our intervention plan was suppose to last two weeks, it only lasted a week and a half.
Alexander was moved into a self-contained classroom with only twelve students after he had a
serious episode that put the other students in the classroom in danger. I evaluated if the
intervention plan had been a success or not with Ms. Taveras the first week of November. We
determined that although we gave Alexander the fidget toy, it only restrained him from having an
episode, or acting out for a small period of time. Sometimes the fidget toy didnt work at all. In
many cases we had to call in a Supervisor or the School Psychologist to intervene, even with our
modifications in place. In the end it was decided that Alexander could not remain in the ICT
setting. His behaviors were too dangerous. It was suggested that maybe his parents look into an

evaluation so he can get the further services he needs. Alexander is now in a self-contained
classroom where we are seeing a higher rate of success.