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Functional Behavior Assessments
CATIES conducts functional behavior assessments on individuals with behavior difficulties that culminated in the design of an intervention plan. If you are interested in scheduling an assessment, please complete a request form using the link below.
Please review the guidelines for requesting a functional behavioral assessment and Frequently Asked Questions below for additional information.
Functional Behavior Assessment Request Form (online)
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)?
A Functional Behavioral Assessment is an integral part of the Positive Behavior Supports approach. A Functional Behavioral Assessment serves three functions. It:
- uncovers the function or the purpose underlying the child's behavior,
- identifies the relationship between the ecological context and the behavior, and
- culminates in the design of an intervention plan.
A Functional Behavioral Assessment involves direct observations of the child, interviews with parents as well as other key members of the team, and a review of the child's records.
2. What is "Positive Behavior Supports?"
Positive Behavior Supports is a comprehensive approach to addressing challenging behaviors. Unlike traditional approaches to challenging behavior which tend to be predominantly "reactive," positive behavior supports encompasses a "proactive" approach to behavior. It is based on several key assumptions:
- All behaviors have a function, and understanding that function is a key to developing ways to support the person.
- The reason for challenging behaviors is not rooted solely in a person's disability but also in the ecological context that surrounds the person.
- Addressing challenging behaviors has to be a team effort.
- Supporting students with challenging behaviors means not only decelerating problem behaviors but building new skills.
- If a person's life continues to be miserable, the incentives to change are very minimal. Long term behavior change occurs when we improve the quality of life.
- It is not just the person who needs support; it is everyone, including the team.
- Behavior changes occur when there is a concerted commitment to system-wide approaches to addressing challenging behavior.
3. Does Positive Behavior Supports mean the same as Positive Reinforcement?
While positive reinforcement could certainly be a part of the Positive Behavior Supports approach, it does not define Positive Behavior Supports. PBS is a comprehensive approach to challenging behavior that goes way beyond just providing stickers or candies to children as incentives.
4. Who conducts a Functional Behavioral Assessment?
An FBA can be conducted either by a building based team or by a consultant from CATIES who has expertise training and supporting teams in the implementation of positive behavior supports. Consultants from CATIES have had prior experience conducting FBA's, are involved in ongoing technical assistance in that area and have experience working with school districts.
5. I can think of at least seven children in my class who need an FBA. Do we need to do an FBA for every single child who demonstrates tough behaviors?
An FBA is a time consuming process although the fruits of an FBA make the effort worthwhile. It is not a process that is required for every child whose behavior may seem to be odd. There are several questions that you could ask yourself in order to determine if a child needs an FBA.
Is the child's behavior destructive, disruptive, or merely distracting?
Children whose behaviors can be described as "destructive" and involve possible harm to themselves, others, or property would definitely merit an FBA. Children whose behaviors are annoying and disrupt their learning as well as those of others would merit an FBA if other common sense measures have failed. If the academic engagement of the child is low and very little learning is occurring, it would be easy to justify an FBA.
Distracting behaviors are those that are mildly annoying. While they could annoy us, they could indeed be helping the child regulate herself. Such behaviors include hand flapping, tapping the pencil, etc. It is not worth investing in an FBA for such behaviors. It is likely that if these behaviors are self regulatory, they will most likely be replaced by new behaviors despite our efforts to decelerate them.
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Are other children or adults afraid to interact with the child?
If a child's behavior is resulting in isolation, lack of friendships and overall a poor quality of life, an FBA is needed.
Is the child going to be placed out of district or in a more restrictive setting if his behaviors continue to escalate?
If a child's behavior places the child at risk of being placed in more segregated settings, an FBA should definitely be conducted.
6. Who are the members of an FBA team?
An FBA team is typically comprised of the general education teacher, special education teacher, related services personnel, case manager, school psychologist, parent, and/or teaching assistant. The team should have a designated team leader who will be responsible for coordinating the whole process, including scheduling observations, interviews, team meetings, etc.
7. How long does an FBA take?
Typically most FBA's can be conducted over a span of 3-4 weeks. An FBA involves:
- an initial meeting with the team
- a home visit and interview with the parents
- direct observation of the child
- a final team meeting
The data from this process in analyzed and synthesized into a final report called the "functional assessment summary." This summary is comprehensive and pulls together information from the observations, interviews and records review. It also provides hypotheses statements and a detailed intervention plan.
8. Does an FBA guarantee a change in student behavior?
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. If there were a magic potion or a wand that would miraculously erase all of those tough behaviors, would we all not go for it? There is a story behind every child who demonstrates behavioral challenges. Children come with a history, a set of experiences and patterns that have become established over time.
For some children, their behavior has become their most powerful way of communication. Trying to decelerate these behaviors without improving their quality of life will only result in short term changes. Long term changes take time, commitment, support and a lot of humor. Some conditions that lead to long term behavior changes are:
- consistent communication between team members
- problem-solving
- addressing quality of life issues
- addressing health related issues, communication issues or learning issues expeditiously.