173: Autism: Overview
and Treatment
Debbie Laffranchini, Professor
Chapter 7: Comprehensive Behavior Interventions for Individuals with ASD
From “Autism Spectrum Disorders: Foundations, Characteristics, and Effective Strategies”
Boutot and Myles
Functional Behavior Assessment
• What happens before a challenging
behavior is important
• What happens after a challenging
behavior is important
• Before behavior: antecedent
• After behavior: consequence
• Consequence doesn’t mean what a
person does to punish a behavior
Functional Behavior Assessment
• Assess behavior, where did it come
from?
• If all behavior communicates, what
is the child communicating?
• What purpose (function) is the
behavior accomplishing?
• How can you support a positive
outcome?
Behavioral Triggers
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Time of day
Presence of specific people
Specific classroom subject
Transition
Change in routine
Settings with too much/too little structure
Request or demand to stop a behavior
• Why would you do that?
• Punishment
• Medication changes
• Family circumstances
Intervention Based on Functional Behavior
Assessment
• If you understand the “pattern” (ABC) of
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behavior, your intervention is strengthened
Antecedent intervention:
• Anticipate and prevent!
Behavior intervention:
• Replace the behavior
Consequence intervention:
• Reinforce what you want to encourage
Allow for recovery
Beyond Functional Assessment: Address the
Underlying Need
• If you interpret a child’s misbehavior
as being “willful” when they are not, it
can have great risks
• Low self-esteem
• Hopelessness
• Depression
• Lack of opportunity to learn alternative
behaviors
Beyond Functional Assessment: Addressing
Underlying Needs
• Address the underlying needs of
autism, not just what you see
(behaviors)
• Target underlying needs
• Be proactive
• Don’t just address the consequence
• If you only address “what you see”, it
will not be effective and won’t have a
sustainable change
Beyond Function Assessment: Addressing
Underlying Needs
• Intervention plans must be
comprehensive
• Thorough analysis of biological events
• Antecedent events
• Consequence events
• Intervention plans must involve
multiple strategies
• Strategies are informed by functional
assessment
Positive Behavioral Support (PBS)
• Research-based strategies used to
increase quality of life
• Decreases problem behavior by
teaching new skills
• Decreases problem behavior by
changing the environment
“If it’s not working, change the
environment”
Critical Features of
Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS)
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Comprehensive lifestyle change and quality of life
Life span perspective
Ecological validity (real life applicability)
Stakeholder participation (parents as experts, professionals)
Social validity (are interventions practical, effective?)
Systems change
Multi-component intervention
Emphasis on prevention
Flexibility with respect to scientific practices (appreciate and use other practices)
Multiple theoretical perspectives
Moving Beyond Functional Behavior
Assessment
• Must understand:
• Characteristics of ASD
• What causes and maintains behavior
• Plan must be
• Multi faceted
• Implemented across all of child’s day
• Responsive to unique needs and strengths
• Ziggurat Model is framework for
designing comprehensive interventions,
consistent with principles above
Five Levels of the Intervention Ziggurat
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What are antecedent interventions? (1 - 2 sentences)
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Looking at structure and visual/tactile supports, the third level of the
Intervention Ziggurat, summarize in one paragraph.
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What three levels of the Intervention Ziggurat consist primarily of
antecedent strategies?
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What is the goal of antecedent interventions?
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Looking at the first level of the Intervention Ziggurat, sensory and
biological interventions, summarize in one paragraph the antecedent
interventions.
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Summarize “skills to teach” in 2 – 3 sentences.
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What do “reinforcers” do according to your book, page 174?
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Summarize “reinforcement” in 1 – 2 sentences.
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What are the three levels of task demands? For each level, identify
what makes the task a particular level?
Looking at task demands, the fourth level of the Intervention Ziggurat,
summarize in one paragraph.