Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) are both incredibly helpful and totally daunting! Here are a few of my favorite strategies in creating plans that are doable and effective.
Collaborative Problem Solving
If you’ve followed me on social media for any amount of time, this might sound like a broken record. BUT – I seriously love (LOVE) the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) method (Dr. Greene has recently renamed his method Collaborative and Proactive Solutions). It was created by one of my favorite behaviorists (nerd status, I know), Dr. Ross Greene. You can read more about it here (and please do), or watch a really impacting TEDx talk about it here. The heart of CPS is this: Kids Do Well If They Can. Dr. Greene’s method shows us that challenging behavior stems from lagging skills rather than children misbehaving because they choose to. A huge part of the approach is the “Plan B”, which requires teachers and students to collaborate together when coming up with an alternative to their challenging behaviors. While some of our students require and excessive amount of prompting and assistance through this process, it can be so powerful for students to take ownership and partnership in creating an intervention plan for themselves. I have found that often times, our students really surprise us with their insight.
Forced Choice Reinforcement Surveys
Reinforcement surveys are VERY useful tools in finding out what activities, types of attention, and items are actually reinforcing for our students. We often see these surveys used for children with intellectual disabilities and autism. This is my favorite survey to use for children who are older and/or have emotional disabilities.
This survey ends up ranking which order these reinforcers fall for each student: adult approval, competitive approval, peer approval, independent rewards, or consumable rewards. This information can be hugely important in deciding what student privileges, rewards, and breaks can contain to help shape their behavior positively. You can find my favorite reinforcement survey (that I showed above!) here.
Get a Team Behind You
Sometimes, us special educators can really feel on an island. We are trying to do EVERYTHING, from data collection to IEP writing to curriculum adapting to inclusion facilitating. When it comes to challenging behavior, you REALLY need another set of eyes. There are so many factors that can come into play when a child exhibits challenging behaviors that you will never be able to see by yourself. Having a second hand (think counselor, social worker, OT, SLP, behavior interventionist… someone!) to take data during times you can’t (like when you’re facilitating a lesson!) will be incredible useful. You may not even realize that YOU could be a trigger for some of the behaviors (…I say this because it’s happened in my classroom!). Don’t be afraid to ask for a second hand.
What are the ways that you support your students with challenging behavior?
Love,
Allie
very nice article love problems