A Parent’s Guide to Functional Behavior Assessments
A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is completed by a BCBA at the onset of services. The purpose of the FBA is to determine the function(s) of the behavior so that a treatment plan can be created to address those problem behaviors. The FBA is best developed at the onset of services – this will give us a clear picture of the child’s behaviors so that we can begin working on them from the get-go. The FBA will look at three things: the antecedent, behavior, and consequence.
The Antecedent
The antecedent is what happens directly before the behavior occurs. Say that your child engages in hitting behavior. You would want to examine what happens right BEFORE your child hits. Maybe you gave your child a demand that they don’t like so they hit you. Maybe you told your child “no” and denied access to something they really want. Once we figure out what the antecedent is, we can work on strategies to help your child work through those triggers.
The Behavior
The behavior is written down after each occurrence. It is important for us to know exactly what that behavior looks like, so we need to be as specific as possible when collecting this data. For example, saying that the child was “aggressive” does not give us a clear picture of what the child really did. Did they pinch, spit, slap, kick, pull hair, punch, etc.? Being specific will help us to determine an appropriate plan for the child going forward.
The Consequence
The consequence is what happens immediately after the behavior occurs. In the example of hitting, what does the parent do after the child hits? Does the parent scold them or tell them “no”? Tell them to go to their room? This information is extremely important in determining WHY the child engages in the behavior of hitting. By knowing how the parent (or teacher, sibling, etc.) reacts to the situation, we can look to change the consequence and therefore help shape the child’s behavior.
After we have the information we need regarding the antecedent, behavior, and consequence, we can create the Behavior Intervention Plan. The Behavior Intervention Plan will have a list of proactive strategies to use with the child to avoid the problem behavior from occurring. It will also state exactly what to do if those antecedent strategies don’t work and the child engages in the problem behavior. Your child’s team should be re-evaluating and updating the Behavior Intervention Plan on a regular basis to make sure it is constantly relevant to the child. As your child’s behaviors change, so should the Behavior Intervention Plan.
Colleen Mara, M.S., BCBA
ACD, Philadelphia
Tuesday, October 27, 2020