Notes to participants - autismtraining.com.au · Is the child physically hurting themselves or...

Notes to participants

Welcome to Day 2 of the Positive Partnerships workshop. We hope you found yesterday

informative, thought provoking and that from the many strategies discussed, some will be useful

for you and your family.

Today is a very different day! Initially we will have some time for additional questions and

answers and then as a group the facilitators will conduct a session on ‘Understanding

Behaviour’. The remainder of the day provides you with a range of information sessions from

which you can choose three. These sessions will run as small groups and each will be

conducted by a facilitator. The small groups will give you an opportunity to ask specific

questions, to use the Matrix to identify additional strategies, to use the GROWTH model to

develop a plan of action and to hear successful ideas from other parents. Have a good day!

Information Session 1 P.C. Participant Guide©AAETC


This time has been set aside for you to ask any questions that were not answered yesterday.



The facilitators are conducting this group session in response to the overwhelming feedback of

parents who have previously attended these workshops. During 2009, more than 2700 parents

attended the Positive Partnerships workshop and on Day 2, more than 75% of them elected to

attend a Positive Behaviour session. We will still be conducting small groups to look at positive

behaviour support and this would be useful if you would like to know more, feel your questions

were not answered in the group session, or you feel that your situation is more complex and

requires greater investigation.

At the back of this session, you will find a variety of additional information about positive

behaviour support in the form of resources, readings and websites.



In this activity we will identify some of the behaviours that you might want to ‘STOP’ your child

from doing. It is important, however, that before we begin any program to change, stop or

reduce behaviours, we identify the reason we want the change. Just because a behaviour is

annoying, doesn’t mean we should introduce a behaviour plan!

As it is not always necessary to change behaviour, it is important the following questions are

asked and the answers carefully considered before undertaking an intervention plan:

1. Is the child physically hurting themselves or others?

2. Is the behaviour interfering in their or others’ learning?

3. Is the behaviour limiting access to everyday experiences, settings and services?



It is important to understand the message (or need) behind difficult behaviours as it provides a

platform from which a positive plan can be developed. It is critical that we gather enough

information to determine why a particular behaviour is happening (and being repeated).

“Children present challenging behaviour for a variety of reasons, some personal, such as

difficulties with communication, some environmental, such as lack of appropriate experience.

What they all have in common is that they have gained something from behaving in this way – it

serves a purpose for them. They all need lots of opportunities to behave constructively and to

find new ways of behaving which they (not we) find more rewarding than their previous

behaviour” (Emblem, Leonard, Dale, Redmond & Bowes, 1998, p. 52).



Sometimes when looking at behaviour, the clues are easy to identify, whilst at other times you

need to do more investigation. Think about the following examples:

Example One:

Before the behaviour Behaviour After the behaviour

(trigger) (STOP) (consequence)

When the Josh screams Staff member chases

music is loud and runs away Josh and they chat

What do you think is the function (or purpose) of Josh’s behaviour?

From the above example, two possible functions seem the most likely: escape from a loud noise

or request a chat with a staff member. The question is how do you decide which is correct, as

obviously these functions would require very different strategies to reduce the screaming and

running away behaviour.



Example Two:

Before the behaviour Behaviour After the behaviour

(trigger) (STOP) (consequence)

Mum on Tim tips rice bubbles Mum hangs up, scolds

the phone on floor Tim as they clean up

What do you think is the function (or purpose) of Tim’s behaviour?

From the above example, there are two possibe functions of the behaviour:

i) to get mum’s attention

ii) hunger

Where do we go from here?


This stage is about fact finding. The better we are at asking questions and observation, the more

likely it is that our behaviour plan will achieve long lasting results.

In the literature, the process we are working through is referred to as Functional

Behavioural Assessment.



At this stage we are still fact finding and we need to gather information about when the

behaviour happens and under what circumstances (i.e. consider who, where, what).

Equally important however, is looking at the circumstances when the behaviour does NOT

happen. This information allows us to identify the best learning opportunities. If you have a

particular behaviour of your child’s in mind, think about what is happening when you don’t see

the behaviour.



Time of day Settings People Activities

© Behaviour Intervention Service

Autism Spectrum Australia

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What would be a reinforcer for you? Is it different to what is reinforcing for your partner or children?

There are some critical points to understanding the consequences of behaviour. These include:

• If a behaviour is repeated, then something or someone is reinforcing that behaviour.

• What you reinforce you get more of.

• Children (and adults) are motivated by different things. What is perceived as a negative

consequence by one child, can be seen by another child as positive reinforcement.



It is important to remember some key points about behaviour:

• If you meet the need, you address the behaviour.

• It is thought that much of the difficult behaviour displayed by children with autism serves one

of the following purposes:

• to get attention

• to get something (a tangible object/activity)

• to meet a sensory need (escape or request)

• to escape something or someone

Without working through this model we could incorrectly assume the function of the behaviour .

An incorrect assumption would set us up to fail as the teaching strategies we select would not

match the STOP behaviour, and therefore no behaviour change would occur.

Further information about the functions of behaviour is available from the following websites:

• The Motivation Assessment Scale (Durand & Crimmins, 1990) Available at

www2.monacoassociates.com/masontheweb/index.aspx

• http://cecp.air.org

• www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/



To put the whole behaviour plan together, we now need to identify the function, or purpose of

the behaviour. To do this we need to think collectively about the information already gathered. So

far we have already discussed:

• the behaviour we want to STOP

• what happens before the STOP behaviour (trigger or antecedent)

• what happens after the behaviour (consequences)

Where do we go now? What is the next step?



So now that you have identified the function of the “STOP” behaviour – what behaviour do you

want to start? Sometimes this is not as easy as it seems.

For instance, if the STOP behaviour is calling out in class, the START behaviour is _________________?

The correct start behaviour is: ‘When you know the answer, put up your hand, wait until the

teacher calls your name, but if the teacher doesn’t call you name, put your hand down until you

know the answer to the next question the teachers asks, then put your hand up, wait until the

teacher calls your name etc’.

An important point to remember is just because a child is told what not to do (i.e. call out),

doesn’t mean that the START behaviour will be immediately apparent.

When selecting START behaviours, one must meet the same need (function) as the STOP

behaviour. It is also important to remember that this behaviour must work! If it doesn’t work, why

would the child use it?



To develop an effective behaviour plan that will reduce or extinguish STOP behaviours, it is

crucial that the 5 steps are worked through.



As we have identified, behaviour is learnt and therefore new behaviours can be learnt (taught)!

Think about any skill you have taught your child. Keep this behaviour in mind and think about how

you helped your child learn the skill. On reflection, you probably provided:

• lots of support when they were learning the new skill

• lots of opportunities for practice

• lots of opportunities for them to get it right

• lots of positive feedback when they got it right (cuddles, cheers, high fives, smiles)!

• modelling, patience and support when they didn’t get it right



We are now up to the teaching component – how do we establish an environment that will

increase the chance of success?

When we want to teach a new behaviour, we need to:

• identify the skill we want to teach

• establish an environment where we will ‘most likely”‘ get success (people, activity, place

and time)

• identify how are we going to reinforce/reward the ‘right’ behaviour

• identify what are we going to do when the child gets it wrong (i.e. displays the STOP behaviour)



We are now at the teaching stage. Much of the information gathered earlier will be helpful in

identifying the environmental changes required to be successful.

What are some of the environmental changes you can suggest?



We are still in the teaching stage. An important point to remember is that ‘What you reinforce

you get more of’.

Think about:

• What is reinforcing for your children?

• Reinforcement programs are teaching strategies – children have to achieve the reward to

understand the concept of “first – then”.

• Reinforcements are very specific.



This is the final piece of the puzzle, and although it is important to identify what to do when the

STOP behaviour is observed, these strategies should reflect the least amount of time and effort.

The reason we don’t focus our efforts on reactive strategies is that they occur after the

behaviour: for example if your child is kicking, by relying on reactive strategies we are saying

‘Kick me and then I will teach you not to kick’.

The most important thing to remember is that if you do the rest of the plan well, you won’t need

these (or at least not for very long or very often)!



This quote reflects the idea that we need a different kind of thinking when addressing or

changing difficult behaviours. By thinking differently about the behaviour – what happens before,

what happens after, the selected reinforcements and the environment – research has

demonstrated that we can change difficult behaviours.

Good luck, and if you still want to know more, or if you want to work through a particular

behaviour that is causing your child and family some difficulties, come along to one of the

Positive Behaviour Support sessions timetabled throughout today.


Resources from the Kit

The following books are in the resource kit and may be useful for you to read.

Notbohm, E. Ten things every child with autism wishes you knew.

Whittaker, P. Challenging behaviour and autism, making sense, making progress.

Resources and References

Centre for Effective Collaboration and Practice (2000). Addressing student problem

behaviour – Part III: Creating positive behavioural intervention plans and supports. (3rd Ed).

Washington: Author.

Emblem, B., Leonard, J., Dale, K., Redmond, J. & Bowes, R. (1998). The challenge of class

six. In D. Hewett (Ed.). Challenging behaviour: Principles and practices. Great Britain: David

Fulton Publishers.

Gordon, C., Arthur, M. & Butterfield, N. (1996). Promoting positive behaviour – An Australian

guide to classroom management. Australia: Thomas Nelson.

Gordon, G. (1996). Managing challenging children. Australia: Prim-Ed.

Gray, C. (1997). Social stories and comic strip conversions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Hodgdon, L. A. (1998). Visual strategies for improving communication. United States:

QuirkRoberts Publishing.

Hodgdon, L. A. (1999). Solving behaviour problems in autism. United States:

QuirkRoberts Publishing.

Notbohm, E. (2005). Ten things every child with autism wishes you knew. United States:

Future Horizons.

O’Reilly, B. & Smith, S. (2007). Australian autism handbook. The essential resource guide for

autism spectrum disorders. Australia: Jane Curry Publishing.

Powers, M.D. (Ed). (1989). Children with autism: A parent’s guide. United States: Woodbine

House, Inc.

Stone, W. L. & DiGeronimo, T. F. (2006). Does my child have autism? A parent’s guide to early

detection and intervention in autism spectrum disorders. United States: Jossey-Bass.



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