Behavior Intervention Plan ​

Learner: Student ​
Plan Written By: Dagmara Sobczyk
Date of plan: 06/14/2021

Purpose of plan

The primary purpose of this plan is to teach Student functional communication to replace his tantrum behavior and to
increase his tolerance for waiting for items and activities that are not immediately available, in the absence of tantrum
behavior.

Target behaviors for decrease:

Tantrum: Any time one or more of the following occur for at least ten seconds: crying with tears, dropping to floor,
running from area, whining, saying “no,” kicking, or head hitting. Whining and running from the area must occur with at
least one other behavior for it to be considered a tantrum. Tantrum ends when there is an absence of all topographies for
30 seconds​
Examples: Learner screams “no” and drops to the floor.
Non-Example: Learner whines but continues with activity.

Target Behaviors for increase:

Functionally Equivalent Behaviors

Create opportunities for him to request (snack, moderately preferred items that aren’t reinforcers like playdoh,
paint, tickles, SSRs, etc.). This will involve assessing Student’s motivation and enticing him throughout the
session, sometimes putting activities on his visual schedule, but not putting icons on his first/then board.

Requesting for preferred items/activities - Student will request for items using four plus words and varying
sentence structures (ex. “I want adj. noun” or “Give me adj. noun” or “Can I have noun”).

Requesting for specific help - Student will request for help in the absence of whining or tantrum behavior using
four plus words (ex. I need help building, I need help moving, etc).

Requesting for additional time - Student will request “One more minute” or say “I’m not ready” when presented
with a non-preferred task or when asked to terminate a preferred activity.

Programs to teach toleration

Once Student is reliably requesting items and help, introduce a gaining attention component and follow the steps
described below for travelling to an adult.

Gaining attention - Student will gain the attention of an adult by tapping them on the arm and/or saying the adult’s
name with eye contact before making a request in the absence of tantrum behavior as defined above.

Travelling to communicate - Student will travel to an adult up to 15 feet away gain their attention, and request for
desired item or help in the absence of tantrum behavior

Step 1 Gaining attention with staff

 immediately next to Student

Step 2 Travel 1 ft and gain attention

Step 3 Travel 3 ft and gain attention

Step 4 Travel 5-7 ft and gain attention

Step 5 Travel 9-11 ft and gain attention

Step 6 Travel 15 ft and gain attention

Criteria to increase travel distance:

-​ Minimum 15 trials per session. Two sessions in a row at 90% correct, increase to next step.

Criteria to decrease travel distance:

-​ One session at 60% correct or below, bump back to the previous step.

If Student is repeatedly unsuccessful moving from one step to the next and is repeatedly being bumped back, add
in another step between them to decrease the jump in distance travelled between the successful and unsuccessful
steps.

** After Step 6, a waiting component will be added as a requirement following gaining attention, but prior to
accessing prefered items and activities.

●​ This can be done naturally as the adult retrieves the item and then gradually increase the amount of time
spent waiting by having Student engage in other activities while waiting.
●​ Natural language should be utilized (“okay, wait” “not right this second” “hold on”)
●​ A visual timer will be used to indicate longer wait times as the wait time increases
●​ The length of time will be gradually increased, until Student is told “No” on a variable schedule
●​ Student will be required to engage in alternate activities during the wait time, starting with preferred
activities, and eventually moving to skill acquisition tasks
●​ Appropriate Waiting in the absence of tantrum behavior will be reinforced with access to the original
activity

Criteria to increase interval

-​ 10 trials without prompting or maladaptive behavior

Criteria to decrease interval

-​ 3 trials out of 5 or 2 in a row with maladaptive behavior

If Student is repeatedly unsuccessful moving from one step to the next and is repeatedly being bumped back, add
in another step between them to decrease the jump in time between the successful and unsuccessful steps.

Step 1 Waiting 5 seconds

Step 2 Waiting 15 seconds

 Step 3 Waiting 30 seconds

Step 4 Waiting 1 minute

Step 5 Waiting 2 minutes

...Double the time hereafter

Demand fading in Procedure

-​ Gradually reintroduce work

-​ Use first-then board
-​ As he shows success with a decrease in maladaptive behavior and increase in compliance, increase the
requirement before contacting reinforcement

If he requests additional time, you can set one minute on the timer and when the timer goes off, show him the timer and
say, “Okay, one more minute is all done, time for__.” A digital timer will be used for this program, not a timer with a red
visual for when the time is up.

Antecedent strategies:

Run frequent preference assessments

Staff should run frequent preference assessments to determine hierarchy of highly preferred versus moderately preferred
items. Items which may serve as reinforcers are utilized for difficult tablework, transitions, or desensitization programs.
This includes going to the toy closet and bringing in new items as well as putting back items which he has not shown
interest in. Staff will use a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment consisting of about 5 items in
order to determine hierarchy.

Environmental arrangement

The treatment room will be arranged so that the most highly preferred items are in Student’s nook area and he does not
have free access to them but can work for them.

Visual schedule

●​ Student will utilize a visual schedule that will consist of work and play activities.
●​ He will also utilize a first/then board for any activities that need reinforcement. The icons used in the visual
schedule will be vague.
●​ The schedules will initially be kept short, consisting of about 2-3 icons, and always end in a moderately preferred
activity (Book, train, etc.)
●​ Other activities for the visual schedule include wagon rides, walks, sensory bins, bathroom, piggy back rides, etc.
●​ Every other schedule will consist of a preference assessment and a moderately preferred activity.

First/then board

Student will utilize a first then board in which staff will put an activity on the “first” side and have Student choose what he
earns for completing the activity. Staff will present the first/then board for activities that are work related, transitions, and
desensitization programs, and tell him “first __, then...” and show him options for what to choose as the “then” item or
activity. If he is not selecting from pictures of items or activities, you can bring out the physical items for him to choose.
Student will have access to the “then” activity for up to three minutes and then he can have a break with low to moderately
preferred activities and items.

●​ Keep icons for tasks or demands vague (general pretend play, puzzle, PAS)
●​ Demand fading in (start with easier, more concrete tasks and then build up to include open-ended activities)

Attention

Student should be given attention including verbal and physical attention as much as possible during his day when he is
exhibiting appropriate behavior.

Provide Student with opportunities to select physical interactions with you at least twice an hour (piggie back, tickles,
squeezes) embedded into his schedule.

Join in with his play to help build rapport, but honor any requests to give him space if he does not want to engage with
you during reinforcement breaks.

Choices

Student should be given choices throughout his day, which will allow him to control some aspects of his day. He has a
laminated book with one page being choices of work, another page being choices of pretend play, and the last page being
choices of toleration programs. He also has a green sheet of available icons he can select when making a schedule and a
red sheet with a “Not available'' icon at the top for things that are not available.

●​ Offer a choice of what work task he wants to complete when it is time for work. Use a dry erase marker to cross it
out when he selects the program. Run this same procedure for pretend play and toleration programs.
●​ When creating a visual schedule allow him to choose one activity per schedule from the green page of available
activities.

Bathroom

During tantrums, Student may request the bathroom or try to take off his pants. Based off of previous data, this is part of a
routine he has created and does not lead to successful voids. If this occurs, block and redirect him to other tasks. If he
becomes unsafe, follow the below procedure for a severe tantrum. Bathroom trips will be scheduled four times a day and
requests during tantrums will not be honored.

Response to Maladaptive Behaviors

Response to target behaviors:

Tantrum

●​ Prompt FCT and honor if appropriate (ex. Change what he is working for) but do not run wait program or honor
the request without him complying to original demand
●​ Do not give attention
●​ Block access to preferred item(s) including yogibo and blanket
●​ After 1-1.5 minutes, neutrally show visuals and remind him of expectations but before then do not give attention
●​ Wait for calm
●​ Return to original activity
●​ Reinforce only clean responses. Do not reinforce responses when Student is engaging in precursors such as
whining or any other behavior. If the responses are verbal, they cannot be reinforced when he is speaking in a
whining voice.
 ●​ If latency to comply lasts longer than 5 minutes, present compliance tasks for him to complete. Once calm, return
to original activity.

Severe tantrum

●​ Prompt FCT and honor if appropriate (ex. Change what he is working for) but do not run wait program or honor
the request without him complying to original demand
●​ Use calming strategies (yogibo if appropriate)
●​ Make hug available following calm for 1 minute and follow through with original activity
●​ If Student is in immediate or imminent danger, such as when his tantrums include head hitting, thrashing, etc., it
may be necessary to utilize physical management in the following forms and under the following scenarios to
keep Student safe:
●​ Transport: Student is physically moved from one space to another.
○​ If Student is engaging in unsafe behavior in the general treatment area and there is an immediate
safety risk to himself where there is not a mat present, Student will be moved to his nook area
with a mat
○​ If Student is refusing to leave a location or enter a location and we cannot safely wait him out,
Student will be moved to a safe location
○​ Transports under those scenarios are a planned procedure when in response to unsafe behavior as
a result of programmed intervention, and will be written into Student’s BIP.
●​ Seclusion: Student is prevented from leaving an enclosed area (for Student, this is his work area/nook in
the treatment room).
○​ If Student is engaging in unsafe behavior in his nook, he is prevented from entering the general
treatment area where there is not a mat to ensure his safety
○​ If Student is engaging in disrobing, he will be placed in his work/nook area
○​ Seclusion under this scenario is a planned procedure and will be written into Student’s BIP.
●​ Protective hold: Student is placed in a protective hold that restricts his movement of his arms/legs and
prevents him from engaging in further unsafe behavior
○​ If Student is engaging in high intensity unsafe behavior and there is an immediate danger to
himself or others, he is placed in a protective hold
○​ A protective hold ends when Student is calm and can be safely released. This process is repeated
as needed any time high intensity unsafe behavior occurs.
○​ Protective holds will be used as a planned procedure when in response to unsafe behavior as a
result of programmed intervention, and as such will be written into his BIP.

These measures will only be implemented by staff who have been formally trained to utilize physical management via
Physical and Psychological Management Training (PMT) in combination with de-escalation techniques. Parents will be
informed on the home communication log each day if any physical management occurred, and can reach out to Student’s
behavior analyst at any time with questions or concerns. Physical management will only occur if Student is engaging in
unsafe behavior that poses an immediate safety risk for himself or others and the intervention, treatment, or demand
cannot be altered or dropped.

When physical management is utilized, emotional side effects such as crying/whining, and possibly the emergence of
novel challenging behavior may occur. Data will be collected and monitored closely. If the use of physical management
continues for more than two weeks (06/16/21) with no subsequent decrease in unsafe behavior, Student’s program will be
modified.

Data collection

Data should be recorded during each session on:

 ●​ Duration of tantrum
●​ Frequency of tantrum
●​ Context/setting during which tantrum occurred
●​ Duration of seclusion and/or protective hold
●​ Frequency of transports

Data will also be collected separately for behaviors targeted for increase and programs will be adjusted as needed until
mastery criteria is met and skills generalize to other settings.

The above behavior intervention plan was reviewed with me on 6/16/21. I understand the plan and consent to the Prism
team implementing it immediately. I understand that I can rescind my consent at any time. Data will be collected and
reviewed with me on a regular basis. Any adjustments to the plan will be communicated to me prior to implementation.