The following
steps are essential to the process of PBS. You may click on any
of the highlighted words for more information about each step.
Building
a Behavior Support Team - PBS begins by developing a
team of the key stakeholders or individuals who are most involved
in the
child’s life. This team should include the family and early
educator, but also may include friends, other family members,
therapists,
and other instructional or administrative personnel.
Person-Centered
Planning – Person-centered planning provides a process
for bringing the team together to discuss their vision and
dreams
for the child. Person-centered planning is a strength-based process
that is a celebration of the child and a mechanism of establishing
the commitment of the team members to supporting the child and
family.
Functional
Behavioral Assessment. Functional assessment is a process for
determining the function of the child’s problem behavior.
Functional Assessment or Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
involves the collection of data, observations, and information to
develop a clear understanding of the relationship of events and
circumstances that trigger and maintain problem behavior.
Hypothesis
Development – The functional assessment process is completed
with the development of a behavior hypothesis statement. The behavior
hypothesis statements summarize what is known about triggers, behaviors,
and maintaining consequences and offers an informed guess about
the purpose of the problem behavior.
Behavior
Support Plan Development – Once behavior hypotheses statements
are developed to summarize the data gathered from the functional
assessment process, the team can develop a behavior support plan.
Essential components of the behavior support plan are prevention
strategies, the instruction of replacement skills, new ways to respond
to problem behavior, and lifestyle outcome goals.
Monitoring
Outcomes - The effectiveness of the behavior support
plan must be monitored. This monitoring includes measurement
of
changes in
problem behavior and the achievement of new skills and lifestyle
outcomes.
Positive Behavior Support and Young Children
There is a
growing database on the effectiveness of PBS for young children.
A synthesis of the research has been
conducted by the Center for Evidence-based Practice: Young Children
with Challenging Behavior. In addition, we have provided several
case studies to share the specific
details of the success of PBS with young children and their families.
