Grade: 5 Age: BSP REPORT WRITTEN BY: Gina Ferguson & Carol Luzzi BSP REPORT DATE: December 19, 2017 TARGETED BEHAVIOUR(S) 1. Communication Skills: Due to limited language skills, Michael (operationalized definitions of has trouble communicating his needs and wants. He shows difficulty challenging behaviours) recognizing how he is feeling emotionally and physically. Michaels will show signs of anxiety by fidgeting with his hands, demonstrating a change in facial expression, including dilated pupils. He may complain of a stomach ache.
2. On Task Skills: As a communication tool, Michael will get off task
and begin exhibiting aggressive behaviour. When Michael becomes frustrated with a particular task, he will begin screaming, yelling or crying. He may hit, kick, or bite staff and his crying will get louder. When Michael cannot be redirected, he may begin self-harming behaviours, such as banging his head on the wall or floor and hitting himself. Michael may run around the room in a frenzy, possibly upending desks and chairs.
3. Compliance: Focusing on compliance with Michael will help him
recognize his responsibilities as a member of the classroom (Weber, 2017b). Michael’s lack of communication with staff through complaining, crying, yelling or screaming creates barriers to accomplishing tasks.
4. Social Skills: Michael displays antisocial behaviour by
screaming, yelling, and becoming aggressive with staff. This occurs when there is a change to his regular schedule. PROACTIVE STRATEGIES: 1.Social Story (Carol Gray) or A simple Social Story about how (how to set up the Social Skills Picture Book (Jed a change in schedule is ok, may environment, task and people to ensure student success) Baker): This will help Michael help Michael learn to adjust to visualize and understand social daily transitions. A Social Skills norms related to his behaviour. Picture Book may help Michael visualize how students/staff feel when he is acting out due to *add more rows as needed frustration.
2. Picture Communication Due to Michael’s limited
Board: Gives Michael a way to language skills, teaching him to show his wants and needs in spite use pictures to communicate his of his limited language skills. needs and wants could help Additionally, pictures can be create a reliable communication added to represent Michael’s system. This should lessen his emotions. frustrations and teach him to recognize his feelings.
3. Provide a Cool Down Designating a bean-bag chair
Location: Teaching Michael to with a soft outer shell for use a designated relaxation space Michael where he can be where he can learn to bring directed to go when he begins himself into a calm frame of mind. to show signs of frustration. Eventually, Michael will go to this location on his own as needed.
4. Teach Mindfulness Skills: By pointing out how Michael
Help Michael in understanding seems to be feeling, he will what he’s feeling, physically and eventually learn to recognize his emotionally, by verbally and own feelings without assistance. visually identifying his emotions as We can do this by using simple they occur. Additionally, teach phrases like, “you’re happy” and him one or two calming strategies. showing a picture card of a smiling face. Calming strategies may include: deep breathing, close eyes and count to three (if he’s capable), wrap his arms around himself.
5. Provide Positive Re- By consistently offering praise at
enforcement: Help Michael in times when Michael is understanding pro-social successful complying with behaviour by offering praise when requests and meeting appropriate. expectations, we can increase the potential for Michael to display pro-social behaviour
6. Provide Simple Instructions: By committing to short and
Because of Michael’s limited simple verbal communication, language skills, verbal instructions we will have more success in should be brief and simple. Use improving Michael’s language of picture communication board skills. By incorporating his can be combined to increase picture communication board understanding. with our verbal instructions, he will begin to associate words with already-understood activities. 7. Ensure Daily Communication Because of Michael’s limited with Home-setting: language skills, it is important to Communication with Michael’s have a clear communication group-home staff will assist in plan with Michael’s group home. understanding the mood Michael Michael becomes easily may be in when arriving at school frustrated when he is hungry, each day. Additionally, ensuring but has difficulty verbalizing this that Michael has been physical need. Using this appropriately fed is important to communication plan, we can maintaining appropriate ensure that he has eaten behaviour. breakfast, and if not, we will know to provide a snack as required.
8. Use Behaviour Momentum This is done by identifying three
Techniques: Start off creating requests that we are fairly expectations that mirror the certain Michael will comply with activities that Michael is most in advance of a last request that likely to comply with. When he would normally be opposed compliance is reliable with these to complying with. This can be tasks, we can make a request of determined using a Compliance Michael to complete a final, less- Probability Checklist. For desirable, task that had previously example, suppose Michael is been a problem. This is known as generally opposed to going Errorless Compliance (Weber, outside at recess time. We 2017b). might have him do three reliable tasks first, before getting him to go out; such as, put on his coat, collect a ball to take with him, and hold the door for the other students. At this point, Michael will be exhibiting momentum toward going outside and will be more likely to comply.
9. Daily Classroom Job: Getting For Michael, a regular schedule
Michael into a routine is critical to is important in order to maintain maintaining calm. Incorporating a consistent behaviour. A daily job into his routine can be classroom job based on his used to let Michael become a interests can give a sense of contributing member of his purpose while also providing a classroom community while also predictable activity that Michael providing a regular check-point in can use as a landmark that his day that he can rely on. indicates an expected transition point in his daily routine. INTERVENTIONS 1. Verbalize Michael’s Anxiety Pointing out to Michael when he (Reactive strategies when and Provide Options: When we is showing signs of incidents occur: how to continue to support and see indicators of increased anxiety frustration/anxiety/fatigue/etc. encourage while holding (fidgeting, complaining, dilated will help him begin to recognize student accountable) pupils, change in facial this behaviour in himself. expressions), we can point out in Showing him that when he is a positive manner that Michael feeling this way, that it is a good seems to be becoming time to change his scenery or frustrated/anxious/tired/etc. and activity in order to adjust his offer a new activity or location. mood.
2. Redirect Michael’s Attention: Learning to identify indicators of
When we see indicators of increased anxiety and promptly increased anxiety (fidgeting, redirecting Michael will help to complaining, dilated pupils, prevent further big behaviours. change in facial expressions), we Michael should be provided a should be prepared to redirect soft toy, which can help distract Michael’s attention by offering a and calm him. Additionally, he favourite, soft, soothing toy or by responds to hearing a familiar singing a familiar song song, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.
3. Offer Free Choice: To prevent Allowing Michael to have an
behaviours from escalating, we opportunity for free choice when can give Michael an opportunity to faced with anxiety will give him choose a productive activity of his some control over how he preference. chooses to respond to feelings that can lead to behavioural acting out. Michael enjoys cutting-and-pasting as a soothing activity. He may choose any other activity that gives him this soothing response.
4. Remind Michael to Use the Reminding Michael to use the
Cool Down Location: When Cool Down area will reinforce Michael begins to show signs of that there are several ways for anxiety or increased frustration we him to relax and reset. With this should remind him to visit the Cool option, he will learn that one Down area. way to self-soothe involves a change of location that is set up to suit to his needs.
5. Remind Michael to use his Reminding Michael to use his
communication board. When communication board will help we see signs of anxiety or him recognize what he is frustration, guide him to choose an feeling. Communicating his image that represents his needs and wants early will help emotions, needs and wants. prevent an escalation of challenging behaviour.
6. Encourage Michael to use Encouraging Michael to engage
Mindful Strategies. If Michael is in mindful strategies, will help able to indicate how he is feeling, him calm himself; giving him encourage him to engage in some independence and control previously taught calming over his own behaviour. strategies: deep breathing, close eyes and count to three, wrap his arms around himself. ASSESSMENT Daily Behaviour Log: Observations of Michael’s behaviour will be (How will we know when the marked down in a Daily Behaviour Log. Behaviour improvement will strategies have been successful)? be substantiated using these records (Weber, 2017c). Proof of progress include: uses his communication board to express his feelings, needs and wants, visits his cool down area or engages in self-calming activities such as deep breathing, Behaviour Support Checklist: By filling in the Behaviour Support Checklist, we can assess if the interventions and proactive strategies currently put in place are effective (Weber, 2017a). Treatment Date Sheet: To determine if progress has taken place, compare the findings on the “Treatment Date Sheet and Compliance Probability Checklist” (Weber, 2017c). Graphing Progress: A line graph will summarize daily data collected from the Treatment Date Sheet, Compliance Probability Checklist and Behaviour Log.
**collecting data from all settings will show if the desired behaviour is generalized across different environments.
In constructing your BSP, consider the following:
Direct instruction Earned privileges
Role playing Tangible reward Social skills training Immediate feedback Providing cues Earned tokens/points Charting, graphing progress Free time Daily behaviour logs Computer time Verbal praise Positive note home/office visit References
Weber, P. (2017a). Challenging behaviour and discipline. Week 9 [PowerPoint
presentation]. Oakville, ON: Sheridan College.
Weber, P. (2017b). Challenging behaviour and discipline. Week 10 [PowerPoint
presentation]. Oakville, ON: Sheridan College.
Weber, P. (2017c). Behaviour support plan [Classroom handout]. Retrieved from