Course Description
Conducting functional analysis to evaluate the environmental conditions responsible for a student's severe aggressive behavior (including self-injury, aggression toward others, and property destruction). Application of research-based operant practices to safely manage and improve that student's behavior.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will have additional readings that cover the
original or primary research in this area of study. Further, to
demonstrate a graduate level mastery of the content, graduate
students will conduct a literature review focused on
applications of one of several interventions covered in class.
The primary emphasis in this review will be to synthesize the
current state of the research and identify the boundaries for
treatment efficacy in terms of the populations and settings
where the interventions have been documented to be effective.
In addition, their examination will evaluate the extent and
nature of the training involved of the individuals who
implement the treatment (e.g., classroom teachers, parents,
professional clinicians) because all of these factors influence
the extent to which we can expect these intervention options to
be adopted by schools and families.
Athena Title
Managing Severe Behavior
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Undergraduate Pre or Corequisite
EDSE 3050
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course students will be able to: • Define, describe and differentiate a functional analysis from a functional behavioral assessment • Operationalize procedures required for conducting a functional analysis and functional behavioral assessment • Describe the ethical implications and rationale for conducting functional analysis and functional behavioral assessment • Identify cultural and ethical considerations that may play a role in identifying and using different reductive strategies as well as strategies to promote pro-social behavior • Graph and analyze data gathered during functional assessment to identify the function of a student’s behavior • Match operant interventions to behavior function to reduce aberrant behavior and increase pro-social behavior • Safely manage high and low frequency aggressive and self- injurious behavior that is presented at high intensities. • Critically evaluate existing behavior intervention plans to identify weakness related to failure to identify functions of aberrant behavior • Ethically apply empirically supported interventions to reduce aggressive, self-injurious, and destructive behaviors • Ethically apply empirically supported interventions to increase pro-social behavior • Identify empirically supported interventions to reduce aggressive, self-injurious, and destructive behaviors • Identify empirically supported interventions to promote pro- social behavior • Monitor intervention effectiveness with sound data collection techniques • Evaluate intervention data to make data-based decisions about altering intervention to meet student objectives • Communicate to parents about the role of the functional analysis and intervention methods • Work with parents to identify goals for student behavior
Topical Outline
• Historical perspectives on managing severe aggressive behavior exhibited by individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism. • Legal and ethical considerations when managing severe aggressive, self-injurious, and destructive behaviors • Preparing to conducted functional analysis • Conducting functional analysis • Interpreting the results of a functional analysis • Interventions to address attention and tangible maintained behaviors (or positively reinforced behavior) • Interventions to address escape/avoidance maintained behaviors (or negatively reinforced behaviors) • Interventions to address sensory maintained behaviors (or automatically reinforced behaviors)
Syllabus
Public CV