Jeff Jones was referred for a Functional Behavior Assessment due to concerning behaviors impeding his academic growth. His teachers observed issues with noncompliance, exaggerated responses, negative statements, and difficulty beginning tasks. Background information found Jeff lives with his family and has learning disabilities. Teacher interviews identified target behaviors and their functions of gaining attention or avoiding tasks. Observations supported this analysis. The assessment gathered information to develop a behavior plan to increase appropriate behavior and learning.

1. FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT
IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
Student: Jeff Jones Date of Report: February 21, 2017
Date of Birth: Chronological Age: 12
School Name: Gold School Home Address: Jack and Molly
Jones
Reporter: Joanna Mackin
Reason for Referral
Joanna Mackin initiated this Functional Behavior Assessment as
a part of the
requirements for a graduate class in Behavior Analysis. There
were two reasons for
selecting Jeff Jones. His, teachers Ms. Mackin and Ms. Hannah
Akiyama, as well as his
parents were concerned about the lack of growth over the 2015-
2016 school year. The
second reason involves the behaviors that are impeding that
academic growth. Over the
course of the 2015-2016 school year Ms. Mackin & Ms.
Akiyama worked with a
counselor at Gold School to create a plan that would address the
behaviors that were
affecting Jeff’s learning. While this plan helped some in the
2015-2016 school year, we
continued to see the same behaviors at the beginning of the
2016-2017 school year. The

2. behaviors identified for investigation include noncompliance,
exaggerated response to
physical discomfort, negative statements about himself or
others, and difficulty beginning
tasks.
Background Information
Jeff is a 12-year old boy who lives at home with his family in
Honolulu. Jeff resides with
his parents, Jack and Molly Jones and his younger sister,
Melissa, who is 9 years old. Jeff
lives with his parents and younger sister on the lower level of a
two level house. His
grandparents, an aunt, and cousins live upstairs. Jeff is
currently enrolled in Gold School.
which serves students’ with learning differences, primarily
language based. This means
that Jeff is in a class of students his age and grade level with
similar learning challenges.
Information Sources
Record Review
Assets Student Profile 2015-2016
Assets School Intake Folder: Psychologist’s Educational
Diagnostic Report
Interviews
Jack Jones, Father, February 11, 2017
Hannah Akiyama, Classroom Teacher, January 16,17,18, 23
2017
Catherine Sharp, Music Teacher, February 3, 2017

3. Lilly Plat, Performing Arts Teacher, January 18, 2017
Jeff Jones, Student, February 11, 2017
Observations
Classroom, From November 7th, 2016 to January 8th, 2017
Art class, Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Music Class, Friday, February 10, 2017
Record Review
Assets School Student Profile 2015-2014
Jeff’s Academic Goals:
Jeff’s Decoding Goal is to show improvement in decoding
skills (p.4) which
would move his functional grade level from Ending 2nd to
Middle to Ending 3rd
(p. 3)
Jeff’s Reading Comprehension Goal is to develop critical
thinking and problem
solving skills relative to reading. The second Reading
Comprehension Goal is to
demonstrate growth in study skills relative to reading. (p. 4)
Jeff’s Spelling Goals are: to achieve growth in spelling skills;
effectively utilize
technology tools; demonstrate competency in critical thinking
and problem
solving skills relative to writing; showing growth in expressing
himself in writing
assignments; and demonstrating growth in study skills relative

4. to expository and
narrative writing such as note taking and outlining. To show
growth in these areas
Jeff’s functional grade level would move from Middle 2nd to
Beginning to Middle
3rd. (p. 5)
Jeff’s Mathematics Goals are: showing growth in math
computation;
demonstrating critical thinking and problem solving skills
relative to
mathematical concepts and applications; and demonstrating the
ability to
effectively utilize technological tools like calculators. To show
growth in these
areas Jeff’s functional grade level would move from Middle 3rd
to Beginning to
Middle 4th in computation and from beginning to middle 2nd to
beginning to
middle 3rd in Concepts and Applications. (p. 6)
Jeff’s Social Adaptation Goals:
Jeff’s Social Adaptation Goals are: demonstrating growth in
becoming a confident
and responsible lifelong learner; effectively participating and
contributing in a
multicultural community; showing growth in advocating for self
in academic and
social situations; developing appropriate organizational, time
management and
self-monitoring skills; and demonstrating growth in coping and
problem solving

5. skills. (p. 8)
Diagnostic information taken from Jeff’s intake folder at Assets
School as reported
in the Assets Student Profile (p. 7)
• Jeff’s “Exceptionalities”: Dyslexia (Assets, 05/14)
• Learning Disorder; Not Otherwise Specified
• Rule Out Attention Deficit/Hyperac tivity Disorder, Primarily
Inattentive Type
(Pamela Merez, Psy.D., 04/12)
• Specific
Learning
Disability,
(Hawaii
State
D.O.E.
02/12)
Interviews
Jack Jones, Father, (Because of time constraints and scheduling
difficulties Jack Jones
filled out a FAIT Parent/Guardian form and returned it to me)
on February 11, 2017
One of the reasons for this Functional Behavioral Assessment is
Jack and Molly Jones’
concern about Jeff’s slow academic growth and the behaviors

6. that are slowing down this
growth. Mr. Jones shared these positive things about Jeff; he is
friendly, helpful, sociable,
liked by peers, honest, easygoing, kind to adults, and kind to
other students. Jeff’s
suspected preferential interests are Legos, iPad/Youtube,
singing, acting, and drama. Mr.
Jones feels that Jeff learns best when involved in building or
constructing something; or
experimenting or testing things. Mr. Jones shared that the
problem behaviors he is
concerned about are: Jeff going into “Imaginary Worlds” and
mimicking the characters in
the world; and making an excuse to go do something else, when
told to do something.
These behaviors occur when Jeff is told to do something non
preferred or when
working/playing/entertaining independently. When problem
behaviors occur, Jeff
responds to: verbal prompts and corrections; help getting back
on task; reminders about
what is and isn’t appropriate; and using the code word “Donuts”
to get Jeff back on task.
Mr. Jones’ best guess as to why the problem behaviors occur is
that Jeff is trying to
escape from doing exactly what he’s told and imagining or
thinking of fictional
characters.
Hannah Akiyama, Lead teacher, January 2017
Ms. Akiyma and Ms. Mackin work together and both work with
Jeff. Ms. Mackin
interviewed Ms. Akiyama using the Functional Assessment
Interview Form. Because of

7. time constraints, the interview took place over the course of two
weeks in mid January.
Ms. Akiyama identified four main behaviors of concern. The
first behavior is
noncompliance. Jeff doesn’t answer when spoken to, refuses to
join the class or a small
group, he wanders around the classroom, or won’t work with a
partner. This behavior
occurs one to four times a day for between five and ten minutes.
The second behavior is
exaggerated responses to injury, headache, or eczema. When
injured, Jeff falls to the
ground and is unresponsive or he gives an exaggerated account
of how his head feels, or
he is visibly scratching all over. This behavior happens at least
once a day for one to two
minutes and requires a teacher to stop what she’s doing to write
him a pass to the Nurse.
The third behavior is negative statements to others, or about
himself, or threats of
violence to himself or others. When Jeff makes these statements
he raises his voice and
gestures with his hands. This behavior occurs about once a day
and lasts for a minute.
The raised voice and negative statements about other students
produces a reaction from
the person he’s talking about, which disrupts the lesson. The
fourth behavior is difficulty
beginning some tasks or activities. Jeff will remove himself
from the class circle during
Morning Meeting, or ask to go to the bathroom or nurse, or he
may wander around

8. without responding to questions. These behaviors occur two to
four times a week. They
are low key as if Jeff were trying to fly under the teacher’s
radar.
Behaviors that occur together: noncompliance and difficulty
beginning tasks often
happen together in the same type of situation (typically at the
beginning of a new task or
unfamiliar activity); exaggerated response and negative
statements sometimes happen
together and usually in response to the same type of situation
(when other members of his
group aren’t following directions or are noisy while a teacher is
working with him or
comment on something he’s done or make random noises).
Setting events that Ms. Akiyama has identified are: a rash that
looks like eczema on Jeff’s
ears, neck, upper torso, arms, backs of his knees, and scalp.
Occasionally (not as often
since the weather has cooled off) at the beginning of Language
Arts or Read Naturally,
Jeff will appear to be uncomfortably itchy and ask to go to
Nurse. Jeff sometimes
complains of difficulty sleeping on days when he exhibits mor e
problem behaviors. The
class schedule is posted and explained if it changes. Although
Jeff sometimes choose not
to make a choice, students have choices through out the day.
The ratio of staff to students
is six or seven students to one teacher so Jeff receives one to
one attention sometimes. He
also receives help with his homework from his grandmother.
One setting event that hasn’t been reported previously is that

9. Jeff’s difficulty beginning a
given task, may be a result of his Attention Deficits. In January
of the 2017, Jeff began to
take medication for ADHD. Jeff’s teachers have noticed a
change in his behavior. He is
less fidgety, better able to focus, and he participates in class
discussions more often. Jeff
mutters less and speaks up more. After beginning to take
medication, Jeff’s teachers also
noticed that he wasn’t eating as much at snack. Jeff reported
that he can “hear” his
teachers now.
Antecedents that predict when a behavior more likely to occur
are when Jeff is at
Language Arts in the back of the classroom, Computer Lab
during Read Naturally,
Performing Arts, Music, Art; interacting with four of the seven
boys in the class;
activities that involve reading, are new or novel or transitions
into activities Jeff hasn’t
done before
Antecedents that predict when a behavior is less likely to occur
are when Jeff is on the
field, in the courtyard, library, or at enrichments; interacting
with any of the six girls in
the class; free time activities.
5 = High Efficiency, 1 = Low Efficiency
This chart indicates that when Jeff is noncompliant because he
has difficulty beginning a

10. task that he is both able to avoid beginning the task and he
quickly gets teacher attention.
The chart also shows that when Jeff makes negative statements
about himself or others,
he is able to quickly gain reassurance from his teacher.
Exaggerated responses are much
less efficient at gaining attention or avoiding embarrassment.
Ms. Akiyama shared that Jeff has many ways of communicating
his need for attention
both verbal and through gestures or facial expressions but he
does not use words to
communicate his confusion or unhappiness. He also does not
use words to communicate
that he doesn’t want to do an activity or be in a certain
situation. His nonverbal means of
communication are shaking his head when confused or unhappy;
moving away or
leaving; a fixed gaze; or head on his desk. When he is
protesting a situation or activity he
might use words or shake his head or throw up his hands.
Ability to Understand Other People
Jeff can follow a single direction but if there is more than one
step to the directions he
shuts down
Responds to signed or gestural requests or instructions: Jeff
responds to gestures
indicating time to stop an activity, signs for class to be silent,
and gesture to leave room
for restroom.
Imitates physical models for tasks or activities: Jeff is able to
perform tasks that have

11. been modeled by the teacher like putting papers in a certain
place. Recently he learned
the motions that accompanied a song that the class performed
for their Grandparents. The
music teacher demonstrated the motions and the students
imitated her.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
noncompliance/difFiculty
beginning
task
exaggerated
response

12. negative
statements
about
self
or
other
Ef#iciency
of
Problem
Behavior
EfFiciency
Methods typically used to indicate yes or no: Jeff uses words to
indicate yes or no unless
the teachers ask for a thumbs up indicating a yes answer to a
question or a thumbs down
for no. Jeff will then use a thumbs up or down.
Ms. Akiyama who is in touch with Jeff’s fourth grade teacher
reported that this teacher
saw the same problem behaviors that are reported in this
assessment.
Lilly Plat, Performing Arts (PA) teacher, January 18, 2017
I interviewed Ms. Plat using Motivation Assessment Scale
(MAS). The MAS is a
questionnaire that is designed to help identify the function of a

13. problem behavior. Before
we started the questionnaire, Ms. Plat and I talked about the
problem behaviors that Jeff
exhibits in PA. He shuts down when there is too much noise. He
gets frustrated when it is
too loud. He tries to get the class to quiet down and when the
others ignore him he shuts
down. When he works with an improvisation group (usually 1 or
2 other students), he
will give up quickly if he has difficulty expressing his ideas.
When he gives up, he will
wander around the periphery of the group and be unresponsive
to their attempts to get
information from him. The results of the MAS checklist suggest
that Jeff’s behaviors in
PA are motivated by three things escape, attention, and
tangibles. Jeff wants to escape
from new tasks or difficulties expressing himself. When Jeff is
unable to express himself
or he is presented with a new task he withdraws from the group.
Attention of his peers,
when Ms. Plat is talking to the class and they are talking over
her, Jeff tries to get the
whole group to quiet down. The tangible function is reflected in
Jeff’s wanting to do only
what he wants.
Catherine Sharp, Music Teacher, February 3, 2017
I interviewed Ms. Sharp using the Motivation Assessment Scale
(MAS). I started the
interview with some general questions about the problem
behaviors Ms. Sharp saw in the
Music Class. Ms. Sharp shared that Jeff would avoid
participating in Music activities by
saying he had a headache or going to point out and staying

14. there. Ms. Sharp said that
when the noise level bothered Jeff, she gave him the option of
going to class 41, but he
didn’t want to use this option. Ms. Sharp observed that Jeff
likes to see how others
experience things before he tries the activity. The results of the
MAS checklist suggest
that Jeff’s problem behaviors in Music are motivated primarily
by escape and sensory
needs. Jeff’s problem behaviors occur when he is asked to
perform a difficult task or any
request is made of him and the behavior stops after the demand
is withdrawn. Ms. Sharp
said that would stay withdrawn from the activities for a long
period of time if left alone.
When Jeff has withdrawn he seems calm but aware of what is
going on
around him, this indicates some sort of sensory need.
Jeff Jones, Student, February 13, 2017
I interviewed Jeff using the Student-Directed Functional
Assessment Interview Form.
Based on the information I got from Jeff’s thoughts about his
daily school activities, the
least difficult times of the day are Morning & Lunch Recess,
Snack, Science and Social
Studies, P.E. with both coach and Ms. Akiyama. The most
difficult times of the day were
Music followed by Art and Performing Arts. When asked why
he thought these were the
most difficult times of the day, Jeff said that he doesn’t like to
sing in public and is not

15. comfortable with Ms. Sharp. He wasn’t really sure what made
Art and Performing Arts
difficult. He did share that he comes from a family that dances
specifically his cousins (I
have heard him compare his ability to do things with his
cousins). He has some difficulty
with Language Arts with Ms. Mackin. Again, he wasn’t sure
what made it difficult. We
do know from his Student Profile that he has a difficult time
with both reading and
spelling words. Jeff shared that he doesn’t know what makes
him happy. He did think
that he likes going to the pool where he takes lessons on
Saturdays.
Jeff Jones, Student, February 21,2017
While the class was engaged in a cooking activity in the
kitchen, I was able to have a
casual interview with Jeff. The class had been divided into three
groups. His group was
made up of himself and three other people he’s worked
successfully with before. This
school year Jeff has had to go to Class 41, the quiet room, when
we did a cooking
activity. Jeff was reluctant to sit with his group and was
hanging around the stove when I
approached him. He shared that he felt more comfortable by the
stove. I asked him why
he thought that was and he said that from there he could see
everyone and it wasn’t as
“noisy”. Both Ms. Akiyama and I encouraged him to join his
group. He continued to be
reluctant to do so. I then asked Ms. Akiyama if Jeff could be her
helper and she said yes.
As Ms. A. got the other students started on the vegetable

16. chopping, I asked Jeff if he
liked to cook and he said that he did and that he came from a
family who cooks. Ms.
Akiyama asked Brenden to sauté the vegetables, and he did an
excellent job. When asked
what he liked to cook, he couldn’t think of anything, but later I
commented that I liked
fried rice and wondered if he could make some for our class
party. He said he could cook
fried rice, but he didn’t know if he’d be able to do it for the
class party.
List of Preferences Based on Teacher, Parent, and Student
Interviews
1. Building with Legos
2. iPad/Youtube
3. Singing, Acting, Drama
4. Snack
5. Recess
6. Lunch
7. Enrichments
8. Playing with his cousins
9. Diamond Head Theater Classes
10. Earning Class Money
11. Going to Swim Lessons on The Weekend
I did not do a preference assessment that asked specifically if
Jeff liked certain things,
activities or people. During the Student Functional Assessment,
Jeff was unable to
talk about what he enjoys doing. The only thing he could think
of was swim lessons
on the weekend.

17. Observations
Art Classroom, Wednesday, January 25, 2017
This observation was conducted from 12:05-12:24 pm on
January 25, 2017, during a
special craft activity.
12:05 pm: Jeff wanders around the room as the Art Teacher
gives directions. The rest of
the class is seated
12:10 pm: Jeff still wandering from table to table talking to
people and looking into the
containers holding the materials for the craft project. He winds
yarn around
his fingers as he wanders. (One craft project is making a
pompom out of
yarn.)
12:11 pm: Jeff goes over to another male student, who is sitting
by himself with a box of
beads. Jeff looks into the box and rakes through the beads when
the other
student does. Jeff tells a “story with the yarn on his fingers.
12:13 pm: Jeff offers the yarn to the male student he is sitting
with.
12:14 pm: Jeff moves to another table and then goes to the front
table and picks out a
purple pompom from a box on the front table. He also picks up

18. a blank
bookmark.
12:15 pm: Jeff moves to the table I am sitting close to and
announces his intention to
decorate the bookmark for his sister, which he does with a
simple line
drawing. He attaches the pompom.
12:17 pm: The Art Teacher offers to make Jeff a keychain if
he’ll make a pompom for
her.
12:18 pm: Jeff does a bit of wandering and then brings the Art
Teacher the box of
pompoms.
12:24 pm: Jeff asks the Art Teacher to tie something for him (at
this point I get distracted
by a request from another student in the class.)
Music Class, Friday, February 3, 2017
This observation was conducted from 12:05-12:42 pm on
February 3, 2017, during a
regular music lesson.
12:05 pm: Jeff comes into Music at a snails pace after everyone
else has entered and joins
the circle of other students.
12:10 pm: Participating in the rhythm activity and interacting
with the same male student
he interacted with in Art on January 25th

19. 12:12 pm: Teacher announces a transition to the next activity.
Jeff turns to the same male
student and begins to talk to him.
12:13 pm: Jeff eyes are closed as he beats out the xylophone
rhythm, that Ms. Sharp has
demonstrated. He opens his eyes and looks at Ms. Sharp.
12:15 pm: Jeff raises his hand to be the person to give an
answer and teases another
student as he picks a girl per Ms. Sharps request. (The lesson
distracted me.)
12:25 pm: Transition from playing the xylophone. Jeff wanders
around and looks at the
male students he talked to at the beginning of the lesson. He
makes a circuit
of the class and asks me if I’m taking notes. I give him a
noncommittal
answer.
12:28 pm: Jeff returns to his designated seat on the floor.
12:32 pm: (There has been a transition in here that I didn’t put
into my notes. The
students are now playing ukulele.) Jeff is playing his ukulele
with full
concentration.
12:40 pm: In the instant that I began to record this Jeff was
focused on playing the
ukulele. When he stops playing, he is talking and pointing
behind himself.
(This was an unclear note.)

20. 12:42 pm: Ms. Akiyama came into the class, joining me at the
back of the room. Ms.
Sharp told the students to put away their ukulele. Jeff put his
ukulele away and then walked over to where I was sitting and
Ms. Akiyama
was standing and lay down on his back on the floor. I left the
class to Ms.
Akiyama.
Summary of Antecedent Behavior Consequence (ABC) Data
ABC data was collected from November 11th – December
16th, 2016 and then from
January 6th - 18th, 2017. During the time frame November 11th
– December 16th, 2016
there is a missing recording sheet that covered the period
between November 9th and
November 23rd. The recording sheets I have data from cover
approximately sixteen
days. During those sixteen days there was a single incident of a
problem behavior on
seven of the sixteen days and one day with five incidents of
problem behaviors. This
means that on average one problem behavior occurred per day.
Sometime, either right before or right after the winter
break, Jeff reported to Ms.
Akiyama that he was taking medication to help him focus.
Between January 3rd and
January 18th there were nine school days of ABC data
collected. Problem behaviors
were recorded on one day at the beginning of the period and one
day at the end of the
period. What this evidence suggests to me is that Jeff’s problem
behaviors are
happening less frequently. Ms. Akiyama and I have noticed a

21. significant decline in
problem behaviors since the beginning of the calendar year,
when Jeff began taking
medication to address the issue of attention. Jeff commented to
us that he can now
“hear” the teachers.
Patterns seen in the ABC data:
Setting events that occasion problem behaviors are: changes in
routine, tired
(reported sleeping badly), or not feeling well (novel task was
not one of the
setting events that was recorded but it could have been)
Places where behaviors are more likely to occur: in the back of
Class 52 (a small
confined space); in the Art, Music, and Performing Arts
classrooms (all fairly
open spaces); the Computer Lab; and the Kitchen (another open
space)
Places where behaviors are less likely to occur: Hallways,
lunch/gathering place,
and play areas
Times behaviors are more likely to occur: from the beginning
of the school day up
until 11:10, which is the beginning of lunch recess and then
between 12:05 and
12:50 pm
Times behaviors are less likely to occur: after 12:50 pm. to

22. occur during breaks,
free time
Antecedents that are more likely to occasion problem
behaviors: small or large
group work; Language Arts; Morning Meeting; and Art, Music,
and Performing
Arts
Antecedents that are less likely to occasion problem behaviors:
student selected
activities (breaks or silent time); & independent work
Behaviors seen more often: when Jeff is upset he stops
working and or puts his
head down on desk or refuses to respond to any questions;
making negative
statements about himself or others refusing to leave the
classroom for counseling
when upset
Behaviors seen less often: leaving class without permission
(during the 2015-2016
school year this occurred fairly often)
Consequences occurring more often: repeated
direction/provided choice, one on
one work with teacher, cued to Cl 41 or counseling
Consequences occurring less often: sent to Point Out, met with
a counselor, peer
attention, peers ignored
Behavior/Outcome: when given a choice Jeff often returned to
the activity
without disruption, occasionally, when given a choice or cued to

23. 41 Jeff attempted
to return to the activity
Target Behaviors to reduce
• Noncompliance: After Jeff has had an interaction with a
student or teacher that upsets
him, Jeff will stop working and won’t respond to questions.
Often, he withdraws
from a group and may wander around or try to leave the
classroom.
• Exaggerating physical discomforts: During outdoor organized
game times, if Jeff is
tagged by another student or accidentally hit by a ball, he might
fall to the ground
and act dead, not responding to students or teacher queries
about how he is. There
have also been times when he falls to the ground for no
apparent reason.
• Negative Statements about Self and Others: While trying to
listen to directions,
corrections, or collect his thoughts in a noisy classroom, Jeff
will make negative
statements about the noise of the other students and then he will
make negative
statements about himself and ultimately withdraw from an
activity.
• Difficulty Beginning Challenging or Novel Tasks : At the
beginning of Language Arts,
Art, Music, Performing Arts, or any novel activity like cooking,
instead of

24. preparing to begin the lesson, Jeff will ask to go to the nurse for
either a headache
or extreme itchiness.
Replacement Behaviors to increase
• Asking for help when feeling confused about how to proceed
with at task.
• Asking for a break
• Asking for permission to see how the other students do
something before trying it.
• Appropriately seeking attention from peers
Strengths
Jeff’s good memory for background information supports his
ability to understand what
he reads or hears. When feeling comfortable, he is willing to
take risks in Performing
Arts class, demonstrating an ability to act, or in Music singing
while accompanying
himself with gestures illustrating the song. He has a good
memory of the details of
movies he’s seen, which I think reflects his general interest in
the Performing Arts. Jeff’s
ability to remember what he hears supports his reading
comprehension. Jeff is an auditory
learner.
Summary Statements
The setting events for Jeff’s noncompliant behaviors/difficulty

25. beginning tasks or
activities are: the subjects Language Arts, Art, Music, and
Performing Arts; lack of sleep,
and, noise/distractions. The things that set off the behavior s are
class demands that may
be too hard (unfamiliar multistep activities), and unheard
directions. When Jeff is
noncompliant, he will be unresponsive to teacher or peers
questions or he will wander
around the class. Essentially he has shut down. When Jeff is
being noncompliant, his
teachers give him attention in the form of offering him choices.
Gaining teacher attention
while avoiding teacher demands and peer contact seem to be
what is maintaining these
behaviors.
The setting events for Jeff’s negative statements about others
and or himself appear to be
when he is in a noisy/distracting group, as well as a lack of
sleep. The thing that appears
to set of this behavior is working in a smaller group on a task
that is difficult for him or
requires careful thought and the class is noisy. When Jeff makes
negative statements he
raises his voice a bit, gestures with his hands and then he
wanders away mentally or
physically. When Jeff makes negative statements he is reassured
by a teacher so receiving
attention from a teacher appears to be what is maintaining this
behavior.
The setting events for Jeff’s exaggerated response to physical

26. discomfort appears to be
the anticipated difficulty of a lesson in LA or subject like Art or
Music, a need for peer
attention, and sometimes a lack of sleep. The things that appear
to set off this behavior
are the anticipated difficulty of the coming lesson along with a
lack of sleep. Before
Language Arts begins, Jeff may be scratching himself all over
or tell his teachers that he
has for instance a really bad headache so needs to go see the
nurse. When the class is
playing a game together with his classroom teachers present, he
will sometimes just fall
to the ground for no apparent reason. Other students will report
that Jeff may have been
tagged hard or something of that nature. What appears to be
maintaining this behavior is
work avoidance as well as teacher and peer attention.
Functional Assessment Summary
Information from interviews, checklists, and observations
indicate that Jeff’s
“noncompliant behaviors”, “negative statements about others
and or himself”, and
“exaggerated response to physical discomfort” all appear to
serve two functions; avoiding
beginning a novel task and gaining teacher or peer attention.
Because Jeff’s problem
behaviors occur consistently before Language Arts, or any other
challenging or novel
activity, it appears that the function of Jeff’s behavior is
avoidance of those challenging
or novel tasks. Teachers give him attention by offering him of
choices of things he can

27. do, or peers ask if he’s alright so teacher and peer attention
appears to be the other
function of his problem behaviors.
Recommendations
1. In order to improve the likelihood that a Jeff will be abl e to
join the class in a new
activity, it is important to structure his transitions and
anticipate the things that
will likely cause anxiety.
2. Keeping the noise level in the class low will allow Jeff to
think without the
distraction of other student’s conversations.
3. Devising a method for giving Jeff directions one at a time,
will insure that he is
able to begin a task and carry it to completion.
4. There are already some strategies in place to help Jeff stay
focused on the task or
activity the class is engaged in. When Jeff is unresponsive or
having difficulty
beginning a task he is given several choices like going to the
Nurse, Class 41,
Point Out, or beginning the activity. Jeff has been responsive to
these choices and
usually chooses to rejoin the activity or do the task. When an
interaction with
another student upsets him, Jeff will still need to be cued to go
to Class 41 to

28. regain some of his composure. Often he goes for five minutes
and then returns to
the task or activity. There are times when Jeff cannot release
whatever he is upset
about and this affects his learning for the rest of the day.
5. In order to help Jeff recover from social interactions that
affect his whole day, the
counseling staff along with Jeff’s teachers need to assess his
skills in flexible
thinking, social interactions, self-regulation, and self-
monitoring. Understanding
Jeff’s skills deficit, will help them create a plan to help Jeff
develop pro-social
skills.
Risk Assessment
The main risk is associated with Jeff’s tendency to fall on the
ground during physical
activities and then be unresponsive to questions about what is
wrong. If he should fall to
the ground unresponsive when he is actually hurt those around
him will possibly not
know that he is actually in need of immediate assistance.
Generally speaking his
exaggerations of physical discomforts makes it difficult to gage
when he really needs to
visit the nurse. His teachers always question him & then act
according to the perceived
severity of the problem, often sending Jeff with a note to the
nurse to offer reassurance.
Crisis Plan
At this time Jeff has no Crisis Plan. While his tendency to fall

29. to the ground during
outdoor physical activities may pose a slight risk that some real
serious injury might be
missed, there are always student witnesses to what has happened
so they can fill in
necessary details and his teachers always check to be sure that
he has not been seriously
injured.
As Jeff’s teacher, I feel that it is important to continue to
support Jeff’s learning through
the plan we have in place. It is my opinion that Jeff’s under
developed social skills will
continue to cause problems that will be reflected in his learning
and social relationships. I
recommend that we do further assessments of his social skills to
determine what skills
work on with Jeff.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joanna Mackin