James

James is a third-grade student who is attending Port Washington Elementary School. He is a student identified with emotional and behavior disorders (E/BD). James is receiving special education services in a self-contained classroom for students with E/BD.

James has consistently struggled with academic tasks and does not like school or his teachers. His cognitive ability is within the average range. When he is successful while working in one-to-one situations, he is compliant and he can complete his class work. Additional strengths include athletic ability, positive peer interactions outside of the special education classroom (e.g., P.E., lunchroom activities, assemblies, recess), and he can ignore the inappropriate behaviors of other students when he is academically focused. James’s favorite classes are P.E., art, and music.

In addition to E/BD, James has been diagnosed with a learning disability (LD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (combined type). The related services that James receives are social work and nursing services. The classroom is staffed by one full-time special education teacher and one full-time paraprofessional. The program serves 13 students with E/BD. James’s primary teacher, Ms. Butke, has requested behavioral consultation to more effectively deal with James’s disruptive and aggressive behavior. Ms. Butke indicates that James exhibits the following challenging behaviors at various times throughout the day:

• • Hits and kicks adults when confronted for inappropriate behavior
• • Noncompliant behavior
• • Off-task behavior
• • Disrupts the classroom by roaming around the room, trying to distract students from their academic activities
• • Throws objects in class
• • Destructive toward property

Ms. Butke is concerned with the safety of the other individuals in the classroom (both students and staff) and the effect of James’s behaviors on the amount of instructional time he and his classmates miss. Ms. Butke feels that if the staff can teach James more self-control and assist him in asking for help when it is needed, his aggressive, noncompliant, disruptive, and off-task behavior will substantially decrease.

The district’s behavioral consultant observed James in various settings and was able to see many of the behaviors identified by Ms. Butke. The consultant was able to observe examples of prosocial behavior. In addition, the consultant noted the contexts in which James’s challenging behavior occurred (antecedents and setting events) and potential consequences for those behaviors. These are described on the following ABC recording chart.

Analysis of the ABC recording form indicates that the antecedent conditions that are in effect when James engages in appropriate behavior are situations in which he understands the concepts of the lesson, when he works one-on-one with the teacher or paraprofessional, when he works in group activities, or when he participates in social activities with his peers.

In contrast, circumstances that precede his challenging behavior typically include situations in which he doesn’t understand concepts presented during instruction, when he works independently, when he is left alone for periods of time, or when he is confronted for inappropriate behavior (e.g., off-task behavior, roaming around the room).

The function of James’s challenging behavior is negative reinforcement. His behavior results in escape and avoidance from academic activities or assignments. The negative reinforcement function was primarily selected because James engages in challenging behavior during academic-related tasks. James has had a chronic history of academic failure. For James, difficult academic tasks are aversive, and he demonstrates challenging behaviors when presented with these tasks. The consequences for his behaviors (e.g., conflicts with staff, then left alone) effectively terminate aversive antecedent tasks, activities, or assignments.

The negative reinforcement function was also identified because James does not engage in these behaviors during social and nonacademic-related activities (e.g., social interactions with peers, P.E., lunch, music, and art). Rather, during nonacademic antecedent conditions, he engages in prosocial behavior. Consequently there are apparent differences in the types of antecedent/setting event conditions that trigger prosocial versus challenging behavior.