Self Advocacy: Bullying

Here at Community Advocates we are very excited and working hard on the last details of our 4^th Community Inclusion Conference. This Conference is going to be on October 22, 2010 from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm, at the Radisson Hotel in Downtown Kalamazoo. And we are setting precedent; it’s going to be the first time the Sprout Film Festival is going to be used as a Plenary and as a kick off for discussion in the afternoon workshops. Themes discussed in these years conference:

Self-Advocacy: Bullying

Autism: Transition

Community Inclusion: Social Networking

You can register online, just click here: https://acrobat.com/#i=hfDoIvCsAx2NwvFa*8KvSA. If you have any trouble downloading it just click here:

2010 Inclusion Conference Registration Brochure3-FINAL_distributed_0001

Also I want to invite you to the 1st Sprout Film Festival that same day at the Radisson beginning at 7.00 Pm. For more info click here: FB

Our presenter for the Self Advocacy: Bullying Workshop is Lisa Freeman. She shared a little bit of her story and her mission with us.

“My entire family/dogs have been abused in some form, but we haven't stayed in those situations, we've been healed, restored, and gotten free, and that's what we share with others, how they can get help/safe when bullied or abused, we also talk about prevention.”

Our dogs have very distinct positions and we use their stories to share important learning techniques. The way we teach is very unique. We do not stereotype or single out the bullies. We educate. Because truthfully all of us can bully someone at certain times. Yet, we explain what TRUE BULLIES are, that they do it all the time. And at the end of the presentation, the dogs put on a fun trick presentation to reinforce what we have learned.

My dealing with special needs is this: all four of my children were born with varying disabilities. My son, Brian, just passed away three weeks ago.
He had Asperger's and a rare heart condition. Doctors said he'd only live to be 1, yet he had an amazing faith and lived to be 22. He was bullied his entire life, yet he lived and died forgiving his bullies and even befriending them. That is why when we found a jar of change Brian had been saving after he passed; we decided to make a CHANGE of Heart for Brian and others like him by raising the money to go all over the USA to educate others on how to stop abuse, bullying and violence. More about our mission and what we hope to do can be found by logging onto Brian's page @ http://www.takeabiteoutofabuse.com/change.html

Our family/dogs have presented at the ARC Shiawassee, RAVE, Peckham in Lansing, and lots of schools, churches, nursing homes all over Michigan.”

Also we recommend visiting her blog Abuse bites. We’re looking forward to meet her and her family on October 22th at our Conference.

And now we are going to share a little bit of more info about: Bullying among Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Needs

What is bullying?

Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength. Often, it is repeated over time. Bullying can take many forms, such as hitting, kicking, or
shoving (physical bullying), teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying), intimidation through gestures or
social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or emotional bullying), and sending insulting messages by text
messaging or e-mail (cyber bullying).

What is known about bullying among children with disabilities and special needs?

There is a small but growing amount of research literature on bullying among children with
disabilities and special needs. This research indicates that these children may be at particular
risk of being bullied by their peers. For example, research tells us that:

• Although little research has been conducted on the relation between learning disabilities (LD)
and bullying, available information indicates that children with LD are at greater risk of being teased
and physically bullied (Martlew & Hodson, 1991;Mishna, 2003; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1993;Thompson, Whitney, & Smith, 1994).

• Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely than other
children to be bullied. They also are somewhat more likely than others to bully their peers
(Unnever & Cornell, 2003).

• Children with medical conditions that affect their appearance (e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular
dystrophy and spina bifida) are more likely to be victimized by peers. Frequently, these children
report being called names related to their disability (Dawkins, 1996).

• Obesity also may place children at higher risk of being bullied. In a study of children aged 11–16,
researchers found that overweight and obese girls (aged 11–16) and boys (aged 11–12) were more
likely than normal-weight peers to be teased or to be made fun of and to experience relational
bullying (e.g., to be socially excluded). Overweight and obese girls were also more likely to be
physically bullied (Janssen, Craig, Boyce, & Pickett,
2004).

To be continued......

Functional Behavioral Assessments: What, Why, When, Where, and Who?

by:Stephen Starin, Ph.D.

The recent amendments to IDEA are final. School districts are now required to conduct functional behavioral analyses of problem behaviors, under certain circumstances.

Unfortunately, IDEA does not provide specific guidelines regarding the conduct of a functional behavioral assessment. Each school district is left to its own devices when interpreting the guidelines and may opt for lower quality standards.

Below are my comments on conducting a functional behavioral assessment (FBA). These comments are based upon my formal training as a behavior analyst and over 20 years experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with serious problem behaviors. I've tried to avoid technical jargon for ease of discussion.

What is a "Functional Behavioral Assessment"?

The term "Functional Behavioral Assessment" comes from what is called a "Functional Assessment" or "Functional Analysis" in the field of applied behavior analysis. This is the process of determining the cause (or "function") of behavior before developing an intervention. The intervention must be based on the hypothesized cause (function) of behavior.

Why Do Functional Behavioral Assessments?

Failure to base the intervention on the specific cause (function) very often results in ineffective and unnecessarily restrictive procedures.

For example, consider the case of a young child who has learned that screaming is an effective way of avoiding or escaping unpleasant tasks. Using timeout in this situation would provide the child with exactly what he wants (avoiding the task) and is likely to make the problem worse, not better. Without an adequate functional behavioral assessment, we would not know the true function of the young child's screaming and therefore may select an inappropriate intervention.

How Do You Determine the Cause or Function of Behavior?

There are three ways of getting at the function (cause) of the behavior:

(a) interviews and rating scales,
(b) direct and systematic observation of the person's behavior, and
(c) manipulating different environmental events to see how behavior changes.

The first two are generally referred to as functional assessments whereas the third is generally referred to as a functional analysis.

Several different interviews and rating scales have been developed to try to get at the function (cause) of behavior. However, reliability is usually poor and these should be used only as a starting point
for systematic and direct observation of the person's behavior. Relying exclusively on interviews and rating scales should neverbe considered a functional assessment. Besides having poor reliability, it would never hold up in court with an expert witness.

A more reliable method involves directly observing the person's behavior in his or her natural environment and analyzing the behavior's antecedents (environmental events that immediately precede the problem behavior) and consequences (environmental events that immediately follow the problem behavior).

Types of Problem Behavior

Problem behavior typically falls into one or more of three general categories:

(a) behavior that produces attention and other desired events (e.g., access to toys, desired activities),
(b) behavior that allows the person to avoid or escape demands or other undesired events/activities, and
(c) behavior that occurs because of its sensory consequences (relieves pain, feels good, etc.).

The antecedents and consequences are analyzed to see which function(s) the behavior fulfills. Problem behavior can also serve more than one function, further complicating the matter. The interview, combined with direct observation of the behavior is what most people use in determining the function of the behavior. This is fine when the data collected on the antecedents and consequences is clear. Most of the time this is sufficient in determining the behavior's function(s).

Systematic Manipulation of Environment

In some cases, however, direct observation does not give a clear picture of the behavior's functions and systematically manipulating various environmental events becomes necessary. The most common way of systematically manipulating the environment is to put the person in several different situations and carefully observe how the behavior changes.

For example, to determine the function of screaming, we could arrange for attention to be given to the child each time she screams and measure how frequently screaming occurs. We could also make demands on the child, terminating them each time she screams and measure how frequently it occurs. In addition, we could leave the child alone and measure how often screaming occurs. If screaming is more frequent when attention is given, we hypothesize that it occurs to get attention. If screaming is more frequent when demands are made, we can assume that screaming has served to let the person escape or avoid demands. Finally, if screaming is more frequent when left alone, we can assume that it is occurring because of its sensory consequences. This third method should be reserved only for situations in which the functions of behavior are not clear through systematic and direct observation.

What About Qualifications and Training?

An important question is "Who should be involved in the functional behavioral assessment?" The interview is important in gathering preliminary information that will guide later direct observation. As such, it is important to talk to the people who know the child the best: parents, teachers and significant others.

Direct observation should be carried out only by a person who has been thoroughly trained on collecting and analyzing this type of information. Directly manipulating environment events should be conducted only by a well-trained behavior analyst or someone else with a high degree of training and experience conducting these manipulations for they can pose danger to the person if not done correctly.

As can be seen, a functional behavioral assessment is more than a group of people sitting around a table trying to determine the cause. Although it is important to gather information from significant people in the person's life, it is not enough.

Someone knowledgeable about behavior must be in the classroom and/or family home directly observing and measuring the behavior. Although this takes time, it is usually time well spent because the intervention is more likely to be effective than one developed without careful consideration of the behavior's function(s).

Don't Waste Valuable Time!

Time is precious. Time should not be wasted on interventions (behavioral or otherwise) when there is no evidence that this particular intervention is likely to work, for this particular child, in this particular situation.

 

About the Author


Dr. Stephen Starin is the Executive Director and Senior Behavior Analyst for Behavior Analysis and Therapy, Inc. He is the former Director of Behavior Analysis for the State of Florida and is a Past President of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis.

You can contact Behavior Analysis and Therapy, Inc. at (888) 423-4284 or on the Internet at http://www.behavior-analysis.org/