Functional Communication Training

Description of the Strategy

Functional communication training (FCT) is an intervention strategy born out of the resurgence of interest in the functional analysis of human behavior within the field of behavior modification. Viewing problem behaviors as functional for the person emitting them has shifted the focus from considering those behaviors as “excess” or “maladaptive” to seeing them as adaptive in function, though inappropriate in form. When one views problem behavior as “mal-adaptive” or as “excess,” the intervention often focuses on decreasing or eliminating the problem behavior. In contrast, when one views the same behavior as useful (functional) for the person, the focus of intervention shifts to helping the person learn appropriate behaviors that will serve the same function as the problem behavior, thus replacing the need to use problem behaviors to get basic needs met.

Problem behaviors can be seen as a form of communication maintained by a reinforcing consequence motivating that behavior. Aggression, self-injury, or property destruction can be seen as attempts to communicate a need for obtaining attention, tangible items, an increase in internal stimulation, or escape from or avoidance of unpleasant or aversive situations. This is often called the communication hypothesis of problem behavior. Research from developmental psychology supports this hypothesis, demonstrating an inverse relationship between problem behavior and communicative competence as children develop.

FCT works on the principle of functional equivalence of response classes. Several behaviors can function to produce the same consequence. For instance, self-injury or requesting a break from tasks can both produce the desired escape consequence; therefore, those behaviors are equivalent in function. When the student does not have the requisite verbal skill to appropriately request a break from work, or when he or she has learned that appropriate requests are rarely honored (i.e., reinforced), self-injury may be the most effective behavior in the student's repertoire that will produce escape from task demands.

The steps in implementing FCT begin with a functional behavioral assessment of the problem behavior. Once the functions of the problem behavior are determined, alternative and appropriate communicative behaviors that will serve the same functions are trained. The alternative communicative behaviors must have a number of critical features: They should be easy to learn and easily understood by anyone in the person's natural environment, to aid generalization and maintenance. Depending on the student's language ability, they could take the form of speech (e.g., “Am I doing good work?”), sign language (e.g., American sign language manual sign for a “break” from task demands), picture-symbol exchange (e.g., a line drawing representing coffee is touched or handed to staff to request a cup of coffee), or a recorded voice-output device (e.g., pressing a switch turns on message stating, “Please turn on the music”). Training these new communicative behaviors relies on the bedrock behavioral methodologies of shaping, fading, chaining, prompting, and schedules of reinforcement. Technically, FCT is a differential reinforcement of an alternative (DRA) procedure.

Typically, the student will learn the new request quickly if the reinforcement contingencies establish the new response as more efficient, effective, and relevant than the problem behavior in producing the reinforcer. Once learned on a continuous reinforcement schedule, training needs to teach the student to tolerate delays in obtaining the reinforcer to introduce skill development goals. More sophisticated forms of the communicative request (e.g., full sentences replacing a single word, either in speech or via picture symbols; requiring “Please” and “Thank you” before reinforcing the request) can be shaped once the rudimentary form is being used and problem behavior has been substantially reduced or eliminated.

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