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Behavior Support Plans

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 mandates that school personnel design a behavior support plan (BSP) for any student with a disability who exhibits challenging behavior that impedes his or her academic performance. This plan is designed after conducting a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to determine the function of the challenging behavior.

The BSP signifies the culmination of the FBA process and is the individualized education program (IEP) team’s plan that outlines the specific steps to be used to promote the student’s appropriate/adaptive behavior. To be most effective, BSPs should (1) address the function of the challenging behavior, determined through the FBA, (2) be both carefully developed and clearly written without technical jargon, (3) include the values of the student and family, (4) identify any prerequisites needed for implementation, and (5) contain procedures that are both practical and easy to remember. The following sections describe the necessary components of a BSP and explain how the plan is designed and implemented.

Components of a BSP

BSPs contain six critical components. First, hypothesis statements are statements based on the results of the FBA that include a description of setting events (i.e., events that could potentially increase the likelihood of challenging behavior occurring, such as lack of sleep or hunger), triggering antecedents for the challenging behavior, the challenging behavior itself, maintaining consequences, and the function of the challenging behavior. Second, antecedent strategies are strategies used to prevent the student from exhibiting the challenging behavior. These may include arranging the environment, changing activities, or providing the reinforcer before the student needs to exhibit inappropriate behavior (e.g., teacher provides attention to the student before math instruction begins because this is when the student usually exhibits the challenging behavior to get the teacher’s attention). Third, replacement behaviors are functionally equivalent behaviors that are taught to the student to replace the challenging behavior. Fourth, consequence strategies are strategies school professionals use to respond effectively to the challenging behavior. Fifth, long-term supports are strategies that will ensure continued success of the plan. Sixth, the plan needs to include a crisis plan. This component of the plan includes procedures to implement in case the student exhibits dangerous behavior.

Hypothesis Statements

Hypothesis statements summarize what is known from the FBA about setting events, antecedents, behaviors, and maintaining consequences. They provide a determination about the function of the challenging behavior. These statements include a description of setting events, the student’s challenging behavior, information about antecedents (events that occurred before the student exhibited the behavior), the proposed function of the student’s behavior, and the consequences that followed the behavior. Once the IEP team identifies a hypothesis, the focus should be on the way the hypothesis statement is written. The statement should be written to include the description, antecedents, function, and maintaining consequences.

Antecedent Strategies

Antecedent strategies include modifications made to an environment to prevent challenging behavior from occurring. For example, if a student has difficulty transitioning from one activity to another, an antecedent strategy might be to signal the approaching change to the student using a bell or providing a visual schedule.

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