This is a continuation of my previous blog posts about the Texas Autism Supplement. In this post, I will focus on # 3 and # 4 of the 11 strategies in the autism supplement.
The 3rd strategy
“[I]n-home and community-based training or viable alternatives that assist the student with acquisition of social/behavioral skills (for example: strategies that facilitate maintenance and generalization of such skills from home to school, school to home, home to community, and school to community) . . . .”
This broadly worded strategy focuses on supporting students with social and behavioral skills at home and in community settings. As the parent, you know the skills with which your child struggles when they are not in school, so it is important to bring this up during IEP/ARD meetings. This way, the committee can assess whether your child exhibits any of these skills in other environments (i.e. at school) and needs support to replicate a skill at home, while shopping at a store, or while eating at a restaurant. Consider whether your child struggles with adaptive skills, their ability to effectively communicate, and any other behavioral or social skills. A viable alternative to in-home and community-based training might be a role-playing activity where your child pretends to attend a community event.
The 4th strategy
“[P]ositive behavior support strategies based on relevant information, for example:
(A) antecedent manipulation, replacement behaviors, reinforcement strategies, and data-based decisions; and
(B) a behavioral intervention plan developed from a functional behavioral assessment that uses current data related to target behaviors and addresses behavioral programming across home, school, and community-based settings . . . .”
Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports are strategies used to effectively teach, encourage, and reinforce pro-social behavior. Regarding antecedent manipulation, the “antecedent” is what happened just prior to the targeted behavior and is often what triggered the behavior. Once we determine the antecedent, supports can be utilized to avoid the trigger without limiting the student’s exposure. For example, a student can use noise reducing headphones during fire drills. Replacement behaviors are behaviors that are encouraged as a replacement for targeted negative behaviors. For example, a student who is sensory seeking might benefit from having a strip of Velcro taped underneath her desk to help her avoid seeking out sensory input in less socially appropriate ways. A behavioral intervention plan or “BIP” is a plan developed by the ARD committee to teach and/or reinforce positive behaviors.
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