Name: Joe Grade: 8 Examiner: Zackary Rice Current Concerns

Dates of Examination: 11/18 & 11/19 Date of Report: 11/22/2013 School: SMJHS

1. Joe often struggles with expressing his anger or frustration appropriately and will often resort to cursing or calling students, teachers or paras inappropriate names. 2. Joe often puts his hands on other students or the Paras that he works with in class. While he sometimes does this without bad intentions, he also does this with the intention of intimidating others. He has not struck anyone, but he will often place his hands in a firm grip on the persons shoulders. Assessment Procedures The purpose of this Functional Behavior Assessment is to determine the causes of Joes inappropriate verbal and physical interactions with his peers as well as the adults he works with throughout the school day. The first observation took place during fifth hour Study Skills, which is an environment in which Joe often struggles due to the less structured nature of it since each student is working on different assignments from various classes. The second observation took place in seventh hour Physical Education due to Joe having more physical interaction with his peers, which can often lead to him touching others inappropriately. Sometimes this is done out of anger, while other times it is done out of a misunderstanding of what is and what is not appropriate. During the observation periods, it was recorded how often Joe was spent working on task and not interacting with classmates inappropriately. PE is a 50 minute period, but the students are given five minutes at the beginning and five minutes at the end of the period to change clothes in the locker room, so the observation during that period was for a total of 40 minutes while the Study Skills observation was for a total of 50 minutes. An inappropriate interaction in Study Skills could consist of anything from being disrespectful to a student, to trying to intimidate them, to distracting another student from their work while Joe simultaneously was avoiding completing his own assignments. In PE, being off task or interacting inappropriately would consist of anything from not doing what the rest of the class was expected to do, to touching another student in a manner not consistent with what has been taught to Joe. Essentially, anything other than high-fives, fist bumps or a pat on the back to a student who was one of his teammates for the class period would be considered inappropriate.

Background Information Joe is in his second year at SMJHS since he is in the 8th grade. He has been a member of this particular school district since Kindergarten, and he has been receiving special education services since first grade, when he was identified as having Emotional Disturbance. Joe was also born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which has contributed to his IQ being an 84 according to a recent evaluation. Joe tends to get along well with his peers in the general education environment for the most part when he is not alienating himself or through negatively displaying his emotions or frustrations, but he often tends to project his anger towards his peers, especially those who he identifies as his friends. In terms of discipline, Joe has a difficult time containing his anger if he feels like he is being singled out by a teacher for doing something that another student is also doing, whether that is the intent of the teacher or not. In cases like this, he will often begin to yell or make rude, sarcastic comments toward the teacher, continuing to escalate until he is removed from the situation and given a chance to cool down. Sometimes, something as simple as going and getting a drink or walking to the restroom and back can be effective in cooling him down, while other times, he needs to walk to the counselors office, where he is given a few minutes to calm down and express himself before returning to the classroom. In most of his classes, Joe often tries his best to stay on task and up to date on all his assignments due to the fact that social acceptance is an important thing to him. However, if the academic material is to in-depth or too difficult for him to understand, then he will often begin to distract others, which then lead to him being asked to discontinue what he is doing in that instant, which can sometimes lead to him becoming upset or argumentative. Assessment Observations Upon arrival to Study Skills, Joe began working with another student and the Para that goes with them to Social Studies since they both had poems to write over a constitutional amendment that they had been assigned. Joe finished his 25 minutes into the class period and attempted to begin reading. He was struggling to read during this time, however, because of other students talking about their work, which served as a distraction for Joe. As this was taking place, Joe began to lose interest in reading and attempted to talk to other students who were also reading. Joe was asked to stay quiet while others worked, but he protested saying that wasnt fair since others were talking. It was explained to Joe that those individuals were talking because they were working together on an assignment, but he did not appreciate that response and stated, Thats bull crap, you never let me talk. Joe was asked to take a seat and continue reading or find something else to work on if he did not want to work toward his AR Reading goal. Joe sat at his table and stared at his book,

but did not read. He was given the opportunity to read along with a Para but he did not take the opportunity, which was interesting since he normally enjoys having someone to read with. For the remainder of the class period, Joe avoided working or reading, but he did not continue to attempt to disturb others. Instead, he sat at his table and angrily sighed while flipping the pages of his book back and forth. During this period, Joes comparison peer did not have any work to complete, so he sat in the corner of the class where there is a couch and read. There were a few times throughout the class period that the comparison peer had to be asked to not talk to other students who were working on various assignments, but he continued to read without disturbing others once he was told he would have to move out of the couch and into a regular chair if he could not keep himself from bothering others while he was sitting in the couch. After all the students had come to the gym from the locker room, they began doing their warm-up exercises, which consist of running, pushups and other exercises and stretches. While running his laps, Joe did a fine job of staying on task and running for the five minutes allotted just like each of the other students did. After the running, however, Joe approached his Para and began talking to him. The para reminded him to return to his spot where he would do the other exercises and stretches. Instead of listening to the Para that was with him Joe lightly pushed his Para with one hand in a joking manner. At this point, the Para backed away from it and reminded him that he wasnt acceptable to do that, even as a joke but this made Joe angry and led to him walking past his para and intentionally shoulder-bumping him. Due to incidents that have happened like this in the past, his para went to get the principal as he had ben instructed to do. A couple of minutes later, the principal appeared and took Joe out of the gym. Joe did not return to the class period and was given two days of ISS, partially because of the incident in PE as well as partially due to calling a teacher an idiot earlier in the day. While all of this was taking place, a comparison peer had been following all exercise commands given by the PE teacher and was located where he was supposed to be for his warm-up exercises. Test Results and Interpretations -Out of 90 minutes in both PE and Study Skills, Joe was on task for 25 minutes in Study Skills and 5 minutes in PE, which means that 1/3 of Joes time was spent off task, or in the case of his PE class, out of class due to his exhibition of inappropriate physical contact with the para in his PE class. -Joe exhibited various inappropriate interactions with both peers and staff, through is contact with the para in PE as well as in his response to the teacher in Study Skills when he said it was bull crap that he couldnt talk to other students. Hypothesis: Joe often struggles with understanding what his boundaries are, both physically and verbally. Because of Joes difficulty with understanding boundaries, he risks alienating himself from his peers, while also risking the possibility of

hurting himself, a peer, or staff member. To add to this, Joes behavior increases the likelihood that he will receive in school or out of school suspension, which further delays any progress that he is working toward in his general education classes. Desired Behavior: If Joe forgets that he is not to touch another person, except in the use of acceptable ways such as high-fives and fist bumps, he will correct himself and display the desired physical contact. If he does not display the appropriate contact, he will accept feedback from a teacher or para reminding him what the appropriate way to touch another person is without arguing or becoming angry about the situation. If Joe feels that a situation is unfair or if he disagrees with the situation, he may ask the teacher questions in a respectful manner while avoiding statements such as thats stupid or thats bull crap, which are all statements he uses frequently.

Antecedents

Behavior ACCELERATION TARGET

Consequences

1. Interacting with other students or Para Educators

1. Respectfully communicate with peers and/or Paras while avoiding placing his hands on anyone else. 2. Cease unacceptable behavior and correct with acceptable behavior (Example: instead of grabbing another persons arms, the student will extend his hand for a high five instead.)

1. Verbal Praise and acknowledgment of appropriate touching

2. Being reminded to keep hands to himself

2. Continuous improvement of relationships with peers as well as the Paras that he receives assistance from.

DECELERATION TARGET 1. Interacting with other students or Para Educators 1. Placing his hands on students or Paras arms or shoulders. This is sometimes done out of anger or frustration, while other times it is done out of a misunderstanding of what makes appropriate contact with another person. 1. Being perceived as less intimidating by his peers. 2. Improved relationship with Paras and teachers.

2. Being reminded to keep hands to himself