Arizona District To Use Online Intervention Plan Builder With Autistic Students
A school district in Central Arizona will use
behavior
intervention software to help its students with autism spectrum disorder
and
related developmental and behavioral disorders.
The Maricopa
Unified School District in Maricopa, AZ, which
has a self-contained special education program with about 60 students,
is
implementing the Skills
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) Builder, which
provides resources for teachers of special education students who
exhibit challenging
behavior.
The BIP Builder software is based on the principles
of applied
behavior analysis, which assumes that a student's difficult behavior is
a
function of the individual's environment, not his or her diagnosis. It
is
intended to address the challenges of students with repeated and unusual
vocalization, aggression, property destruction and the inability or
reluctance
to follow instructions.
Using the principles of applied behavior analysis,
clinicians
and teachers customize programs and identify replacement behaviors that
should
be taught to specific students. The program is designed to ensure consistency while
safeguarding the student and teacher.
"The BIP Builder increases the effectiveness of the
teacher-student interaction," said Skills Managing Director Eliana
Ferreira, "which
makes students feel successful while giving teachers more time to focus
on
their classrooms as a whole."
When using the software, teachers can follow
a
four-step process:
- Answer
a
series of questions about the student's challenging behavior;
- Follow
prompts
to design a BIP by selecting modifications, replacement behaviors and
potential consequences for inappropriate behavior;
- Customize
and
store the BIP for updating later; and
- Graph
and
analyze the data to evaluate the plan's effectiveness.
"Our teachers are very excited to use the Skills BIP
Builder,"
said Maricopa USD Exceptional Student Services Director Maria Sapelli.
"It
offers solutions to address challenging behaviors that might not have
been
thought of before."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.