Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): A Parent’s Guide
Has your child’s behavioral health professional ever recommended a functional behavior assessment (FBA)? Do you know what that means or what the assessment will consist of? Fret not! Here is a mini guide for you to understand why the professional may have recommended one and what the process entails.
Why Has a Functional Behavior Assessment Been Recommended?
Functional behavior assessments are recommended when a child is exhibiting challenging behaviors. These challenging behaviors could include a range of things from severe tantrums to intense screaming, from self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) like head-banging to aggression toward caregivers or other children. Most parents will want to know why their child is engaging in these behaviors. Thus, your child’s behavioral health professional may recommend a functional behavior assessment.
What Is a Functional Behavior Assessment?
A functional behavior assessment (FBA) is a process used to find the “function” of behavior — the purpose or the reason behind why the child may be engaging in that behavior. A child’s behavior can have many purposes. This is where a trained professional comes in to investigate what exactly the reinforcement is for these behaviors.
How FBAs Are Conducted
To determine the function, data needs to be taken, and interviews need to be conducted. Different types of assessments, such as direct assessments, indirect assessments, or experimental assessments, may need to be done to determine why the child engages in each particular challenging behavior. Your child’s behavioral health professional may want to interview you, your child’s teacher(s), direct interventionists, or other professionals working with your child.
Functions of Behavior
Behaviors can have different functions. Here is a list of common “functions” of behaviors:
Escape or Avoidance
Escape or avoidance happens when behaviors occur to escape or avoid an unwanted activity, situation, interaction, or stimulus. For example, has your child ever been in a grocery store and started screaming to the point where you take your child out of the grocery store? Your child may have been screaming to escape the grocery store. However, this is just one example out of many possible types of behaviors that could serve an escape or avoidance function.
Attention
Attention-seeking behaviors occur when behaviors occur in order to receive attention from another person. If a child is acting a certain way to receive attention from caregivers, teachers, or other individuals, attention is the function of that behavior.
Access to Tangibles
Access to tangibles occurs when behaviors happen in order to receive a specific item or activity. For instance, if a child throws himself onto the floor at the movie theater to get popcorn, the function of this behavior is access to tangibles.
Automatic Reinforcement
Automatic reinforcement occurs when behaviors happen because it provides a pleasing feeling or removes a non-pleasing feeling automatically. For example, if a child scratches a bug bite, that behavior is automatically reinforced because scratching makes the bug bite less itchy.
Why Is Knowing the Function Important?
Knowing why the child engages in the challenging behavior is critical for treatment. Your child’s behavioral health professional needs to know the “why” to create an effective treatment plan. For instance, if your child is screaming for attention, your child’s behavioral health professional may implement a differential reinforcement strategy and decide not to provide attention contingent upon screaming and teach your child an alternative behavior to access attention. On the other hand, if your child is screaming to escape an unwanted task/activity, blocking your child from escaping and teaching a way to communicate that they want to stop something is likely to be more effective.
The Value of a Functional Behavior Assessment
Functional behavior assessments can help your child’s behavioral health team determine the best strategies to reduce challenging behaviors and teach your child new skills. This process helps ensure that the treatment plan is tailored to address the specific reasons behind your child’s behaviors, leading to more effective outcomes.
Consult a specialist at Behavior Frontiers.