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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

Student Intervention Plan:

Part II
Brooklynne Bradshaw-Springer
Interventions for Exceptional Learners SPED 5010
University of Colorado – Denver
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

Student Contact Logs and Reflections

2/20/20: ElVi arrived at Little Learners Program and had access to free play before circle time.

He was responding well to visual supports and staff was mostly utilizing the Premack principle.

ElVi would also get access to one preferred item before each activity as a preventative strategy

and for the toy to be utilized as a motivator. ElVi was also really motivated by tickles, sensory

breaks, and “carrots” (E pushing air out of puffed out cheeks to make a noise). He did well with

sitting today and he utilized functional communication in the form of “I need break.” He was

also requesting “bathroom” frequently, potentially using it as escape. There was more non-

compliance in the afternoon paired with eloping. He did participate in all activities today.

Reflection: Today there were multiple teaching/behavior strategies used throughout session

such as the Premack principle, reinforcement, functional communication training and

preventative strategies. The use of a visual schedule and a visual “First/Then” board (Premack

principle) seemed to work really well however there were a few missing visuals for potential

reinforcers that worked throughout the day. I think it would be beneficial to add these to his

visual choice options so that the first/then board would be more motivating during the harder

activities. ElVi had a harder time in the afternoon, and it was difficult for staff to keep all

materials in order to utilize his visual schedule and first/then board. He was responding well to

the group’s circle time rule visual reminders and I think having a smaller version of those for his

personal circle time desk would help. He did really well with functional communication today,

but it seemed like he was requesting the bathroom a lot. It would be beneficial to have him use

the bathroom before each circle time and at lunch in order to reduce the probability of him

using it as escape behavior during more non-preferred activities. Before the next session it is my

goal to have the needed additional visuals for circle time, his visual schedule, and first/then
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

board. Staff will also be having use the bathroom before non-preferred activities and to teach

discrimination training to prompt him to ask for a break instead of the bathroom.

2/27/20: Today ElVi had a harder time transitioning into circle time and only participated in a

few minutes altogether. He was using functional communication about half of the time and

needing prompting for the other half. When transitioning to table work/art from a toy break, ElVi

started to engage in tantrum with flopping, eloping, and property destruction behavior when he

was denied access to a toy. His behavior consult was present for this and attempted to implement

a “calm down” protocol to enforce during tantrum behaviors. ElVi ended up following through

with table work after an 8-minute sensory break with prompted functional communication. There

wasn’t an instance of tantrum behavior the rest of the day and he participated in movement, peer

play, and afternoon circle time.

Reflection: Today staff utilized visual supports, prompting, sensory breaks, the Premack

principle, and behavior momentum throughout the session. It was a tougher morning with ElVi

struggling with transitions. He would need extra prompting in order to use functional

communication when needing breaks. The sensory break seemed to really help today and the

team will be strictly implementing a protocol moving forward. If he starts to engage in property

destruction staff will be pointing out observable behaviors, prompting functional communication

to ask for a sensory break, and modeling relaxation techniques such as deep breaths. Deep

sensory pressure and tickles also seemed to be reinforcing and I am going to try to utilize these

more for preventative strategies. His newer circle time helper sheet visual worked really well

today in the afternoon, he seemed to be more engaged with story time and following the circle

time rules. Also, staff is going to update his first/then board so that it is on a lanyard that can be

worn by staff and all his visual choices will be in one place on a sheet on his clipboard. This
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

should help with the difficulty of keeping track of materials, especially during more challenging

behaviors and transitions between activities.

3/5/20: ElVi was compliant and did very well with morning circle time today. He seemed a little

tired and needed some extra prompting, but he did not engage in and elopement behavior during

circle time. He participated in table work and completed a train art activity. On the way to

movement, ElVi was distracted by a preferred tractor toy and needed prompting to transition to

the next activity. This was also challenging when needing to transition to peer play, ElVi started

to engage in property destruction and then tantrum behavior. Staff implemented his calm down

protocol and ElVi was prompted to use functional communication and then take a sensory break.

ElVi had more success for the rest afternoon with taking frequent breaks and staff utilizing

sensory reinforcers such as tickles, rocket ship, and squeezes.

Reflection: Today focused on utilizing visual supports, behavior momentum, sensory breaks, the

Premack principle and functional communication. The visual circle time helper sheet was very

successful in engaging ElVi during morning circle time. There weren’t any behaviors and ElVi

was independently choosing reinforcers for his first/then board. He was also really engaged in

the art activity today and finger painting could be used in the future as a potentially reinforcing

activity. Transitions seemed to be a little more difficult today, but ElVi responded really well to

his first/then board. He really struggled with being denied access to bigger toys and any smaller

ones that are usually used as reinforcements were not as motivating. It may have been better to

have conducted more frequent preference assessments since ElVi might be satiating on his

current preferred toy choices. Suggestions for the next session include conduction more frequent

preference assessments, prompting more frequent breaks to prevent tantrum behavior, and
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modifying the environment before sessions to make sure preferred/distracting toys are put away

before ElVi enters that specific location.

3/9/20: Today ElVi participated in 3 minutes of circle time, then had a toy break with marbles,

and then participated in 5 more minutes of circle time. There also wasn’t any instance of

elopement. ElVi did very well with table work/art today and was motivated by a train toy. He

was engaged in movement for the duration of the activity today and even helped push peers on

the swing. For peer play, he participated in going on a walk with peers but engaged in property

destruction when denied access to a toy when transitioning from a break. He was then picked up

early from Little Learners Program and didn’t have the opportunity to participate in afternoon

circle time.

Reflection: Today staff tried to focus on modifying the environment and setting up the session

for success by hiding preferred/distracting toys and setting up clear expectations for ElVi to

follow before each activity. He was also allowed to pick one toy before each activity to have

during breaks between work tasks. It seemed to help when there was more of a variety because

he was really motivated to work for toy breaks today. Staff would also provide a lot of sensory

squeezes and tickles during work time when ElVi would have a correct response, utilizing

positive reinforcement. Staff also utilized visual supports, the Premack principle, and prompting

coping skills. When ElVi was engaging in behaviors after being denied access to a toy during a

transition, he responded well with staff modeling taking deep breaths. Staff also used an

overcorrection response to the property destruction, resulting in ElVi needed to pick up his mess

and put away the toy appropriately. In the future, it might be beneficial to prime/teach him more

coping skills as a table program so that he can master the skill while calm and then staff can

generalize that over to use during tantrum behavior.

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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

3/16/20: Today ElVi participated in circle time more a total of 7 minutes and staff was using a

timer app and Legos for his reinforcer. The transition to table work was extremely difficult and

ElVi attempted eloping from the room multiple times. ElVi was also taking off his shoes more

frequently than usual today. He did not end up having enough time to participate in art after table

work. He also had a harder time transitioning to “structured free play with peers” and was again

taking off his shoes and engaging in eloping behavior. Since two staff were working with him

today, it was easier to block and redirect back to the current activity, but this would have been

difficult/frustrating for the usual one staff. ElVi participated in 8 minutes of the afternoon circle

time. He did very well with requesting for breaks today overall though. Also, when his mother

picked him up today, she stated that he would not be returning to program for the rest of the

week due to health concerns/precautions.

Reflection: Today seemed to be a more difficult session and ElVi was engaging in more

distracting/eloping behaviors. It helped that there was an extra staff today to respond to these

behaviors, but this would have not been ideal for the usual 1:1 assigned staff. Throughout the

day staff needed to constantly block, redirect, prompt functional communication, and utilize the

Premack principle and behavior momentum. ElVi was constantly taking off his shoes, eloping

from his area/desk, trying to elope out of the room and trying to turn off the lights in the current

room he was in. Staff would always attempt to block and would utilize behavior momentum by

having him complete 3 easy tasks before placing a demand. This would usually work to redirect

him to the current activity, but he was less motivated to stay on task today. Staff would also

utilize the first/then board, but it did not work as well as it usually does today. Potentially ElVi

has satiated on his normal preferred choices and another preference assessment/updated visuals
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

need to be completed. He did do well with requesting for breaks but it was a challenging to keep

him on task during work.

Progress Monitoring & Data Analysis

 Sustained Attention (Remaining seated in chair) – ElVi will increase the amount of

time he can remain seated in a chair after being told “sit down”. Below: two graphs

showing his daily and weekly progress of remaining seating for two minutes. It was

difficult for staff to collect data for this skills acquisition program throughout the day,

therefore they would collect data during circle time (twice a day). It is also to be noted

that the data for March is only reflecting the current data taken so far, so it may not be

the most accurate.

o February 2020 Baseline: ElVi eloped from his seat 9 times throughout the day

and only remained seated in his chair for two minutes successfully in 25% of

opportunities (7 trials).

o Goal: By April 2020, ElVi will remain seated in his chair (with help of visual

supports) for a duration of two minutes without engaging in any escape behavior

in 80% of opportunities, across people and settings, over 3 consecutive behavior

sessions.
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

March 2020 Progress Summary: MAKING SOME PROGRESS

As shown in the graphs above, ElVi is making progress towards his goal of remaining seated for

two minutes in 80% of opportunities, across people and settings for 3 consecutive behavior

sessions. He is currently averaging 62.5 in March but has not yet met the criteria for his goal.
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

ElVi came close to meeting criteria in late February, but it was not for 3 consecutive sessions.

ElVi is responding to the intervention program; however, progress is slow. The barriers section

below includes several possible contributing factors to the lack of progress. ElVi’s goal for

increasing sustained attention destruction will remain the same. However, it might be more

logical to change the goal criteria from needing to be across three behavior sessions to an

average of 80% across one month of behavior sessions. I think this would better reflect progress

since it is less important for him to be successful for 3 days in row rather than an average score

across all sessions.

Barriers that appear to contribute to lack of progress with ElVi’s skill acquisition and

behavior reduction goals include many inconsistencies, change in routine and people, health, and

family matters. There were a lot of inconsistencies throughout the months with ElVi's schedule.

There were many absences due to scheduling conflicts, sicknesses, and family matters. For

example, out of twenty potential session weekdays in February, ElVi only attended twelve. For

March, there has been fifteen days of program, but ElVi has only attended eight of them. There

were also many staff changes throughout the past two months. The lead behavior consultant

changed at the end of January, resulting in many program changes. While implementing ElVi’s

original treatment plan proved difficult at times with all the changes and scheduling conflicts, his

behavior team continued to do their best to implement all learning opportunities with as much

efficiency as possible. Without the consistency and control of the environment of behavior

sessions, it is difficult to determine whether the interventions are working. Any lack of progress

could be due to the choice of intervention or because of the inconsistency of his schedule.

Overall, the student intervention plan was a great learning experience and I enjoyed

working with the student and monitoring his progress along the way. Unfortunately, my work
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II

schedule and his attendance hindered the amount of time for program implementation and

opportunities that I was able to directly work with ElVi. If I were to continue to work with the

student, I would like to collaborate with the behavior consult and his parents to potentially create

a goal around improving the consistency in his schedule. It is also hard to control to consistency

of how each staff is implementing interventions and using the same strategies since he has a

different staff every day. It would be great if I could personally have one more session (a week)

to increase this opportunity and face to face interaction.

I also found it challenging to keep all his materials organized so that they were readily

and easily available to utilize when needed. This was a lot more successful once staff was given

a lanyard First/Then board and a circle time helper sheet. I think it would also be beneficial to

have a quick “Tip sheet” for staff to use as a resource on the different strategies that were utilized

throughout this experience. ElVi is a high-energy child that is easily distracted, and I found the

more successful sessions were those where I felt most prepared, organized, and implementing

prevention strategies rather than being reactive to behaviors.

In response to the intervention program, ElVi was indeed showing progress even though

it was slow. This could have a lot more to do with the inconsistency in his schedule rather than

the intervention plan itself. Therefore, I would need to collect more data to draw a stronger

conclusion about its effectiveness. I would not necessarily have chosen another intervention plan

if I were to do this project again, but I do wish that I had more opportunities/longer period to

work with the student. This has given me a lot of perspective on creating a student intervention

plan and the logistics that occur when implementing this plan and working directly with a

student.
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Student Intervention Plan: Part II
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Reference List
Gold Star Learning Options (2020). Catalyst. [Circle Time-2 Minutes target]. Data Finch
Technologies. https://datafinch.com/
Vaughn, S., & Bos, C. S. (2015). Strategies for teaching students with learning and behavior
problems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Wayne County RtI/LD Committee. (2007) Research-based interventions. [Field Guides to RtI]
Research-based interventions  
file:///C:/Users/brook/Documents/CU%20Grad%20School/Resources/Behavior%20Intervention
%20Guide.pdf