Individual PBS

Module 3:
Instructional Issues
and Strategies
 Positive Behavior Support (PBS)
Training Modules
This is the third of four PBS training modules.
3. Instructional Issues and Strategies

The other modules should be taken in the following order:

1. Collaborative Teaming and Person-Centered Planning
2. Functional Behavior Assessment
3. Instructional Issues and Strategies
4. Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating Positive Behavior Support
Plans

These modules are designed to support a team as they go through a

Positive Behavior Support process with a child or adult with problem
behaviors. Let's begin with the first module by reviewing the goal of
Florida's PBS Project and the definition of Positive Behavior Support.

2
 Link Between Curriculum &
Instruction & Behavior?
Is there a link between curriculum and
instruction and behavior?

3
 Learning & Challenging Behavior

Learning and behavior problems result from

interaction between the individual and his or
her environment.

4
 Rationale for an Educational
Approach to Behavior Support
Because behavior problems are often a
reflection of skill deficits teaching is often the
best intervention.

Instructional and curricular variables

have been found to influence student
behavior. Modifications to curriculum and instruction
can result in improved behavior and increased
opportunity for learning.
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Effective Practices

6
 Good Teaching Practices
Researchers have found a number of teaching
strategies that have proven to be effective.

Use of good teaching strategies benefits ALL

students; both typically developing and students
with disabilities.

Using proven effective strategies results in more

effective teaching and learning.
7
 Effective Instructional Practices
Westling & Fox (2000) identified the following effective instructional practices:
Carefully plan instruction
Manage instructional time efficiently
Manage behavior effectively
Design instructional groups that meet learning needs
Carefully present instructional materials and procedures
Establish smooth, efficient classroom routines
Provide frequent feedback
Monitor performance
Review and re-teach material as necessary
Integrate skills needed for adulthood into instruction (e.g. problem solving
skills)
Have appropriate high expectations
Interact in a positive, caring manner

In general, these practices should be reflected in all instructional practices

impacting all students.
8
 Beyond Good Practice
Using proven effective teaching strategies is not
always enough to engage students in learning.

Researchers have also identified promising

instructional practices for teaching students
with disabilities.

The problem behavior of students can signal a

need to further address teaching strategies and the
content of curriculum.
Address Curriculum
and Instruction

10
When to Address Curriculum & Instruction
in Dealing with Behavior Problems
Consider curriculum and instruction as potential areas to
intervene when:

Hypotheses generated during the Functional Behavior

Assessment (FBA) include avoidance of academic
tasks/activities
Problem behaviors occur upon receiving instruction
and/or direction that may include:
Off-task
Out-of-area
Misuse of materials
Non-compliance

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 Steps for Making Individualized
Adaptations
Making individualized adaptations can occur outside of a
functional assessment process. The steps for making
adaptations for individuals follow the same series of steps
whether they are imbedded in a traditional functional
assessment process or not.

Step 1. Identify problem behavior(s)

Step 2. Gather information about the student & the task/setting
Step 3. Develop a hypothesis about the behavior
Step 4. Develop adaptations
Step 5. Monitor and evaluate adaptations

12
 Step 1. Identifying Problems
Review the information gathered during the FBA process related
to the context of problem behaviors. Look for anything that
indicates that problem behaviors may be related to learning
activities or tasks.

What were the problem behaviors?

Did problem behaviors occur during learning activities or
tasks?
Did any hypothesis statement refer to a learning activity or
task?

13
 Step 2. Gathering Information
about the Student & Task/Setting
Review information gathered during the FBA process related to student
characteristics. Look for details related to functioning level, preferences,
strengths, areas of need, learning style, preferred response, etc?

Investigate the curriculum, instructional methods, and ecological

elements of the task and situation during which problem behaviors
occur.

Consider the following factors:

Curricular:
Scope and sequence objectives
Presentation modes
Content
Topics
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 Step 2. Gathering Information
about the Student & Task/Setting
Instructional
Teaching methods
Response opportunities for students
Activities for acquisition & mastery
Teacher responses

Ecological
Physical arrangement
Predictability of environment
Equipment & materials available

Download the Classroom Assessment Tool from our the classroom

section on our website.

15
 Step 3. Developing Hypotheses
Review the hypotheses developed during the FBA process. Remember that the
more precise the hypothesis is, the more likely that the intervention developed will
adequately remedy the problem.

A hypothesis may have been developed that specifically addresses a curricular

or instructional issue. Consider whether the hypothesis can be improved to more
clearly establish a link between instructional and curricular elements and the
students behavior.

If there were no original hypotheses that addressed a task or activity specifically,

and your additional reviews indicated that problem behavior is occurring during
certain tasks or activities, you will need to develop an additional hypothesis. As
always, this hypothesis should be based on data collected and logically relate
the behavior to the situation.
Step 4. Developing Adaptations

Using the existing or newly created hypotheses

and that information collected about the
individual student, create modifications to the
curriculum, instruction or ecology.

17
 Step 5. Monitoring & Evaluating

As with any intervention, it is important that the team

monitors and evaluates the outcomes of the plan.

Monitor student behavior problems as well as

academic participation. Determine if adaptations
are having a positive effect; are problem behaviors
less frequent??, is the student more engaged in
learning activities??.

If outcomes are not positive, consider additional or

different adaptations and continue to monitor.
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Adaptations

19
 Adaptations

If we understand that a students behavior

problems are a result of curricular and
instructional issues, what do we do to assist the
student?

Often we can start by making adaptations to

the curriculum, to the instruction, or the
ecology in which instruction occurs.
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 What are Adaptations?
Adaptations are changes to learning task
requirements, such as changes to the instructional
content, teaching methods, materials or physical
environment.

These changes are temporary or reduced in intensity

over time.

Example: Use of a calculator instead of paper and

pencil
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 Types of Adaptations
There are three (3) general types of
adaptations related to the learning
environment:

Curricular Adaptations
Instructional Adaptations
Ecological Adaptations

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 Curricular
Adaptations

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The first of the three categories
of adaptations is Curricular.

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 Curricular Adaptations

Curricular adaptations require an evaluation of student learning

goals. There may be occasions when instructional objectives
are modified in the adaptation process, but typically,
instructional objectives can remain constant in the midst of
adaptation.

Curricular adaptations involve changes to any part of the

teaching-learning process including:

Teacher instructional methods and strategies

Instructional materials and learning activities
Performance requirements
Testing procedures
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 Three Types Curricular
Adaptations
There are three types of curricular adaptations.

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 Task Difficulty
For some students, facing a task that is challenging, or that the student
perceives to be challenging, may lead to problem behaviors.

There are a variety of ways to address tasks which are perceived to be difficult,
including:

Incorporating or alternating mastered skills/activities with novel skills/activities

(i.e. addition with subtraction)
Adjusting difficulty level (i.e. reading the same novel at a lower reading level)
Providing errorless learning opportunities (increases confidence)
Shorten difficult assignments
Completing task steps at a lower difficulty level (i.e. science project with a
less complex topic)

The intentions of these modifications are to keep the student engaged through
careful adjustments that still allow for academic progress.
 Student Snapshot Task Difficulty
Read the following Student Snapshot relevant to task difficulty.

Note: Student Snapshots will be provided throughout this module. Each Snapshot
provides some basic background information and a hypothesis about the function
of the behavior. For this first Snapshot, an adaptation is provided for you. As you
progress through this module, you will be asked to generate appropriate
adaptations.

Sam is a highly articulate 14-yr. old high school student with characteristics of
pervasive developmental disorder. He has a wide range of academic skills; his
vocabulary skills, reading comprehension, and general knowledge are his
strengths, whereas he finds math and other skill areas that require close decision
making more challenging.

Hypothesis: When Sam is presented with tasks that require high order thinking skills,
he engages in self-injurious behavior to avoid completing the assigned task.

Curricular Adaptations: The content was simplified by eliminating technical,

conceptually difficult or confusing material. Sam completed the new tasks
appropriately.
 Preference/Interest
A student who has difficulty remaining engaged in a task will
certainly miss opportunities for making achievement gains, and
may become disruptive to the learning environment.
Incorporating student preferences and interests can increase
students engagement in tasks.

Student preferences are those things that the student prefers

including tasks, activities, modes of response, order of activities,
Etc.. Preference can be identified by quick and/or successful
completion of tasks, good quality of work, evidence that a
student is proud of his or her work, positive attitude regarding a
particular task/activity, etc.
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 Incorporating Student
Preferences
To incorporate student preferences, modify the assignment to include some
preferential aspect:
Jack prefers manipulative activities over fine-motor activities
Activity is to count and color on a worksheet
Incorporate preference - provide manipulatives in counting lesson
Count specified number of milk cartons and sort them into groups

Another way to incorporate student preference is to alternate preferred activities

with non-preferred activities:
Jack prefers manipulative activities over fine-motor activities
Activity is to count and color on a worksheet
Incorporate preference - alternate manipulatives with paper/pencil tasks in
counting lesson
Count specified number of milk cartons and sort them into groups, then
record and color on worksheet

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 Interests

When student interests or preferences are

incorporated into an activity, the activity becomes
more reinforcing to the student, increasing the
likelihood of task engagement and reducing the
likelihood of problem behavior.

Student interests can be determined through

observation or simple questioning. The interests may
be curriculum content related (civil war, outer space),
or recreational in nature (playing basketball, drawing).
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Incorporating Student Interest
Student interests can be incorporated into tasks by modifying the
content topic or by providing choices. When modifications are
made to incorporate student interest, instructional objectives
should remain constant.

Examples:
Number concepts using items of interest as manipulatives (i.e.
dogs, cars, dolls, coins)
Provide a menu of choices (choice as a means of expressing
interest)
Tracing objects of interest

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 Adaptation Exercise
Read the following Student Snapshot related to:
Preference/Interest and generate an appropriate adaptation:
Juan is a student of average intellectual ability in a classroom for
children with severe emotional disturbance. He rarely completes the daily
handwriting activity and often engages in disruptive behavior.

Hypothesis:
When presented with typical handwriting sheets to copy, Juan engages
in off-task and disruptive behavior, to avoid completing the assignement.

Now take a few moments and create an appropriate adaptation.

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 Sample Adaptation
Did you come up with an adaptation? Read the actual
adaptation that was made for Juan.

Curricular Adaptation: Juans teacher noted his interest in

Nintendo games. She created new handwriting copy sheets
that detailed hints for playing his favorite Nintendo game.
Juan completed the new handwriting assignments in a timely
manner without disruptive behavior.

Was your adaptation similar? Maybe not. There are many ways
of incorporating student interest, let your imagination run wild!

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Student Snapshot Examples
Before After
 Task Meaningfulness
If a task is meaningful to a student, the student will be
more likely to be engaged in the task. A task which is
meaningful is one that the student finds relevant to
their life and/or has a functional outcome. It
emphasizes the skills needed to participate in priority
activities in the community.

Traditional tasks can be made more meaningful by

developing functional or purposeful activities that
meet overall learning objectives.
36
 Meaningful/Functional Example
Student: Jill Objective: Correctly form letters using manuscript

Traditional Activity: Copy words from handwriting book onto a blank

sheet of lined paper for duration of 15 minutes.

Traditional Mastery: Time Limit. Upon completion, Jill raises her hand to
inform the teacher that she is finished, turns in paper, and goes on to
next activity.

*******************************************************
Functional Activity: Develop and write captions related to photos taken
earlier in the week onto a blank sheet of lined paper for duration of 15
minutes.

Functional Mastery; Time Limit. After completion, Jill adds completed

captions to photo album being created as a product.
37
 Meaningful/Functional Example

Student: Jerry Objective: Complete a multi-step assembly task

Traditional Activity: Six parts of a pen are presented in individual pieces;

Jerry assembles each pen by placing parts of the pen together and
then placing the completed object in a bin.
Traditional Mastery: Completion. Place completed pen in designated
area, indicate completion by checking off activity on the board,
move on the next activity.
****************************************************

Functional Activity: Five-step task to make peanut butter and jelly

sandwiches; pieces of the task are laid out sequentially; Jerry is
required to complete the steps and put the finished sandwich on a
plate.
Functional Mastery: Completion. Student places plate of sandwiches
aside to be given to class for snack later. Check off activity on board
and continue with next activity.
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Instructional
Adaptations

39
 Instructional Adaptations
The second category of adaptations is
Instructional.
 Instructional Adaptations
Instructional Adaptations involve changing the way in
which material is presented and/or the way the
student practices or demonstrates learning.

There are two (2) general types of instructional

adaptations:
Instructional Presentation
Student Response or Output

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 Adapting the Presentation

Adaptations to the presentation involve changes to:

The information provided during a lesson

The directions provided for an activity
The manner in which the information is provided
(i.e. brief lectures, cues, prompts)
The materials provided for a student during practice
or evaluation

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 Adapting the Presentation

Presentation can be adapted through a variety of

means including:

Task Alternation
Modality
Print Materials
Task Division
Choices
Student Response
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 Task Alternation
Task alternation is the interspersing of different types of
activities usually involving a variety of levels of interest,
difficulty, and format. Some suggested ways to
intersperse activities are:

Novel activities with familiar activities

Preferred activities with non-preferred activities
Teacher directed with independent work
Lecture with interactive activities
Paper and pencil with manipulatives
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 Task Alternation Snapshot

Read the following Student Snapshot related to task alternation.

Generate an adaptation for Sally.

Sally is a 7-year old diagnosed with autism and severe mental

retardation. She is non-verbal, has poor attending skills and exhibits
repetitive behaviors (e.g. rocking). During attempts to teach Sally simple
signs, she becomes decreasingly engaged and increasingly upset to the
point of terminating the activity.

Hypothesis: When Sally is engaged in frustrating learning activities, she

becomes off-task and disruptive, to avoid participating in the task.

How can the presentation of the task be adapted for Sally? (Move to
the next frame after you have thought of an adaptation).

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 Task Alternation Snapshot

Did you think of an adaptation? Read the actual

adaptation created for Sally below:

Curricular Adaptation: Instruction of new signs was

presented intermittently with directions to engage in
previously mastered skills such as hand clapping and
pointing to familiar items upon request

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Adapting the Presentation: Modality

Modality has to do with the type of sensory involvement that is

important to the learner. Learners respond to various types of
sensory input in different ways. Sensory channels include visual,
auditory, tactile and kinesthetic.

Adaptations to presentation modality involve providing the instructional

input in various ways including:

Reading text aloud to students

Accompanying oral information with overheads, graphic organizers,
visual pictures, maps or outlines
Providing audio or videotapes to accompany or supplement texts
Provide models or physical demonstrations

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 Adapting the Presentation to
Print Materials
Adaptations to print materials are somewhat similar to adaptations to
modality except that this type of modification is related solely to the
printed materials provided to students.

Examples of adaptations to print materials:

Highlight a content area textbook (yellow for vocabulary words, blue

for definitions)
Provide large-print materials
Provide answer boxes or more room to write on tests and worksheets
Add pictures and/or symbols to text

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 Print Materials Snapshot
Student Snapshot:

Susan is a middle school student diagnosed with severe learning

disabilities including dyslexia & ADHD. She is served in regular education
classes. During social studies activities involving the use of the textbook,
Susan is frequently off-task and disruptive. However, Susan participates
during social studies discussion activities.

Hypothesis: When Susan is presented with new reading material in a

content area textbook, she becomes disruptive to avoid participating in
the task.

What kind of adaptation could be made to the print materials for

Susan? (Move to the next frame after you have thought of an
adaptation)
49
 Print Materials Snapshot
Did you think of an adaptation? Read the actual
adaptation created for Susan.

Curricular adaptations: The social studies text was

copied in a large font with increased space between
the lines. This text was assigned as homework on the
day before they were to cover it in class. Susan was
able to save face by using the same text as others
during class, yet she felt more confident with reading
the content because she had reviewed it in a format
that was more comfortable for her.
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 Adapting the Presentation:
Task Division
Task division is a simple means of adapting an activity. The
student will be assigned and complete the entire assignment, but that
assignment is divided into smaller increments.

Typically, task division involves reducing the amount of task presented to

the student at any given time. Instead of giving a student an entire
page of spelling words to review, give the student 3 words at a time until
all the work has been completed.

By dividing the task, the student will be less likely to become

overwhelmed by the amount of work to be accomplished, they will
have greater opportunity to experience successful work completion,
and they may have more opportunity for staff recognition and
feedback.

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 Task Division Snapshot
Student Snapshot:

Josh is an elementary age student in a classroom for students with mild

mental retardation. During math skills practice, he would refuse to do his
work and often destroyed his worksheets. In response, the teacher often
stopped requiring him to complete the math tasks.

Hypothesis: When Josh is presented with a full page of math problems

to complete, he refuses to comply and destroys his materials to avoid
the task.

Develop a possible adaptation for Josh that involves task division.

(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an adaptation)
 Task Division Snapshot

Did you think of an adaptation? Read the following

adaptation that was made for Josh:

Curricular adaptations: Considering Joshs comments

such as its too much, his teacher cut his worksheet
into strips by row. Strips were then presented one at
a time with feedback after each completed strip.
After adaptations, Josh generally completed all his
work with no problems.

53
 Adapting the Presentation:
Present Choices
Researchers have clearly linked the opportunity to make choices
to reductions in problem behaviors. Additionally, the ability to
make choices is an important social skill. However, the
opportunity to make choices during the school day is generally
limited. For students with disabilities, it is usually even more
restricted.

The opportunity to make choices can be provided in many areas

throughout the school day. Opportunities to make choices
regarding academic activities can include choice of task,
response method, who to work with, where to complete work,
and others.
 Present Choices Snapshot

Student Snapshot:

James is an animated 11-yr. old student with severe mental

retardation. When presented with tasks using manipulatives, he
often throws them across the room. During free-time, James
often chooses those same items to play with.

Hypothesis: When the teacher assigned James a learning

activity, he becomes disruptive to avoid engaging in the task.

Develop an adaptation for James that involves choice.

(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an
adaptation)
55
 Present Choices Snapshot

Did you come up with a means of providing

choice for James? Read the following
adaptation that was made for James:

Curricular adaptations: James was allowed to

choose from a list of 3-4 activities which all
met the teachers learning objective for the day.
James selected the task and remained engaged.

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 Adapting Student
Response
Adapting the student response concerns the way in
which students demonstrate their knowledge or skill;
their output. Student responses include listening to
a lecture, reading a resource book, note taking,
organizing and writing information, selecting from
multiple choice options, verbal response, and others.

Sometimes student behaviors can be improved when

the method of response required is changed or
modified. Changes to student response may address
modality or print material.
57
 Adapting Student Response:
Modality
Modality, as discussed in adaptations of presentations, is related
to sensory channels (sometimes referred to as learning styles).
Adaptations to response modality involve changes in the means
by which a student demonstrates knowledge or skill.

Examples of response modality adaptations are:

Dictate answers, rather than writing them on paper

Use a computer to demonstrate spelling word knowledge
Make models of entities with labels (i.e. plant cell from
Playdoh)

58
 Modality Snapshot
Student Snapshot:

Rylee, a 6-yr. old kindergarten student in a classroom for students

identified with severe emotional disturbance, was frequently off-
task and disruptive during math activities involving worksheet to
practice counting.

Hypothesis: During paper and pencil math activities, Rylee engages in

off-task and disruptive behavior to avoid completing the assigned
activity.

How can the response modality for Rylee be adapted?

(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an adaptation)

59
 Modality Snapshot

Did you develop an adaptation for Rylee?

Read the actual adaptation below:

Curricular adaptations: After identifying

Rylees interest in Legos, the worksheet
counting activity was replaced with counting
Legos as she constructed objects.

60
 Adapting Student Response:
Print Material
Students are often required to respond in print format that usually
involves pencil/paper tasks. However, there are a variety of other ways
to demonstrate knowledge and skill. Adapting student response in print
material involves minimizing the use of pencil/paper, limiting the length
of paper/pencil activities, and using alternatives to print.

Some samples of adaptations to print material include:

Count, add, or subtract with play money rather than printed

worksheets
Complete a chart, map or outline instead of writing an essay about a
novel or story
Use a computer rather than paper/pencil to record answers

61
 Print Material Snapshot

Student Snapshot:

Amy is a 10-year old child diagnosed with autism. During her

daily letter tracing assignments using a paper and pencil, Amy
becomes disruptive; yelling and throwing her materials.

Hypothesis: When Amy is presented with paper/pencil tasks; she

becomes disruptive to avoid working on the task.

Consider what kind of adaptation could be made to the print

materials used with Amy.
(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an
adaptation)
62
 Print Material Snapshot

Did you think of an adaptation for the print materials?

Read the actual adaptation below:

Curriculum Adaptations: Amys teacher noticed that

during free time, Amy often chose to use the dry erase
board. She obtained a small dry-erase board for Amy
to use in her handwriting practice. (In the future, the
dry-erase assignment will be alternated with typical
paper/pencil tasks.)
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 Ecological
Adaptations

64
 Ecological Adaptations

Ecological Adaptations:
Research shows that the most effective
schools are those with a well-ordered
environment and high academic expectations.
 Ecological Adaptations
Adaptation to the ecology involves
modifications to the physical surroundings of
the situation; the setting for the task/activity,
sights, sounds and arrangements.

The purpose of ecological adaptations is to

enable a student with social, behavioral, or emotional
needs to cope with the demands of the environment
while learning new skills.
66
Types of Ecological Adaptations

67
 Ecological Adaptations: Where

Change the place in which the student is to work on the task or

activity:

Provide a private place for a student who has difficulty

concentrating or staying on task (e.g. study carrel, quiet room)
Minimize congestion and clear traffic lanes
Groups/stations positioned to minimize distractions
Clear lines of vision to the students
Students see all instructional displays
Clearly post behavioral expectations

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 Where Snapshot

Student Snapshot:

Andy is a 9-yr. old in a classroom for students with varying

exceptionalities. He is an intelligent and conscientious boy who
experiences a significant amount of frustration in his work. During
independent seatwork his frustration at becoming distracted by things
around him lead him to self-injurious behaviors.

Hypothesis: When there is movement and noise around him during

seatwork; Andy becomes distracted and engages in self-injurious
behavior to get himself to attend to the task at hand.

How could you adapt the where aspect of the ecology for Andy?
(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an adaptation)

69
 Where Snapshot
Did you consider an adaptation to where
for Andy? Read the actual adaptation made
below.

Ecological Adaptations: Andy was given the

opportunity to work at his regular desk, or in a
study carrel. When things around him distracted
Andy, he could move to the carrel where he could
focus on his work.
70
 Ecological Adaptations: When

Change the time during which the student is expected to work

on a particular task.

Adapt the daily schedule to provide additional breaks

Find opportunities for a student to spend extra time with
preferred adults or peers
Post the daily schedule
Develop individualized student schedules when needed
Post procedures for transition and non-transition times
Intersperse preferred with non-preferred tasks
Provide predictable routines
Color code scheduling information
71
 When Snapshot

Demetrius is an engaging 8 yr. old boy in a classroom for students

with mild to moderate mental retardation. During group
activities such as circle time, story time, and calendar, Demetrius
is engaged. During independent work activities, especially those
that require him to remain seated and quiet, he becomes
disruptive.

Hypothesis: During independent work activities, Demetrius

becomes disruptive to get attention from others.

How can the when of the ecology be adapted for Demetrius?

(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an
adaptation)
72
 When Snapshot

Did you think of an adaptation for Demetrius? See

how your adaptation compares to the actual
adaptation described below:

Ecological Adaptation: The schedule was adjusted to

ensure that independent activities were alternated
with interactive activities. A picture schedule was
developed to cue Demetrius that a preferred activity
is coming.
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 Ecological Adaptation: Who

Change the people involved in completing a particular task or activity:

Use a different teacher for a particular subject or activity

Reduce the adult-to-student ratio
Change the number of peers with whom the student is
grouped for instruction
Promote friendships between students with and without
disabilities
Provide inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities
Put mechanisms in place for regular and effective
communication between student and teacher

74
 Who Snapshot
Student Snapshot:

Alena is a 15-yr. old student diagnosed with autism, who is

mainstreamed in regular classes. In math and science, Alena is
frequently non-compliant and occasionally becomes disruptive. In
language arts, Alena participates appropriately. It was identified that
Alenas math and science classes contained over 30 students, while her
language arts class had only 20.

Hypothesis: When working in a large group of students, Alena is

disruptive to get attention from the teacher

How can the who of the ecology be adapted for Alena?

(Move to the next frame after you have thought of an adaptation)

75
 Who Snapshot
Did you think of an adaptation for Alena? Was it
similar to the actual adaptation described below:

Ecological Adaptation: Alena was switched to math

and science classes that contained fewer students
and was moved to a seat near the teacher to
enable the teacher to give her that additional
attention that she needed to be successful in class.

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 Review
Problem behaviors in the classroom can often be eliminated or
generally reduced by making adaptations to the learning
environment including curriculum, instruction, and the ecological
environment.

The adaptation of curriculum and instruction can result in

improved behaviors and increase the opportunity for learning.
 Accommodations
Accommodations are modifications that are documented by the eligibility
process and specified in a students Individualized Education Plan. They
are provided to enable the student to gain access to the classroom or the
curriculum.

Many of the Adaptations described in this module may be identified as

accommodations in a students IEP or 504 plan.

Sample accommodations:
Extra time for a test
Accompany oral directions with written directions
Tape recorded versions of printed materials
Larger bubbles on multiple-choice questions

78