Functional Behaviour Assessment and Graphing Baseline Data - Assignment

1. This assignment relates to the following Course Learning Requirements:  
2. Apply in theory and practice the principles and procedures of ABA/IBI in working with children with ASD.
3. Evaluate treatment effectiveness through data collection, graphing and analysis, and report findings
5. Apply knowledge of clinical standards and practice guidelines as appropriate to both hypothetical and real situations
6. Discuss and demonstrate the development of hypotheses pertaining to the function of challenging behaviours, the development of client-focused goals, and write behavioural objectives relevant to the treatment of challenging behaviours.

Objective of this Assignment:    The purpose of this assignment is collect, analyze and interpret data collected using both direct and indirect methods of functional behaviour assessment and practice collecting and graphing baseline data.
Instructions:  
Choose a child that you know well and ask their parent for their consent to observe them. A family member, friend or neighbor is recommended. As an alternative, you can watch a TV show (for example, “Super Nanny”). Select 1 target problem behaviour.
Tip: Choose a behaviour that occurs frequently so you will have plenty of opportunity to record the necessary data.
Tip: If multiple problem behaviours occur simultaneously, consider selecting only 1.

1. Write an operational definition of this problem behaviour.
2. Using an ABC recording form (select from resources provided), record the antecedent, behaviour and consequence for at least 5 occurrences of this behaviour.
3. Analyze the ABC data to determine a hypothesized function and write a summary statement.
4. Have someone who has observed this person’s behaviour often answer the questions on the Functional Assessment Screening Tool (FAST). Summarize the results on the form and report the findings in 1 or 2 sentences. Comment on whether or not these findings correspond to the results of the ABC.  
5. Collect baseline data on the frequency of the target behaviour over 3 separate recording periods (eg. 3 one hour samples). Report the data in a table and graph the data. Ensure that at least 10 occurr