Jasmine

Jasmine is a 16 year old 10th grader who has low self estem. This low self esteem has led to problems socially with her peers and others around her. Some of the problems have come from how she has interacted with others in the past, she was in a level 3 EBD room and did not have many good interactions due to her behaviors. She has now become more mainstream but previous interactions have made it hard for her to be accepted.

Seth

Seth is a 4 year old boy who, by the end of winter break, has gone from living with mom through Labor Day weekend, then with Grandma until just after Christmas and is now in the care and custody of his aunt and uncle. He lives with his aunt, uncle, their 3 children and his sister in his aunt and uncles home which is near both mom and grandma. At the time that he and his sister moved there, mom had made several trips to jail or rehab and grandma has visitation but no longer has legal rights to make decisions on academic or medical issues. The current living situation is the most stable of the three that he has been in during the school year, but is not a permanent placement. By the end of the school year, Seth and his sister's social worker will have completed the process of terminating mom's parental rights and finding a permanent placement for Seth and his sister. Seth's father is deceased, his sister has a different father, and his aunt and uncle have stated that they are committed to helping through the end of the school year but are not interested in taking permanent custody of the children.

At school, Seth displays many disruptive and, at times, destructive behaviors. The majority of the disruptive behaviors that Seth displays are during large group times when the whole class is on the rug doing the calendar and listening to a story, during small group times when Seth is working on a specific activity with a teacher and 3 to 4 other peers and during lunch when Seth is sitting at a table with a teacher and up to 7 other peers eating lunch or snack. Occasionally, Seth will display these behaviors during free play time when the students are given up to 30 minutes to choose their choice of play activities in the classroom, during gym time which alternates between free choice of gym toys/activities or a structured large class game, or during playground time. During free play time or playground time, Seth prefers to play alone often spending all of his time painting at the easel or digging in the sandbox.

Disruptive behaviors are defined, for Seth, as being shouting while the teacher is talking, physically touching a child or other person near him when that is not part of the activity he is participating in such as sitting for a story, running around when he should be sitting on the carpet or in a chair and throwing objects when it is not part of the activity such as a gym game. Destructive activities have been defined, for Seth, as damaging property that does not belong to him such as ripping pages out of books or another student's journal, writing on things that are not appropriate such as classroom walls, tables or cubbies, and physically tearing things apart such as books and journals or classroom toys.

I believe that the function of Seth's behaviors is to get attention, either good or bad. When ignored, Seth's behaviors tend to escalate until someone says something to him or makes physical contact with him. He enjoys having a seat near the teacher and will usually work toward a reward of some sort (sticker, trinket, etc.). Seth is being assessed for having Fetal Alcohol Effects, but has not yet been given a label or qualified for ECSE services.

Melissa

Melissa is a ten year old 5th grader who has been bullying other kids. She takes their hats, pop bottles, jackets, etc. and runs away with them and refuses to give them back unless an adult intervenes. She will also throw things at them like erasers, small balls, pencils, etc. When confronted by the adult about why she took something or hit someone she always says "They started it." When she is told to apologize she becomes defensive and will only apologize if it appears the adult is getting angry with her.

Melissa has high functioning autism and ADD. She lives with both of her biological parents and has an older brother who is in high school. Her dad works a lot of the time and the mom is loving but spacey at times. She does not have trouble socializing with other students, but most of the time she can be overeager and aggressive. She does not like when people are mad at her. If an adult gets angry with her she will start crying and be very apologetic.

I believe she is trying to gain attention from either a student or an adult or both. Taking someone else's things or hurting them will always get attention and she doesn't get the same attention when she acts nicely.

Jayne

Jayne is a 16 year old female tenth grade student. She currently lives with her paternal grandparents. She has also lived with her father and stepmother, and her mother and the mother's boyfriend during the past two years. Neither of her parents or grandparents have guardianship. Her legal guardian is her social worker. Jayne has attended four different schools in the last two years. Jayne has been diagnosed with Emotional/Behavioral Disorder. She is not currently taking any prescription medications.

Jayne has trouble controlling her temper. When asked to do something she doesn't want to do, she often gets into verbal power struggles with adults and peers. This may happen one to two times daily, and last between three to five minutes at a very intense level. Teachers react to this behavior by stating what is expected of her and leaving her alone to think about it until she regains control, usually five to seven minutes. Consequences for this behavior include loss of privileges, calling her grandmother, or calling the social worker/guardian.

Jayne is confrontational when asked to do academic tasks that she doesn't want to do. The operational definition of confrontational is arguing with teachers/adults and arguing with peers. The function is that she gets into an argument when asked to do academic work and then is asked to leave the room, therefore avoiding the work.

Case Study:

Amy is a four-year-old girl who attends a Minneapolis preschool. Her class has roughly twenty other students. Amy lives with both her mom and dad, as well as an older sister. She has no known disabilities or relevant medical issues, but has had some comprehensive dental work done in the past three months.

She is generally cheerful and has many friends and playmates. She loves to play pretend games, sometimes at the expense of focusing on tasks she should be doing. She has two or three friends in particular that she spends most of her time with. She can occasionally be crabby or sullen, usually when asked to focus on a task when she had be playing. She also occasionally avoids using the bathroom or tries to avoid going to nap, most often when she is playing happily with friends she doesn't wish to leave.

The target behavior:

During group time, Amy has a tantrum if she is asked or brought over to join the group. She is allowed to be excused from group, but she must first sit down and ask politely to be excused as any other child would.

Operational Definition:

The operational definition for "tantrum" includes running away, hiding, crying or screaming, or physically pushing the teacher when approached.

Function:

The function of the behavior is to avoid group time, which she says is "boring."

Thomas

Thomas is 16 and in the 10th grade. Thomas' target behavior is refusing to work in class, doesn't follow directions, argues and uses inappropriate verbalizations to staff, teachers and his peers. Academically, Thomas is below his peers in writing and reading. The function of his behavior is avoiding tasks he feels he cannot complete or is uncofortable doing. His behavior allows him attention and to escape doing work.

Rebecca is a 8 year old, 3rd Grade student. She does very well academically, and is well liked by her teachers and peers. She has an outgoing personality and usually a happy girl.


The setting of her target behavior is at home. The target behavior is her avoidance of talking about any type of issues or problems that she has after having a crying episode. The operational definition of her avoidance is to say, "I don't want to talk about it" or to avoid eye contact and go into a different room and shut the door. For example, she got into trouble on the bus, but refuses to say what she did. The function of her behavior is to avoid attention.