Carlena Lowell

SEI 523 Functional Outcomes

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Functional Outcomes
Carlena Lowell
SEI 523
November 17, 2013












Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Functional Outcomes
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*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality
Introduction
The following are lists of informal and formal functional outcomes as derived from
the Routines-Based Interview (RBI) completed with the family on October 24, 2013.
Toward the end of the RBI, the mother, Marge, identified eleven items she would like to
work on, which became the list of informal outcomes. From that list I have developed
eleven functional outcomes. During the interview Marge prioritized the top three, and
then explained the rest of the items were all manageable and she tries not to stress
about them. Therefore, the first three functional outcomes are the top three prioritized
informal outcomes, and the following are in chronological order of how the list was
developed during the RBI.
Informal Outcomes
1. Marge nervous about Bart starting daycare
2. Taking Bart to school to pick Lisa (age 5) up
3. Bart not vocalizing
4. Milhouses difficulty with school
5. Bart playing with chords (the older kids take the socket protectors out and leave
them on the floor, then Bart will pick them up and put them in his mouth)
6. Bart now being able to open doors, and what he can get into behind said doors
(e.g. Lisas toys with small pieces)
7. Diaper changing
8. Dressing
9. Getting Bart out the door in the morning to get Lisa to school on time
Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Functional Outcomes
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10. The after bath time when Bart needs to get lotion, a diaper, and dressed in
pajamas
11. Lack of down time for Marge (although she does enjoy taking care of her house
and family, she does not have much time to herself at all)
Formal Outcomes
1. Marge will develop and use strategies to help her and Bart cope with separation
anxiety from one another at Barts new daycare. We will know this has been
done when Marge and Bart can separate easily from one another at daycare
drop off three times a week for two consecutive weeks.
2. Bart will participate in picking Lisa up from school by following directions Marge
gives him. We will know he can do this when he follows Marges directions within
two times of her giving the direction for five consecutive days.
3. Bart will participate in mealtimes and playtimes by saying words. We will know
he can do this when he says at least two words during each time of day for two
consecutive weeks.
4. Milhouse will participate in after school home work time by completing his daily
homework and allowing Marge to check it. We will know he can do this when he
completes his homework and Marge checks it in four out of five days for three
consecutive weeks.
5. During playtime and hanging out time Marge will remind the older children to put
the outlet covers back in the sockets so Bart is unable to access the sockets with
chords. We will know this is met when the older kids put the outlet cover back in
the sockets after every use for two consecutive weeks.
Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Functional Outcomes
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6. Bart will participate in playtime and dinner preparation by staying in the living
room, dining room, and game room. We will know he is able to do this when he
stays in the living room, dining room, and game room during playtime and dinner
preparation for five consecutive days.
7. Bart will participate in diaper changing by lying on his changing table while Marge
is changing him. We will know he can do this when he lies on the changing table
during each diaper changing for five consecutive days.
8. Bart will participate in getting dressed by pushing his arms through his shirt
sleeves and his legs through his pant legs. We will know he can do this when he
pushes his arms through the sleeves and his legs through the pant legs for seven
consecutive days.
9. Bart will participate in taking Lisa to school by walking out to the car with Marge
when he is asked to. We will know he can do this when he walks out to the car
with Marge within two times of her asking each school day for two consecutive
weeks.
10. Bart will participate in diaper changing, lotion application, and getting dressed
after bath time by lying on his diaper changing table while the lotion and his
diaper are put on and pushing his arms and legs through his clothes while getting
dressed. We will know he can participate in the after bath activities when he
does these things for five consecutive nights.
11. Marge will visit with friends or do something of her choosing one night per week.
We will know she can do this when she visited with friends or done something of
her choosing one night per week for four consecutive weeks.
Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Functional Outcomes
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Reflection
In the practicum plan I wrote at the beginning of the semester, I noted writing
functional outcomes is an area I need practice with; this still holds true. Writing these
functional outcomes was harder than I anticipated. Even referring to the resources I
have, I still struggled with some of them. I realized around outcome #3 that I may be
overanalyzing, as I tend to do, and I could write the in more simple terms. For example,
rather than assigning specific words to outcome three, which was what I began to do, I
wrote say more words. I do feel I am getting a better grip on writing child-level
outcomes than I am writing family-level outcomes. This is likely due to the fact that in
the short amount of time I have been practicing participated-based functional outcomes,
I have written many more child-level than family-level.
I found many of these informal outcomes to be difficult to put into formal
outcomes. For example, number five, Bart playing with chords; this was a hard
informal outcome to develop into a functional outcome for me. I chose to develop this
into a family-level outcome as there are preventative measures that can be taken by
family members to prevent Bart from being able to access these outlets. In the future I
plan to identify the specific routines better, as well as word things differently (more
positively), when creating the list of informal outcomes with the parents during the RBI.
I feel participation based outcome writing is something I will become better at with more
practice, and I am looking forward to it.