SAMPLE BEHAVIOR PLAN

Individual’s Name: John Doe

Date of Birth: August 31, 1981
Diagnosis: Moderate Mental Retardation
Medications: None
Allergies: N/A

(Demographic information should include basic things like: age, name,

date of birth, official diagnosis, any secondary diagnoses, current
medications, allergies, etc.)

History: John is a 31 year old Cuban-American male who resides in a

state licensed community residence in Norcross, GA. He resides in the
home with two other male residents, one of whom is a recent addition.
John is a friendly and sociable person, who enjoys watching TV and
visiting the community pool. John has a history of elopement,
emotional outbursts, and anxiety. John sees his psychiatrist every 3
months, and is on a limited sodium diet. John’s challenging behaviors
had been latent since March of 2012, and have recently increased in
frequency. The most recent behavioral event occurred in August of 2012
when John attacked a staff member during lunch time. Staff members
at the residence report that John’s challenging behaviors often occur
randomly, and for no apparent reason. Staff states that John will be
calm and quiet, and then will suddenly lash out.
This behavior plan was created based on John’s history and current
behavioral problems, and to ensure that staff members are aware of
the protocols that must be kept in place to support John.

(The history, or background, is usually obtained from record review or

parent/staff interview. Include a variety of information to give a
snapshot of the individual, what they like, what behaviors are
occurring, frequency of behaviors, staff/parent reaction to behaviors,
and remember to include any suggested functions of the behavior that
the parents or staff mention. In this example, the staff gave the
function of “no reason”. As non-helpful as this response is, it’s very
common that during the interview the parent or staff will tell you the
behavior has no function and “just happens”.)

Problem Behaviors:
1. Physical Aggression- Defined as John attempting to or successfully
punching another person with a closed fist, or slapping with an open
palm against the body of another person. This behavior typically occurs
when John is given a demand.
2. Vocal Threats- Defined as John making inappropriate expressive
statements directed towards others, pertaining to causing physical
harm. This behavior does not include when John is "scripting" dialogue
from a TV show or movie.

(An operational definition is a way of defining a behavior in simple,

observable terms. Avoid using definitions that are vague, overly
technical, or can’t be observed—like thinking. The reason it’s important
to define the problem behavior is so that everyone is intervening on the
right behavior. If one person describes a hit as a “punch” and another
person thinks a hit is a “slap”, then those two people will be
intervening differently, which will cause the behavior plan to be
ineffective. Its a good idea to include exclusions of the problem
behavior: what the behavior is not )

Function of Behaviors: Based on the results of the FBA (see attached),

John is most likely to engage in physical aggression or verbal threats
when staff member Kevin is on duty. Frequency of physical aggression
or verbal threats increased by 75% when Kevin was present. John is
least likely to engage in physical aggression or verbal threats when he is
engaged in a preferred activity, or interacting with staff member David,
or staff member Bobby. The hypothesized function of both the physical
aggression and the verbal threats is attention. Currently, the staff only
give direct statements or conversation to John during daily routines,
such as telling him to make his bed or turn off the TV. It was observed
that in a 5 hour period, no reinforcement or praise was given to John.
When John exhibits problem behaviors, staff will speak in a loud tone of
voice, sit near John, or talk to John to calm him down. It was also
observed during the FBA that the non-targeted staff members will often
run into the room when John begins exhibiting problem behaviors, and
2-3 staff members will simultaneously attempt to calm John down.

(The FBA and accompanying data would be attached to this behavior

plan. It’s typical to use a color coded line graph. Make data based
decisions by using the data to confirm or deny your hypothesized
function. Along with the results of the FBA, refer to information
obtained during interview or observation to bolster your findings.)
Behavioral Strategies/Intervention: Staff member Kevin will switch
shifts with staff member Lonnie, so that Kevin is working at night when
John is asleep. Staff member David had the least amount of aggression
directed towards him (3%), and he appears to be very reinforcing to
John. Staff member David will be the main staff assisting John
throughout the day, and will watch a 30 minute TV show with John 3
times per day. For every 10 minutes that John is calm and quiet, he will
earn one token. At the end of 30 minutes if John has at least 2 tokens
then he can earn extra TV time, or select a staff member to take him to
the community pool. When delivering a token provide behavior-specific
praise with eye contact, such as “Great job reading quietly, John”. If
John exhibits problem behavior, use blocking and a 2 person restraint
hold to maintain safety. Avoid direct eye contact with John, and use
minimal language with a calm tone of voice. No other staff member
should be present except the 2 staff members performing the restraint
hold. If John begins making verbal threats, do not respond. Do not
engage John in conversation or argue with John. Once John is calm and
has stopped making threats, provide eye contact and redirect John to
an appropriate activity.

(A good number of recommended strategies is 2-4. Avoid giving just 1

suggestion, because the staff/parents may dislike that option and
refuse to carry it out. If the parents or staff do not agree with your
behavior plan then you must revise it--you must get the people who will
implement the behavior plan on board with following it. Include simple
strategies as well as more complex strategies. Since the behavior
happened the most with Kevin, the simplest option is to remove Kevin
from the environment. The more complex option would be to
implement a system of reinforcement, and to give John an appropriate
way to gain staff attention. A replacement behavior  is what you want
the person to do instead of the problem behavior. An incompatible
behavior  is something that the person cannot do at the same time as
the problem behavior. You will not be able to come up with a
replacement behavior for every problem behavior, and sometimes you
have to settle for an incompatible behavior, or shaping the problem
behavior into something more appropriate.)