Behavior support: Center on PBIS | What is PBIS?

Center on PBIS | What is PBIS?

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives. We use ‘students’ to refer to all children and youth in any educational or therapeutic setting (e.g., K-12 school, early childhood program, treatment program, juvenile justice program). Learn more about PBIS in schools, classrooms, early childhood programs and juvenile justice programs on those topic pages.

Schools implementing PBIS:

• Use a continuum of evidence-based practices to support student needs
• Engage students, families, and community members to co-create culturally responsive practices

• Regularly check the effectiveness of their practices
• Rely on teams to guide implementation
• Use data to identify strengths, uncover needs, and monitor student progress
• Implement universal screening
• Develop content expertise through coaching and on-going professional development

PBIS is not a curriculum you purchase or something you learn during a one-day professional development training. It is an ongoing commitment to supporting students, educators, and families through systems change. When you implement PBIS well, students experience improved behavioral, social, emotional, and academic outcomes; schools and programs reduce their use of exclusionary discipline practices and improve their overall climate.  

Check out how schools across the country have implemented PBIS where they are.

Five Elements

PBIS emphasizes five inter-related elements: equity, systems, data, practices, and outcomes.

Equity

When you implement PBIS with fidelity, it fits seamlessly within your local context. To do that requires a focus on aspects of culture and equity. Leadership teams work with members of the school or program community — students, families, and community members — to prioritize valued outcomes and promote high expectations for all students. Centering equity also means supporting educators’ roles in implementation, adapting practices to meet students’ individual needs, and disaggregating data by student group to ensure success for everyone.

As you think about equity in your PBIS implementation, ask yourself: How can we enhance the experiences and outcomes of each educator and student?

Systems

Your foundational systems establish the way your schools and programs operate. Systems include teaming structures, training, coaching, and other supports for educators. In PBIS, these systems support accurate, durable implementation of practices and the effective use of data to achieve better outcomes.

As you think about the systems supporting your PBIS framework, ask yourself:
‍What can we do to sustain our implementation over the long haul?

Data

Your school or program generates a wide range of data about your students every day. Within the PBIS framework, teams use data to select, monitor, and evaluate outcomes, practices, and systems across all three tiers.

As you think about the data available to you, ask yourself:
‍What information do we need to make effective decisions about our PBIS implementation and outcomes?

Practices

The school and classroom practices you implement are critical to supporting students and creating a positive school climate. In PBIS, these interventions and strategies are backed by research and target the outcomes you and your community want to achieve.

As you think about the evidence-based practices you implement, ask yourself:
‍How will we support our students’ behavioral, social, emotional, and academic growth?

Outcomes

The ultimate goal of implementing PBIS data, systems, and practices is to improve outcomes. Families, students, and educators set goals and work together to achieve them. In PBIS, outcomes might include behavioral, social, emotional, and academic growth; positive school climate; or fewer office discipline referrals.

As you think about the outcomes you want to achieve, ask yourself:
‍What is important to each of our communities?

Tiered PBIS Framework

Educators and practitioners provide a continuum of academic, behavioral, social, and emotional support matched to students’ needs. We describe this continuum across three tiers of support.

Foundational systems across all three tiers include:

• A shared vision for a positive school social culture
• A representative leadership team that meets regularly and shares expertise in coaching, social, emotional, behavioral, academic, equity, mental health, physical health, wellness, and trauma  
• Families are actively engaged‍
• A supportive and involved school administration
• On-going access to professional development for preparing all staff to implement each tier of PBIS
• Systematic collection of screening, progress-monitoring, outcome, and fidelity data
• Ongoing use of data for decision making
• Disaggregating data to examine equity among student subgroups

Tier 1: Universal, Primary Prevention (All)

Tier 1 systems, data, and practices support everyone – students, educators, and staff – across all school settings. They establish a foundation for positive and proactive support. Tier 1 support is robust, differentiated, and enables most (80% or more) students to experience success. Tier 1 practices include:

• Collaborating with students, families, and educators to define positive school/program-wide expectations and prioritize appropriate social, emotional, and behavioral skills
• Aligning classroom expectations with school/program-wide expectations
• Explicitly teaching expectations and skills to set all students up for success
• Encouraging and acknowledging expected behavior
• Preventing and responding to unwanted behavior in a respectful, instructional manner
• Fostering school/program-family partnerships

Tier 2: Targeted, Secondary Prevention (Some)

In addition to your Tier 1 foundation, students receiving Tier 2 supports get an added layer of systems, data, and practices targeting their specific needs. On average, about 10-15% of your students will need some type of Tier 2 support. The support you provide at Tier 2 is more focused than at Tier 1 and less intensive than at Tier 3. Tier 2 practices include:

• Providing additional instruction and practice for behavioral, social, emotional, and academic skills
• Increasing adult support and supervision
• Providing additional opportunities for positive reinforcement
• Increasing prompts or reminders
• Increasing access to academic supports
• Increasing school-family communication

Tier 3: Intensive and Individualized, Tertiary Prevention (Few)

At most schools and programs, there are a small number (1-5%) of students for whom Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports have not been sufficient to experience success. At Tier 3, students receive more intensive, individualized support to improve their outcomes. Tier 3 supports are available to any student with intensive need, whether they receive special education services or not. Tier 3 practices include:

• Engaging students, educators, and families in functional behavioral assessments and intervention planning
• Coordinating support through wraparound and person-centered planning
• Implementing individualized, comprehensive, and function-based support

Center on PBIS | School-Wide

What is School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

School-wide PBIS is a multi-tiered framework to make schools more effective places. It establishes a social culture and the behavior supports needed to improve social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes for all students. PBIS is flexible enough support student, family, and community needs.

Foundational Elements of PBIS

The four critical features of SW-PBIS include:

• Locally-meaningful and culturally-relevant outcomes
• Empirically-supported practices
• Systems to support implementation
• Data to monitor effective and equitable implementation and to guide decision making.

Outcomes

Setting observable and measurable goals helps schools hold themselves accountable to creating the kind of place where every student succeeds. Schools select the outcomes to target based on data they find meaningful, culturally equitable, and centered on students’ achievements or school-level implementation.

Practices

Schools implementing PBIS select, implement, monitor, evaluate, and adapt the evidence-based practices they use in their settings. Specifically, they invest in practices that are:

• Defined with precision
• Documented with how and for whom to use them
• Documented with specific outcomes
• Demonstrated through research to be effective

Because PBIS is not a packaged curriculum or intervention, schools implement the core features of evidence-based practices in a way that fits with the schools’ cultural values.

When it comes to school-wide practices, all schools:

• Document a shared vision and approach to supporting and responding to student behavior in a mission or vision statement.
• Establish 3-5 positively-stated school-wide expectations and define them for each school routine or setting.
• Explicitly teach school-wide expectations and other key social, emotional, and behavioral skills to set all students up for success.
• Establish a continuum of recognition strategies to provide specific feedback and encourage contextually appropriate behavior.  
• Establish a continuum of response strategies to provide specific feedback, re-teach contextually appropriate behavior, and discourage contextually inappropriate behavior.

Systems

Schools invest in the administrative, professional, and organizational systems critical to sustain PBIS implementation. These systems create the ability to deliver Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 practices. They also serve as the foundation to establish

• Teaming structures
• Scheduling practices
• Staff selection
• Training and coaching procedures
• On-going data-based problem-solving routines

Data

School-wide PBIS schools collect and use data to guide their implementation and evaluate outcomes. It is critical to consider the local culture and context throughout the decision-making process to ensure equitable outcomes for all students and staff.

Tiers of SWPBIS: Continuum of Support

The type and level of behavior support provided for any student must match the intensity of his or her needs. Student responsiveness to academic and behavioral supports must guide instructional and intervention decisions. Schools implementing PBIS school-wide must organize behavior support across multiple tiers which increase in intensity as students’ needs dictate.

Tier 1: Universal

Tier 1 supports are delivered to all students and emphasize teaching prosocial skills and behavior expectations. Schools acknowledge appropriate student behavior across all school settings. Tier 1 PBIS builds a social culture where students expect, prompt, and reinforce appropriate behavior for each other. When implemented with fidelity, Tier 1 PBIS systems and practices meet the needs of 80% or more of all students’ needs.

Tier 2: Targeted

Tier 2 supports focus on students who are not successful with Tier 1 supports alone. Students receiving Tier 2 support require additional teaching and practice opportunities to increase their likelihood of success. Tier 2 supports are often successful when provided within groups. At this level, systems and practices are efficient. This means they are similar across students and can be quickly accessed. Schools monitor fidelity and outcome data regularly to adjust implementation as needed. The typical range of Tier 2 supports include:

• Self-management
• Check-In, Check-Out
• Small group social skill instruction
• Targeted academic supports.

Typically, schools deliver Tier 2 supports to 5-15% of the student body.

Tier 3: Intensive, Individualized

Tier 3 are more intensive and individualized. Schools use more formalized assessments to match interventions to the behavior’s function. They create individualized plans incorporating the student’s academic strengths and deficits, physical and medical status, mental health needs, and family/community support. Support plans emphasize:

• Prevention of problem situations
• Active instruction of new, replacement, and adaptive behaviors
• Formal strategies to acknowledge desired behavior
• Systematic procedures to reduce the likelihood problem behaviors are reinforced
• Safety routines
• Accurate and sustained implementation
• Data collection procedures to measure fidelity and impact
• Coordination of family, agency, and other systems of care.

Tier 3 supports target the 3-5% of students with the highest support needs in the school.

Why Implement School-wide PBIS?

Specifically, PBIS implemented school-wide is associated with the following outcomes:[1],[2],[3],[4]

• Improved academic performance
• Reduced bullying behaviors
• Improved social-emotional competence
• Improved social and academic outcomes for students with disabilities
• Decreased rates of student-reported drug and alcohol abuse
• Reduced office discipline referrals, suspensions, and incidents of restraint and seclusion
• Improved teacher outcomes, including perception of teacher efficacy; school organizational health and school climate, and perception of school safety

Get Started…

To get started implementing SW-PBIS, identify a representative leadership team. This team typically:  

• Completes readiness activities like securing staff buy-in and evaluating data systems
• Identifies relevant training and coaching resources
• Develops an action plan to guide implementation of PBIS practices, systems, and data school-wide
• Implements a contextualized approach to PBIS to match the school’s values and culture
• Monitors, evaluates, and adjusts implementation in an on-going way

To learn more about PBIS resources available within your state, contact your state coordinator.

[1] Sugai, G., & Horner, R. (2009). Responsiveness-to-Intervention and School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports: Integration of Multi-Tiered System Approaches.

Exceptionality, 17(4), 223-237. doi: 10.1080/09362830903235375

[2] Waasdorp, T., Bradshaw, C., Leaf, F. (2012). The Impact of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Bullying and Peer Rejection.

Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 166(2), 149. doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.755

[3] Simonsen, B., Britton, L., & Young, D. (2009). School-Wide Positive Behavior Support in an Alternative School Setting.

Journal Of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12(3), 180-191. doi: 10.1177/1098300708330495

[4] Bradshaw, C., Koth, C., Bevans, K., Ialongo, N., & Leaf, P. (2008). The impact of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) on the organizational health of elementary schools.

School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4), 462-473. doi: 10.1037/a0012883

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How to use visual support in autism?

08/24/16

Recommendations to parents of children with races on the use of visual support

Source: Autism Speaks

Visual support- this is the use of pictures or other visual items to report some information for a child who has difficulty understanding and using speech.
Photographs, drawings, three-dimensional objects, written words or written lists may be used as visual support. Studies have shown a very high effectiveness of visual support in autism.

Visual support for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is used for two main reasons. It facilitates the communication of parents with their child, and it facilitates the communication of the child with other people.

This guide provides guidance to parents, other family members, and professionals on how to use visual support effectively. Although this guide focuses on children, visual support can be helpful for a person of any age. Also, it can be used not only by parents, but by any people who care about the child.

Why is visual support important?

The main features of ASD are difficulties with social interaction, problems using speech, and limited interests and repetitive behavior. Visual support can help in all three areas.

First, children with ASD may find it difficult to understand social cues during everyday interactions with others. They may not understand what is expected of them in social situations, how to start a conversation, how to respond to other people’s attempts at social interaction, or how to change their behavior according to the rules for a particular social situation. Visual support can help teach social rules to children with ASD, and children with ASD can use it themselves in social situations.

Second, children with ASD often have difficulty understanding and following verbal instructions. They may not be able to say what they want and need. Visual cues help parents communicate their expectations to their child. This prevents conflict situations and reduces problematic behavior due to communication difficulties. Visual support supports relevant and positive ways of communication.

Finally, some children with ASD are very anxious and may misbehave if their daily routine changes or they are placed in an unfamiliar situation. Visual support helps them understand what to expect, what will happen next, and this reduces their anxiety. Visual support helps children pay attention to the most important aspects of a situation and cope with change.

Now-After board

What is it?

The Now-After board is a visual sequence of two images. The board communicates some pleasant event that will occur after the completion of a not-so-pleasant task.

When to use it?

The Now-After Board is useful if you are teaching a child with ASD to follow directions and teach them new skills. The board motivates the child to do something that he does not like, because then something pleasant will follow. The Now-After board also teaches the child the language to understand the multi-step instructions. If the child has learned to understand the Now-After board, this will help him understand and use more complex visual support systems.

How to use it?

– Decide what task the child should do first (this will be the picture under the caption “first”), and what a pleasant activity or reward awaits him immediately after completion (the picture under the caption “then”). What follows “then” should be motivating enough, only then there is a high probability that the child will follow your instructions.

— List on the board pictures (eg photographs, drawings, written words) that represent the first and second activities. To place images, you can use stationery Velcro tape (Velcro).

Show the board to the child along with a short verbal instruction. Try to use as few words as possible, start with the word “first”. For example: “First put on your shoes, then the swing.”

– If necessary, remind the child about the blackboard during the task. For example: “Another shoe, then a swing.”

– When the “first” task is completed, draw the child’s attention back to the board. For example: “You put on your shoes, now swing!”. Give your child the promised item or access to an enjoyable activity immediately.

– In order for children with ASD to appreciate the Now-After board, they must receive an enjoyable activity or desired item immediately after completing the “first” task. Otherwise, the child will no longer trust what is shown on the board.

What if problem behavior occurs?

If problem behavior occurs, continue to physically prompt the child to do the task “first”. Focus on completing the task, not on the problem behavior. After that, it is still important to provide an enjoyable activity or desirable item, as the purpose of the board was to complete the task “first” and not work on the problem behavior.

If you think problem behavior is likely to occur, at first only include tasks on the Now-Then board that the child can do easily and willingly. If you find it difficult to control your child’s problem behavior, then you may need the help of a behavioral counselor.

Visual schedule

What is it?

A visual schedule is a visual representation of what will happen during the day, or during a single activity or event.

When to use it?

A visual timetable is useful when teaching a child tasks that consist of several consecutive steps, such as household skills. The schedule helps explain to the child what the steps are and ensures that they complete each step. Such a schedule is also very useful for severe anxiety in unusual situations and rigidity when the child resists any changes in the usual daily routine. With the help of the schedule, you can warn the child in advance what awaits him during the day or some other period of time, and this helps to reduce anxiety.

How to use it?

– Once your child has understood the concept of visual sequencing through the Now-Then board, you can move on to more complex schedules for different events throughout the day.

– Decide which activity images to include in your schedule. Choose only those activities that actually happen in this sequence. Try to alternate pleasant and not very desirable events for the child in the schedule.

– Arrange images of selected events (in the form of photographs, drawings, written words) on the schedule. The schedule can be portable, for example, you can use a special folder or a stationery tablet for it. At home, the schedule can be placed in a permanent place, for example, on the refrigerator or on the wall.

– The child should see the schedule before the first scheduled event starts. During other events, the schedule must remain in the child’s field of vision.

– When the event should start according to the schedule, give a hint with a short instruction. For example, say, “Check the schedule.” This will help the child pay attention to the next event. At first, you may need to physically guide your child to check the schedule (for example, gently guide them by the shoulders to the schedule and point to the event with their hand). Gradually, you will reduce the physical cues so that the child begins to independently use the schedule.

– When the activity is completed, prompt the child to check the schedule again using the procedure above and move on to the next activity.

– Praise and/or give other rewards to your child for following their schedule, doing the tasks listed on it, and moving on to the next. It is useful to use a timer so that the child knows when it is time to move on to the next activity.

– Teach your child flexibility by adding an unknown or unexpected event to the schedule (for example, using a “ouch!” or “surprise” card). Start learning this concept by surprise with something pleasant and desirable. Gradually start using the card for any unexpected schedule changes. (Also see How to Teach Your Child to Embrace Unexpected Change with the Surprise Card.)

What if problem behavior occurs?

If problem behavior occurs, continue to physically prompt the child to complete the current task. Focus on the task, not the problem behavior. Then move on to the next task according to the schedule, if a pleasant activity comes next, then provide it anyway, since the purpose of the schedule is to complete the specified tasks, and not work with problem behavior.

If you think that there is a possibility of problem behavior, then at the beginning of training, include in the visual schedule only those tasks that the child performs easily and willingly. If you find it difficult to control your child’s problem behavior, then you may need the help of a behavioral counselor.

Visual rules and instructions

What is it?

Visual rules and instructions are visual representations of the rules of behavior in a certain situation and a way to tell the child what to do, for example, if he needs to wait.

When to use it?

Visual rules are useful for telling a child what can and cannot be done in a particular situation. The following are examples of when such visual cues can be used.

– To communicate physical limitations in a space or activity, such as a stop sign to indicate a boundary that must not be crossed.

– To show how many times a child can ask for an item or activity before it becomes impossible. For example, it can be a picture indicating that the computer is “unavailable” yet. Or you can put three pictures of juice on the fridge and take one of them every time you give your child juice.

– To show that you need to wait for something, but soon the desired item or activity will be available. For example, for this you can use the “wait” card along with a timer.

How to use it?

Begin teaching these visual cues in short, clear and simple situations. Once your child begins to better understand the meaning of these prompts, you can use them in longer situations with more abstract rules.

Examples:

Physical Boundaries: Place a visual cue where a physical boundary is already marked (such as a door) and pay attention to it as you follow the rule. For example, when the child stops at the door, point to the stop sign and say, “Stop.” Praise or reward your child for following the sign. Once you’ve taught your child this concept, start using the sign during other activities where there are physical boundaries, but they’re not as obvious. For example, a “stop” card may represent the boundary of a playing area.

Limited availability: Decide how many times or how long an item will be available. Indicate this with a visual cue, for example, if the child can only drink 3 juice bags during the day, place 3 juice bag cards on the refrigerator. Once an item is no longer available, use visual cues to explain it. For example, show your child that there are no more juice bags left on the fridge.

Waiting: Start showing the “wait” symbol for a very short period of time before the child can get the desired item or access to the desired activity. You can use the “wait” card along with the timer. Have the child exchange the “wait” card for an item or access to an activity. For example, when a child asks for a snack, give the child a “wait” card, set a timer for 10 seconds, and then praise the child for waiting and exchange the food for the card. Gradually increase the length of time and options for situations in which the child has to wait for some objects or activities. (See also How to teach a child with autism to wait.)

What if problem behavior occurs?

If you think a problematic occurrence is likely, introduce the visual rules to the child during simple situations with simple expectations. If problematic behavior occurs, follow the indicated rules. Praise your child for any rule-following rather than diverting attention to problem behavior.

A variety of visual supports can make it easier for you and your child with ASD to communicate and to help you cope positively with a variety of everyday situations.

See also:

Why children with autism need a visual schedule

When to use visual support for autism

What are visual schedules for a child with autism

We hope you find the information on our website useful or interesting to you. You can support people with autism in Russia and contribute to the work of the Foundation by clicking on the “Help” button.

Parenting with children with autism, Communication and speech, Methods and treatment

Code of conduct for Blizzard games

Updated: 2 years ago

Article ID 42673

Applies to games:

Blizzard games provide a fun and safe way for players to communicate with each other in various game worlds. We encourage both cooperation and competition between players in our games, as long as these interactions do not go beyond what is permitted. If you encounter a player who violates the rules below, you should report him.

Communication

By participating in any kind of communication (chat, voice, group search), you are responsible for your conduct. Refrain from using language that may offend others or is contrary to generally accepted norms of behavior.

Hate speech and discrimination are unacceptable, as is any profanity or profanity. Threats or insults are unacceptable under any circumstances, regardless of the vocabulary used. Violation of any of these rules will result in restrictive action against your account. More serious or repeated violations will result in more severe action.

Name selection rules

Name selection is also subject to the rules above. Any name that a player can change, such as the player’s name, BattleTag, or guild name, must comply with the rules and not be offensive. Names that violate our rules and undermine the atmosphere of the gaming community will be changed, and the account may be subject to restrictive measures at our discretion.

Please note that acceptable naming is determined by both player reports and Blizzard’s judgment, and RPG realms may have additional naming rules.

Fraud

You are responsible for the reputation you and your account have in the game world. Fraud in any form will result in immediate action against the account. Using third party programs to automate any aspect of the game, abusing game bugs, or engaging in activities that provide an unfair advantage is considered cheating.

Cheating other players is also a serious offence. Fraud, account sharing, match-fixing, and any activity that may adversely affect the gaming experience of other players will result in severe penalties.

Behavior

Behavior that deliberately spoils the experience of other players (eg, sabotage, refusing to participate in a match, giving an advantage to an opponent, etc.) is considered unacceptable. We expect players to treat each other with respect and contribute to a positive environment. Acceptable behavior is determined based on player complaints and at the discretion of Blizzard. Violation of these rules will result in account and game restrictions.

However, while we encourage you to report inappropriate behavior from other players, false reports whose sole purpose is to limit the gaming experience of others are also unacceptable and may result in action being taken against your account.

If you are in doubt as to whether your actions violate these rules, review them. We reserve the right to restrict access to accounts that break the rules for any time necessary to keep Blizzard games fun and safe for all players.

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