Supporting non-BIU Students (step in vs don't step in)
A non-BIU student in the classroom is engaged in throwing heavy items across the room. This is a clear safety risk for all in the room and despite their efforts staff can not get the student to calm down
Step-in, safety always comes first
A student runs out of the classroom toward the parking lot during dismissal and the parking lot is busy. You try verbal redirection, blocking, and offering choices however the student continues to push towards the busy parking lot.
Yes, a hold may be appropriate. Immediate danger with cars in busy parking lot and less intrusive interventions were not effective.
What is appropriate use of time?
You feel like a behavior plan is not working so you being tweaking strategies to better support the student
You should not
Your supervisor is unavailable, and a teacher asks you to modify the reinforcement system. What should you do?
Do not modify the plan; explain you must follow the current plan and consult your supervisor
An agency staff member asks you what they should do for a student, who has BII/BID when the student engages in Off-Task behavior. This behavior is disruptive but not dangerous
Do not step in, we should not be providing any recommendations unless under explicit instructions of your BCBA. Additionally, this student has a supervisor who should be supporting.
A student refuses work, yells, and knocks materials off the desk and attempts to hit the smart board and knock over the teachers computers.
No, hold not appropriate.
You have been assigned to complete a critical visual by the end of the week. It is Tuesday. You have the Wednesday RBT team meeting and will be out Thursday & Friday. You immediately let your BCBA know that you won't be able to do it until Monday due to the above listed factors.
What is appropriate use of time?
The student you are working with had a tough day. At pick-up the parent ask how the day was. You tell them it was a hard and little Johnny engaged in quite a bit of disruptive behavior as defined in their BIP.
You should
A teacher asks you if you think the student would benefit from a FBA or an updated behavior plan. What do you do?
Say something like "I am not really sure that is outside my scope I would need to defer to my BCBA"
A non-BIU student has gone missing on campus. No one can locate the student. This student has minimal safety skills and has been known to wander away from the instructional setting
Step-in, this is a safety concerns that can cause harm to the student
A student repeatedly hits their head against the wall and has begun to bleed. When trying to use blocking pads the student further escalates and hits his head harder.
Yes, a hold may be appropriate to prevent further injury.
You are all caught up on making visuals, inputting your data and service logs. When you arrive at the office, you being to case consult with your peers since all of your tasks are complete
A parent asks you for advice about changing their child’s program. You tell them you are not part of the IEP team so you can't recommend programs and tell them their student is way smarter than everyone else in their class.
You should not
You are asked to train a new staff member on implementing a program you were briefly shown but are not confident in. What should you do?
Acknowledge your limits and seek guidance or additional training from your supervisor
The BIU student frequently violates other students boundaries by touching others' things or bodies and will not listen to peers statements or requests to stop. The BIU student has not been able to be redirected despite best attempts by staff.
Step-in, it is ok to encourage other students to self-advocate and stand up for themselves when another student crosses their personal boundaries
A student walks off campus during their first period and says they are going home and they don't have to listen to anyone.
No, hold not necessary. there is no imminent danger to self or others. use of less restrictive interventions should be used first
The campus is calm, all students are settled in and you decide that you want to catch up with your peer and case consult on campus. This is about nothing in particular, just things overall.
What is inappropriate use of time?
Yesterday you were involved in large crisis in Teacher X's room. Today you are with Teacher Y and staff is checking on you because they all heard. You say you are ok and start telling them about what you went through
You should not
During class, a student refuses to work and escalates. The teacher tells you to “just send him to the office.” The BIP does not include this. What do you do?
Although this is not in the BIP, a teacher does have the right to send students out of the room if they choose to. Notify your BCBA. Continue to the support the student as written in the BIP.
You are in a classroom supporting a student and another student has been in behavior throughout the duration of the class period. They are engaged in low level physical acting out, refusal, and generally causing a ruckus
Do not step in
No, a hold is indicated. In this case, we should provide space. Unless the threat of harm to self or others is currently active, imminent and allowing for space is not possible, a hold is not indicated despite that others have been injured.
You have a lot of data to input because progress reports are looming and you have not put in anything this week. You decide to use some campus time to put in your data.
What is inappropriate use of time
A SCIA tells you that the teacher is not doing enough instruction in the classroom and they feel like it is making the student have more behavior. You have not observed this so you immediately report this to admin and your BCBAs because this teacher needs someone to talk to them
You shouldn't.
You notice a student is consistently struggling with a task and want to modify the difficulty level. You immediately go to the teacher and tell them the student is not capable of this amount of work so you are only going to require them to do half. what should you do?
Consult with your BCBA. Depending on the class or program this could impact the student's grade/ability to pass the class.