Positive Behavior Support

Positive Behavior Support(PBS) is a recent outgrowth of applied behavior analysis (ABA). While PBS was really influenced by ABA, it emerged from the controversy that surrounded the use of aversive (e.g., punishment like electric shock) and the heavy emphasis on consequences for producing changes in behavior. Persons well versed in PBS work to develop collaborative relationships with parents and use proactive, educative, as well as reinforcement based strategies to achieve meaningful and long-lasting outcomes for both the individual who is exhibiting challenging behaviors as well as for the family.The PBS approach takes into account the family as a unit — it is both child and family centered.

The goals of PBS are to help parents achieve durable improvements in the child's behavior and lifestyle The approach is positive, caring, and family centered. Practitioners of PBS work in partnership with the parents and builds on family strengths and capabilities.

Multicomponent Plans: They help families build multicomponent behavior support plans that look at motivating setting events and routines (family activities) in which the difficult behaviors might occur. Motivating setting events might be things like lack of sleep, high level of anxiety and agitation, hunger, getting in trouble at school or having been teased at school. Setting events are not the actually trigger for the disruptive behavior but increase the probability the problem behavior may occur. Examples of valued family routines are things like getting up in the morning on time, going to bed at night, eating meals together, going shopping, and go out on family fun activities. A given problematic family routine consists of four components: motivating setting events, antecedents or triggers, the behavior itself, and what happens after the behavior occurs — the consequences. The skilled PBS support person will help parents develop strategies in each of these areas — motivating setting events, preventative strategies, teaching strategies, and consequences. Parents are helped to identify motivating setting events like developing a sleep hygiene program that looks at the sleep environment, e.g., activities that precede sleep, and adopting a consistent bedtime routine that make it more likely problem behavior will occur. They are helped to implement preventative strategies like using a visual schedule, posting house rules, and offering choices. Teaching strategies might include helping the child to complete the routine by modeling it, role-playing, and teaching how to politely ask for assistance. Consequence strategies focus on proving positive reinforcement for good behaviors. It can include things like identifying what is reinforcing for the child and-how to actively ignore and redirect. The plan also includes how to monitor progress, how to maintain the behavior gains over time, and what to do in case there is a relapse. It may also provide support in helping parents access additional other services they might need like family counseling and finding other community resources.

Conclusion: The message should be clear to parents that a new approach to providing support has emerged. Parent are active partners in the process that recognizes that families are the experts, family values and experiences are important and PBS practitioners are there to help them develop and actualize a vision of a more successful life for their child with a disability.,