“BI Capture™: A more effective way to do functional behavior assessments.” James Ball, Ed.D., BCBA & Steve Lockwood, B.S.

The first step in an effective behavior reduction plan is determining the function of the targeted behavior. The function of the behavior will guided in arriving at the best course of action when designing the most appropriate program, as well as assisting in developing the hypothesis during the functional behavior assessment (FBA). For example, if it has been determined that the function of the child's behavior is self stimulatory in nature, the use of a time out procedure would not be an appropriate intervention technique. The child's behavior would probably maintain itself or even go up upon implementation of the procedure. Therefore it is critical that the function be as accurate as possible or the intervention could be ineffective from the very beginning. A great deal of the time the function of behavior is determined by the classroom staff utilizing one or all of the following methods: Direct observation of the child; and/or the use of an ABC (antecedent-behavior-consequence) analysis; and/or a commercially manufactured inventory assessment (i.e., Motivational Assessment Scale). These methods are based on staff's direct observation of the student in the environment where the behavior takes place and is subject to the observer's interpretation and degree of training in the area of each assessment. For classroom staff, this is not always an area of expertise. This then puts the overall effectiveness of the behavior reduction plan in serious jeopardy from the very beginning. The use of BI Capture™, a comprehensive computer technology, allows those members of the classroom team that have the appropriate trainings and expertise to assist in the determination of the function, even if they are not in the room on a day by day basis. BI Capture™ allows staff that are not always in the classroom the opportunity to view video captured clips of the behavior, what happened before, and how the staff reacted without having to watch hours and hours of video tapes. BI Capture™ has a remote feature that when the behavior occurs, all the teacher has to do is hit a button that he/she has on their person, and the camera will record up to 15 minutes prior to the behavior and 15 into the future. Therefore, the teacher is only capturing clips that actually catch the antecedent-behavior-consequence.

Caring Technologies recently reported highly encouraging Phase 1 results of a controlled study, funded in Spring 2006 by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, showed that the technology, BI Capture™, was able to successfully record, annotate and (electronically) facilitate review of children with autism's behaviors. This study was conducted in an Atlanta-area special school for children with behavioral disabilities and tracked the behaviors of all the students in 4 classrooms. Page 5 RE: ASA 2007

In the pilot study, four teachers with varied experience in teaching children with special needs were randomly assigned to eight students each; each of the teachers utilized both traditional pen and paper and “technology-enhanced” (BI Capture™) methods. They were asked to provide FBA's, which in most schools across the country are routinely required measurements for children with behavioral and mental disorders. With cameras unobtrusively installed in their classrooms, they were able to use “clickers” similar in design to car remotes, to capture a video clip before and after they clicked. The study reported a 43% reduction in the number of errors in recording incidents while using the BI Capture™, as opposed to the other assessments. The teachers also concluded that this tool allowed them to have greater awareness of activities in their class and even made it possible to consider assessments of multiple students simultaneously, since video can be stored for later review.

The use of BI Capture™ not only enhances the process of determining the function of behavior, it also frees the teaching staff up to do what they were hired to do, teach. The ease of the technology allows the teacher to view at their leisure, the clips that they have captured and build a video library on each of their student's that can be used in a variety of ways. To assess behavior, as a training tool for new staff members, or used when a student transitions from one class to another, letting that new teacher observe the student and understand the effective strategies, prior to the student even entering their classroom. Therefore, BI Capture™ is a more efficient and effective way of assessing a students behavior. This presentation will focus on the BI Capture™ technology as a means for taking function of behavior data more efficiently and effectively. It will discuss the disadvantages of the current paper and pencil methods of A-B-C analysis and give an alternative that is much more accurate and user friendly. The overall goal of this presentation is to look at technology as a means of benefiting the lives of individuals with in the autism spectrum.

References Feil, E.G., Severson, H.H., Walker, H.M. (1995). Identification of critical factors in the assessment of preschool behavior problems. Education and Treatment of Children, 18, Iwata, B.A., Pace, G., Kilter, M., Cowdery, G., & Cattalo, M. (1990). Experimental analysis and extinction of self-injurious escape behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 11-27. Iwata, B.A., Vollmer, T.R., & Zarcone, J.R. (1990). The experimental (functional) analysis of behavior disorders: Methodology, applications, and initiations. In A.C. Repp & N.N. Singh (Eds.) Perspectives on the use of nonaversive and aversive interventions for persons with developmental disabilities (pp. 301-330). Sycamore Press: Sycamore, IL. O'Neill, R.E., Horner, R.H., Albin, R.W., Sprague, J.R., Storey, K., & Newton, J.S. (1997). Functional assessment and program development for problem behavior (2nd Edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.