hi my name is Heather Francisco and I'm
a board certified behavior analyst with
Brett DiNovi & Associate this video
will address school refusal which
satisfies the following skills from the
BACB task list f6 describe the common
functions of problem behavior and g1 use
positive and negative reinforcement
procedures to strengthen behavior one
tool that has been helpful in assessing
school refusal is the school refusal
assessment scale revised known as SR is
our leading researcher in school refusal
Christopher ate Kearney first developed
this tool in 1993 and revised it in 2001
the SRA SR is designed to measure the
function of school refusal in children
ages 5 and up the results of this
assessment provide professionals with
data about a child's full refusal
behaviors which allows them to program
more effectively
according to Kearney in his 2001 article
the SRA SR examines for functions of
score of G's all these are one avoiding
school because of stimuli that evoke
negative emotions and responses to
avoiding aversive social situations at
school 3 desiring attention from
caregivers and for pursuing positive
reinforcement outside of school the
first function involves the type of
school refusal in which children may
complain of physical aches and pains
because of something at school this
commonly refers to younger children who
have an upset stomach
prior to getting on the bus or who feel
dizzy just walking into the school
similarly the second function also
involves the type of school refusal that
avoid situations that produce anxious or
negative feelings this function occurs
more often in older children who may
want to avoid social interactions with
peers or giving presentations in class
the third function describes school
refusing children who seek connection
and time with their primary caregivers
they may not be averse to going to
school but instead they are more averse
to being separated from their caregiver
the fourth function describes school
refusing children who aren't necessarily
adverse to school based stimuli but
rather seek positive reinforcement
activities or people outside of school
in this case children refused school in
favor of watching television sleeping or
spending time with friends so how is the
school refusal assessment scale
interpreted the SRA SR provides
empirical data that is valuable when
developing a student's school refusal
treatment plan the SRA SR is a 24
question survey with six questions
dedicated to each of the four functions
both children and parents take the
assessment for each question children
indicate how often they feel or behave a
certain way based on a Likert scale from
zero which is never to six which is
always on their own survey parents
respond how often they witness their
child behaving a certain way using the
same scale school personnel can also
complete the survey for comparative data
to interpret the SRA s professionals
will first score parents and children
separately on each assessment the
average score for each of the four
functions will be calculated then the
average scores from each assessment will
be combined and divided by two the
function that ranks highest is
considered the primary function but two
functions that score within point five
of each other are considered equal
Kearney at all still consider low
ranking functions when they design a
treatment plan while the assessment
provides useful data it shouldn't be the
only information that professionals use
in designing an effective and function
based treatment package per D also
suggests confirming S aureus our results
with behavioral observations descriptive
analyses or experimental analyses to
ensure that the most effective school
refusal treatment plan can be developed
for example an da sorry s R might
indicate that a child's primary function
of score refusal is to avoid school
because of aversive social situations
after interviewing the child and
teachers it would appear useful to
conduct an experiment to compare how the
child behaves on days when there is a
test or class presentation with how the
child behaves on days when there is no
test or class presentation the
experiment helps verify more certainly
the child's primary function of school
refusal as a result a professional can
a more effective course of treatment
behavioral observations are especially
critical in cases where substantial
disagreement occurs among descriptive
measures again these procedures have
been outlined previously but involve
situations where a child is asked to
attend school under certain conditions
to confirm or disconfirm a given
functional hypothesis for example a
child may claim that he misses school to
avoid stimuli that provoked negative
emotions though his parents claim he
misses school for tangible reinforcement
outside of the school environment in
this situation a child may be asked to
attend school under conditions that
would seem highly favorable to him given
his report eg on a Saturday where there
is few people around if the child is
able to attend school under these
conditions then support is obtained for
the functional profile in addition the
child may be asked to attend school with
substantial incentives as per parental
expectations the child is unable to
attend school even with these incentives
and the parent report is disconfirmed
behavior analytic approaches for school
refuse errs are primarily exposure based
and draw upon such techniques as
toleration training escaped extinction
modeling shaping and contingency
management Kearney at all also outlined
general strategies for parents to treat
school refusal these strategies include
number one maintaining a neutral and
calm tone and manner parents can
acknowledge a child's fears by providing
a verbal statement of understanding
while assuring the child that they are
there to help to ask questions parents
should find out why a child is refusing
to go to school parents can ask their
child are you nervous or anxious about
just one thing or several things are
there any harmful or dangerous
situations at school analyzing why a
child doesn't want to go to school from
the child's perspective may help to
devise a solution 3 talk to
administration at the school there are
many reasons that a child may be afraid
when it comes to attending school if a
parent discovers the problem is one that
can be helped speak to the school
administration and the child
teacher having an individualized
education program created may be
beneficial as this will help explore
evidence-based behavior interventions
for the school refusal for encourage
your child as a parent it is crucial
that a child is encouraged to go to
school every single day even if they
only go for a very short time if a
parent allows a child to continue
staying home it may reinforce their
thinking that the school is actually
aversive in some cases the child may be
allowed to sit in the library at lunch
room or another area with a parent or
trusted adult the goal is to get the
child to go and stay at school by using
best behavior practices once the child
starts going the behavior momentum is
established number 5 takes small steps
a parent can reinforce small
approximations and steps with the child
helping them move past what's making
them uncomfortable this procedure is
called shaping parents can set criteria
for how long a child will remain on a
step before progressing to the next step
6 hire a tutor if you have a child who
is at risk of falling behind in school
then it might be helpful to hire an
academic tutor if they fall behind
academically it could increase their
anxiety making it more difficult for
them to return to school in the future
even if a parent is qualified to provide
academic instruction working with
someone else can be extremely crucial in
getting them back inside their normal
school and classroom routine number 7
partial success successes count it is a
good idea to emphasize and reinforce
partial successes a parent can create a
reinforcement system in which the child
can earn a pre-established reward a
reinforcer for meeting short-time goals
and expectations parent can use
differential reinforcement this will
provide more reinforcement for advancing
steps if the child is unable to progress
to the next step then parents can praise
their attempt and encourage them to try
once more for the next day number eight
expect and work with setbacks there are
going to be setbacks while a parent
should expect them it's still important
that a parent is consistent with the
plans set if a child is unable to keep
up with the criteria or if they are
unable to make new progress parents can
offer acceptance and
however a parent should never stop
providing clear expectations which is
for the child to return to school number
nine
replace the child's faulty defense
mechanisms every child is going to have
certain crushes such as eating in the
classroom or coming home early replace
these with coping tools that will be
more effective parents can help their
children not only understand the source
of their anxiety but also accept it and
move forward
toward what the child may value a parent
can also teach a child how to identify
values and defuse negative thought
patterns and move forward using
acceptance and commitment therapy this
will help the child to overcome the
issues related to cases of school
refusal please stay tuned for more on
this thank you for watching please
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