We like to highlight The Toolbox around here on Tuesdays. The Toolbox is a one-day training program for school administrators and special education staff focusing on ten “tools” that empower you to serve students with disabilities who present challenging behaviors.  We emphasize that of the ten tools, the first one is the most important. And that tool is the development of a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

A good BIP should establish two things: a goal; and some interventions, supports and strategies to help achieve that goal.

Only one of those requires any particular expertise.  Establishing the goal is simply a matter of common sense.  The goal is always to reduce or eliminate some inappropriate behavior and/or to increase an appropriate behavior. That part is easy.  ARD Committees should have little difficulty in establishing the goal of a BIP for a student.

On the other hand, coming up with the interventions, supports and strategies requires some expertise.  Any teacher or parent can tell us what the goal is. The harder part is the “how to.”  How will you enable the student to achieve that goal.

Many of you who have attended my presentations over the years have heard my story of the adolescent boy with autism who was “touching himself” excessively during class time.  This was clearly an inappropriate behavior and one that was directly caused by his disability.  What to do?

The goal in such a case is obvious: reduce or eliminate this socially inappropriate behavior.  You don’t need to have any expertise in autism or adolescent behavior to identify the goal.

But how do you do that? How do you communicate your expectations to a student with low cognitive ability? What combination of rewards, interventions, strategies and/or supports will lead to an achievement of your goal?  To develop that part of a BIP, you need to hear from someone with some expertise or experience in working with students like this one.

This is one of the things we talk about in the Toolbox training. We emphasize that of all the tools in the box, Tool #1—a BIP—is the most important.

DAWG BONE:  ANYONE CAN TELL YOU THE GOAL FOR THE BIP. YOU NEED SOME EXPERTISE TO DETERMINE HOW YOU WILL ACHIEVE THAT GOAL.

File this one under: SPECIAL EDUCATION DISCIPLINE

Tomorrow: A judgment against a district in excess of $2 million gets reversed.