Case Example for The Functional Assessment You are working as an EA in a Grade 5 classroom who works with Tyler Ward. Tyler is 10 years old (born Oct. 7, 2013) and was born in a large urban city. He is a middle child with a younger sister and an older brother. Tyler's parents separated when he was seven (7) years old (Grade 3). Tyler lives with his mother and two siblings for the majority of the time, visiting with his dad every second or third weekend. Tyler's father is not consistent in his visits, and Tyler is often very upset when his dad doesn't show up to pick him up. Tyler has struggled with school since Grade 1, mainly with reading and math. Tyler's teacher (Mrs. England) suspects that he may have a learning disability and attention deficit disorder. Tyler's mom has been too busy with the three kids to follow up on testing for Tyler. The school has put together an Individualized Education plan for Tyler, but it only addresses Tyler's academic needs and not his behaviour issues. Mrs. England is struggling to keep Tyler under control in the classroom and has reached out to the Resource Teacher for help. The Resource Teacher has asked you to begin conducting a functional assessment of Tyler. In addition to compiling Indirect assessment information, you will conduct several direct observations and will be collecting baseline data about Tyler's behaviour at school for a 5-day period (February 27- March 3). The behaviours that you will be tracking are: 1. Putting his head on the desk/table, 2. Refusing to participate in class, and 3. Throwing books on the floor or at other people You are asked to complete a scatterplot and an ABC chart as part of your functional assessment. Your scatterplot data will be in 1-hour intervals, beginning at 9:00 am. Lunchtime is from 12:30 to 1:00 pm, and school is dismissed at 3:30. Day 1 (Monday) Around 9:45, the teacher, Mrs. England, was lecturing the class about fractions and decimals. Tyler put his head on his desk and refused to participate; she asked twice, then gave up and ignored him. Later Tyler said he had not slept well the night before. Later in the afternoon, at 2:40 pm, the class had free time to finish class work, start on homework, or work with their study partners. Mrs. England was at her desk doing one-to-one tutoring with students who were falling behind in class. Tyler was not scheduled to work with Mrs. England for at least 30 minutes, and it was possible she would not be able to work with him that day. Tyler became frustrated and started throwing his books on the floor. About 15 minutes later, his study partner suggested they review the assigned math sheets. Tyler refused and then threw a book at his partner. His study partner went back to his desk, and Mrs. England told Tyler that if he did that again, he would be going to the Principal's office and would have in-school suspension the next day. Day 2 (Tuesday) Between 9:30 and 10 am, Tyler was talking loudly during the lecture the teacher was giving the class. When the teacher called on him to answer a question, he refused to answer the question and instead made silly faces at his classmates. His classmates laughed at him. When Mrs. England again asked him to answer the question, he threw a book at her. She told him she was very disappointed in his behaviour and sent him to the Principal's office. When he met with the Principal at 10:30 am, he put his head onto the Principle's desk and did not respond to his questions. At 11:00 am, he was sent to see the school counsellor. Even though the counsellor tried to get him to talk, Tyler refused to engage with the counsellor and rested his head on her desk. The counsellor gave up and sent him back to class. During free time that afternoon at 2:45 pm, Tyler was alone working when he started singing loudly. Mrs. England asked Tyler 6 times to stop, and he did after the last request. Day 3 (Wednesday) During lunch period, Tyler was singing loudly in the cafeteria. At first, his classmates were laughing at him, but then his peers began to ignore him. He threw his reading books off the table, sending them to the floor, and stormed out of the room. At 3:20, as the class was getting ready for dismissal, the teacher asked the students to pick up their arts and crafts supplies. Tyler refused to participate and laid his head on his desk. At 3:30, Mrs. England asked Tyler to wipe off the chalkboards. Tyler refused. She told him that if he didn't do it, he would have to stay after school. Tyler put his head on the desk and again refused to do it. At 3:45, she let him go home. Day 4 (Thursday) Between 9:30 and 10:00 am during health class, Tyler put his head on the desk. He ignored Mrs. England's requests to complete the class work, and he threw a book across the room, saying, "Leave me alone; I only slept 2 hours last night". Mrs. England sent him to sit in the hall until he calmed down. During lunch, Tyler sang loudly again, and his peers sitting nearby laughed loudly. During free time at 2:45, Tyler tried to engage 2 of his classmates in a game on the computer. They ignored him and continued to play together. Tyler became angry and started throwing books off Mrs. England's desk at the two classmates. Mrs. England told him to stop twice, but he ignored her, throwing two more books. Finally, she said she would play a game with him. Tyler stopped throwing books and sat down in the chair beside Mrs. England. Day 5 (Friday) During the math lecture (9:30 - 10:00 am), Tyler refused to answer a question and spent the rest of the period with his head on the desk. Mrs. England ignored him. At 11:00, Tyler asked Mrs. England to help him with his science work. Mrs. England was working with Tommy and told Tyler he would have to wait. Tyler asked again, and Mrs. England ignored him. Tyler threw his science book at Mrs. England, then pushed Tommy as he walked to his desk. Tyler sat down and put his head on his desk. Mrs. England told Tyler to leave the classroom and go to the Principal's office. Tyler refused to leave and stayed with his head on his desk until lunchtime. Summary of the Antecedents, Behaviour and Consequences Antecedents: Behavior: Consequences: Hypothesis (es):