Title: Analyzing Risks and Benefits
For this week’s assignment, you will play the role of an experienced Board-Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) who is working for a new company.
As an experienced BCaBA, you are asked to evaluate a case scenario and the possible ethical considerations. You need to weigh the risks and benefits of an intervention given the severity of the client’s behaviors.
Scenario
Ali is a 5-year-old child diagnosed with autism that engages in several problem behaviors in the classroom setting. The current classroom includes one teacher, a teacher’s assistant, and a paraprofessional with 12 students in the class. This is a self-contained classroom, and all of the students in the classroom have various needs. Ali’s most severe problem behavior includes self-injurious behavior of hitting herself in the forehead. This behavior is often mild in magnitude but sometimes more forceful to the point that it leaves a mark. Currently, the behavior occurs about 15 times per day. Ali’s parents are concerned that this behavior may be causing headaches and other pain. You want to get together the team of stakeholders to involve them in the decision making. You also want to rule out any medical issues so you consult the parent about asking the doctor about the headaches. You ask for consent to speak with the other individuals on the team.
After observing the behavior, you notice that the behavior mostly occurs during group lessons or when the teacher is not attending to Ali. Parents also notice that when they are talking or on the phone, the behavior occurs. The function of the self-injurious behavior is hypothesized to be attention.
The current recommendation for a behavior intervention is that a Differential Reinforcement of Other behaviors (DRO) procedure be implemented for the absence of head hitting. First, interresponse time data will need to be collected to determine the interval schedule. Before proceeding, you want to weigh the risks and benefits of implementing this procedure since Ali’s behavior is self-injurious. Since the function is hypothesized to be attention-seeking, you wonder if extinction combined with reinforcement (DRO) is the best procure.
Discuss the risks and benefits of implementing a DRO procedure for the absence of head hitting.
Assignment
Once you have read the case scenario above, use the Unit 7 Assignment Template to complete this assignment.
