Support for Autistic Individuals/Individuals with Autism*
Problem behavior is not a part of autism. There are many people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder who do not engage in dangerous or severe behavior. However, for some, these patterns of behavior do emerge, and when that happens, a Practical Functional Assessment and Skill-Based Treatment is a safe and research-supported way for professionals to help.
Why Your Current Plan Might Be Falling Short
Some behavior plans focus on using rewards and punishments to try to change behavior. This has historically been common in applied behavior analysis for individuals with autism. At its core, this means trying to address a behavior without addressing why it is happening. Long-term progress requires identifying specific situations that lead to problem behavior, actively teaching alternative responses or skills the person could use in those situations, and arranging for the person to experience that the outcomes they once accessed via problem behavior can be accessed by using the new skills.
How Can PFA-SBT Help Autistic Individuals?
Practical Functional Assessment and Skill-Based Treatment is a form of ABA therapy that prioritizes relationships and learning through joy. An important early step involves learning about the person with autism, learning what they care about and value, and learning about the situations that tend to lead to problem behavior. We do this via an open-ended interview and individualized interactions, rather than a standardized checklist. From there, we build a skill-based treatment plan around a set of functional replacement skills. The individual’s input is important to the plan, and we integrate meaningful ways for all service recipients to provide their feedback, regardless of their language skills.
Why It’s a Strong Choice
Often, functional behavior assessment processes require teams to document a “function” of problem behavior from a choice of four: escape, attention, access to tangibles, or sensory. In a PFA, teams gather detailed and highly personalized information about the varied and multilayered situations that lead to problem behavior and the multilayered consequences that maintain it. In SBT, teams then build an intervention plan around teaching contextually relevant replacement skills. That's why it tends to hold up better: it addresses the specific situations that are challenging for the individual by teaching the individual relevant skills, rather than layering on rewards and punishments.
Settings and Teams We Work With
We train practitioners supporting autistic individuals in schools, ABA clinics, residential programs, and various types of agencies. See examples of the settings we’ve worked in below. FTF Behavioral Consulting has experience equipping teams across all of these environments to address severe problem behavior using PFA-SBT, and we’ve worked with professionals in a variety of roles on an autistic individual's care team.
From Early Intervention to Lifelong Support
PFA-SBT can be helpful for people of many ages. We have trained teams who serve young children, school-aged students, adolescents, and adults in supported living or day programs. Our goal is to help practitioners learn to tailor PFA-SBT to the unique needs of each service recipient, with adjustments appropriate to the person’s age, skills, and preferences.
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Early Intervention Support
The earlier we intervene by identifying situations that lead to challenging behavior and actively teaching alternative responses, the better we can prevent challenging behavior from becoming severe or longstanding. We train early intervention teams to catch emerging behavior before it escalates.
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School-Age and Adolescent Support
School teams and clinic-based professionals often reach out to us for training. We can help your team implement PFA-SBT in a way that fits with your setting and resources and meets the needs of the age groups you serve.
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Training Formats (In-Person, Virtual, Ongoing Consultation)
Training is available as in-person workshops, virtual instruction, and ongoing consultation. We are happy to talk with you about the formats that will best meet your goals.
What Changes for Practitioners and Autistic Individuals
Practitioners learn to establish trust and rapport, recognize early signs of escalation, and respond supportively so that behavior does not reach crisis-level. Autistic individuals learn safe ways to communicate and manage personally challenging situations. Professionals and service recipients alike have expressed that PFA-SBT has made a positive difference in their life.
Beyond Dangerous Behavior
It is, unfortunately, common for autistic people to have difficulty with sleep, from getting to sleep to night awakenings and more. FTF Behavioral Consulting trains practitioners in the assessment and treatment of sleep problems. We can also help your team learn to address another common challenge– food selectivity. Our approach emphasizes choice and autonomy, and it can be done in community-based settings with people whose food selectivity is not medically complicated.
At FTF, we believe that stereotypy does not always require intervention. We train teams to evaluate the extent to which stereotypy interferes with other important tasks. If it does, we train professionals to use a teaching process based on SBT. The goal is not to eliminate all stereotypy, but rather to help students find balance.
Each of these approaches is based on the same premise as PFA-SBT: understand what's driving the behavior first, then build skills that address it.
Bring PFA-SBT to Your Autism Program
Tell us about your current behavior support model, whether school, clinic, residential, or agency-based, and a behavioral consultant from our team will help you map out what implementing PFA-SBT looks like for your program. Where previous interventions haven't produced lasting change, PFA-SBT may be able to help. Our services are grounded in peer-reviewed research our own consultants have contributed to. Reach out to bring PFA-SBT to your team.
*Some people who have been diagnosed prefer “autistic” and some prefer “with autism.”
Tell Us How We Can Help
To help us design an organizational training, provide on-site implementation support for your staff, and schedule follow-up video conferencing, tell us about you, your organization, and your goals.
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