Functional Communication Training for Problem Behavior

Children and adolescents with moderate and severe disabilities often have communication challenges that lead them to use problem behaviour to convey their desires. This is the most comprehensive contemporary volume on functional communication training (FCT) - the individualised instructional approach that teaches a child socially acceptable communicative alternatives to aggression, tantrums, self-injury, and other unconventional behaviours. The expert authors provide accessible, empirically based guidelines for implementing FCT, and tips for overcoming obstacles.

Grounded in the principles of applied behaviour analysis, the book includes detailed strategies for developing a support plan, together with illustrative case examples.

Audience: Special educators, school and clinical psychologists, behaviour analysts, speech language pathologists, and others who use functional communication training.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Functional Communication Training
2. The Selection of Communicative Function(s) to Teach and How They Are Expressed
3. An Integrative Model to Establish Communicative Alternatives and Enhance Self-Regulatory Skills
4. Examples of Antecedent-Focused Intervention Strategies
5. Teaching Communicative Protesting as an Alternative to Avoidance-Maintained Problem Behavior, with Quannah Parker-McGowan and Jeff Sigafoos
6. Teaching Requesting Assistance
7. Requesting a Break
8. Teaching Communicative Requests as an Alternative to Problem Behavior Maintained by Attention
9. Teaching Communicative Requests as an Alternative to Problem Behavior Maintained by Tangibles
10. Describing Functional Communication Training as a Component of an Effective Behavior Support Plan: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know

Glossary

References

Index

"'From two highly regarded researcher-clinicians, this is a valuable guide to one of the most widely researched treatments for behavior problems in children with moderate and severe disabilities. The authors provide step-by-step information about how to properly assess challenging behaviors, as well as how to tailor FCT for a range of individuals. The authors' experience using this technique shines throughout the chapters, which are chock-full of useful case examples. Tips for dealing with frequently encountered obstacles are highlighted. This book will serve as an excellent supplemental text for classes on applied behavior analysis."
- V. Mark Durand, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida St. Petersburg

"Everything you need to know about planning and delivering FCT for socially reinforced challenging behavior is in this user-friendly book. The volume is remarkably comprehensive, yet focused. The expert authors link FCT procedures to developmental and learning processes and use rich descriptions and case examples to paint a vivid picture of the intervention process. I highly recommend this book as a course text for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students in special education, augmentative communication, and related fields, or as a training resource in residential, vocational, or educational facilities that serve children and adolescents with problem behavior."
- Jennifer J. McComas, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

"Reichle and Wacker bring together their unique and exceptional expertise in language science and behavior analysis to construct an authoritative work on the theory and practice of FCT. This book is an important reference for clinicians and graduate students who serve or study children with severe problem behavior. A primary strength of the book is the clear, cogent way the authors explain the concepts and procedures relevant to effective treatment."
- Wayne W. Fisher, PhD, BCBA-D, Director, Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders