Courtney Raia Managing the Learning Environment Context/Situation Many times when LT is around food, whether it is during breakfast

or lunchtime in the cafeteria, she tends to reach towards and take her peers food off their plates. This seems to happen in two different scenarios. On some occasions, the student finishes her meal and still seems to be hungry, so she reaches for more food from others plates in order to continue eating. In other situations, she will still have her own food in front of her, but one of her classmates has a food that she really likes, so she will try to take it as well. In this context, stealing food will be defined as reaching towards or taking any food or drink that does not belong to her.

Baseline Data Number of Attempts to Steal Food (reaching or grabbing included) Date/Meal 9/25 (breakfast) 9/25 (lunch) 9/27 (breakfast) 9/27 (lunch) 9/28 (breakfast) 10/1 (breakfast) 10/1 (lunch) 10/2 (breakfast) 10/3 (breakfast) 10/3 (lunch) 10/4 (breakfast) 10/4 (lunch) 10/5 (breakfast) 10/5 (lunch) # Attempts 1 1 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0

Number of Attempts to Steal Food

3

The student was observed during mealtime periods starting on September 25th. Her number of attempts to steal food ranged from 0-2 times, and many times she was removed from the situation after trying one time. It was noted that on days she preferred the food, such as every day that they served cheese sticks for breakfast, she always attempted to take it from her peers.

Expectations and Outcomes The desired outcome of this intervention plan is to reduce the number of times LT reaches for or takes other students food so that it no longer happens, and that she will use an alternative behavior in order to obtain food if she would like some. This means that during both breakfast and lunch, the student will be taught to ask for more food rather than reaching towards and taking the food that belongs to the children sitting around her. Asking for more can either be by using her words to say more or to communicate using her communication book. This

expectation can be communicated to her by reminding her at the beginning of each meal that we eat our own food, and to ask if you want more.

Antecedent Strategies Reminding the student at the beginning of each meal that we do not take other peoples food and to ask for more if she wants some will be one antecedent strategy for this intervention. This is because it reminds her of the rules and expectations before the meal even begins, just to keep that note fresh in her head. These reminders will be very useful in preventing problems for this student, because it will remind her of not only the inappropriate behavior, but also of what to do instead, so she will hopefully remember by the time she wants someones food. Reminding her when she appears to be finished before she has a chance to reach is a more significant preventative strategy because it is even closer to the possibility of an issue occurring, and will remind her what to do right when she begins to think about how she wants more.

Consequence Strategies If the student replaces the problem behavior and asks for food properly (by saying more or by using her communication book), then she will receive the natural reinforcing consequence of getting some more food. Small snack foods can be provided because supplementing her lunch with a few pretzels or a cookie would be more appropriate than her reaching across the table to steal someone elses food. If she does not ask and instead reaches for someones food, the student will not receive any more food for that meal.

Data Collection System The effectiveness of this intervention can be monitored by making note of how many times LT continues to reach for and take another students meal during breakfast or lunchtime. I will tally how many times she does this undesired behavior during each meal, each day. This data can then be transferred onto a chart and a graph that tracks daily progress. This way, I will be able to see the results of this intervention across a period of time.