A Guide to Functional Behavioral Assessment

Reviews the book, Functional Behavior Assessment for People With Autism: Making Sense of Seemingly Senseless Behavior by Beth Glasberg (see record 2006-01505-000). The focus of Glasberg's book is to teach readers about how to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA). FBA is an empirically validated approach used to identify why an individual's problem behavior occurs and how best to eliminate it (Barnhill, 2005). FBA is required by law (Department of Education, 2002) in school settings and is recognized as best practice in the area of developmental disabilities (Fox & Davis, 2005). Not only can teachers benefit from reading this book, parents, group home staff, students, and professionals who do not have training in FBA would find it a useful resource. Glasberg guides the reader through the necessary steps to reduce the challenging behavior of people with autism. She begins by exploring the major reasons for such behaviors (e.g., aggression, self-injurious behavior, sensory stimulation). Glasberg details the major assessment methods used in the field today and gives the reader the tools (e.g., forms) and know-how (e.g., interpretative guides) to implement them. Last, Glasberg addresses how treatment is tailored to the cause of the challenging behavior. General treatment components considered include manipulating motivational factors and triggers for the problem behavior, teaching functionally equivalent replacement behaviors, and removing the reinforcers maintaining the problem behavior. Overall, Glasberg's book contains many pedagogically sound features and presents complex material in an easy-to-understand fashion. It is based on sound empirical evidence and clinical practice, which makes it impossible to find fault with. The only caution is that the reader should recognize that untrained individuals may not carefully follow the prescriptions offered in this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)