Ep. 44: Understanding Setting Event Strategies in Behavior Plans - Part 8 of the FBA Mini-Series

In this episode, we are tackling the first step of developing a solid behavior plan after the FBA has been completed and decisions made. Today, let's talk about Setting Event Strategies!

Key Takeaways
🧠 What Are Setting Event Strategies? These are long-term adjustments that address factors influencing behavior, such as sleep, nutrition, routines, and the environment.
🌊 The Iceberg Analogy: Setting events are like the part of the iceberg beneath the water—hidden but critical for understanding behavior.

🛠️ Three Key Areas:

• Environmental modifications (e.g., seating changes, sensory adjustments).
• Addressing internal needs (e.g., sleep, hunger, hydration).
• Establishing predictable routines to reduce anxiety.

🕒 Timing Is Key: Setting event strategies are proactive and planned well in advance, unlike antecedent strategies, which are implemented immediately before behavior occurs.
🤝 Individualization Matters: Each strategy should be tailored to the unique needs of the learner.

Join Us...
🌟 Subscribe: Don’t miss the next episode, where we’ll dive into antecedent strategies and how they differ from setting events!
💬 Join the Discussion: Share your favorite setting event strategies and ask questions in the comments or on our social media. @TheMisfitBehaviorists
📚 Explore More: Check out visuals and additional resources in the show notes and our online community.

For you!
📊 BIP Timeline Graphic: A visual guide to when and how to implement setting event strategies during the behavior intervention process.
🖼️ Setting Event Strategy Visuals: Examples and practical ideas for modifying environments, addressing internal needs, and building routines.

Get these all in this 20-page freebie:

🎥 Recommended Tools: Noise-canceling headphones, sensory-friendly lighting options, and yoga/movement videos for embedding relaxation techniques.

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Transcript

Ep. 44: Understanding Setting Event Strategies in Behavior Plans - Part 8 of the FBA Mini-Series 

[00:00:00] 

Audra: I noticed that my own son, he struggled the most in elementary school. And then when he hit middle school, it was like night and day difference for him. Having that movement every 50 minutes, a 10 minute walk to the next thing, that was almost all it took for him to kind of switch and me stop getting the calls from the principal that he threw a book at a kid's head 

Intro: Welcome to the Misfit Behaviorist podcast miniseries. This round, join your hosts, Audra Jensen and Sami Brown, here to bring you fun and functional advice for creating and implementing behavior plans. Let's get started. 

Audra: Welcome back to the Misfit Behaviorist. We have kind of wrapped up the FBA portion of what we've been talking about. We're going to move into the behavior plan portion. So I think at this point, either we're assuming you've had a meeting, but it could be that you haven't had that official meeting and you're just moving on from the FBA portion right into the behavior plan portion, which is a lot of time what we do. I did want to have that one last week where you talk about [00:01:00] having a meeting because there are situations where you may want to have a meeting before you move on. Now you've kind of made that synthesis and you've made a hypothesis of what the behaviors are and what you want to reduce and maybe skill sets you want to increase. And so now how do you go on to create a systematic plan that's not just a bunch of check boxes that you go through that I used to see a lot of behavior plans look like. It's just like, you know, this is the list of possible strategies, check three that you like. I mean, that's not what we want to do here. 

At the beginning of creating a BIP or a behavior plan, and we use those terms interchangeably, so do whatever you want with them. Behavior plan, BIP, anyway, you want to think about not only the behavior that you may be wanting to address and assumably decrease, but you also want to think about those target behaviors you want to increase. And we're not going to address replacement behaviors at this point because that kind of comes later. If you use IEP online or any sort of system like that, most of them are very similar. They kind of have this order that they have you put the information in. [00:02:00] And the first thing that they talk about is setting events and setting event strategies. So today I just want to kind of talk about setting events, setting event strategies, and then next time we'll talk about antecedent strategies. And I just want to put a little plug that there's a slight but important difference between setting event strategies and antecedent strategies. The way I see of them difference is kind of the time at which they're implemented. So a setting event strategy, I think of things that you're going to plan way beforehand. You're talking about environmental strategies, talking about environmental changes, talking about things that might happen over a long period of time, whether they talk about sleep or nutrition overall setting of the, and I don't mean setting events, but like setting of a classroom, things that you can change over a longer period of time. And then those antecedent strategies are things that happen immediately before behavior, so that it might help kind of change the trajectory of that behavior.

The two blur, you might find strategies that you could consider a setting event strategy and an antecedent strategy. So [00:03:00] just keep in mind that these are ones that kind of overlap a little bit, but those setting event ones are really things that you can think long beforehand. What can we do beforehand to set it up so that that priming of the pump doesn't happen, and we leave that engine on stall. 

Sami: It reminds me of the iceberg theory of what you can see above the surface and what you can't below. And so as you get to know your learner, and hopefully through this process you really have, it's things that you are aware of that potentially could create a situation for behavior that you may have control over in some degree. Planning and preparing for whatever that is.

Audra: I like that. And when you said iceberg, you can expand that analogy too like the setting event, that's all the stuff underneath the water. Your antecedent strategies are the little waves come up on the iceberg at the very tip of the surface. If the water is all calm, you're not going to have the little waves coming up onto the [00:04:00] iceberg or the beach or whatever. So I think that's a really good analogy. And then you have the behavior that kind of explodes on top, but all that stuff underneath is, you know, how's the student feeling? What can we do to keep that student in that calm state? And that never means that we're going to give a kid everything they want. I mean, that's not what we're talking about here. And I think anybody listening understands that, but it's like, how can we make that water underneath be as warm and comfortable as possible?

I have three things that I think of when I'm thinking about setting events. One is environmental modifications. So adjusting the environment so that the student, maybe the student sits in a different location, or they're not next to the peer that tends to incite things in them, or we're having them walk before the crowd gets into the hallway. Different things around the environment. Sensory things go really well here. What can we do to make the environment peaceful and keep them in that kind of calm state? So that's the first category I would think of. 

Sami: It reminds me of the movie Inside Out. [00:05:00] It's kind of like you're working on things from the inside that you can do to help mitigate, and then also things on the outside in the room, in the environment itself that you have control over.

Audra: And then the second thing I think of sleep, nutrition, water, medication those type of things that are internal to the student. That's where you kind of have that conversation going with families. You know, if you have a good back and forth communication with them, how's the day going? So, if you have a student come in and they look really agitated, maybe they didn't get the sleep that they needed. Maybe they're hungry. These are the type of things that would be setting events. So maybe you can watch for and then that may bleed into an antecedent strategy. But if you can catch it before we get to the point where you see the behaviors really amping up, maybe you can make sure they have their breakfast. Maybe they have a quiet place when they first come in as you have a chance. We've done these check ins and check outs with kids before. And so that stuff's really important as well. 

Sami: And you can use those things as a checklist of offering some sort of snack or something. If they're hungry, they're going to take it. And [00:06:00] then that could be a signal of at least I've ruled that piece out. Same with thirst, bathroom, whatever it is, making sure that those internal needs are met. 

Audra: Yeah, and that's an easy one. I think of all those, it's kind of the easiest one. It's just make sure they get some food, you know. And you want to take a little nap over in the bean bag? That's totally fine. There's nothing wrong with that. 

Sami: You're not going to get any productivity out of a student who's overly exhausted. I mean, it's just, it's an internal thing that unless we meet that, which is either, lowering those demands and expectations and offering that kind of break and rest and making sure that it's not related to, they just don't want to do the work and so then we're kind of reinforcing that, but as we're getting to know our student, it's just meeting their internal needs, like you said. 

Audra: Yeah. And that kind of leads into kind of the third thing I think about is establishing those predictable routines and consistencies. And a lot of the learners that I've worked with over the years , they may come from a dysregulated environment at home. And so I want to make sure that the environment that I have here that the day the routine is the same so they know what to expect. Everything's [00:07:00] consistent. Expectations are consistent. I'm not going to have a reaction to a behavior one day, but it's different the next day. It's all this stuff kind of makes them feel like they're in a safe environment. And it's really important for them to have that. That will help those feelings underneath the iceberg to kind of calm down. 

Sami: And anxiety, you know, leads learners, people, everyone into a need of wanting to control things in order so that they feel kind of safe. And so it's kind of looking at that predictability of a routine. If they know what to expect and we're not veering off of that, it gives them a sense of that safety because their anxiety is reduced. They know what's coming. 

Audra: I created this simple visual, just kind of 10 things that came to mind when I'm thinking about setting event strategies. And I'll kind of jump around, but one of them, like we talked about, being those environmental modifications adjusting that physical environment, reducing the sensory input that may be overwhelming. That might be using noise cancelling [00:08:00] headphones reducing your lighting. We've used a lot of those kind of blue covers over the lights that are really bright in schools. And that helps. Having a sensory space in your room or next door or something that they have that. And all of that kind of just helps that behavior from starting up for some of our learners. Now, I should add this caveat. None of these are for every student. These are just ideas as you think about your learners specifically individualizing it for your learner. 

Sami: And as you break down each of these individual, you may take it a step further. Like I think you had mentioned earlier on about like placement in the classroom. So someone who's highly distracted, the movement in and out of the door of the classroom or right where the bathroom is, where people potentially are coming in and out or where the pencil sharpener is going, you might want to move them. Also, if you have a student that elopes, maybe having them a little bit further farther from the door versus right close to the door. So just looking at each learner, don't look at it as a whole [00:09:00] and say, this is how it is. It's, it's all individualized. 

Audra: Always individualized. Yep. And then another one that kind of pre teaching and priming and this is one that kind of bleeds over in an antecedent strategies. But if you're thinking about pre teaching, like say maybe math is really difficult for the student and you know what concept is being taught. Maybe you start working on it a few days before it comes up in the classroom. And that would be a setting event strategies. Whereas, maybe you're given a worksheet and in the moment, maybe you go through and you cross off half of them. That would be an antecedent strategy. So that would be kind of the difference. While it's one strategy, one might be setting, one might be an antecedent strategy. 

Sami: I was thinking for my kiddo when he was really young the fire drills, that could majorly set him off. And so part of that pre teaching was him to be told in advance that something was going to happen, and then what was that going to look like so that it didn't alert him, or just be able to prepare him for that because that was a huge overload of auditory input. 

Audra: Yeah, that's a very common [00:10:00] one, in fact, and you know, in the same vein, maybe it's something that you practice with the learner outside of the classroom in a therapy room or another quiet room or practice role play, go through something like that. So they have that expectation. And again, you're back into like number one, which is the environmental strategies. Maybe you find noise canceling earphones and you have them on before you know what happens. And then it takes you talking with your admin or whoever's running those, let us know beforehand. It's just always thinking ahead.

Another one would be scheduling breaks and movement opportunities. Build those in according to what the learner needs. Those regular breaks away from difficult situations, but also just through the day, giving them a chance to get their body moving. A lot of students I work with have needed that extra sensory input and just movement. 

I noticed that my own son, he struggled the most in elementary school. And then when he hit middle school, and they were moving from class to class, I think they did in 5th or 6th grade. It was like night and day difference for him. [00:11:00] Having that movement every 50 minutes, a 10 minute walk to the next thing, that was almost all it took for him to kind of switch and me stop getting the calls from the principal that he threw a book at a kid's head. That started to stop once he had those movement breaks. And I wish I figured that out earlier and had built in enough of those movements early on. And I think it was just a simple thing like that that he needed. 

Sami: And we used to talk about like those false errands. So I need you Learner A to run this to the front office. And it's just an envelope that has like a post it note for the front office that says, how you doing? Or having the book bin that's by the door, that's got all the library books. So you got some heavy lifting. I need these to be run back to the library, little things like that, just to give them kind of an area to get a break in.

Audra: Somebody came up with it, it was like the called the orange folder or something. But yes, I love that idea. Another one would be like motivation and preference checks. And this again is one that kind of bleeds into either, but thinking in the case of like a setting event, planning ahead of [00:12:00] time, letting them have some say in what they're working for well before the difficult stuff happens that might trigger the behavior. The first part of the day, Hey, what are we working for today? That's going to be later on this plan ahead, kind of increase that motivation, that engagement before all the other stuff happens that is more averse to them. 

Sami: And I think it's important too just to keep in mind that satiation, you can have too much of a good thing. Believe me, I know that I've had one too many a margarita at a time, but all I'm saying is that when we're looking at that motivation assessment, it's making sure that we're not being too repetitive in whatever it is that we're offering, whether it's the same snack every single day or it's the same movement break every single day, looking into some diversity to that so that we kind of keep them engaged and excited about whatever that is. 

Audra: Yeah, I love that. Another thing is modifying those task demands. Again, this is the difference between setting an event and an antecedent. Think about well beforehand, how can you change? Say you know, a big project's coming up in the classroom, work with the teacher [00:13:00] beforehand of not even presenting the full thing to the student, because some of those big projects are triggers immediately to our students. Maybe you talk to the student before a project is presented, say, I know she's going to talk about this today. Let me show you what you're going to be responsible for so you don't need to worry about all the other stuff that she's going to talk about. 

Sami: And long durations of verbal language. You've got to kind of break that up a bit because I think that's where we lose some of the learners in that as well. 

Audra: Well, yeah. And if you're talking about like a project or something that is going to be really verbal like that, again, that's thinking well beforehand, find out what it is, get it all written down, little check boxes or something, have that already prepared before those situations come up. And that's prevents it from happening in the first place. 

Another one might be offering choices and control, and everybody knows we need to do this. Providing those choices and that control. When I'm thinking about choice and control as a setting event strategy, I'm thinking about when we had our fun little [00:14:00] learner that we had to remove from the entire school system for a while and we worked with him by himself for a while until we got his behavior under control. And in this case, a setting event strategy using choice and control was when he would come in, we would basically say, hey, here's your entire day, all the stuff that we need to do today, you get to choose. Yeah, you get to choose what order we do these in. And so on the whiteboard, he would go through and some of them we had on there, like, you know, build Legos and go to recess and all these other things. Now, like the ones with recess, we had to have a time because there was a specific time. But other than that. If he wanted to go through and do all the reinforcement stuff first, he got to do that. But then he knew he had expectations afterwards. Actually, he was really good about choosing some of both throughout the day. But we gave him that control. And then as he became successful, and we didn't have the explosive behaviors we had before, we were able to change that up and add a little bit more of our control into it. But in the beginning, it [00:15:00] was just giving him that control. So we could gain control over the behavior. And then slowly transition him into the environment that he was expected to be in. 

Sami: It's like negative reinforcement. The removal of an aversive is something on your to do list. And so just removing some of those things actually was really reinforcing to know I'm getting closer to the end of whatever my expectations are. And I think that we just as human beings, even as adults. I'll write things on my to do list just so I can cross it right off. So we like that. And so I think that allowing those choice for him to say, okay, I want to do this at first and then that, who cares? 

Audra: It really did work. And that was a difficult case. And to see how easily he was able to transition to understanding that and feeling that ownership with it. And it was a very positive thing for him. 

And then another one is we talk about kind of sleep and nutrition and water and medication, all that stuff, have a system in place where when a student comes at the beginning of the day, you know what their background is, as much as you can. I mean, there's some [00:16:00] situations you can, but even if the kid is verbal, have them come in, Hey, how'd you sleep last night? What'd you eat for breakfast? If you have communication with your families, finding out how they're doing at home, what things are changing at home, you know, are they going through a difficult life situation at home, all that stuff impacts, and then when they come in and you know one way or the other, you can change your whole day if you need to in order to, respond to that.

Sami: I think that is such a huge piece, just the sleep and the nutrition, that alone, because our ability to focus, our ability to attend to tasks to feel kind of regulated inside, even just being overly tired or overly hungry, I just really think it does prime that pump for, I mean, I get hangry.

Audra: So another one would be as we talked about establishing those routines and consistency and just using visuals if you can, if the student needs them, having daily agendas so that they know what's coming next, they know what to expect. Using the pre-mack [00:17:00] principle where you're doing fun activities and then the difficult activities and then fun activities kind of sandwich in those things that are more difficult for them as much control as you have. But if we're talking about a BIP, we're talking about usually a student in a situation where you have more control. You know, we're at this point. We're not talking about just basic classroom strategies. These are very specific to the student. So that's one way to do it for establishing that consistency for them.

And then two other ones, providing those relaxation techniques. There's a lot of really great kids yoga, YouTube videos and stuff, and we would embed them throughout our day so that they had not just movement, and in fact, whenever we did these movements, I don't know if you remember that we do like movements that they got up and kind of ramping up their body. But then we ended them with kind of the calmer ones to bring the system back down. And so that's really good to embed throughout a day. If you have like a self contained classroom or you have a kind of control over that, but the yoga and breathing and all that stuff, it just brings down those kind of high stress feelings.[00:18:00] 

Sami: And depending on the age of your learners, it's hard to sit and attend for long periods of time, and we're learning. 

Audra: I have a hard time with that. I was sitting in church just this week, we're there for two hours, and by half an hour into the first hour, I'm just like, I'm like a three year old. I can't sit there this long. What can I do? What did I get on my phone? It's like, so yeah, I mean, we're expecting them to be at school for six hours a day. Just make sure we have movement built in throughout and sometimes we don't need to worry about the standards like they want us to. We've got to worry about the person that we're dealing with.

Sami: Yeah, it's funny because I went to my parent teacher conference for one of my kiddos and math is a bit of a struggle and they're not doing super great in math. And so we sat down and I said, okay, remind me what, what period do you have math? He said, right before lunch fourth period. And I said, it's all I needed to know. Thanks so much. Shake the teacher's hand. I'll see you guys later because I mean, that [00:19:00] expectation, it's the last lunch of the day, the kids are all hungry, they're tired, so much mental focus for math, and it was all explanatory to me. I didn't even need anything else. 

Audra: And then the last one is like providing those positive reinforcement. Plan those things beforehand. Plan them early on and that kind of leads into, or kind of bridges back to the other one of giving them choice. Don't always assume that the learner you're working with likes this system or this token board or wants to work for M& Ms, whatever it is. Don't assume that in your learner. Use your assessment, whether they're formal or informal. Use your assessment, your preference assessments to make sure that you know what they're interested in and they have some say in that. And thinking about the individualization for your learner and what they need and giving them an opportunity to have say in whatever the system is. 

I think the biggest thing that goes with this is having fun yourself, enjoy your time with your learner, [00:20:00] provide kind of this positive environment. Even when we start to see negative behaviors creep in, there are some students that you can kind of play with and joke with and bring them back out of that. Making sure that they feel like they're liked by you, I think is really, really important. Just setting that positive tone in your classroom or therapy session. 

Sami: I think you and I have done this in the past where, you know, they're wanting to learn a math lesson or something. And we have found it in like Minecraft. And so that was a really exciting topic. And so we embedded what we knew was really of interest And it kind of got them more involved in it, because it felt like it assimilated with an interest that they had. 

Audra: Well, that's setting event strategies, and so I will put these visuals into the group and in the show notes, or wherever else it needs to go. We have a couple other things coming up, but the next time we talk about behavior strategies, we will start talking about antecedent strategies, and again, how they're a little bit different than setting strategies, and give some [00:21:00] examples of that, so we will see you then.

Thanks for listening to The Misfit Behaviorists, and be sure to tune in next week for more tips and tricks. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.