Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a

Instruction in Functional Assessment Chapter 2
Family Contribution to Assessment of the
Individual’s Challenging Behavior
Families play an essential role in providing necessary information for early detection
and diagnosis, assessment, and are often involved in implementing interventions (Friend
& Cook, 2007). Early detection followed by intervention provides the best chance of longterm
beneficial outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Shapiro & Batshaw,
2013). Understanding the family and their CULTURE is necessary when assessing an individual’s
challenging behavior. Cultural differences may involve any combination of age, race/
ethnicity, social class, sex, language, religion, sexual orientation, ableness (special needs),
regionality, and nationality. For instance, a family may come from cultural contexts with
very different viewpoints about education and appropriate child behaviors and this may be
involved with the occurrence of the individual’s challenging behaviors. The more different
the cultural background of the family, the more likely that the individuals involved will
face cultural conflicts resulting from those differences (Brown, 2010). This is especially true
when sensitive topics or cultural incidents occur. Understanding the family and the cultural
context of the family is critical to a comprehensive assessment and treatment. Professionals
must ensure that families are part of the process and strive to build a positive, strong partnership
with the family.
Ethical Considerations
A number of ethical issues should be considered before undertaking an FA. Ethical
principles or procedures refer to rules that professions or organizations have specified to
ensure survival of the culture (Skinner, 1953). Abiding by ethical considerations protects
the client and others and can contribute to high quality care for the person. The overarching
ethical considerations are: do no harm, right to privacy, and INFORMED CONSENT. Several
federal laws mandate assessment, evaluation, and interventions with persons with disabilities,
including Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Americans with Disabilities
Act, the Buckley Amendment of Families Equal Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) and other
state and local policies. Professionals should be well-versed about these laws and policies
and act accordingly. Other ethical factors specific to the FA process include: informed
consent from the individual and family to perform FA and determine acceptability of
treatment procedures, competence of the professional, adequate and appropriate behavior
measures of baseline, treatment, and post-treatment to allow objective and fair evaluation
of treatment effectiveness, the choice of a least restrictive alternative or intervention path,
and the right to effective treatment based on research based intervention practices. Table
9 lists professional organizations in psychology and education that describe ethical guidelines,
principles, and procedures.
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