Promoting the Accessibility of SWPBIS for Students With Severe Disabilities

Abstract

This study heeds a decade-long call to action to examine the accessibility of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) for students with severe disabilities. To improve the accessibility of SWPBIS, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and evidence-based practices were used to teach three students with severe disabilities schoolwide behavior expectations in inclusive schoolwide settings. Special education teachers from three different elementary schools adapted their campus SWPBIS Tier 1 lesson plans with additional visual supports, social narratives, and systematic instructional procedures. All participants showed improvement as evidenced by a reduction in the duration of their problem behavior in schoolwide settings. Implementing teachers found the intervention and corresponding materials to be socially valid.

Examining the Inclusion of Students with Severe Disabilities in School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

“…However, there is emerging evidence suggesting that school personnel can provide supports to accommodate the unique support needs of students with severe disabilities, resulting in greater accessibility to SWPBIS and improved student behavior. Loman, Strickland-Cohen, and Walker (2018) conducted a study in which special educators received training to adapt Tier 1 school-wide lesson plans based on the principles of universal design for learning (UDL;Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014) and EBPs in the field of severe disabilities (Browder, Wood, Thompson, & Ribuffo, 2014). The teachers were successful in adapting and implementing the lesson plans and found the process to be socially valid.…”

“…Although more intensive levels of intervention can be effective in general education settings (Goh & Bambara, 2012;Walker et al, 2017), schools should also establish universal supports that are available to students with severe disabilities, as these students may not necessarily require more intensive Tier 2 or Tier 3 levels of support. For example, Loman et al (2018) adapted Tier 1 supports using EBPs to reduce challenging behaviors among students with severe disabilities that would have otherwise been addressed through intensive Tier 3 interventions. Several school personnel in our study reported student characteristics, including student competency necessary to understand schoolwide expectations and reinforcement systems, as barriers to including students with severe disabilities.…”

Desenho Universal para Aprendizagem e Educação Inclusiva: uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura Internacional1

“…The authors concluded that, in addition to the intervention improving students' overall motor skills, planning an intervention in Physical Education based on the principles of UDL favors the participation and engagement of students in the proposed activities. Loman, Strickland-Cohen, & Walker (2018) also used an experimental model (multiple baseline single subject design) to assess the effects of adapted lesson plans and inappropriate behaviors of students with severe disabilities in the school context. The inadequate behaviors of the three students analyzed decreased with the insertion of the UDL principles in the lesson plans and school daily life.…”

A comparison of sampling approaches for monitoring schoolwide inclusion program fidelity

“…Students with developmental disabilities benefit from schoolwide supports when settings become more welcoming for social inclusion (Siperstein et al 2017). Schoolwide supports have also provided scaffolding that has led to decreases in problem behavior for students with developmental delay (Loman et al 2017).…”