Modifying Activities to Produce Functional Outcomes: Effects on the Problem Behaviors of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

This article presents three empirical demonstrations of desirable effects that accrued from modifying curricular activities in accordance with individual students' interests. Participants were three elementary students with disabilities and diverse labels including autism, mental retardation, and emotional and behavioral disorder. In each case, the instructional objective was held constant; whereas, the context of the activity was modified so that it produced an outcome that was judged to be meaningful and reinforcing to the student. Reversal designs showed that each student exhibited less problem behavior and more on-task responding when the modified activity was presented. These results are discussed in relation to the applied and conceptual literatures on curricular design, student preference, and the expanding enterprise of positive behavioral support.