Implications for Behavior
Use of developmentally appropriate behavior strategies and supports will likely result in increase in demonstration of desired behavior and decrease in demonstration of challenging behavior, resulting in more on-task behavior (e.g., work completion, working independently, etc.) or increased use of a FERB (e.g., appropriately requesting to escape an assignment or access a tangible item).
If a student is being asked to use a strategy that is outside their current developmental abilities, they will be unable to do so and will continue to use the challenging behavior which is within their developmental abilities.
For example, if a student is chronologically 16 years old, but currently demonstrates the developmental abilities in the one to two year range, they will be unable to delay access to reinforcement for long periods, rather, they will require frequent access to reinforcement.
If that student is expected to wait until the end of the day to access reinforcement for positive behavior, there is a mismatch between their current developmental abilities and expectations; this will likely result in the use of challenging behavior or decreased engagement in task demands.
