Giving Students with Brain Injuries a Say in Developing Their Behavior Support Plans

By Serra Langone, M.S., M.Ed., BCBA, LABA

Using a collaborative approach can be the key to success when it comes to developing behavioral programming for students with brain injury. Professionals have been adhering to this philosophy for years using “interprofessional collaboration.” What had been missing, however, was incorporating the student into the planning and development process.

At the May Center School for Brain Injury and Neurobehavioral Disorders in Norwood, Mass., our students are an important part of the team that develops their behavior support plans.

Before these plans are developed, clinical staff gather information from various sources including teachers, residential staff (if applicable), nursing, and the student’s parent or guardian. However, the most important source of information comes from students themselves. 

Here’s how it works: Clinical staff meet with students to assess their preferences, their goals, and the strategies they find acceptable. During these meetings, we obtain valuable information that cannot be found anywhere else. For example, students can report on what has been beneficial in the past, and what has been implemented without success. This information leads to support plans that are tailored to the individual student. 

When students participate in their plan development, they are more likely to accept the goals and methods. They “buy in” to their plan, and show far greater commitment to their own success than when these decisions are made without their input. During the process of creating the plan, students take ownership of their goals and their plan. They understand their plan, can explain it to others, and learn how to advocate for themselves. 

Students can request meetings to adjust plans if they are not achieving their goals or strategies are not supporting them as intended. This fosters a relationship between the student and the clinical staff that ensures trust, understanding, and compassion. 

Currently, we have students who have self-advocated that their doctors sign off on their plans, reporting to their doctor, “It really helps me stay safe.” We serve individuals who request adjustments to their plans on a regular basis, scheduling meetings with their assigned clinical staff. Some individuals who require supportive equipment or accommodations will remind their daily staff to carry the items with them, or the student will carry them on their own, showing that the supports they helped design are effective, comforting, and valued. 

When we work together with students, we help them learn that despite a brain injury, and despite the need for occasional caregivers and support, they are their own person. They have a voice. They are in charge of their future, and we are here to help.

Serra Langone, M.S., M.Ed., BCBA, LABA, is Clinical Director at the May Center School for Brain Injury and Neurobehavioral Disorders in Norwood, Mass., She can be reached at slangone@mayinstitute.org.