CASE STUDY

Case Study
Michlin Durazo
HD426
February 19, 2016

Case Study Module 6

CASE STUDY

My case study was done on a 6-year-old twin autistic boy, named Johnny. He is a 1st grader in a
mod/severe SDC class at Del mar Heights Elementary School. His twin brother is also autistic, but to a
much milder degree. Johnny has a difficult time dealing with transitions, changes in schedule, and nonpreferred activities. He struggles with mathematics, but is at a reading level well above his grade level.
Although, his comprehension is below the average for his class. Johnny is quite the artist. His general ed
class attends art class once a week, and his peers are always in awe over his work. Johnny eats the same
thing for lunch everyday. He brings a thermos with a soy product that looks like large ground beef chunks,
a granola bar and gluten free crackers. He is never thrilled to eat the meat product, although it is the only
food he will actually eat, other then a few snack items.
At times when Johnny is upset, he has been known to be physically aggressive towards himself. He
tends to hit his forehead with his closed fist, arm, or nearest object. He also can be very impulsive and will
elope in the snap of a finger, usually to chase any moving vehicle that passes by. Johnny can also be very
hard on himself when he gets frustrated or makes a mistake. He will hit his forehead, and verbal repeat
stupid ___ or I hate ___.
Although Johnny can be temperamental at times, he is also the greatest kid I know. He has a sense of
humor and the ability to express his own thoughts and feelings. I look forward to going to work every day,
just because of this guy. He makes me laugh all of the time, and it warms my heart to see him grow and
learn more every day.

CASE STUDY
Date/Time

1/7/16
12:05 pm

1/12/16
10:15 am

3
Antecedent

I placed
Johnnys
thermos of
meat in front
of him on the
lunch table.
The bell rang,
signaling the
end of snack
recess.

Behavior

Johnny yelled
stupid meat
and began to
bang his
forehead with
his closed fist.

Consequence

I redirected
Johnny back
to his meat by
pointing to it
and told him
first meat,
then his
granola bar
Johnny got off I
the swing,
acknowledged
knelt down,
the
grabbed a
appropriate
handful of
behavior of
woodchips
getting off
and threw
swing
them. He then immediately
hit forehead
when bell
with closed
rang.
fist 2X
Redirected
back to class.

Hypothesized
Function

To escape the
demand of
having to eat
his meat.

To obtain
more time on
swings.

CASE STUDY

1/14/16
10:45 am

Another
student in
class was
being verbal
and touching
peers during
story time, so
he was
removed from
the group.

Johnny started
wiggling
around the
carpet, verbal
outbursts
while teacher
was reading,
touching
peers hair,
and laughing
loudly.

Gave Johnny 1 To obtain

visual cue for attention.
calm body
and quiet
voice, then
ignored any
continuing
behavior.

An appropriate replacement behavior for Johnny would be to get him to verbally state what he does not
want (what he is trying to escape) or to verbally ask for what he is wanting to obtain. By stating I do not
like to eat my meat, it would serve the same function of escape. Instead of throwing wood chips and
hitting his forehead, he could ask for more time on the swings. Attention is a bit more difficult to replace
because it really depends on what kind of attention he was looking to get. If it was teacher or aide
attention, he could ask to sit next to someone during story time. Johnny could also be taught to raise his
hand if he has a question or wants something. You will know that the replacement behavior serves the
same function and the problem behavior, as long as they produce the same desired outcome for the child.