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This case study of a male high schooler with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves the implementation of an intervention to target the student's anxiety and perseveration. Perseveration can be briefly defined as noticeable, repetitive or selfstimulatory behaviors in the physical, gestural, and verbal domains of functioning that are often displayed by people with ASD. For more information about perseveration, specific examples, triggers and consequences, see Understanding the Perseveration Displayed by Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Arora, 2012). The anxietyrelated behavior and perseveration of Kevin, a 10th grader at Monrovia High School was examined in depth during nutrition period. Kevin displayed bilateral physical perseveration, which in this case was tapping his feet again and again on the ground. After three observations and a functional assessment analysis, an intervention was implemented with the goal of reducing the student's anxiety and bilateral physical perseveration. Anxiety and bilateral physical perseveration were chosen as the target behaviors because "an increase in a student's anxiety can trigger a student with ASD to perseverate or to increase perseveration" (Arora, 2012; Rodgers, Glod, Connolly, & McConachie, 2012). The intervention proposed to reduce Kevin's anxiety related behavior consisted of varied coping strategies' choices on an index card. This card had 9 different coping strategies with visuals on it. The coping strategies listed on the index card were a combination of deep breathing and counting, deep pressure exercises, physical exercises, cognitive reassurance and guided imagery). These particular strategies were chosen because they are effective interventions for reducing anxiety among students with autism (Woods et al., 2009).
The rationale behind this intervention is that the utilization of calming exercises will help assist Kevin, the student with ASD, in the reduction in the triggers of perseveration, by improving access to his social environment with minimal interruption and across multiple settings. The thoroughness of a Functional Analysis and Assessment (FAA) and its individual components lends itself to the opportunity to bring in everybody on the team, such as a teacher, school psychologist, paraeducator, parents, siblings, peers, specialists and other people who interact with the student, providing well rounded views of the student's behavior. A FAA also provides the interventionist with minute details about the student's behavior that would typically be overlooked by many because perseveration is...