Many of the behaviors of children that are viewed as inappropriate are due to a lack of more appropriate functional skills and an absence of meaningful activities or too much time in which the child is not occupied. Rather than attempting to address all of the child's behaviors that is considered problematic, it is important to prioritize behaviors and identify missing skills which enable the child to participate within the classroom. A decision making process is helpful in accomplishing this important task. The first step is to determine what functions the specific behavior seems to serve for the child. The questions in the example (see example) are useful in developing a hypothesis regarding the behavior. Data can be collected when the behavior of concern is occurring (see data collection form example). Questions to consider when observing a child over a period of time are listed on the environmental, curricular, and communication approaches and adaptations are then based upon your hypothesis of the communicative intent of the behavior.