1. (1) "Applied behavior analysis" or "ABA" means a well-developed discipline based on a mature body of scientific knowledge and established standards for evidence-based practice.

   1. (a) ABA focuses on the analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of social and other environmental modifications to produce meaningful changes in behavior.
   2. (b) ABA is a behavioral health treatment that is intended to develop, maintain, or restore, to the maximum extent attainable, the functioning of a person who requires behavioral intervention.
   3. (c) ABA-based therapies are characterized by reliable empirical evidence and are not experimental or investigational.
2. (2) "Aversive stimulus" means a highly undesirable stimulus change or condition that exceeds what typically occurs in the environment, but is not harmful.
3. (3) "Contingent rights restriction" means a temporary loss of a human right based on the occurrence of a previously identified unwanted target behavior.

4. (4)(a) "Deprivation" means the non-contingent removal of or limiting access to a person's stimuli or a person's ability to access stimuli with that person's own available funds to increase the stimuli's value as a potential reinforcer. The potential reinforcer is given to the person contingent on the occurrence of a desired targeted adaptive behavior or another desired targeted response.

   1. (b) If a person does not own an item or has insufficient funds to purchase an item, the removal of or limiting access to that item is not deprivation.

5. (5) "Emergency behavior intervention" means the temporary use of an intrusive behavior intervention, including an emergency rights restriction, not outlined in a person's behavior support plan and only used in an emergency situation to prevent:

   1. (a) imminent injury to the person or any other person; or
   2. (b) significant property damage.
6. (6) "Emergency rights restriction" means a temporary loss of a human right based upon the occurrence of a previously identified unwanted target behavior.
7. (7) "Enforced compliance" means a person is physically guided through completion of a request or command and the person is more than minimally resisting.

8. (8) "Error correction" means a person repeating the step of a skill where an error was made, while:

   1. (a) receiving as much help as needed to complete the skill without making additional errors; and
   2. (b) the person is not resisting throughout the process.
9. (9) "Extinction" means the reinforcement that maintained or increased the unwanted target behavior is withheld.
10. (10) "Functional behavior assessment" means a systematic assessment for obtaining information about the function an unwanted target behavior serves for a person. A qualified behavior professional shall conduct this assessment.
11. (11) "Intrusive behavior intervention" means an intervention of an unpleasant and restrictive behavior with the potential to restrict a person's human right and affect the safety of the person.

12. (12)(a) "Manual restraint" means a person's body physically held or restricted in a way that:

    1. (i) prevents that person's free movement; and

       1. (ii) is administered in a way that ensures that person's general safety with specific emphasis on appropriate breathing and circulation.
    2. (b) Manual restraint does not mean briefly holding a person, who is not resisting, to calm that person or escort that person safely from one area to another.

13. (13) "Mechanical restraint" means a device attached to or adjacent to a person's body that:

    1. (a) cannot easily be removed by the person;
    2. (b) restricts the person's freedom of movement; and
    3. (c) is administered in a way that ensures a person's general safety with specific emphasis on appropriate breathing and circulation and which prevents skin irritation.
14. (14) "Non-intrusive behavior intervention" means a positive behavior intervention that incorporates positive teaching, prevention, reinforcement, and training strategies.

15. (15) "Physical guidance" means a person's appropriate body part being physically guided through a proper motion by a caregiver or staff while the person is no more than minimally resisting.

    1. (a) If a person demonstrates any level of resistance, the behavior intervention is considered intrusive behavior intervention.
    2. (b) Physical guidance may include partial or full physical prompts.

16. (16) "Positive behavior support" means the use of a positive behavior intervention that achieves a socially important behavior change. The support:

    1. (a) addresses the functionality of a problem;
    2. (b) focuses on prevention and teaching replacement behavior; and
    3. (c) results in an outcome that is acceptable to the person, the family, and the community.
17. (17) "Positive practice overcorrection" means a person repeatedly practicing a positive alternative behavior in a situation when an unwanted target behavior commonly occurs.
18. (18) "Reinforcement" means anything that occurs following a behavior that increases or strengthens that behavior.
19. (19) "Replacement behavior" means a necessary behavioral, communication, or social skill used to replace an unwanted target behavior.
20. (20) "Response-cost" means that previously obtained rewards, including points, tokens, activities, or the opportunity to exchange points or tokens to obtain a reward, are removed from a person for a time, contingent upon the occurrence of an unwanted target behavior.
21. (21) "Restitutional overcorrection" means that a person repeatedly restores an environment to its original condition.

22. (22)(a) "Satiation" means a person is non-contingently presented with an overabundance of a reinforcer to decrease its reinforcing properties and subsequently decrease the occurrence of the unwanted target behavior.

    1. (b) Satiation may not be used in conjunction with enforced compliance.

23. (23)(a) "Seclusion" means the same as defined in Section 26B-2-101 and Rule R501-1 and includes social isolation and removing the person from a specific setting that exceeds ten minutes.

    1. (b) Seclusion is not a voluntary time-out or medical quarantine and isolation when approved by a medical professional.

24. (24)(a) "Seclusion room" means that a person is placed alone in a room designed for seclusion for up to an allowable specified amount of time, as determined by the behavior support plan.

    1. (b) Use of the seclusion room may require enforced compliance to move the person to or prevent them from leaving the seclusion room.

Terms used in this rule are defined in Section 26B-6-401 and Rules R501-1 and R539-13. Additionally:

KEY: people with disabilities, behavior

Date of Last Change: July 23, 2025

Notice of Continuation: June 24, 2024

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 26B-6-403