Functions of Behavior. Why is this happening?
For most people, it is somewhat easy to understand why we do the things we do. If we get upset, we may cry, yell, or withdraw. These are negative behaviors. If we are happy, we may smile or laugh. These are positive behaviors. These things that come so naturally to us, what we do day in and day out, make up our behavior. However, sometimes with our children with autism, their negative behavior may be unpredictable, surprising, hard to understand, and maybe even dangerous.
Before we can help work through the issues that negative behavior can cause, we first need to remember that all behavior occurs for a reason. Behavior occurs to aid a person in having a biological, emotional, or mental need met. Identifying why the behavior is occurring is the next step. Identifying reason why it is occurring, in clinical terms is, what is the function?
The behavior is the "what". The function is the "why".
For most, but not all, professionals that work with children with disabilities, and more specifically autism, there are four functions.
First, there is...
Attention.
Behavior that occurs for to get a response from another.
Behaviors with an attention function can be positive or negative. Can you tell which is which in the following scenarios?
Before we can help work through the issues that negative behavior can cause, we first need to remember that all behavior occurs for a reason. Behavior occurs to aid a person in having a biological, emotional, or mental need met. Identifying why the behavior is occurring is the next step. Identifying reason why it is occurring, in clinical terms is, what is the function?
The behavior is the "what". The function is the "why".
For most, but not all, professionals that work with children with disabilities, and more specifically autism, there are four functions.
First, there is...
Attention.
Behavior that occurs for to get a response from another.
Behaviors with an attention function can be positive or negative. Can you tell which is which in the following scenarios?
Child saying, "Mom!" repeatedly, then hitting her.
Child grabbing your hand. Child hits their own head, then runs to parent for comforting. |
Negative Behavior.
Positive Behavior. Negative Behavior. |
Child brings a toy/picture/movie to you.
Doing something over and over again, after they have been asked to stop. Asking someone for help. |
Positive Behavior.
Negative Behavior. Positive Behavior. |
How to respond to attention-seeking behavior...
First, think about whether it is a positive, or desirable, behavior or if it is a negative, or undesirable, behavior. If it is positive, give the child the attention they are looking for. Often times, children with autism have trouble initiating social experiences, and if their needs are met by their efforts they are more likely to choose this behavior again. If the behavior is less than desirable, do just the opposite. Negative attention is still attention. Attention is what they are looking for. This can be difficult, but try to give the least amount of attention to negative behaviors as possible. If a child's hitting is never met with the attention the child is looking for, the behavior isn't serving its purpose.
Next, let's talk about...
Escape.
Escape behaviors are ones that are used to get away from someone or something. Escape behaviors are generally undesirable. Here are some examples of escape behaviors.
First, think about whether it is a positive, or desirable, behavior or if it is a negative, or undesirable, behavior. If it is positive, give the child the attention they are looking for. Often times, children with autism have trouble initiating social experiences, and if their needs are met by their efforts they are more likely to choose this behavior again. If the behavior is less than desirable, do just the opposite. Negative attention is still attention. Attention is what they are looking for. This can be difficult, but try to give the least amount of attention to negative behaviors as possible. If a child's hitting is never met with the attention the child is looking for, the behavior isn't serving its purpose.
Next, let's talk about...
Escape.
Escape behaviors are ones that are used to get away from someone or something. Escape behaviors are generally undesirable. Here are some examples of escape behaviors.
Your child is being disciplined, and they hit you.
You pull up in your babysitter's driveway, and your child has a tantrum, and refuses to get out of the car. |
You child falls to the floor when a request is made of them.
When it is time to go to church, your child starts tantrumming. |
Can you think of other times a child may use behavior to escape?
|
How to respond to escape-oriented behaviors...
Can you guess? If an escape behavior occurs when a reasonable request is made or something is happening, allowing them to escape reinforces that behavior. Reinforcing a behavior increases the likelihood of is occurring again, because it worked at least once before.
Next, we have...
Sensory.
Sensory based behaviors can be the catalyst for aggressiveness for many children. Sorting out the stimuli presented in our environments is something that most of us do naturally, but for children with autism can be really overwhelming and intolerable. Remember the 5 senses: sight (audiovisual), smell (olfactory), hearing (auditory), touch (kinesthetic), and taste (oral). A sensory behavior may occur when the lighting conditions change; when lights are too bright; when smells are present; sudden, loud, or persistent sounds occur; when coming in contact with an unfamiliar or aversive texture; or something that tastes or feels aversive when eating. Examples of sensory behaviors are varied. Can you think of examples with your own child?
How to respond to sensory-based behaviors...
There are a few equally traveled roads. You can remove the aversive stimuli... in other words make the bad experience go away. This may also be done by removing your child from the situation. There may also be times when a child may need to become accustomed to some type of sensory input. If this is the case, help the child cope with the situation. Another option is to provide something to the child to make it easier to cope with the sensory input. For example, if your child frequently has issues with noise, think about packing a pair of sound cancelling headphone (with or without music attached), just in case it becomes too much to handle.
And finally, we have...
Tangible.
Behaviors with a tangible as a function are behaviors that occur to get something.
This sounds pretty similar to a lot of function explanations, right? Well, the difference is that the something has to be tangible. It could be food, water, candy, McDonald's french fries, a toy, a movie case, or the glorious iPad with Angry Birds.
How to respond...
It depends on what the tangible thing is. If your child is having a meltdown because they are thirsty, it is probably okay to give them a drink. However, if a child hits their sibling because they want a turn on the swing in the backyard, that is probably a time to ignore the behavior as best as you can. You can also try redirecting them to something else, or fully removing them from the situation.
Those are the usual functions of behavior. Being able to assess why a behavior is occurring is an integral part of knowing how to react. If you find that an undesirable behavior is still happening, take a step back and think about if they way you are responding to it is making it more likely to occur again. If you established a pattern of responding to a behavior in a less than ideal way, don't sweat it! With some fortitude and staying power you can break that pattern, and start a new one. Remember, good behavior is what we want! Give those kiddos hugs whenever you can!
References:
Gewirtz, J. (1956). A factor-analysis of some attention-seeking behaviors in young children. Child Development, 27(1), 17-36.
Lalli, J., & Kates, K. (1995). Reducing escape behavior and increasing task completion with functional communication training, extinction, and response chaining. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 28(3), 261-268.
Taylor, J., Ekdahl, M., Romanczyk, R., & Miller, M. (1994). Escape behavior in task situations: Task versus social antecedents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(3), 331-344.
Taylor, J., Carr, E. (1992) Severe problem behaviors related to social interaction. 1: Attention seeking and social avoidance. Behavior Modification, 16(3), 305–335.
Wilder, D., Wilson, D., & Hagopian, L. (2001). Assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by escape from attention and access to tangible items. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 34(2), 229-232.
Can you guess? If an escape behavior occurs when a reasonable request is made or something is happening, allowing them to escape reinforces that behavior. Reinforcing a behavior increases the likelihood of is occurring again, because it worked at least once before.
Next, we have...
Sensory.
Sensory based behaviors can be the catalyst for aggressiveness for many children. Sorting out the stimuli presented in our environments is something that most of us do naturally, but for children with autism can be really overwhelming and intolerable. Remember the 5 senses: sight (audiovisual), smell (olfactory), hearing (auditory), touch (kinesthetic), and taste (oral). A sensory behavior may occur when the lighting conditions change; when lights are too bright; when smells are present; sudden, loud, or persistent sounds occur; when coming in contact with an unfamiliar or aversive texture; or something that tastes or feels aversive when eating. Examples of sensory behaviors are varied. Can you think of examples with your own child?
How to respond to sensory-based behaviors...
There are a few equally traveled roads. You can remove the aversive stimuli... in other words make the bad experience go away. This may also be done by removing your child from the situation. There may also be times when a child may need to become accustomed to some type of sensory input. If this is the case, help the child cope with the situation. Another option is to provide something to the child to make it easier to cope with the sensory input. For example, if your child frequently has issues with noise, think about packing a pair of sound cancelling headphone (with or without music attached), just in case it becomes too much to handle.
And finally, we have...
Tangible.
Behaviors with a tangible as a function are behaviors that occur to get something.
This sounds pretty similar to a lot of function explanations, right? Well, the difference is that the something has to be tangible. It could be food, water, candy, McDonald's french fries, a toy, a movie case, or the glorious iPad with Angry Birds.
How to respond...
It depends on what the tangible thing is. If your child is having a meltdown because they are thirsty, it is probably okay to give them a drink. However, if a child hits their sibling because they want a turn on the swing in the backyard, that is probably a time to ignore the behavior as best as you can. You can also try redirecting them to something else, or fully removing them from the situation.
Those are the usual functions of behavior. Being able to assess why a behavior is occurring is an integral part of knowing how to react. If you find that an undesirable behavior is still happening, take a step back and think about if they way you are responding to it is making it more likely to occur again. If you established a pattern of responding to a behavior in a less than ideal way, don't sweat it! With some fortitude and staying power you can break that pattern, and start a new one. Remember, good behavior is what we want! Give those kiddos hugs whenever you can!
References:
Gewirtz, J. (1956). A factor-analysis of some attention-seeking behaviors in young children. Child Development, 27(1), 17-36.
Lalli, J., & Kates, K. (1995). Reducing escape behavior and increasing task completion with functional communication training, extinction, and response chaining. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 28(3), 261-268.
Taylor, J., Ekdahl, M., Romanczyk, R., & Miller, M. (1994). Escape behavior in task situations: Task versus social antecedents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(3), 331-344.
Taylor, J., Carr, E. (1992) Severe problem behaviors related to social interaction. 1: Attention seeking and social avoidance. Behavior Modification, 16(3), 305–335.
Wilder, D., Wilson, D., & Hagopian, L. (2001). Assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by escape from attention and access to tangible items. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 34(2), 229-232.