WHAT IS THE CHILD TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIS BEHAVIOR? Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 1 Treating Behavior based on Function

MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR IS DEFINED AS ANY BEHAVIOR THAT INHIBITS A PERSON FROM ADAPTING TO HIS OR HER SITUATION APPROPRIATELY Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment,Inc. Behavior

ALL BEHAVIOR SERVES ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS: ATTENTION ESCAPE/AVOIDANCE SELF STIMULATION ACCESS Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 3 Functions of Behavior

Attention Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 4 “I want your response” Behaviors are said to be attention seeking if the child is seeking interaction or response from another person. The attention may be in any form: praise, reprimand, a laugh, etc. The child often makes eye contact while engaging in the behavior.

Escape/Avoidance Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 5 “ I don’t want to do this, I want to get away or stop this from happening.” Behavior is said to be escape or avoidance motivated if the child is seeking to prevent something from occurring or if the child is attempting to leave or stop a situation that is already occurring. The task can be simple or difficult in regards to the child’s skill level.

Self Stimulation Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 6 “I am not paying attention to any outside stimuli, this activity in and of itself is reinforcing to me.” Behavior is believed to have a function of self stimulation if the behavior is not affected by outside forces (other people, demands, reinforcement, etc). The behavior usually happens across environments, tasks, times of day, and instructors.

Access Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 7 “ I want that item, person, or activity” Behaviors are considered access motivated if they are occurring in order for a child to be able to have an item, person, or activity.

How is function determined? Function is determined by completing a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) Functional Behavior Assessment includes: teacher observation, parent input, Antecedent-Behavior- Consequence data where frequency, intensity, and time of behavior can be tracked. Function is determined by analyzing the data and establishing patterns from the information. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 8

Function is determined Once a hypothesis about the function has been determined, the reinforcement of the behavior under that function is extinguished. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 9 AntecedentBehavior Consequence where behavior was reinforced AntecedentBehavior Extinction of behavior/reinforcement removed

Example of Attention Creative Consultants, Inc. 10 Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Peer cries and yells at Joy Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Peer gets up and moves away from Joy

Example of Escape Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 11 Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Teacher removes Joy from carpet Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Teacher moves Joy to area on carpet by herself and directs her to attend to directions.

Example of Access Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 12. Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet. She asked peer to move over. Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Teacher asks peer to move over and allow Joy to sit on the blue square. Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet. She asks peer to move over. Joy pokes peer’s shoe several times Teacher asks Joy to remain on her red square.

Self Stimulation Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 13 Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet. Joy is chewing on her shirt Teacher asks Joy to stop, removes shirt from her mouth, gives her a punishment from class rules. Joy is sitting in a group of 4 peers on the carpet. Joy is chewing on her shirt Teacher prompts Joy to use chew tube.

Replacement Behavior The goal of behavior intervention is to extinguish maladaptive behavior. Any time a behavior is to be extinguished, another behavior must be taught to replace the maladaptive behavior to prevent the behavior from shifting in what it looks like as the child attempts to find a new behavior that “works” to continue the reinforcement. The replacement should provide the child with the same “reinforcement” or outcome as the maladaptive behavior. Example of a shift: They taught me not to hit to get attention, so now I stomp. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 14

Behavior by Function Attention Remove attention for behavior. Teach appropriate way to gain attention. Escape/Avoidance Follow through with task. Teach skills needed to make task easier. Practice compliance. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 15 Self Stimulation Block behavior from occurring. Teach appropriate alternatives that may provide similar sensory consequences or feedback. Access Block access to desired item when attempt to gain access is with negative behavior. Teach appropriate way to request the item, activity, or person.

HOW DO I KEEP THESE BEHAVIORS FROM OCCURRING? Prevention of Maladaptive Behavior Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 16

Reinforcement Reinforcement should follow all instances of the child engaging in appropriate behavior. Highest levels of reinforcement should be provided for independent occurrences of the replacement behavior. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 17

Antecedent Strategies Promise Technique: Prior to placing demands, make child aware of what will happen when the task is complete. Rewards can be additional to the structure of the classroom, but should be as natural as possible. Examples: -time on the computer -assisting the teacher with a task -free time with a desired activity * Promises should occur prior to the onset of negative behavior. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 18

Token Systems Token systems allow a child to receive higher levels of reinforcement along the way to earning a highly valued reinforcer. The tokens serve as a way to measure when the reinforcement will come. Tokens can be delivered as often as needed to provide immediate feedback to the child. The tokens will then be exchanged later for the higher valued reinforcer. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 19

Reinforcement Reinforcement should match work load in the eyes of the worker. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 20 ReinforcementTask Write 3 lines of a story Two spelling worksheets 5 min of free time

Fading Clear goals and objectives should be set for all interventions. Once the child has met the set criteria, increase the criteria or decrease the reinforcement. Example: Goal: Bill will sit in circle time for 5 minutes without maladaptive behavior and will earn tokens for all instances of answering appropriately. New goal: Bill will sit in circle time for 10 minutes without maladaptive behavior and will earn tokens for each of two correct answers. The goal is to fade the child to natural contingencies. Carolina Center for ABA and Autism Treatment, Inc. 21