Function!

The “why” behind behavior. Behavior is anything you and I say and do. Behavior is all around us. Kiddos on the spectrum often use behavior as a form of communication. We call these maladaptive behaviors. I wanted to talk about this in my blog because I see a lot of posts in parent support groups about behavior and frustration behind why it is not decreasing. Well the truth is, it is easy for you and I to inadvertently reinforce a behavior if we don’t know the why (function) behind what is causing the behavior to happen. That is why your practitioner emphasizes the importance of consistency across environments. Is your kiddo in ABA? Attend parent training sessions? Then you know what I am talking about. There are 4 functions of behavior that we look at in the field of ABA. Attention, Escape, Sensory, Access to Tangibles. Every behavior has a function. 

Example: Mom sits bottle on counter, baby sees bottle and cries, baby gets bottle. Hypothesized function is access to tangible. Baby saw the bottle and was hungry and used communication (crying) to get access to the bottle. 

Example: Teacher puts math worksheet in front of Jackson, Jackson swipes the worksheet off of his desk, Jackson is sent out into the hall. Hypothesized function is escape. Jackson doesn’t like math and has learned that if he swipes the paper off the desk that he will get sent out into the hall and he won’t have to do the math worksheet for a little bit longer.