Let’s look at one simple way of understanding behaviour.
So what is behaviour?
Basically, it’s anything a person can say or do.
Children with ASD sometimes have challenging behaviours.
A challenging behaviour is a behaviour that interferes with the person’s ability to participate in daily activities,
or to interact with others, and this causes distress for the person or distress for those around them who care for them.
Lots of things can influence a child’s behaviour both internal and external.
When a child is engaging in a challenging behaviour,
we first look for any underlying medical or health issues that may not be obvious.
To figure out the cause of a challenging behaviour, you need to know the function.
Function is basically the “why”. Why is this behaviour is happening? What purpose does it serve?
For example, the function of flicking on a light switch in a dark room is to illuminate it.
To understand function, we have to pay attention to the context in which the challenging behaviour is occurring.
Pretend that you are a video camera, watching someone, when they do something, what happened right before?
When the behaviour happened, what happened directly after?
Did the behaviour seem to get something or get rid of something?
These are all important clues from the context.
We don’t like to think of any child as “bad” or “doing bad things on purpose” as this is not a helpful way of understanding behaviour.
If a challenging behaviour continues to occur over time,
then what we know is that this behaviour is serving a function for that child.
The basic functions of behaviour are to get MORE of or GET RID of one or a combination of the following:
1. Attention (for example, talking, hugging, a reprimand)
2. Activities or Tangibles (for example, playing at the park, a favourite stuffy, medicine, doing difficult homework)
3. Sensations (for example, tickles, wearing an itchy sweater, a loud sound)
So this idea of function applies even to challenging behaviours that are hurtful or seem strange
(like aggression or self-injury).
Every child is unique;
the same behaviour can serve a different function for different children AND a single behaviour can serve multiple functions.
It can be complicated so we really need to have a solid understanding in order to help.
Once we know the function or functions of a challenging behaviour,
we can teach the child skills to get what they need and want in ways that are not harmful to themselves or others,
and we can help parents set the stage for supporting positive behaviour change.
Let’s do a little practice – time to get your function spotting glasses on!
What happened here?
The child left the table and what did it result in?
Well, he got away from whatever was on that plate.
What happened here?
So, in this situation it seems like the scream crying got access to something fun for the child...
and giving the phone to the child seemed to get some relief from the scream crying for the parent
What happened here?
This child definitely seems upset. Unfortunately we don’t yet have enough information to know what the function is.
Sometimes the function is obvious but often it can be hard to tell without a formal assessment.
The best way to determine the function of a challenging behaviour is to work with a professional who is trained
in specialized assessments called functional behaviour assessment (FBA) and functional analysis (FA).
So parents if your child is engaging in a challenging behaviour,
you’re not alone and definitely consult your child’s primary health care provider
as well as other health professionals for guidance.
Thanks for watching and we hope that you found this video helpful.