Behavioral Management
How behavior can affect children with Autism.
The behavior of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be a very difficult situation for parents, therapists, teachers, and people around the environment of the child. Children with ASD have difficulties expressing their feelings, communicating wants and needs, or being understood.
All the difficulties mentioned above lead to behavior that the child uses to communicate but the adult is unable to understand. They could be expressing discomfort over a noise, smell or texture, pain, or asking for something he wants. Positive Behavior Supports have been used as a tool to help understand and address the behavior of a child with ASD.
Researchers, families, educators, and speech-language pathologists are increasingly recognizing a powerful process in the intervention for challenging behavior called positive behavior support (PBS). This process seeks to understand the challenging behavior and develop interventions that result in the acquisition of new skills by the child.
In fact, amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997) have mandated that components of the process of functional behavioral assessment and PBS be provided to students with disabilities whose placements in the least restrictive setting are in jeopardy because of challenging behavior.
Many of us, at some point in our life, have used or needed visual support to be able to complete a task or a daily activity. Maps, calendars, and even lists when doing groceries are an example of visual supports, we use. Kids with ASD need visual support to understand and communicate in a situation. The inability to communicate verbally creates many behaviors.
Positive Behavior Supports
The goal of behavior management is to implement a positive behavior support plan to reduce or prevent disruptive and/or repetitive behaviors for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
These behaviors interfere with their learning and development and make it even more difficult for them to engage in meaningful social interactions, limiting their ability to acquire key social, communication, and academic skills.
Dealing with Problem Behaviors
We must teach students with problem behaviors a new way of responding. This process takes repetition, patience, flexibility, consistency, and commitment by all members of the behavioral support team.
The team is ideally composed of individuals from all environments in which the student interacts (e.g. family members, educators, paraprofessionals, therapists, and the student themselves). The team’s role is to problem-solve, support, and guide the process of the FBA.
Ways to Determine if a Behavior should be Targeted
- The behavior negatively affects one’s daily functioning.
- “Common challenging behaviors are self-injurious behavior, aggression, property destruction, stereotypic or repetitive behaviors, and sexualized behaviors.”
- The behavior occurs at an intensity, frequency, or duration that affects the safety of oneself or others.
- The behavior is measurable and observable.
