As ABA professionals, we are often called upon to reduce the occurrence of so-called 'maladaptive' behaviors. Terms like protest, tantrum, elopement or escape are all too common though they don't provide clean description of the behavior or its function. Often times, what we mean is that a child or client spent a certain amount of time crying, for example, and suddenly we run the risk of missing the adaptive value of an instinctive and reflexive behavior. While we don't want our clients to 'cry' extensively, we can't simply cite the emission of such behavior as undesired or lacking value. In this episode, Dan and Mike explore the premise of understanding the full function of such behaviors historically deemed for reduction only. In other words, what might be the communicative value of leaving the designated area or crying? While a solely adult-directed, more traditional approach to ABA intervention might see interference, the idea presented here is more about seeing the shift in motivating operations present in such occurrences of behavior, and re-evaluating our procedures in response.
Sit back back, behave and always analyze responsibly.
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