Why behavior happens, in general
The four common reasons behavior happens, explained generally. Only your child's team can say what is going on for your child.
The four common reasons
Board Certified Behavior AnalystA graduate-level professional, certified by the BACB, who designs and supervises ABA services.Learn: Glossary describe four broad reasons Anything a person does that can be seen or measured, such as talking, crying, running or hitting.Learn: Glossary tends to happen. This is general background. It can't tell you which reason applies to your child, or whether more than one does.
- To get attention or connection from another person, such as a look, a laugh or being picked up.
- To escape or avoid something: a task, a demand, a place, or a sensation that's too much.
- To get something: a toy, a food, an activity, or more time with something.
- Because it feels good, or relieves something, on its own (often called "automatic"), whether or not anyone else is around.
The idea behind this framework is simple: behavior happens for a reason, even when the reason isn't obvious. That includes the hard behavior.
Why only your child's team can say
The same behavior can happen for different reasons in different children, and for different reasons in the same child on different days. Working out what's going on for your child takes an A structured look at a child's skills and needs, used to decide goals and services.Learn: Glossary by a qualified professional, such as a BCBA, usually through an Functional Behavior AssessmentAn assessment that looks at when and why a behavior tends to happen, so a plan can be built around it.Learn: Glossary. That means observing and recording over time, talking with your family, and sometimes testing ideas carefully.
The notes you keep in the Antecedent, Behavior, ConsequenceA simple way to record a moment: what happened before, what the person did, and what happened after.Learn: Glossary can help with that. They describe what happened. They can't say why, and nothing on this site can.