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Behavior Chart
One of the most challenging issues that parents of autistic children
face is the child's inability to control his behavior. This challenge
is not easily overcome because many autistic individuals have major
communication deficits that prevent them from communicating why they
are having a tantrum or why they are engaging in aggressive actions. A
behavior chart is useful in helping caretakers determine the reason for
the child's tantrums and aggressions.
When I worked as an autism therapist, I used a behavior chart known as
an ABC outline. This is an extremely valuable tool for determining the
causes of behavior and it may be used to determine possible
interventions that can be used to redirect the negative actions like
tantrums and aggression.
ABC stands for
antecedent, behavior and consequence. This behavior chart simply
collects data on these three aspects of the child's target behavior.
Once the child demonstrated unwanted actions like tantrums and
aggression, the therapist or caregiver collects objective information
about the event. After a number of instances, the data on the behavior
chart is evaluated and a course of action is determined by the autistic
child?s treatment team.
The ABC behavior chart first section involves the antecedent to the
child's behavior. The antecedent is simply what happens immediately
before the behavior occurs. This does not involve any subjective
interpretation of the behavior. For example, instead of writing, The
child was hungry, the data collector would write, The child was waiting
for dinner. This is all that the antecedent involves. The child was
waiting for his meal.
The next data that is collected on the behavior chart is the behavior.
It is important to remember that this needs to be an action. What did
the child do? For example, instead of writing, The child became angry,?
the data collector would write, The child threw his silverware and
cried and screamed. The action is the behavior and it describes exactly
what happened, not the data collector's interpretation of the child's
emotions.
The final part of
the behavior chart includes the consequence of the child's behavior.
The consequence is what happens immediately after the behavior. It is
essential to keep this section objective as well. Sometimes a child
will engage in a negative behavior in order to get a certain response.
For example, a child is in a classroom and his teacher is talking with
his parents. He throws books all over the floor and his mother and
teacher run over and say, Whats wrong?
In the last example, the behavior chart would clue the treatment team
in on the child?s negative behavior because it provides clues to the
cause. The child wanted attention and the consequence was that he got
the teacher's and the mother's undivided attention. However, the
behavior chart has to be consistent. The attention-seeking behavior has
to be demonstrated a number of times before any conclusions are made.
A behavior chart is a valuable tool for helping a treatment team to
determine which interventions to use when dealing with difficult
behavior. The behavior chart may also be used for normal children who
have trouble controlling their behavior as well. The chart usually
takes weeks or even months to clue care takers in on the causes of
negative behavior, but it is often worth the wait.
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A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
