Function-Based Treatment - Nov 25, 2015
I have been discussing the various function of behaviour a lot lately and thought it was time to address it here.
While a doctor checks things like breathing, heart rate, airways, signs and symptoms of illness, a behaviour consultant does much the same thing when presented with a problem.
Any behaviour someone engages in has a function. There is a reason why someone does something. The same is true of every problem behaviour. A problem behaviour doesn't "just happen". It's maybe created from one thing, such as crying when you're injured, but can be maintained for another, such as realizing that your mother comes running every time you cry as a way to get her attention.
That's why when behaviour analysts get involved, we ask the questions we do. We try to figure out, and use different measures to confirm what the likely function or functions of a particular behaviour are. The reasons why they happen. Of course, to simplify matters, there are just a few functions, and these are: attention, tangible/access, automatic, demand/escape and sometimes a few that are used depending on the type of behaviour they are analyzing.
Each function has specific interventions that work. Behaviour Analysts don't just pick out of a hat. If a child cries to get their mother's attention, giving them a toy in an attempt to get them to stop crying will likely not solve the problem (there are exceptions...). This is because, to get the child to stop crying, the attention must be addressed. This is why it's called "function-based treatment". This is also why as parents, you may not get the result you're intending.
Let me give you an example.
Last night, a father told me that his son never cleans up his toys, and asked me what strategy he should use short of breaking his child's leg, because his son just will not clean up his toys. Just as background - I'm not worried they will break their child's leg, but he meant that he gets really serious and even that doesn't work. I've been working with the family for abour 6 months and know a lot about this little boy, which is why I did have a strategy in mind immediately.
I explained that, just as he struggles when there's a whole pile of winter clothes to get on and he just wants to go outside; when there's a whole lot of toys and he wants to play something else, cleaning up is too overwhelming.
My suggestion was that they start with a chart (any old piece of paper) that had three boxes and asked him to clean up 3 toys. I told them they had to start small because their son has a skill deficit in this area. He is not trying to be defiant or difficult, he simply does not have the capability to understand and sit through the whole event of cleaning up. Gradually we would build this skill up, and he would be expected to clean up a whole room after throwing everything in sight (he's 3...) but that cannot be expected at this time.
Let me say, I was met with disappointment. This is a process.
However, this is the best treatment for the function. He does not possess the skills to do the task, so they must be taught in small increments.
My whole point is just to say that, sometimes behaviour analysts may take a long time to come to an intervention, and it is because we look at everything from every angle and gather as much information as possible, and then ask for more information. This is to make sure that the first time we put a treatment in place, it will do as we plan. Yes, we'll probably need to make tweaks, and yes, there will probably be a learning curve, but it is always our hope as a field, that we develop the appropriate treatment right off the bat to deal with the difficulty immediately based on the behaviour's function.
