Children with Aspergers Disease frequently display
challenging behaviors as a response to a world which
they cannot deal with effectively.
Any attempt to discontinue the behaviors must first
consider why the behavior is occurring.
Challenging behaviors occur for one of four reasons; to
get something, to make something go away, to meet
sensory needs, or because of pain.
The
first challenge in dealing with the challenging
behaviors of a child with Aspergers Disease is to
determine why the behavior is occurring.
It may
appear to be evident.
But you
must ask yourself first, is the behavior working?
If the
behavior is not working, they will not continue to
display it.
The
bottom line is they continue the behavior because it
works!
You
can attempt to eliminate a behavior without knowing the
underlying cause, but generally they will simply replace
that behavior with another, because their needs go
unmet.
The
best way to establish why the individual with Aspergers
Disease is displaying challenging behaviors is to
complete an A-B-C analysis.
This
includes an analysis of the Antecedent, Behavior, and
the Consequence.
The
antecedent is what happens before the behavior.
The
behavior is their response to the antecedent.
The
consequence, and this is the tricky one, is whatever
immediately follows the behavior.
Often the child with Aspergers Disease will have limited
ability to verbalize their needs; you can help them with
this once you have identified the cause of the behavior.
Remember it will be something that happens either
before or after the behavior occurs.
Once you have established the reason for the behavior,
the child with Aspergers Disease will need a consistent
behavior program or method of intervention.
Children
with Aspergers Disease crave consistency and routine and
need to know what is coming, or you will simply create
more challenging behaviors.
For
children with Aspergers Disease, the behavioral
intervention should include consideration of
environmental changes that may need to be made.
This
may include removing items that may be over-stimulating
or providing things that they appear to need.
For
the child with Aspergers Disease, the behavioral
intervention should also plan to provide the individual
with a replacement behavior.
Remember, if you eliminate the behavior without meeting
the need, they will find their own replacement
behavior!
Children with Aspergers Disease want to fit in and want
to behave normally.
If you help them to manage their behavior they will
develop more confidence in handling situations more
appropriately in the future.
