So far, we have described avoidance behaviors and talked about how to prevent some of these unwanted behaviors. While your child is learning from your preventative strategies, like giving choices or changing the way you give the demand, your child will likely still engage in challenging behaviors to avoid some tasks. It is nearly impossible to stop every behavior from happening, so this week we will describe the best way to  react to unwanted behaviors related to avoiding certain activities.

When responding to avoidance behaviors it is important that you do not give the child what they want unless they do what they are supposed to. For example. don’t let them watch tv until their spelling homework is done. You should wait them out, which may be difficult. A child’s behavior may get more intense if you don’t respond, but this is normal. If you give in and let them have their way, like letting them get out of doing their homework or cleaning their room, they will just be more likely be behave badly in the future.

Another way to respond to a child avoiding a task is to continue giving them the instructions of what they are supposed to be doing. Keep telling them that they need to be doing their spelling or picking up their toys, so they know what their expectations are. If they do start to work on what they are supposed to make sure you are providing behavior specific praise, like saying “thanks for starting to clean up, I like how you put your toys in the toy box!”

At the Husky ABA Clinic are graduate and undergraduate clinicians are using all of these strategies. Tune in next week to see a video of our clinicians in action!