How can ABA help with behaviors that are harmful or destructive?

ABA is often used to help autistic children and adults cope with harmful or dangerous behaviors.
The therapy usually begins by identifying the unsafe behavior, learning about the trigger(s), and
then teaching a safer alternative response.

For example, if someone bangs their head frequently and is injuring themselves, the therapist
begins by trying to understand the cause of the behavior. Some questions may include:

• Who was present?
• What happened before, during and after the behavior?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• What might that person be trying to communicate with that behavior?

The answers to these questions can help therapists understand what is causing someone to
engage in the behavior and how to help them communicate their needs more safely. The
therapist might find that it is a response to pain, overstimulation, frustration due to
communication issues, or a way to avoid an unpleasant situation. Importantly, the behavior may
have more than one cause and may serve more than one function.

In this example, the therapist may find that the behavior happens in loud environments and that
the head-banging serves two purposes:

• It is a way for the person to communicate that they are overwhelmed and need a quiet place to calm down.
• It causes their family to remove them from the situation.

The therapist can then work with the person to teach them safer ways to ask for or get quiet
time. For example, the person may learn to use noise canceling headphones or go to a quiet
room when they feel overstimulated. They can also learn to use or point to the word “loud” so
they can better communicate their needs with the people around them.

In this way, ABA therapy can help keep someone from harming themselves by teaching healthy
communication skills and strategies that they can use to get what they need.
It is important to note that ABA therapy should focus on the needs that the autistic person is
trying to meet and teach ways to have those needs met safely.

How can families embrace ABA principles to help the autistic adults in their lives achieve their
goals?

• Work together to understand the goals or skills they would like to work toward.
• Encourage independence by prompting them to complete tasks by themselves, using verbal, visual and physical prompts as needed.
• Break down tasks into small steps. Use picture prompts or other communication supports if needed to show each step.
• Spend time working with the person on their goals every day. Practice the same activity several times until it’s mastered.
• Reward positive behaviors and ignore and redirect negative behaviors.
• If you observe harming behaviors developing, get in touch with the person’s care team.

Specialists can help look at these behaviors more closely to understand the root causes and set
goals around those needs to keep them safe.