Happy Kids Don′t Punch You in the Face by Ben Springer

Author:Ben Springer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2018-03-21T10:32:42.703079+00:00

Consequence Management

The last step in the ABC sequence is managing the consequences for both good and bad behaviors. Prior to managing consequences, it is worth understanding what the heck consequences are. A lot of folks think consequences exist only for bad behavior. In ABA, that is not the case. In ABA, consequences never sleep. In other words, every single action has a consequence, whether we like it or not. Some of these consequences increase the likelihood of the action taking place again; some of them decrease the likelihood of the action recurring. The way we manage these consequences can dictate the duration, frequency, and intensity of almost any behavior.

In this final step, we have to take a basic inventory of what we have accomplished with the previous two steps. First, we must tweak some minor aspects of the environment to help prevent or minimize the probability of a negative behavior taking place. Second, we must identify behaviors we would like to decrease and behaviors we would like to increase. Third, we must make an itemized list of the consequences we will deliver to manage both the bad behavior (behavior to decrease) and the good behavior (behavior to increase). Let’s continue to use Tino and the breast-biting dilemma to work through this step.

What should Tino’s consequence be when he bit a breast? Without any consequence management, the unconditioned response or consequence had been a scream, a shriek, or a wince (and on one or two occasions, a curse word). These consequences were almost impossible to prevent when Tino engaged in the behavior. Obviously, breasts are incredibly sensitive, and the automatic response of most every victim to that excruciating pain was an audible cry. Still we had to control for this consequence. We were not certain about the function of Tino’s behavior, but we did not want Tino to be able to engage in the behavior and then get out of work or get more attention. So if and when Tino bit a staff member, she would leave immediately, cry it out, and come back when she was ready. We each agreed to use a code word to help cover the injured staff member’s group or activity. So any time a staff member left abruptly, we would say “snowball” and the nearest (or most available) staff member would take over Tino’s session.

This consequence helped us control for any unintended reinforcement of Tino’s behavior (just in case he was biting either to get out of work and/or to get the attention of the staff member). Even with our snowball procedure, Tino was observed to engage in the behavior; so we needed another consequence. Our first choice was boredom. As soon as Tino bit and someone rotated to his session, the new person would do their best to remain emotionally neutral and would give Tino two phonebooks taped together to hold. Tino would inevitably push the phonebooks off his lap, but we would simply give them back to him. (This was much easier than trying to fend off more bites or slaps or kicks.

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