[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Autism Helper podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: Today I want to do an episode on Multi-Blee Controlled Behaviors, or really just most behaviors.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me give some context to that.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I got a question a few weeks ago to training about basically Multi-Blee Controlled Behaviors.

[SPEAKER_00]: And hey, we're trying to get the function for this behavior and we think we have it and then it's something else and it's something else and it's something else.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I totally knew exactly what this educator was talking about.

[SPEAKER_00]: that there isn't always one clear function.

[SPEAKER_00]: Things aren't just for attention or just for escape or just for a sensory component.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when we're looking and approaching behavior in that way, it can make it very hard to create a behavior plan.

[SPEAKER_00]: and figure out what the replacement behavior is.

[SPEAKER_00]: I always think back to Dr.

Greg Hanley when he references his omnibus reinforcer, and he's referring here to a multiply controlled behavior that it's not always just one thing for a child.

[SPEAKER_00]: really for any of us, a lot of our own behaviors serve multiple functions.

[SPEAKER_00]: So in this episode, I want you to have an open mind and think about behaviors beyond a single function and think about the influence of multiple variables on one behavior.

[SPEAKER_00]: because behaviors can be influenced by a lot.

[SPEAKER_00]: They can be influenced by multiple antecedents, multiple things happening before that behavior.

[SPEAKER_00]: That child might be hungry, but they've also been given work they want to do, and they also saw someone else playing on an iPad.

[SPEAKER_00]: Those are multiple antecedents that are affecting the choice that child's makes.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's also a lot of different consequences after a behavior.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's research that shows that when we do traditional ABC data, we can over-generalize an attention function because there's typically attention after most responses, whether it's redirection, whether it's bringing to a break area, and whether it ultimately could be more of an escape influence, there's still attention as part of that overall consequence.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think when we view behavior through this lens, it gives us a more holistic view of the response and gives us more creativity and flexibility to figure out a better replacement.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's really the goal here.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's figuring out a replacement behavior for a response that a child has that is maladaptive.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, thinking about these multiply controlled behaviors, I want you to think through behaviors you see on a day-to-day basis.

[SPEAKER_00]: One that always comes to mind to me when I think about multiply controlled behaviors is work refusal and work avoidance.

[SPEAKER_00]: Escape behaviors are too tiered always.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are always escaping from something and we are always escaping to somewhere.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have to address both components.

[SPEAKER_00]: Learning that really really changed the way I approached Escape behaviors because every behavior plan needs both.

[SPEAKER_00]: What are we escaping from?

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where our preventative proactive strategies go.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then what are we escaping to?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's to me where our replacement behavior goes.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to get access to something when I'm escaping, but I'm also escaping from something I don't want to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Escape behaviors typically happen with unperferred tasks.

[SPEAKER_00]: I escape putting away my laundry.

[SPEAKER_00]: I escape eating a salad.

[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, I don't escape from watching bravo.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't escape from eating a cheeseburger because I like doing those things.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when we escape, we go to do something more preferred.

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of doing my laundry, I scroll on Instagram.

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of ordering a salad, I order cheese fries.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we're escaping from something we don't really like or want to do, to something we'd like to do instead.

[SPEAKER_00]: For example, I always give a trainings, is think about if you were to play hooky, which you know what, more power to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Take that mental health day, you deserve it.

[SPEAKER_00]: You play hooky.

[SPEAKER_00]: We do this on a work day.

[SPEAKER_00]: If it's on a Saturday or Sunday, it's not plain hokey, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: We do this on a work day.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we do something fun, chill, relaxing that day.

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't stay home from work to stay at a wall.

[SPEAKER_00]: You stay home from work and you meet your college best friend for lunch who's in from out of town.

[SPEAKER_00]: You stay home from work and go see a midday movie.

[SPEAKER_00]: Land your couch and binge a show.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're doing a preferred activity.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's really multi-tiered.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's multiple influences going on with escape.

[SPEAKER_00]: With many students in your classroom, I bet.

[SPEAKER_00]: You see a combo of escape and sensory behaviors.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are escaping.

[SPEAKER_00]: A conversation, a setting, a person, a demand to go engage in a behavior that meets some sensory need I have.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would like to go to the break area and rip pieces of paper.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would like to escape this conversation to per severy on a topic I like talking about.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to escape this setting because it's too bright and I'm trying to avoid these bright noises and lights and I want to go somewhere where I don't get that input.

[SPEAKER_00]: We often get that.

[SPEAKER_00]: We also see very often a combination of attention and tangibles.

[SPEAKER_00]: because guess what?

[SPEAKER_00]: Toys are more fun with someone else, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to watch me play with my cars.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to play Barbies with me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to do Play Do together.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we see that combination a lot.

[SPEAKER_00]: So start thinking through your behaviors and think about the multiple influences.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we create a behavior plan or do an FBA, even the formatting of it does pigeonhole you into selecting a more singular function.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it puts a lot of pressure to get it right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is it attention?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is it escape?

[SPEAKER_00]: And when we do this, it kind of then starts to push our interventions in a certain trajectory.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we've picked a scape, this is your line of strategies.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've picked attention, here's your line of strategies.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what happens then is we have inconsistent results with the interventions that we choose, because it's not addressing the whole behavior.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the snowball effect, if that is pretty large, when our interventions don't work, if you are, let's say, the behavior consultant, suddenly your teachers are like, food, I don't know what you're doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your staff is like, I'm not going to use any part of this behavior plan because it's not helping.

[SPEAKER_00]: And not only has the problem behavior persisted, but maybe it's even been reinforced and gotten worse.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what can we do instead?

[SPEAKER_00]: When we are doing an FBA, we still need that process.

[SPEAKER_00]: Be flexible and be open-minded.

[SPEAKER_00]: Look at the multiple antecedents at play.

[SPEAKER_00]: I always advocate for a check box or a check-off style ABC data and I think that does give you that flexibility to see.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, there was a work demand and there was a setting change [SPEAKER_00]: Think about things that have changed in the setting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Think about the expectations the child is facing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Was it an expectation to transition between centers to engage in a social interaction with a peer?

[SPEAKER_00]: And then consider their communication needs, their current skill set.

[SPEAKER_00]: because where we see that disconnect between the antecedent or the expectation in their skills is we're often we see problem behavior coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have the skills yet to meet that demand or that expectation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our goal is not getting to the one right answer.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's getting to this selection of antecedents and consequences that can help us identify all the variables at play.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we have all of this information in the FBA, we are then able to design a behavior intervention plan that addresses multiple needs.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to look for adjusting the environment.

[SPEAKER_00]: These are our proactive interventions to prevent the response.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then our skill building, our replacement behaviors.

[SPEAKER_00]: To work on eliminating the need for the negative response, because the positive, pro-social communicative response is getting to that.

[SPEAKER_00]: The phrase I always give in trainings is we've got a star of and replace it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you got to do both.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we've got to make it not work as well at an environmental supports.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then we've got to replace it.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've got to teach that missing skills.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when we have the whole vision of the behavior with the multiple variables at play, we'll be able to do that in a much better and more effective way.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what are some action tips for you right away?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you're like, all right, well, next time we do a behavior plan, I'm going to get into that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what could we do right now?

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to start switching your thinking instead of what's the function to what's influencing this behavior.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, as a BCBA, we're just kind of trained to think, always, what's the function?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's the function?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I do this with my own kids.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's the function?

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, that subtle shift of what's influencing the behavior allows us to consider multiple variables.

[SPEAKER_00]: When your teams are frustrated with this process, whether it's you are an administrator and these are your teachers or you are a teacher and this is your paraprofessional team and this is hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be we're going to get frustrated with things that are hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: Acknowledge and validate that that's okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's okay that this process is tricky and complex, because behavior is tricky and complex.

[SPEAKER_00]: Man, especially for our older kids.

[SPEAKER_00]: Those of you working with junior high school, students, and adults, [SPEAKER_00]: These behaviors have very long learning histories, which means they are more likely to be utilized for multiple functions.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because guess what, hey, if it works to get me that, that I want, this is probably going to work to get me this that I want as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think when we normalize the challenge of long-term problem behavior or even a newer problem behavior that is complex, it kind of releases the pressure a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, okay, we're not gonna get it this week, that's okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is part of the process is identifying the multiple variables.

[SPEAKER_00]: So think about those things that you can do right away, switch your thinking from what's the function to what's influencing the behavior and validate and acknowledge with your teams the complexity of this process.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to head over to Instagram and do a little post about this on Instagram as well because then we can engage in chat about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I'd love to hear what you think.

[SPEAKER_00]: What is your perspective on approaching behavior this way through this lens of multiple variables and multiple control?

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you see this as a challenge with the students and the clients you support identifying that singular function?

[SPEAKER_00]: So come over to Instagram and chat with me there and in the meantime start making those shifts with you and your team to deliver the most effective interventions possible.