A B C's of Tracking Behavior

Tracking your child's behaviors can help you figure out what they are trying to communicate. It's called the ABCs.

A = antecedent

B = behavior

C = consequence

The purpose is to track your child’s challenging behavior in order to understand the FUNCTION of that behavior. All behavior is communicative. It has a purpose. We just have to find what it is. We do that by tracking consistently over 1-2 weeks.

You will track what happens before the behavior (antecedent, aka the trigger) and after the behavior (consequence aka what reinforces the behavior). This data will tell you how to intervene in a way that is tailored to your child. It does take some consistent tracking to identify patterns, but it will work better than any “quick fix” to try to fix the behavior.

This method can be applied to many of the challenges we deal with. From undesirable behaviors day to day, sleep issues, meltdowns, aggression towards others or self, and issues in school.

You could use a notebook or an app on your phone or computer.

Here's some examples:

Scenario 1: Say your child hits his sibling.. what happened right before he hit? Maybe the sibling took a toy away. A = antecedent - would be sibling took a toy B = behavior - would be he hit C = consequence - two upset children, parental intervention

In this scenario, you would figure out how to prevent one taking from another, work on sharing, or perhaps create separate play spaces.

Scenario 2: Say you take your child to a new store, and they become upset. A = antecedent - entered a new store B = behavior - cried, etc.. C = consequence - shopping with an upset child

In this scenario, you would determine why the store upset them. Maybe sensory related, too bright, smelled funny, too crowded.

Perhaps if you try that store again, you bring headphones, sunglasses, a tablet, or toys for distracting.

Scenario 3: Say your child is watching tv, and they become upset and won't stop fussing. A = antecedent - child got hot B = behavior - upset while watching tv C = consequence - work with child to cool them down and re-engage in activity

In this scenario, you would determine what happened that could have triggered it? Is it sensory related? Was there a change in temperature, a change in light, a show came on that was too loud, too flashy? In this case, we'll say the heat kicked on, and the child got overheated.

Learn more on episode 10 of Evolve with Dr. Tay | real conversations designed for autism parents

listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/evolve-with-dr-tay-real-conversations-designed-for/id1659784037?i=1000599771799

listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pF2Xris7sHr1mTitRh1lC?si=GUb7Yl2WSPm2LBiuGlbNOA