December 27, 2024 • 15 mins
Can understanding the intricacies of human behavior transform your church community? Join me, Tracie Corll, as we embark on an enlightening journey through the complex functions of challenging behaviors within ministry settings. We promise you'll gain valuable insights into sensory, escape, and attention-seeking behaviors, learning how to create more inclusive and supportive environments for everyone involved. Discover when accommodating sensory behavior is more beneficial than attempting to change it, and explore strategies for helping individuals manage escape behaviors through breaks or task division. Through real-world examples, we guide you in responding effectively to attention-seeking actions, encouraging positive behavior and fostering a stronger, more understanding community.
In the second chapter of our podcast, we delve into the essentials of understanding behavior through the ABCs: antecedent, behavior, and consequence. By unraveling these elements, you'll learn to identify the root causes behind actions, such as attention-seeking or avoidance, and implement positive replacement behaviors inspired by Christian teachings. We discuss the challenges of limited interactions in church environments, yet emphasize the profound importance of supporting each individual's spiritual journey. By recognizing behavioral patterns, we can guide individuals to serve and glorify God with their unique gifts, ultimately enriching the fabric of your church community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll, and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in Him and serveHim with the gifts that he has
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans havea disability.
That's 25% of the population.
(00:26):
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics biblical foundations,
perceptions and world-changingideas.
(00:47):
Hey, hey, and welcome to today'sepisode.
We're talking about behavior,everybody's favorite topic, or
at least the one that has themost questions.
So we're going to talk aboutthe functions of behavior.
So I want you to pull up a seatand learn why these challenging
behaviors occur and how we canrespond most effectively.
(01:07):
First of all, let's pop intothe types of behavior responses,
and the first one is sensory.
This is one that we've probablyspent the most time talking
about.
These behaviors provide accessto sensory stimulation.
It feels good to engage in thatbehavior, and that is why it's
happening.
When does it happen?
(01:28):
Sensory behaviors occur at anytime, in the presence or the
absence of another person.
How can we respond to those sowe can teach a functional
replacement behavior thatprovides compatible sensory
input.
Now, listen, not every behaviorthat occurs to a sensory need
needs to be changed or replaced.
(01:50):
Stimming and fidget, play orbody movement, any of those
kinds of things that arehappening that are not becoming
a distraction or disruptive or asafety issue, they don't need
to be addressed.
Those are just the person'sresponse to their sensory needs
(02:12):
and how they are trying toexperience that.
So let me just remind now, ifit is, you know, someone putting
an inedible object in theirmouth and it's unsafe, we want
to replace that with, maybe ahard piece of candy or something
that they can chew like a pieceof gum.
(02:32):
Or there are also sensory toysthat are called chewies and they
can use those.
Another option is considering,you know, behavior that becomes
unsafe, like like pushing orhitting or shoving where a
fidget toy may be or, a betterterm, a fidget tool can be used
(02:55):
to help that individual in thatmoment to use their hands in a
way that is safe for everybodyaround them.
So let's consider anotherchallenging behavior and how it
functions and why, when and howto respond.
So escape.
This is probably a very scarythought because if we have
(03:18):
someone in our realm ofauthority, right, Whether it's
in children's church, whetherit's in child care, a youth
event, or maybe we're a buddy toan adult.
If they try to escape, that's asafety situation.
So why are they escaping?
These behaviors remove anundesired situation or a person,
(03:41):
and they can happen at a timein which something is viewed as
being too hard, too boring ortoo loud.
There's some kind of threat tothe way that they're feeling
right.
So how do we respond?
What do we do?
We can teach the person toreact or request a break when
(04:01):
needed.
We can divide tasks intosmaller parts or we can give
activity choices to keep up theinterest.
So there are some options toavoid or avert from the escape
need.
And again, the why is they'retrying to remove themselves from
(04:23):
an undesired situation orperson.
So how do we respond?
We try to accommodate for thatreason of escape, Okay.
So another option that we wantto consider, another behavior
that is used as a function, isattention, and this is probably,
(04:47):
I would say, some of thehardest things to deal with,
because these behaviors providea reaction from others.
They are often described asacting out behaviors.
I will give you an example.
There's a young gentleman thatattends our church and he is
(05:09):
incredibly smart.
He is diagnosed with autism.
But when he does not get whathe wants so this is kind of a
twofold thing he will bringattention to himself until he is
given what he wants.
So it's helping him to get hisdesired reaction.
(05:32):
So, for example, this morning Iwas giving him something and I
asked him what color he wantedand he said my favorite color is
poop.
Well, why does he say that?
Because he knows talking aboutpoop gets a reaction, and so I
did not give it to him and Isaid well, I'm sorry, I don't
have that color, but these arethe colors that I do have.
(05:53):
And I gave him the choices that.
So I didn't kind of come intothat vortex of he's using this
for those types of things, but Idid answer properly and I did
try to remain appropriate withhis choices.
Now that seems very, veryminimal, but typically it's used
(06:15):
for attention getting and thenwill grow if I entertain it.
So when does attention seekingbehavior happen?
It occurs at a time in whichthe person desires a social
interaction with another person,and you've, I'm sure, heard
this before, that someoneseeking attention doesn't care
really if it's a positiveattention or a negative
(06:37):
attention as long as they'regetting the attention, and so
they will seek to get that in amultitude of ways and obviously
the biggest problem is becauseit becomes negative or
distracting and then it takesaway from someone else in the
space.
So we need to respond to thisparticular individual by showing
(07:02):
them how to request and receivethe positive attention through
engaging in desirable behaviors.
And this is easier said thandone, because most of us will
respond quickly and easily to anegative behavior because we
want to quickly stop it thatsometimes we can let the
(07:26):
positives go by and not givethem the attention that they
should receive because of thosetype of situations.
So another example is a littleguy.
He wanted to participate andanswer one of the questions.
He didn't get called upon andso he started doing a whining,
crying kind of thing, and atthat point we looked at him, we
(07:49):
told him what was going on, saidyou are more than welcome to
tell us your answer, which washis buddy and move on and do
that kind of thing.
So we tried to help in thatmoment with what it was that he
was struggling with and give himan option to achieve it in a
(08:10):
different way.
Option to achieve it in adifferent way.
Another thing we want to thinkabout is the function of a
challenging behavior.
This is going to sound strange,but we're going to use the word
tangible.
These behaviors provide successto highly preferred items or
(08:30):
activities, and this happens.
Preferred items or activitiesand this happens tangible
seeking behaviors occur at atime in which the child desires
a specific item or activity.
So how can we respond?
What can we do in that?
Now listen, I said child, butthis is anybody right.
(08:51):
This has nothing to do withjust a child.
This can be all the way throughadult.
And what can we do to respondin that particular way?
We can teach that individual toask for, to wait or to show a
specific behavior and then grantaccess to whatever that item or
(09:14):
that person is.
So, whether that's a snack,whether that's a sticker,
whether that is something, a toythat they want to be able to
play with, so you might say,okay, here's the schedule, we're
going to do this, this and this, and then you'll be able to do
that.
Or if it is a snack orsomething like that, it's okay,
well, we've got to complete thisand this and this, and then
you'll be able to do that.
Or if it is a snack orsomething like that, it's okay,
(09:35):
well, we've got to complete thisand this and then we'll do that
.
So this, this if and thenstatements are really great with
that.
Visual schedules are reallygreat for that.
You can even create like areward chart where they
accomplish so many things andthen they can have access to the
thing that they are desiring.
There are all kinds of optionsto do those types of things,
(10:03):
because it's really reallyimportant to take the behavior
that they're showing, to turn itinto something positive,
because we want to replace thenegative behavior with positive
behavior.
So a replacement behavior is arelated skill that serves the
same purpose as a challengingbehavior.
(10:25):
So that skill allows the childto get their wants and needs met
, but in an appropriate way.
And again, I said child, but Idon't mean just children, youth,
young adults, older adults.
Replacement behavior applies tothem.
It is different.
(10:46):
So when we're talking aboutchildren, younger children, it's
easier to think about them inthis behavior, because a lot of
this is actually very typical,but in a child with special
needs it may be even more so.
So that's why I keep sayingchildren.
So so that's why I keep sayingchildren.
(11:06):
But as we get into youth, youngadults and adults, they're a
little bit more set in theirways.
So these strategies all applyand they can work with them.
I think it's a little easier inyounger children because
they're forming those kinds ofthings, but in youth or young
adult or adult, you are working.
(11:29):
You're going to have toprobably work a little bit
harder in those respects because, again, they're kind of set in
their ways.
They have learned what thateither attention-seeking
behavior does, that sensoryseeking behavior, how to achieve
it, how to get it, the tangiblethings, all of that kind of
stuff.
(11:49):
So here's what we want to lookout for.
You have probably heard thisbefore about the ABCs of
behavior, and this is a greatway so that you can pick up on
things before you get to thatpoint.
Okay, so the ABCs of behaviorare antecedent behavior,
consequence.
(12:10):
Okay, we want to kind of have away to identify what's coming
right, and that is, you see, theantecedent, which means an
event occurs immediately beforea behavior.
So the next piece is thebehavior, an observable action,
(12:34):
and the last piece is theconsequence.
It's a response that followsthe behavior and the function,
which is what we were talkingabout, the function of behavior.
That's the reason why thebehavior occurred.
Okay, that's access, that's toavoid or escape something, to
receive the attention, whetherit's positive or negative, or
(12:56):
that sensory input, what arethey looking for?
And when we start to notice,okay, this happened, then the
behavior happened and out ofthat came this.
And now I know why.
Because that helps you to putin place the positive of the
replacement behavior so that youcan begin to shift that
(13:19):
behavior little by little.
Now understand that the churchsetting is not the easiest to
change this behavior, becauseyou don't see them as much as
you would if you were in aschool or a workshop or a
setting like therapy orsomething like that, but the
(13:40):
church.
We can still be aware of thesethings.
We can still know that we canfind positive replacement in the
behavior and we can alsounderstand the function of their
behavior, what they're tryingto achieve, so that we can help
them get to a more positiveplace.
It's not going to be perfect.
It's not always going to bepretty.
(14:01):
It's definitely not going to beeasy all the time.
However, building thisunderstanding and walking
alongside of another individualand supporting them and
fulfilling their needs in apositive way will benefit that
person in attendance, but alsoeveryone else in the space,
because it becomes a morepositive fulfillment as opposed
(14:24):
to a negative fulfillment.
And that is what Jesus does,right?
Is that not the replacement ofsin and the covering of sin, so
that we can do the right thingand be positive and live for and
glorify God?
That's what this is right.
But we can't do it withoutidentifying right.
(14:46):
We have to identify our sin, wehave to put it out there and
then we need to overcome it.
And we overcome it becausewe're covered by the blood, but
also because Jesus gives usstrength to do the things that
are right.
And we can do this in behavior.
And we can see that and workthrough it in each and every
step with the people that weserve, so that they can become
(15:10):
more like Jesus every single day.
Do I know all there is to know?
Do I have all the answers toyour special needs, ministry?
I don't, but I want to keep theconversation going and I want
to make sure that every personhas availability and access to
the gospel so that they can knowHim, grow in Him and serve him
with the gifts that he has given.
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll, and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in Him and serveHim with the gifts that he has
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans havea disability.
That's 25% of the population.
(00:26):
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics biblical foundations,
perceptions and world-changingideas.
(00:47):
Hey, hey, and welcome to today'sepisode.
We're talking about behavior,everybody's favorite topic, or
at least the one that has themost questions.
So we're going to talk aboutthe functions of behavior.
So I want you to pull up a seatand learn why these challenging
behaviors occur and how we canrespond most effectively.
(01:07):
First of all, let's pop intothe types of behavior responses,
and the first one is sensory.
This is one that we've probablyspent the most time talking
about.
These behaviors provide accessto sensory stimulation.
It feels good to engage in thatbehavior, and that is why it's
happening.
When does it happen?
(01:28):
Sensory behaviors occur at anytime, in the presence or the
absence of another person.
How can we respond to those sowe can teach a functional
replacement behavior thatprovides compatible sensory
input.
Now, listen, not every behaviorthat occurs to a sensory need
needs to be changed or replaced.
(01:50):
Stimming and fidget, play orbody movement, any of those
kinds of things that arehappening that are not becoming
a distraction or disruptive or asafety issue, they don't need
to be addressed.
Those are just the person'sresponse to their sensory needs
(02:12):
and how they are trying toexperience that.
So let me just remind now, ifit is, you know, someone putting
an inedible object in theirmouth and it's unsafe, we want
to replace that with, maybe ahard piece of candy or something
that they can chew like a pieceof gum.
(02:32):
Or there are also sensory toysthat are called chewies and they
can use those.
Another option is considering,you know, behavior that becomes
unsafe, like like pushing orhitting or shoving where a
fidget toy may be or, a betterterm, a fidget tool can be used
(02:55):
to help that individual in thatmoment to use their hands in a
way that is safe for everybodyaround them.
So let's consider anotherchallenging behavior and how it
functions and why, when and howto respond.
So escape.
This is probably a very scarythought because if we have
(03:18):
someone in our realm ofauthority, right, Whether it's
in children's church, whetherit's in child care, a youth
event, or maybe we're a buddy toan adult.
If they try to escape, that's asafety situation.
So why are they escaping?
These behaviors remove anundesired situation or a person,
(03:41):
and they can happen at a timein which something is viewed as
being too hard, too boring ortoo loud.
There's some kind of threat tothe way that they're feeling
right.
So how do we respond?
What do we do?
We can teach the person toreact or request a break when
(04:01):
needed.
We can divide tasks intosmaller parts or we can give
activity choices to keep up theinterest.
So there are some options toavoid or avert from the escape
need.
And again, the why is they'retrying to remove themselves from
(04:23):
an undesired situation orperson.
So how do we respond?
We try to accommodate for thatreason of escape, Okay.
So another option that we wantto consider, another behavior
that is used as a function, isattention, and this is probably,
(04:47):
I would say, some of thehardest things to deal with,
because these behaviors providea reaction from others.
They are often described asacting out behaviors.
I will give you an example.
There's a young gentleman thatattends our church and he is
(05:09):
incredibly smart.
He is diagnosed with autism.
But when he does not get whathe wants so this is kind of a
twofold thing he will bringattention to himself until he is
given what he wants.
So it's helping him to get hisdesired reaction.
(05:32):
So, for example, this morning Iwas giving him something and I
asked him what color he wantedand he said my favorite color is
poop.
Well, why does he say that?
Because he knows talking aboutpoop gets a reaction, and so I
did not give it to him and Isaid well, I'm sorry, I don't
have that color, but these arethe colors that I do have.
(05:53):
And I gave him the choices that.
So I didn't kind of come intothat vortex of he's using this
for those types of things, but Idid answer properly and I did
try to remain appropriate withhis choices.
Now that seems very, veryminimal, but typically it's used
(06:15):
for attention getting and thenwill grow if I entertain it.
So when does attention seekingbehavior happen?
It occurs at a time in whichthe person desires a social
interaction with another person,and you've, I'm sure, heard
this before, that someoneseeking attention doesn't care
really if it's a positiveattention or a negative
(06:37):
attention as long as they'regetting the attention, and so
they will seek to get that in amultitude of ways and obviously
the biggest problem is becauseit becomes negative or
distracting and then it takesaway from someone else in the
space.
So we need to respond to thisparticular individual by showing
(07:02):
them how to request and receivethe positive attention through
engaging in desirable behaviors.
And this is easier said thandone, because most of us will
respond quickly and easily to anegative behavior because we
want to quickly stop it thatsometimes we can let the
(07:26):
positives go by and not givethem the attention that they
should receive because of thosetype of situations.
So another example is a littleguy.
He wanted to participate andanswer one of the questions.
He didn't get called upon andso he started doing a whining,
crying kind of thing, and atthat point we looked at him, we
(07:49):
told him what was going on, saidyou are more than welcome to
tell us your answer, which washis buddy and move on and do
that kind of thing.
So we tried to help in thatmoment with what it was that he
was struggling with and give himan option to achieve it in a
(08:10):
different way.
Option to achieve it in adifferent way.
Another thing we want to thinkabout is the function of a
challenging behavior.
This is going to sound strange,but we're going to use the word
tangible.
These behaviors provide successto highly preferred items or
(08:30):
activities, and this happens.
Preferred items or activitiesand this happens tangible
seeking behaviors occur at atime in which the child desires
a specific item or activity.
So how can we respond?
What can we do in that?
Now listen, I said child, butthis is anybody right.
(08:51):
This has nothing to do withjust a child.
This can be all the way throughadult.
And what can we do to respondin that particular way?
We can teach that individual toask for, to wait or to show a
specific behavior and then grantaccess to whatever that item or
(09:14):
that person is.
So, whether that's a snack,whether that's a sticker,
whether that is something, a toythat they want to be able to
play with, so you might say,okay, here's the schedule, we're
going to do this, this and this, and then you'll be able to do
that.
Or if it is a snack orsomething like that, it's okay,
well, we've got to complete thisand this and this, and then
you'll be able to do that.
Or if it is a snack orsomething like that, it's okay,
(09:35):
well, we've got to complete thisand this and then we'll do that
.
So this, this if and thenstatements are really great with
that.
Visual schedules are reallygreat for that.
You can even create like areward chart where they
accomplish so many things andthen they can have access to the
thing that they are desiring.
There are all kinds of optionsto do those types of things,
(10:03):
because it's really reallyimportant to take the behavior
that they're showing, to turn itinto something positive,
because we want to replace thenegative behavior with positive
behavior.
So a replacement behavior is arelated skill that serves the
same purpose as a challengingbehavior.
(10:25):
So that skill allows the childto get their wants and needs met
, but in an appropriate way.
And again, I said child, but Idon't mean just children, youth,
young adults, older adults.
Replacement behavior applies tothem.
It is different.
(10:46):
So when we're talking aboutchildren, younger children, it's
easier to think about them inthis behavior, because a lot of
this is actually very typical,but in a child with special
needs it may be even more so.
So that's why I keep sayingchildren.
So so that's why I keep sayingchildren.
(11:06):
But as we get into youth, youngadults and adults, they're a
little bit more set in theirways.
So these strategies all applyand they can work with them.
I think it's a little easier inyounger children because
they're forming those kinds ofthings, but in youth or young
adult or adult, you are working.
(11:29):
You're going to have toprobably work a little bit
harder in those respects because, again, they're kind of set in
their ways.
They have learned what thateither attention-seeking
behavior does, that sensoryseeking behavior, how to achieve
it, how to get it, the tangiblethings, all of that kind of
stuff.
(11:49):
So here's what we want to lookout for.
You have probably heard thisbefore about the ABCs of
behavior, and this is a greatway so that you can pick up on
things before you get to thatpoint.
Okay, so the ABCs of behaviorare antecedent behavior,
consequence.
(12:10):
Okay, we want to kind of have away to identify what's coming
right, and that is, you see, theantecedent, which means an
event occurs immediately beforea behavior.
So the next piece is thebehavior, an observable action,
(12:34):
and the last piece is theconsequence.
It's a response that followsthe behavior and the function,
which is what we were talkingabout, the function of behavior.
That's the reason why thebehavior occurred.
Okay, that's access, that's toavoid or escape something, to
receive the attention, whetherit's positive or negative, or
(12:56):
that sensory input, what arethey looking for?
And when we start to notice,okay, this happened, then the
behavior happened and out ofthat came this.
And now I know why.
Because that helps you to putin place the positive of the
replacement behavior so that youcan begin to shift that
(13:19):
behavior little by little.
Now understand that the churchsetting is not the easiest to
change this behavior, becauseyou don't see them as much as
you would if you were in aschool or a workshop or a
setting like therapy orsomething like that, but the
(13:40):
church.
We can still be aware of thesethings.
We can still know that we canfind positive replacement in the
behavior and we can alsounderstand the function of their
behavior, what they're tryingto achieve, so that we can help
them get to a more positiveplace.
It's not going to be perfect.
It's not always going to bepretty.
(14:01):
It's definitely not going to beeasy all the time.
However, building thisunderstanding and walking
alongside of another individualand supporting them and
fulfilling their needs in apositive way will benefit that
person in attendance, but alsoeveryone else in the space,
because it becomes a morepositive fulfillment as opposed
(14:24):
to a negative fulfillment.
And that is what Jesus does,right?
Is that not the replacement ofsin and the covering of sin, so
that we can do the right thingand be positive and live for and
glorify God?
That's what this is right.
But we can't do it withoutidentifying right.
(14:46):
We have to identify our sin, wehave to put it out there and
then we need to overcome it.
And we overcome it becausewe're covered by the blood, but
also because Jesus gives usstrength to do the things that
are right.
And we can do this in behavior.
And we can see that and workthrough it in each and every
step with the people that weserve, so that they can become
(15:10):
more like Jesus every single day.
Do I know all there is to know?
Do I have all the answers toyour special needs, ministry?
I don't, but I want to keep theconversation going and I want
to make sure that every personhas availability and access to
the gospel so that they can knowHim, grow in Him and serve him
with the gifts that he has given.
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