Better Understanding Challenging Behavior: A Talk with Larissa Heise, BCBA

Summary

In this episode of Not Your Mama's Autism, host Lola Dada-Olley speaks with licensed social worker and BCBA Larissa Heise about the complexities of challenging behavior in neurodivergent individuals. They discuss the definition of challenging behavior, trends observed in recent years, the importance of identifying triggers, and the role of sensory needs. Larissa emphasizes the need for individualized approaches to support, the common misconceptions surrounding challenging behavior, and the importance of understanding the full context before implementing interventions. The conversation also covers strategies for navigating support systems and the significance of insurance in accessing professional help.

Takeaways

• Challenging behavior varies in definition and context.
• Challenging behavior often exceeds a family's ability to support.
• Safety concerns are a primary focus in identifying challenging behavior.
• Attention-seeking behavior is often misunderstood; it is about connection.
• Sensory needs can become more complex as individuals grow older.
• Understanding individual needs is crucial for effective support.
• Misconceptions about challenging behavior can lead to ineffective interventions.
• Gradual approaches are necessary for managing triggers and interventions.
• Reassessing strategies is important when previous methods stop working.
• Navigating insurance and support systems is essential for accessing help.

Chapters

00:00 Understanding Challenging Behavior

02:59 Trends in Challenging Behavior

06:06 Identifying Triggers

09:06 Complex Sensory Needs

12:00 Misconceptions About Challenging Behavior

15:05 Approaching Triggers and Interventions

19:04 Reassessing Strategies

24:03 Navigating Support Systems

35:55 Getting Started with Professional Help

Transcript 

Lola Dada-Olley (00:02.364)

Larissa Heise, thank you. Thank you for being on the Not Your Mama's Autism podcast today.

Larissa Heise (00:10.317)

Thank you for having me.

Lola Dada-Olley (00:13.148)

So you are a licensed social worker. You are also a BCBA for those listening who don't understand what that acronym means. In these neurodivergent streets, it means board certified behavioral analyst.

I am going to really enjoy this episode talking to you about behavior. So let's talk about challenging behavior. But before we do so, let's do some level setting. Because challenging behavior means different things to different people. So what would you identify as a challenging behavior?

Larissa Heise (00:57.485)

I'm going to give you my personal definition and then I'm going to give you like what I think out in the world people are like generally having consensus on. Given the work that I do, I work a lot with family, families and very, a very parent centered model of support in the work that we do and some of the programs I supervise, very unique programs actually compared to maybe some other providers who are very family centric kind of approach to treatment.

I look at challenging behavior as being something that exceeds the family's ability to support. And that can mean different things for different people. I've had some families who are dealing with the more traditional definition of challenging behavior, which I'm going to share, but I've had other families who, you know, maybe it's not at a level of safety, but they are so overwhelmed. They still don't know what to do. And it's leading to

ER visits and things like that. But in terms of like what I think most people as a provider, right, most people would kind of agree upon in terms of challenging behavior are behaviors that are at risk of safety concerns. You know, generally we're looking at things where people are harming themselves, are at risk of harming others, are extremely dysregulated to the point where they're having a difficult time day to day.

in their lives, whether that's across settings. Typically we are seeing if somebody has kind of challenging behaviors or behaviors of concern, they're exhibiting them across settings and it's really impacting their quality of life usually in multiple ways. So it can look different, right, across age, situations, settings, but that's generally what I think, you know, the provider community is looking at. It's like behaviors that put people at risk of harm.

or limit their ability for quality of life.