Changing Repetitive and Stereotyped Behavior

Stereotypical behavior or fixations may lead children to exhibit challenging behaviors when things do not turn as expected, or in the desired order. This behavior shows resistance to change.

In this video, I would like to share my work as an ABA therapist to help a boy who was exhibiting intense challenging behaviors whenever he wasn't able to place his puzzle letters in alphabetical order. When watching the video you will notice that after we get letter A, having B already in place, he asks for letter C and attempts to take it from the bag, instead of randomly picking a letter. He was lucky to get letter C!

By building flexibility and tolerating change, the boy was able to tolerate not being in control of the order letters appeared, tolerate change, and allow others to complete the puzzle. This behavioral change was the first step to increasing flexibility and decreasing challenging behaviors.