One thing that parents often struggle with is their child’s “bad behavior.” They are at a loss for how to get their children to listen and comply and are often looking for answers. While ABA does not deliver an instant solution to counteract those problem behaviors, it does set up a system in which children learn that how they act affects what they receive.
One of the most important components of ABA is reinforcement; this is when we give the child something they like in order to show them that when they do that behavior, they get something for it. We “pay” them for being good. The opposite of reinforcement is extinction; essentially, not paying a child for behaving that way. Behaviors occur because they are either innate responses (such as pulling your hand off something hot) or they have a history of reinforcement causing them to reoccur. Even unintentionally, their behavior has somehow been reinforced. It is critical to pay attention to what may be causing the behavior to occur and how you treat the child after they behave that way.
For example, if you are trying to get them to eat an unliked food item and they act out by throwing it or hitting and you send them to their room, they got their way! They learned that when they are presented with something aversive, all they have to do is act out again and the aversive stimulus will be removed and they can go to the room. To correct this, do not remove the demand. They will act out because that has worked in the past but if you keep the demand on them, they will start to learn that that behavior will no longer be reinforced. You are putting their behavior on extinction and then will reinforce the new 'eating their food' behavior.
Not all situations occur as smoothly as I explained in my example. That is an “ideal world”. However, the concepts are that simple and if you practice examining your own behavior in response to your child’s, you can uncover your own history of reinforcement. Changing that history if the first step to changing your child’s behavior!
