From Our Expert: What is a Behavior and What Causes It?

Although 2020 has brought its fair share of negatives, one big positive came out of this year. Our nonprofit was able to hire a Behavior Services Director to better serve our clients and address the growing need we see in our community.

Olivia Hardy, Puzzle Pieces’ Behavior Services Director, has a bachelor's degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences and a master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She started working at Puzzle Pieces as a direct support professional in the summer of 2013 while she was taking college courses at the University of Kentucky.
 
“At the time, I was taking a variety of math and science courses as this has always been an area of interest for me, but I was struggling to find purpose and fulfillment in potential career options, until I was introduced to a client at Puzzle Pieces who had participated in ABA therapy for the past several years,” Olivia said. “When I learned about how this treatment had helped him learn to communicate and participate in his community in a safe manner, it piqued my interest and I started looking into courses and training to learn more about this science. I was drawn to the systematic approach to providing students and clients with treatments that are evidence-based for teaching a variety of communication, socialization, and adaptive functioning skills.”
 
Over the past few years, Olivia has worked in both outpatient ABA clinics providing early intervention services and as a director of an inpatient program for individuals with intellectual disabilities who have lost their residential placement due to extreme maladaptive behavior. 
 
“These positions opened my eyes to how many individuals with disabilities there are in our community who are not able to access behavioral services due to a lack of financial resources or not having a covered diagnosis,” she said. “My goal at Puzzle Pieces is not only to provide behavior support and ABA services to our clients, but also to integrate ABA strategies into our existing programs so that everyone we serve has access to evidence-based strategies.”
 
Olivia describes what a behavior is, its source, and the role a specialist plays in addressing that behavior.
 
So, what is behavior?

• what we do; our actions
  
• People often inquire about what can be addressed with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) or positive behavior support services, and my goal is to help people understand that all of our actions are behavior. ABA is not only for people who engage in dangerous or “problematic” behavior--or behavior others may find socially-unacceptable--it's also great for anyone who needs to learn new behaviors, such as how to complete activities of daily living independently or how to communicate with others and make friends. 
  
  
  

What causes behavior in those with disabilities?

• Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder, among other disabilities, experience deficits in Theory of Mind. This means they are not readily able to attribute thoughts and feelings to other people, or "put themselves in someone else's shoes." Because of this, some individuals with disabilities may not attend to or have interest in the critical features of social situations that let us know what types of behavior are expected in that context. They may also not understand how their behavior affects other people.
  
• Many individuals we serve have speech and language deficits that affect their ability to communicate their wants and needs to others. To compensate for these deficits, many individuals use behavior to indicate to others what they want and need. This can range anywhere from gesturing toward items all the way to engaging in aggression or property destruction to get their point across. 
  
  
  

What is the role of a specialist?

• help create reinforcement systems to motivate individuals to acquire new skills to increase their independence
  
• teach individuals how to communicate effectively with others in a way that maintains everyone's safety
  
• train parents and caregivers to use behavior change strategies with the individual across all settings
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With Olivia joining the Puzzle Pieces team as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, we were able to expand our services to offer behavioral support which consists of staff/parent training, one-on-one interventions, person-centered plans, and research-based strategies. For those interested in learning more, contact oliviahardy@puzzle-pieces.org today to see about our waiver and private pay options.