Functions of Behavior

Understanding why students behave the way they do — and what to do about it
Every behavior serves a purpose. Rather than responding to the form of a behavior (what it looks like), effective support targets its function (what the student is getting or avoiding). The five categories below represent the most common reasons students engage in challenging behavior — use them as a starting point for hypothesis development in FBA and BIP planning.
S
Function 1
Sensory / Self-Regulation

Looks Like

Spitting Touching others Funny noises Rocking Self-stimulating behaviors

Why It's Happening

  • Reducing anxiety or stress
  • Improving focus and attention
  • Relieving boredom
  • Meeting an unmet sensory need
  • Over- or under-stimulation in the environment

Strategies to Try

  • Build in frequent, predictable movement breaks
  • Offer a quiet, low-distraction workspace (privacy folder, study carrel)
  • Teach coping tools: deep breathing, visualization, self-talk
  • Allow a fidget tool or something to hold
  • Lead the whole class in a brief movement break
  • Adjust lighting, seating, or noise level as needed
  • Consult OT for a sensory diet (heavy work, oral input, calming music)
E
Function 2
Escape / Avoidance

Looks Like

Leaving the classroom Bathroom requests Health room visits Refusal Task avoidance

Why It's Happening

  • Fear of failure or making mistakes
  • Protecting self-image ("better to not try")
  • Task feels too difficult or unpredictable
  • Discouragement from repeated lack of success

Strategies to Try

  • Break tasks into small, achievable steps
  • Increase predictable routines and clear expectations
  • Celebrate effort, not just accuracy
  • Give the student a legitimate, acceptable way to ask for a break
  • Provide more opportunities for success within the day
  • Teach positive self-talk scripts
  • Allow student to negotiate or modify tasks when appropriate
A
Function 3
Attention / Affiliation

Looks Like

Calling out Clowning Seeking peer reactions Arguing Tattling

Why It's Happening

  • Wants connection with peers or adults
  • Seeking to be liked, noticed, or included
  • Hasn't learned appropriate ways to initiate interaction

Strategies to Try

  • Provide frequent, proactive attention when behavior is appropriate
  • Assign a trusted teacher-advisor or mentor
  • Build in structured peer connection (buddy system, clubs, groups)
  • Ignore low-level attention-seeking when safe to do so
  • Teach prosocial ways to start or join a conversation
  • Model and reinforce empathy and respect in all interactions
  • Share student's interests and strengths with other staff
C
Function 4
Control / Power

Looks Like

Power struggles Noncompliance Arguing rules Passive refusal Defiance

Why It's Happening

  • Wants autonomy and meaningful choice
  • Feels controlled or disrespected
  • Seeks to establish status or agency
  • May use passive noncompliance as a form of control

Strategies to Try

  • Build in genuine choice-making opportunities throughout the day
  • Involve the student in planning, problem-solving, and leadership
  • Defuse power struggles: listen, acknowledge, defer when possible
  • Keep corrective interactions private
  • State only consequences you can and will actually follow through on
  • Describe behavior without evaluating the student as a person
  • Model self-regulation; name what you're doing ("I'm taking a breath")
T
Function 5
Tangible / Access to Preferred Items or Activities

Looks Like

Grabbing Tantrums when items are removed Crying Perseverating on an object

Why It's Happening

  • Wants a specific item or activity that's unavailable or withheld
  • Doesn't yet have language or skills to request appropriately
  • Protesting the removal of a preferred reinforcer

Strategies to Try

  • Build access to preferred items into the daily schedule
  • Offer structured choice between activities and materials
  • Use preferred items as reinforcers for target behaviors
  • Designate a predictable space or time for preferred objects
  • Teach functional communication for requesting ("I want ___", visual supports, AAC)

A Note on FBA

  • Behavior rarely serves just one function — look for patterns across settings
  • The same behavior can serve different functions for different students
  • Antecedents matter: what happens just before the behavior is often the key
  • Match your intervention to the function, not just the form of the behavior
For educational use within SPED team workflows. Intended to support — not replace — individualized FBA/BIP processes. goodtalk.life