Functions of Behaviour
A PBS Approach to What Children Are Really Trying to Communicate
🧠 All Behaviour Has a Function
In Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), we don’t just look at what a child is doing — we ask why they’re doing it.
Every behaviour is a message. Every challenging moment is a clue. PBS Pracitioners use a range of formal and information data-collection methods to identify what is the function of a behaviour. From there, interventions (strategies) are designed to minimise problematic behaviour and meet the underlying function/need.
Most behaviours serve one or more of four functions:
🧩 Common Challenging Behaviours & What They May Be Communicating
🔧 PBS-Informed Strategies Based on Function
1. ✋ Escape / Avoidance
What to Try:
Use visual schedules and transition warnings
Break tasks into smaller chunks
Offer choices around non-negotiables
Reframe tasks with play or special interests
Provide “safe outs” like: “Want a 2-minute break first?”
💬 “I see this is hard. Want help to break it down or a break first?”
2. 💬 Attention
What to Try:
Offer positive attention frequently (5:1 positive to negative)
Schedule daily connection time
Reinforce appropriate ways to ask for attention
Use “wait cards” or visual signals
💬 “I love when you say ‘excuse me’ — I notice you right away!”
3. 🎯 Tangible / Access
What to Try:
Set clear, consistent boundaries
Use “When/Then” language: “When we clean up, then you can play.”
Support delay tolerance with timers, countdowns, or token systems
Teach negotiation and turn-taking skills
💬 “You really want that! Let’s figure out when we can make it happen.”
4. 🌈 Sensory / Regulation
What to Try:
Build a sensory diet (regular movement, calming input, deep pressure)
Allow safe stimming or use of sensory tools
Create quiet spaces and structured sensory breaks
Observe what regulates and what overwhelms
💬 “I see you’re bouncing a lot — want to jump on the trampoline or swing?”
🧭 Final Thought
Behaviours aren’t the problem — they are the signal.
Understanding the function helps us teach new, safer, more skillful ways to get the same need met.
