Why Are They Escaping? A Clinical Thinking Tool

This 2-page clinical thinking tool, created in collaboration with Dr. Megan Miller and adapted from the Trauma-Informed Assent Mastery Kit (Do Better Collective), walks through 10 yes or no questions about why a learner may be escaping or avoiding a task, grouped under relationship and regulation, skills, and instruction and environment. Page 2 is an author spotlight on Dr. Miller.

What You'll Learn

• How to check whether connection, regulation and communication skills are in place before placing a demand
• Why escape can point to an executive functioning or skill gap rather than refusal
• When to revise the task, offer choices or add environmental supports, and when a functional assessment is the next step

Who Is This For

BCBAs reviewing escape and avoidance behavior before following through on a demand or recommending escape extinction.

Access this resource for free with a BIP Visualized account.