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Adaptive behaviors


Adaptive behavior refers to behavior that enables a person (usually used in the context of children) to get along in his or her environment with greatest success and least conflict with others. This is a term used in the areas of psychology and special education. Adaptive behavior relates to every day skills or tasks that the average person is able to complete, similar to the term life skills. For example, a child born with cerebral palsy will most likely have a form of Hemiparesis or Hemiplegia (the weakening, or loss of use, of one side of the body). In order to adapt to one's environment, the child may use these limbs as helpers, in some cases even adapt the use of their mouth and teeth as a tool used for more than just eating or conversation. This is only one example of an adaptive behavior for one's physical environment. There are also other ways one can adapt their behavior for their emotional or communicative environment. For instance, frustration from lack of the ability to verbalize one's own needs can lead to tantrums. In addition, it may lead to the use of signs or sign language to communicate one's desires. One subject that is pertinent to this article is ABA therapy. "Applied means that interventions are geared toward achieving socially-important goals, helping people be more successful in natural settings such as homes, schools, and communities. Behavioral means that ABA focuses on what people say or do, rather than interpretations or assumptions about behavior. And analytic means that assessments are used to identify relationships between behavior and aspects of the environment (e.g., screaming occurs most when Johnny is given a difficult task and allows him to delay or avoid that activity) before proceeding to intervention." referenced from http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/

In education, adaptive behavior is defined as that which (1) meets the needs of the community of stakeholders (parents, teachers, peers, and later employers) and (2) meets the needs of the learner, now and in the future. Specifically, these behaviors include such things as effective speech, self-help, using money, cooking, and reading, for example.

Training in adaptive behavior is a key component of any educational program, but is critically important for children with special needs. The US Department of Education has allocated billions of dollars ($12.3 billion in 2008) for Special Education programs aimed at improving educational and early intervention outcomes for children with disabilities. In 2001, the United States National Research Council published a comprehensive review of interventions for children and adults diagnosed with autism. The review indicates that interventions based on applied behavior analysis have been effective with these groups.


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