How to Reduce Challenging Behaviors: An Autism Parent's Guide

A warm, BCBA-led guide to reduce challenging behaviors autism families face, by reading behavior as communication and teaching new skills at home.

Parent Guides & At-Home Strategies
How to Reduce Challenging Behaviors: An Autism Parent's Guide

TL;DR: Challenging behavior is almost never misbehavior, it’s communication. Whether your child is hitting, screaming, dropping to the floor, or running away, the behavior is serving a purpose: usually to gain attention, get a desired item or activity, escape something hard, or meet a sensory need. The most effective way to reduce challenging behaviors for autistic children is to figure out why the behavior is happening and then teach a more workable way to get that same need met. That work starts with curiosity and compassion, not punishment. Below, we’ll walk through what’s really going on and what you can do at home today.

If you’re a parent in St. George or anywhere across Southern Utah reading this after a hard afternoon, take a breath. You are not failing, and your child is not “bad.” Autism is common, the CDC’s most recent monitoring found that among 8-year-old children in 2022, autism prevalence was 32.2 per 1,000 children, or one in 31 (CDC MMWR, 2025). Many of those families are navigating exactly what you’re navigating right now, and there are real, evidence-based ways forward.

To reduce challenging behaviors, autism families have to start by reading behavior as communication

The single most important shift in how to reduce challenging behaviors autism caregivers can make is to stop asking “How do I make this stop?” and start asking “What is my child trying to tell me?” In behavior analysis, we identify the function a behavior serves through a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). The Association for Science in Autism Treatment explains that behaviors happen so a child can “gain access to a desired item or attention from another person, escape or delay an undesired task, or to access the sensory input they gain by engaging in the behavior” (ASAT).

Those are the four functions we look for: attention, tangible (a wanted item or activity), escape from a demand, and automatic/sensory input. A child who screams when the tablet is taken away is communicating something very different from a child who bolts when math homework appears, even though both might look “challenging” on the surface. Understanding which function is at play is what lets us respond in a way that actually helps instead of accidentally making things worse.

This matters even more because communication and self-regulation can be genuinely harder for some autistic children. In that same 2022 CDC data, 39.6% of children with autism who had cognitive data available also had a co-occurring intellectual disability (CDC MMWR, 2025). When words are hard to find, behavior becomes the message.

Identifying the “why” is evidence-based, and it points you toward a real solution

Figuring out the function of a behavior isn’t guesswork, and it isn’t optional fluff. The FBA is an established, evidence-based practice. ASAT reports that when at least one step of the FBA process was implemented, “positive intervention outcomes were observed for 78% of the participants,” and that FBAs “are an evidence-based practice that increase the likelihood that an effective intervention is selected and implemented” (ASAT).

Here’s why that’s so encouraging: once you know the function, the path forward becomes clear. The goal isn’t simply to suppress a behavior, it’s to teach a replacement skill that meets the same need in a safer, more workable way. As ASAT puts it, effective intervention often means “increasing a prosocial behavior that can replace the challenging behavior (e.g., asking for help, signing for a break)” (ASAT).

If your child screams to escape a hard task, we teach them to ask for a break. If they grab to get a toy, we teach them to request it with a word, a sign, or a picture. The challenging behavior fades not because we punished it, but because there’s now an easier, more reliable way to get the same result. That’s the heart of how families across Southern Utah reduce challenging behaviors that once felt impossible.

What you can do at home: prevent, teach, and reinforce

You don’t have to wait for a formal assessment to start helping, many of the most powerful strategies are things you can use today. Autism Speaks’ guidance for parents centers on three ideas: set your child up for success, teach new skills, and notice the good.

Validate the emotion first. Before anything else, let your child know you see them. Autism Speaks suggests language like, “I know you do not like spiders. I can see that you are very afraid right now” (Autism Speaks). Naming the feeling calmly tells your child they’re safe with you, and a regulated parent is the foundation for a regulating child.

Set up the environment for success. Use visual supports to make expectations clear and predictable. Autism Speaks recommends showing your child what you expect “using visual aids, photographs or video models,” alternating hard tasks with motivating ones, and offering choices so your child has a sense of control (Autism Speaks). A simple visual schedule or a “first/then” board can prevent a lot of difficulty before it starts.

Teach the break. One of the most freeing things you can give your child is a way to ask for a pause. Autism Speaks recommends you “Teach the individual to request a break when he needs to regroup (e.g. use a PECS card that represents ‘break’)” (Autism Speaks). When a child can ask for a break, they have a workable alternative to challenging behavior, this is the replacement-skill idea in everyday action.

Catch them being good. It’s easy to notice behavior only when it’s hard. Flip that. Autism Speaks advises parents to “Catch him being good and reward that, verbally and with favored activities, objects or ‘payment,’” adding that “A sense of competence often fosters interest and motivation” (Autism Speaks). The behaviors you pay attention to tend to grow, so pour your attention into the moments that are going well.

For a deeper toolkit, Autism Speaks offers a free Challenging Behaviors Tool Kit you can download and keep on hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my autistic child have challenging behaviors or meltdowns? Almost always, the behavior is communicating a need. Behavior analysts recognize four common functions: gaining attention, gaining a desired item or activity (tangible), escaping or avoiding something difficult, and accessing sensory input (ASAT). Identifying which function is driving the behavior is the first step toward changing it, without punishment.

What’s the difference between a meltdown and a tantrum? A tantrum is generally goal-directed, your child still has some control and is working toward something they want. A meltdown is different: it’s a response to feeling completely overwhelmed, often by sensory input or stress, and it isn’t a choice or manipulation. Meltdowns call for calm support and reduced demands, not consequences.

How can I figure out what’s triggering my child’s behavior at home? Become a gentle detective. Watch for the antecedent (what happened right before), the behavior itself, and the consequence (what happened after), the A-B-C pattern. Over a few days, patterns usually emerge: certain transitions, noises, or demands. Visual supports and a predictable environment often reduce the triggers you find.

What can I do in the moment when my child is dysregulated? Stay calm, validate the feeling, and reduce demands rather than adding them. Offer a break or a simple choice, and lower the sensory load if you can. This isn’t “giving in”, it’s helping your child’s nervous system settle so learning can happen later, when everyone is calm.

When should we get professional help, and does insurance or Medicaid cover it? If challenging behaviors are affecting your child’s safety, learning, or family life, a BCBA-led Functional Behavior Assessment can help. In Utah, Medicaid covers ABA for eligible members through the EPSDT benefit when there is a valid ASD diagnosis from a qualified clinician, and these services can be delivered in the home and community, with the goal to “develop, maintain, or restore, to the maximum extent practicable, the functioning of an individual with ASD” (Utah Medicaid Provider Manual). A written prescription and prior authorization are required.

You don’t have to wait to get help

If you’ve read this far, you already have what matters most: the willingness to understand your child instead of just managing them. At Ryse ABA Therapy, our BCBA-led team provides personalized, play-based, in-home and community-based ABA across Washington County, St. George, Washington, Hurricane, Santa Clara, Ivins, La Verkin, and Cedar City in Iron County, for ages 2 through 65. We meet your family where you are, in the spaces where behavior actually happens.

And here’s the part we’re proudest of: there’s no waitlist. Families start right away. If your child has an autism diagnosis and active insurance coverage, we can help you begin. Call us at (385) 549-5656 to talk with a real person about your child and what’s possible. When we Ryse together, we achieve more.

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