Posted under: Psychology

Behavior is an action or reaction to internal and/or external events, people, objects or stimulation. It is a function of the interaction between the person and the situation.

In all children, behavior is typically either internalized or externalized. Children with autism often experience extreme patterns of internalization you may not notice initially. There may be a lengthy period of time during which the child’s internalized behavior builds up. The child may exhibit small changes or symptoms, like adhering more rigidly to routines or increased sucking or chewing of his clothes. Usually, in retrospect, caregivers who know the child well can put the pieces together and recognize when the build up started. With such a protracted time-line, determining the cause or causes can be challenging.

Externalized behavior is usually either self-directed or directed to other people or objects. In children with autism, self-directed behavior can include ‘odd’ mannerisms, such as hand flapping, humming, shrieking or pacing. Some self-directed behaviors can be harmful, such as when the child bites himself or bangs his head.

Externalized behavior can be toward objects or people. Object-related behavior can include throwing things or damaging them, such as tossing a chair or tearing a book. People-related behavior can include scratching, hitting out, pulling the other person’s hair or biting them.

After observing and working with many children with autism over the years, I see behavior as neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’ – it is communication. That is, if a child is showing internalized or externalized behaviors, he is telling us something about how he feels or about what is happening around him or what he perceives to be happening.

We, as the adults in the child’s life, need to be sensitive to these indicators because he is trying to let us know something is awry. In the next article we’ll discuss more further about problematic behavior.