Project RISE - Beyond the Basics - Applying the ABCs to Address Complex Behaviors in Early Childhood

This is a fully online, self-paced, asynchronous course.

Continuing Education hours: 1 hr 45 min
Featured Expert: Erin DiCesare, PhD, LBA, BCBA

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this module, Learners will be able to:

• 2.1. understand how to analyze complex behaviors.
• 2.2. develop skills to decrease challenging behaviors and increase pro-social behaviors.

This professional development module is designed for early childhood educators, therapists, and professionals who already have a working knowledge of behavior analysis—specifically the ABCs of behavior—and are ready to deepen their understanding and expand their application of these principles to more complex and challenging behavioral scenarios.

In this module, we’ll begin with a brief refresher on the core components of the ABC model—antecedents, behaviors, and consequences—but we won’t stop there. While you likely already use ABC thinking in your everyday work, this training will help you move beyond basic definitions and into more advanced territory. We’ll examine how the ABCs can be applied in situations where behavior is persistent, severe, or occurs in the context of multiple co-occurring influences.

With more complex cases, it's often necessary to dig deeper—gathering data over time, considering environmental and developmental factors, and examining how setting events, trauma histories, or medical conditions may alter the function or intensity of behavior. We’ll look at examples where trauma, neurodevelopmental disorders like autism or ADHD, or sensory processing differences influence how behavior looks and how it should be interpreted.

Throughout the module, we’ll also consider how trauma and adverse experiences affect children’s behavior. Trauma doesn’t just change how a child feels—it can reshape how they perceive their environment, how they respond to adults, and what they need in order to feel safe. Understanding this is critical when applying any behavior intervention plan. Similarly, we’ll look at the impact of setting events—those background conditions like sleep deprivation, hunger, or medication changes that might not directly trigger a behavior, but significantly raise the likelihood that one will occur.

We’ll use a case example to walk through how to analyze behavior from multiple angles. You’ll practice identifying ABC patterns, hypothesizing functions, and designing a multi-component behavior support plan. We’ll discuss how to modify antecedents to reduce the likelihood of challenging behaviors, how to teach meaningful replacement skills that serve the same function, and how to adjust consequences so that they truly support long-term behavior change. Supporting young children with complex needs isn’t a solo job. It takes a team that is aligned in their language, approach, and understanding of the child’s unique profile.

By the end of this training, you’ll leave with deeper insight into the ABCs of behavior as applied to complex cases, as well as strategies you can use right away to make your behavior supports more effective, individualized, and developmentally appropriate.

This professional development is available at no charge for child-serving professionals in Monroe County, New York. Learn more: Continuing Education for Child-Serving Professionals.