February 1, 2024

5 Tips To Work With Stubborn Behavior

Working with stubborn behavior can be frustrating and trying. It can easily ruin a fun-filled day of activities or just make every day mundane tasks a burden. Remember, stubbornness is a behavior that can be changed! Below are some tips that you can use to help decrease a child’s stubborn behavior.

Working with stubborn behavior can be frustrating and trying. It can easily ruin a fun-filled day of activities or just make every day mundane tasks a burden. Remember, stubbornness is a behavior that can be changed! Below are some tips that you can use to help decrease a child’s stubborn behavior.

Here are 5 tips to work through stubborn behavior:

  1. Give choices.  For example, you can give a choice of which chore the child wants to do. This often works as a win/win situation. The child get’s control what he or she does and the child still follows your direction.
  2. Give clear simple directions.  Sometimes the wordiness of our directions can send the message that we can negotiate. Give as simple of a direction as possible.
  3. Use first/then language. This gives a child a clear understanding of what will happen.
  4. Stay calm.  If a child has stubborn behavior, try not to let that behavior upset you. With a neutral attitude/tone/body language, follow up with the child.
  5. Reinforce following directions (non-stubborn behavior).  When a child follows directions with no argument, reinforce that behavior. Be specific with your praise and why you are providing praise or other reinforcement.

Download our Guide for Families

We know that choosing a local ABA facility can be a hard decision. We’ve created an informational guide to help you understand more about the questions you should be asking while meeting with different providers.

Although we talk about our services here, our highest goal is for you to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about picking a provider that is the best fit for your needs. You are making a decision that will impact the entire trajectory of your child’s life!
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The cover of the NSPT Guide for Families, which helps families to figure out the questions to ask when picking an ABA provider.

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