Challenging Behavior

 An example of challenging behavior. 

 

 

Challenging Behavior

A challenging behavior is when a person acts in a way that is hard to respond to. For example, a small child cannot say if they want cheese, tomatoes, bacon, or ketchup on a hamburger. A child who does not talk yet may point to what they want and make a crying sound because they cannot say, “I like cheese and bacon on my burger please.”

When a small child points and cries to communicate what they want on their hamburger this is an example of a challenging behavior.

Challenging behaviors are a way for a person to tell someone else what they want, need, like, or do not like. Even though challenging behaviors are hard to deal with it is important to stay calm and figure out what the person wants.

A person with dementia, Alzheimer, or another disabilitymay have a hard time taking a shower, putting on the right clothes for hot or cold weather, or may not remember when to take medicine. It might hurt to swallow a large pill. A person who has dementia or alzheimer may get mad, yell, or make it hard to help them because it is easy for them to get angry. It is hard to remember why they are being helped. This person may exhibit challenging behavior when getting assistance with every day tasks. 

Personal Care Assistants and Community First Services and Support workers will often see challenging behavior. Challenging behavior happens when a person wants something and is not able to tell someone what they want. For example, if someone wants to eat and has a difficult time talking, a person might yell or bang their hand against a table to get their attention. 

Challenging behavior also happens when a person does not want to do something. For example, if someone does not want to take a shower because the water is too hot but they do not know how to tell someone the water is too hot, the person might refuse to take a shower. A person will have challenging behavior because they do not want to shower. 

Another example of a person showing challenging behavior when they do not want something is when the person has to take medicine and the medicine makes them feel sick or it hurts to swallow the medicine. If the pill the person has to take is large and it hurts to swallow the pill the person may refuse to take the pill. They may also refuse to take the pill if the pill makes them feel sick as a side effect of the medication. 

It is best to see challenging behavior as a way to communicate. That means the person is trying to tell you what they want or do not want.