Here is a sample behavior protocol if the function of the behavior is escape/avoidance.

Also check out A Perspective on Today’s ABA (Hanley).

In the past, when treating escape/avoidance behavior, I was taught – don’t let the student escape the task! Put escape on extinction. Don’t acknowledge and follow the student if they try to escape the work.

Now, there is a big movement in our field for client assent. That means that clients need to give their permission to participate in treatment. If they are engaging in escape-maintained behavior, it’s because they don’t want to be there. They are not giving us assent. That’s on us as clinicians, not on them. We need to think about how we modify our treatment/teaching plans to increase motivation for them to be there.

Gaining client assent can be tough. It’s about trust and motivation. When clients are engaging in escape-related behavior, take a deep breath and tell yourself that they are trying to communicate something to you. What is that? What don’t they like? Why don’t they want to be there at that moment? Identify pre-cursor behavior, give them language to ask for a break, and let them go. Then try again….