Parents and professionals caring for people with autism sometimes encounter baffling, challenging behavior--noncompliance, aggression, or repetitive actions--which they don’t know how to stop. The key to resolving problem behavior is to first determine its purpose by conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA).

In this second edition updated with new research, case studies, and anecdotes, the authors explain how clinicians conduct FBAs: measuring behavior; observing behavior and collecting data; testing the hypothesis about the behavior's function. And now, there's new material about how to do FBAs outside of clinical settings--at school, in the community, and at home--making this strategy more accessible to parents and teachers in daily life.