What’s Your Behavior Blind Spot?

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Quiz Questions

1.
(1) When your child has the same challenging behavior again and again, what's your first instinct?
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- A.
  Think back to what happened right before it started.
- B.
  Figure out how to calm things down and get everyone through the moment.
- C.
  Decide what consequence makes sense so they know the behavior isn't okay.
- D.
  Wonder why it keeps happening even though you've tried several different strategies.
2.
(2) Your child suddenly refuses something they normally do. What are you most likely to think?
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- A.
  What changed? Something must have set this off.
- B.
  I just need to get them through this without it turning into a huge meltdown.
- C.
  I can't let refusing become a way to get out of things.
- D.
  What should I try this time? What worked yesterday might not work today.
3.
(3) Which situation sounds most familiar?
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- A.
  I can usually identify what triggers my child's behavior, but knowing the trigger doesn't always tell me what to do about it.
- B.
  I'm pretty good at handling a crisis, but I feel like we're dealing with the same problems over and over.
- C.
  I have rules and consequences, but sometimes they work and sometimes they seem to make things worse.
- D.
  I've tried so many different parenting strategies that I'm not sure what I should be doing anymore.
4.
(4) Your child starts yelling when you tell them it's time to turn off the tablet. What would you be most focused on?
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- A.
  Whether transitions away from preferred activities tend to trigger this reaction.
- B.
  Getting them calm enough to put the tablet away without things escalating.
- C.
  Making sure yelling doesn't result in getting more tablet time.
- D.
  Thinking through which strategy might work best this time: a warning, timer, choice, reward, consequence, etc.
5.
(5) When a parenting strategy doesn't work, what are you most likely to do next?
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- A.
  Look for something I may have missed that set the behavior off.
- B.
  Try another strategy that might work better the next time it happens.
- C.
  Adjust the reward or consequence to make it more effective.
- D.
  Start wondering whether any of these strategies actually work for my child.
6.
(6) Which statement would you most like someone to answer for you?
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- A.
  How can I prevent these behaviors before they start?
- B.
  What am I supposed to do when my child is already losing it?
- C.
  How do I respond without accidentally encouraging the behavior?
- D.
  How do I know which parenting strategy is the right one for this behavior?
7.
(7) Imagine you found a parenting strategy online that thousands of parents swear by. What would you most likely do?
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- A.
  Think about whether the situations they're describing have the same triggers as ours.
- B.
  Save it so I have something new to try during the next difficult moment.
- C.
  Try it if it gives me a clearer way to respond to the behavior.
- D.
  Probably try it because at this point I'm willing to see what works.
8.
(8) If you could change ONE thing about challenging behavior in your home, which would make the biggest difference?
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- A.
  I'd catch problems earlier and prevent more of them from happening.
- B.
  I'd know exactly what to do when behavior starts escalating.
- C.
  I'd feel confident that my response isn't making the behavior more likely to happen again.
- D.
  I'd know which strategy to use instead of constantly wondering what to try next.
9.
(9) When you feel stuck with your child’s behavior, which thought sounds MOST like you?
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- A.
  “I can usually figure out what set it off, but knowing the trigger doesn’t always tell me what to do next.”
- B.
  “I spend so much energy figuring out what to do in the moment that I rarely have time to think about the bigger pattern.”
- C.
  “I’m never quite sure what response or consequence will actually make the behavior less likely to happen again.”
- D.
  “I’ve tried so many different strategies that I’m not sure how to know which one is actually right for this behavior.”

Quiz Outcomes

1.
🔎 Trigger Detective
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You’re great at noticing what sets behavior off, but you may be stopping the investigation too soon. You probably find yourself thinking about what happened right before your child’s behavior: Were they tired? Was the transition too abrupt? Did I ask too much? That awareness is an important piece of understanding behavior, but the trigger alone doesn’t tell you the whole story. To really understand why a behavior keeps happening, you also need to look at what happens during and immediately after it. Learning to see the full ABC pattern can help you move from simply avoiding triggers to choosing strategies that actually address the reason behind the behavior.Your blind spot is only one piece of the puzzle.Challenging behavior can feel unpredictable, but it usually isn’t random. Once you learn how to look at what happens before, during, and after a behavior, you can start identifying patterns, understanding what the behavior may be accomplishing, and choosing strategies that actually fit.Want to learn how? My Behavior Blueprint course teaches parents a simple, practical way to use the same behavior-analysis principles I use professionally to decode challenging behavior and make more confident decisions about what to do next.Prefer help with your specific child and situation? Parent Coaching through Exceptional Child 360 gives you individualized support to work through your child’s behavior patterns together.
2.
🚒 Firefighter
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You’re great at getting everyone through the hard moments, but you may be spending so much time putting out fires that you don’t get a chance to figure out why they keep starting. When behavior escalates, your focus naturally shifts to calming your child, preventing things from getting worse, and making it through the moment. Those skills matter, but if you’re always asking “What do I do when this happens?” you may be missing an even more useful question: “Why does this keep happening?” Understanding the ABCs of behavior can help you recognize patterns earlier, respond more intentionally, and eventually spend less time in firefighter mode.Your blind spot is only one piece of the puzzle.Challenging behavior can feel unpredictable, but it usually isn’t random. Once you learn how to look at what happens before, during, and after a behavior, you can start identifying patterns, understanding what the behavior may be accomplishing, and choosing strategies that actually fit.Want to learn how? My Behavior Blueprint course teaches parents a simple, practical way to use the same behavior-analysis principles I use professionally to decode challenging behavior and make more confident decisions about what to do next.Prefer help with your specific child and situation? Parent Coaching through Exceptional Child 360 gives you individualized support to work through your child’s behavior patterns together.
3.
🧩 Consequence Fixer
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You understand that what happens after behavior matters, but the “right” response depends on why the behavior is happening in the first place. You may find yourself thinking about whether you should give a consequence, hold the boundary, ignore the behavior, offer a reward, or make sure your child doesn’t “get away with it.” The tricky part is that there isn’t one consequence that works for every behavior. In fact, a response that reduces one behavior can accidentally strengthen another. Understanding the function of behavior helps you stop asking “What consequence should I use?” and start asking “What response makes sense for what this behavior is accomplishing?”Your blind spot is only one piece of the puzzle.Challenging behavior can feel unpredictable, but it usually isn’t random. Once you learn how to look at what happens before, during, and after a behavior, you can start identifying patterns, understanding what the behavior may be accomplishing, and choosing strategies that actually fit.Want to learn how? My Behavior Blueprint course teaches parents a simple, practical way to use the same behavior-analysis principles I use professionally to decode challenging behavior and make more confident decisions about what to do next.Prefer help with your specific child and situation? Parent Coaching through Exceptional Child 360 gives you individualized support to work through your child’s behavior patterns together.
4.
🧭 Strategy Seeker
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You’ve collected plenty of parenting strategies. What you’re missing isn’t another tip. It’s a way to know which strategy fits. You’ve probably tried timers, choices, rewards, consequences, calm-down strategies, routines, scripts, and advice from experts or other parents. Some things work sometimes, but nothing seems to work consistently. That’s because even really good parenting advice can be the wrong advice for a particular behavior. Once you understand the ABCs and learn to identify why a behavior is happening, you can stop cycling through random strategies and start choosing responses for a reason.Your blind spot is only one piece of the puzzle.Challenging behavior can feel unpredictable, but it usually isn’t random. Once you learn how to look at what happens before, during, and after a behavior, you can start identifying patterns, understanding what the behavior may be accomplishing, and choosing strategies that actually fit.Want to learn how? My Behavior Blueprint course teaches parents a simple, practical way to use the same behavior-analysis principles I use professionally to decode challenging behavior and make more confident decisions about what to do next.Prefer help with your specific child and situation? Parent Coaching through Exceptional Child 360 gives you individualized support to work through your child’s behavior patterns together.