Understanding Aggressive Behavior with Autistic Students

I’ll never forget the year a student was placed in my classroom in an inclusion setting who struggled with severe aggressive behaviors. He would hit adults regularly, and every day felt unpredictable (which made each day stressful) It wasn’t that he wanted to be aggressive or was actively choosing to do it, but it was that he didn’t have the tools to communicate effectively. He couldn’t tell us when he was frustrated, overwhelmed, or even when something as simple as his shirt tag was bothering him. The aggression became his voice, and it was exhausting, for him and for us as the adults trying to support him.

If you’ve ever had a student like this, you know how heavy those days can feel. The good news is, aggressive behavior doesn’t have to stay a mystery. Once we begin to understand why it happens and what students are really trying to tell us, we can respond in ways that support their needs while keeping everyone safe. That’s exactly what we’re going to unpack in this post.

We are going to break this down by steps. This post is going to target students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, but this approach can be applicable for any students who engage in aggressive behaviors.

Step One: Ensure Safetly

Ok, this one has to be said first and foremost. Aggressive behaviors mean there is a chance someone could be hurt. Violent behaviors are something we want to decrease immediately, obviously, but sometimes this takes time itself. So we have to think about safety first. This means safety of the other students, of you, and of the student engaging in the aggressive behaviors.  Remember, aggressive behaviors can be towards others organ be self injurious.

So making safety a priority is key- that may mean making a plan to clear the classroom, having a plan with support staff coming when the student is triggered, and managing the environment when the behaviors happen.  

If you are planning to clear the room here are a few tips.

1. Have a name for it. I like the code phrase “learning walk.”

2. Practice it when behavior isn’t happening too.

3. Have a bag with a book and maybe little activity that stays near the door to grab and go. 

4. Pre plan a few places you can possibly go to or just stay for a walk.

But what happens when the behavior does happen? You also need a plan.

When aggression happens, it’s easy to feel caught off guard and scramble for a response. But in that moment, calm and being consistent is everything. How you respond teaches the student whether aggression “works” or if their new replacement skills are the better option.

• Stay neutral and calm. Your tone, body language, and facial expressions send powerful messages. A big reaction, even if it’s frustration, can sometimes reinforce the behavior. 
• Keep your words short and clear. This is not the time for long explanations. Simple directions like “hands down” or “take a break” are easier for students to process in a heightened state. Even better? Get visuals and use them during these times. 
• Redirect when safe. If possible, prompt the replacement skill you’ve taught. For example, if a student usually hits to escape, you might hold up the “break” card they’ve learned to use instead.
• Ensure safety first. If aggression escalates, your priority is keeping everyone safe, students, staff, and the child themselves. That may mean removing peers, giving space, or following your school’s crisis plan. 
• Follow through consistently. Students learn patterns quickly. If aggression leads to escape sometimes but not others, it can actually make the behavior stronger. Consistency—across teachers, paraprofessionals, and settings—helps the student understand aggression isn’t the most effective tool anymore.

​Here is an entire blog post all about how to respond during a crisis. It may be just a start, but it can be another tool for you!

It can be scary when these behaviors happen, but you are here to learn how to prevent it- so let’s dive in further.

Step two: Figure out WHY the aggression is happening

This can be challenging because things happen fast in the classroom. However, to provide the appropriate behavioral interventions we need to figure out the why to match.  Most likely the team will do a functional behavior assessment. Here is a blog that goes into more of an overview of what Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and Behavioral Intervention Plans (BIPs) are.

So how do you figure that out? Here are a few steps you can take. 

1. Collect data. The best data that you can collect at this point would be ABC data. This stands for antecedent, behavior, consequence. Now you can do this a few ways. You can do it digitally through a google form (my personal favorite). It is an easy and fast to collect the data. Click here to get one for free. 

Let’s dive into the ABCs a tad more before moving on.

Aggressive behavior doesn’t just “come out of nowhere.” There’s always something that happens right before the behavior, what is called the antecedent. Even if you can’t SEE the trigger doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Triggers could even be smells, thoughts, or feelings (none of which you can see and that can make it tricky!)

Your job as the teacher is to play detective at this point. Watch closely for patterns: does the aggression usually happen during transitions, when the student is asked to do non-preferred work, or in loud, busy environments like the cafeteria? Could the behaviors be in response to a sensory overload or a lack of social skills? At this point, get and stay curious.

A simple way to do this is to jot down ABC notes (or use the digital copy) You can also get some sticky notes here to have them grab and go style for those who do not like technology:

• A (Antecedent): What happened right before the aggression?
• B (Behavior): What exactly did the student do? (be specific—“hit with open hand” instead of just “aggressive”)
• C (Consequence): What happened immediately after? (Did the student get out of work, get attention, or gain access to something?) Make sure you are not confusing consequences with discipline. Consequences could be that they got their peers to laugh, or they got out of the demand placed on them.

These observations help will you spot triggers and patterns. Which will help us with our first way to intervene, which is by possible avoiding triggers. Also, instead of seeing aggression as random, you’ll start to notice the “story” behind it.

 

2. Analyze the Data. We have talked about how the data will give you insight to some of the triggers and YES that is a pattern we need to identfify. If it is easy enough to avoid a trigger to then avoid challenging behaviors, game on- that is the easiest thing to do. However, many times the triggers are things that we cannot avoid such as giving a demand- we have to place demands on our students… that is just what school is. 

So our next step is to figure out the function of the behavior. We aren’t going to go into full detail about the different functions on this blog post, but you can read all about them over on this one. This is going to be a crucial step because it will allow you to plan effective intervention strategies based on the function. 

The four main functions are:

• Escape/Avoidance: “I don’t want to do this right now.” (e.g., hitting when told to start writing and then the demand is dropped)
• Attention: “Notice me!” (e.g., yelling or hitting to get the adult’s focus)
• Access to Tangible: “I want that toy, snack, or iPad.” (e.g., aggression when denied and try to get to the item)
• Sensory/Automatic: “This feels good to my body.” (e.g., self-injury when overstimulated or seeking input)

Many times these are also tied to difficulty in communication skills (more on this in a bit). However, it is likely not the sole reason. When saying this it is important to collaborate with everyone on the team from speech and language therapists to occupational therapists and more. Everyone on the IEP team brings a unique lense and expertise.

Step three: Make a Plan

Now once you know WHY the aggressive outbursts are happening, you can make a plan. This plan is going to be a combination of positive reinforcement, teaching of new skills, and creating a supportive environment that supports your students. 

1. Replacement Behaviors

You have to first determine is the skill you want the student to do one they can actually do? For example, a student is engaging in physical aggression because they just need out of the classroom. Do they have it in their repriotore to ask for a break? Is this something that needs to be taught instead? You can use functional communication training to teach this skill. It is important to be sure the every time the student is demonstrating the skill you just taught (asking for a break) that they are allowed to have it.

This is the idea of teaching a replacement behavior and then reinforcing it. The replacement behavior has to match the function that you determined in the step above. Because if the student wants a break but you teach them how to ask for help, it doesn’t matter how good your plan is they are going to keep engaging in the aggression because it gets their need met.

2. Managing the Environment

The impact the environment has on autistic children is huge and needs to be taken into consideration. Students should have access to appropriate visual supports such as visual schedules, social stories, visual cues for social skills and more. These need to be taught ahead of time and then used with fidelity to work 

Not only that the environment needs to be structured in a way that is predictable for the students. That math comes after reading which comes after morning meeting. It does not jump around, the students know what to expect, how long it lasts for and it is consistent in their day to day. Just by having a structured environment can decrease stress levels and in turn decrease the number of violent outbursts you may see.

The physical layout of the classroom is important to consider as well. Neutral colors, minimal ‘stuff’, sensory tools and more are all things that can help students with autism stay regulated and prevent those behaviors. Here is a blog post all about how to set up your classroom.

3. Functional Communication

This is something touched upon in the replacement behaviors, but we know that all behavior is communication so it is important that we give it it’s own category as one of the effective strategies.  There are a variety of ways students can communicate. They can use AAC, which can be high tech (think on a device) or low tech (printable core and fringe boards), sign language, gestalt language, or a combination of them all.

By having this as a focus point of the behavior plan, you can decrease frustration which will then lead to a decrease in the aggressive behaviour you see in your classroom.

4. Rule out medical issues

No, we are not doctors. However, if these behaviors are significant and not changing it is important that you communicate with the family to ensure there is not a medical component having a negative impact on the behavior. For example, I had a student who started to engage in significant aggression. They had the positive behavior skills in their repritoure, but were not demonstrating it. Turns out they had a tooth abscess. Meaning he was already in pain, so when I asked him to do a simple task he immediately went to those aggressive behaviors.

It did not matter if he had the emotional regulation tools or we were using all the reinforcement strategies, he needed to have medical professionals help him out with his tooth. This is something we need to always be aware of because we are a team for the student, whether it is the school based IEP team or we need to consult outside professionals.

5. Sensory Strategies

There is a variety of sensory strategies you can use for students who demonstrate physical or verbal aggression. Remember, it isn’t about what the behavior looks like but WHY they are doing it. This is a time to rope in the professionals- the occupational therapists and the physical therapists. They know the ins and outs of what works for your specific student. The student may have 

sensory processing difficulties or may be more sensitive to certain environmental factors.

No matter what specific strategies they recommend, it is important to use these proactively to be an effective support. That means making a plan of how to integrate these throughout your student’s day BEFORE they engage in the behavior. This is a tool that is meant to help keep them regulated. You may add it into their visual schedule, have them use the strategies in between every work session, or maybe even include them in during instructional blocks. For example, you can have students have a weighted lap blanket while they read, or put velcro under the table so they can get that sensory stimuli as they sit at their desk and work.

6. Building Skills

It is important with all of this that we have a skill building focus. That we are validating the student in what their behaviors are telling us and notifying to get them to simply comply with tasks. For example, we should focus on self advocacy skills for refusing work in an appropriate way instead of aggression. Using social skills training for building these social skills will support students with these behaviors. 

7. Getting outside support

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based approach to understanding and supporting behavior change. Behavior analysts (like myself) have specialized training to dig into why behaviors are happening and to create plans that actually work in the real world of classrooms.

ABA therapy doesn’t focus on punishment or quick fixes, it focuses on teaching. We use strategies like:

• Positive behavior supports to set students up for success before behaviors even start.
• Prompting and fading so new skills are taught step-by-step until the student can do them independently.
• Reinforcement to strengthen the skills we do want to see.
• Behavioral skills training (BST) to support not just the student, but also the teachers, paraprofessionals, and families who work with them every day.
• Data collection to make sure the supports we’re using are truly effective—and to adjust if they’re not.

When done well, ABA empowers both students and teachers. Students gain the communication and regulation tools they need, and teachers gain strategies that bring more calm and less chaos to the classroom.

Want help like this in your classroom? Learn more and reach out to me here.

Need More Help?

If this blog post felt like just the tip of the iceberg, that’s because it is. Aggressive behavior is complex, and while strategies like teaching replacement skills or using visuals can make a huge difference, sometimes you need more step-by-step support. That’s exactly why I created the Behavior Support Hub.

Inside the Hub, you’ll find:

• Deep dives on each function of behavior so you can stop guessing and start knowing why behaviors happen.
• Ready-to-use visuals, data sheets, and behavior tools that save you prep time and actually work with your students.
• Proactive strategies and crisis management supports so you feel prepared—not panicked—when behaviors show up.
• Teacher-friendly training videos that break down ABA strategies into plain language, with examples you can use the very next day.
• A supportive community of educators who “get it,” so you don’t have to feel like you’re figuring this all out on your own.

If you’ve been wishing for someone to walk alongside you with real tools (not just theory), the Hub is where you’ll find that.

Aggressive behavior in autistic students can feel overwhelming in the moment, but when we shift our lens from “bad behavior” to “communication,” everything changes. By focusing on safety, looking for triggers, uncovering the why, and teaching new skills, we give students the tools they need to be successful and we make our classrooms calmer places to learn.

Remember, progress doesn’t happen overnight. It takes consistency, patience, and the right strategies to see change. But every time you reinforce a replacement skill, every time you prevent a trigger, every time you respond with calm instead of frustration, you’re moving the needle forward. When you have that data system in place it can help because you can literally see it moving in the right direction even when you have bad days (which you will, but they can be temporary set backs so do not overhaul the plan if the data is good).

And you don’t have to figure it out alone. As a behavior analyst and former special education teacher, I’ve walked this road and created resources to make it easier for you. If you’re ready for more strategies, visuals, and tools to support behavior in your classroom, come join me inside the behavior support hub. Together, we can make aggressive behavior less scary—and help every student find safer, more effective ways to be heard.