European Journal of Social Sciences Studies ISSN: 2501-8590 ISSN-L: 2501-8590 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/soc Volume 2 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.891740 THE SIX LEVELS OF BEHAVIORAL PROFILE TYPES: FROM BEHAVIORAL DISADVANTAGES TO BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS Ban Meng Lee1i, Boon Hock Lim2, Kok Hwee Chia3 BAcc, Certified Dialogic-Diagnostic Arts Therapist, Malacca, Malaysia 1 PhD, Special Education Consultant & Trainer, 2 Certified Special Needs Educational Therapist, Malacca, Malaysia Ed.D, Special Needs Consultant & Trainer, 3 Board Certified Educational Therapist, Singapore Abstract In this short paper, the authors begin by giving a general definition of what behavior is. From a wide range of deeds, they select a few key terms such as reactions and responses, processes and operations to explain what they mean as these terms play an important role in our understanding of what behavior is. From the definition of behavior, the authors move on to introduce the six different types of behavioral profile that can be divided into two categories. The first is of sociogenic origin consisting of Level #1 BD-Behavioral Disadvantages (lowest level and least severe), Level #2 BDBehavioral Differences, and Level #3 BD-Behavioral Dimensions. The second is of neuro-psychogenic origin consists of Level #4 BD-Behavioral Difficulties, Level #5 BDBehavioral Disabilities, and Level #6 BD-Behavioral Disorders (highest level and most severe). The rationale behind this paper is to inform counselors, educational therapists, teachers as well as parents and interested readers regarding the importance of differentiating among and between the different types of challenging behavior by recognizing the six different levels of behavioral profile according to the increasing degree of severity of behavioral challenges. In this way, appropriate early treatments can be planned to help resolve behavioral challenging issues encountered in the first BD category when these behavioral problems are still at the lower levels of severity. For more serious challenging behavioral issues seen in the second BD category, the Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 56 Ban Meng Lee, Boon Hock Lim, Kok Hwee Chia THE SIX LEVELS OF BEHAVIORAL PROFILE TYPES: FROM BEHAVIORAL DISADVANTAGES TO BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS treatments for such severe to profound behavioral conditions will be more complicated and they involve medical professionals such as psychiatrists and pharmacists, especially when medication (e.g., Zoloft, Adderall and Concerta) is included as part of the treatment plan. Other allied healthcare professionals such as behavioral psychologists, behavioral therapists and educational therapists may be included to provide intensive behavioral management/modification. Keywords: behavior, behavioral difficulty, disability and disorder, behavioral management/modification, behavioral profile 1. What is Behavior? When the word behavior is mentioned, most people will describe or imagine a child with bad behavior, someone (usually a boy) who misbehaves or displays an off-task behavior during a class lesson. In other words, it is our tendency to look at behavior in a negative light, usually in pathogenic sense. However, it should not be always the case because not every behavior is abnormal, aberrant or anomalous. Behavior, good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, normal or abnormal, can happen anytime and can exist throughout the lifespan development of an individual, i.e., from infancy to late adulthood. For example, the disorganized infant behavior, identified in a nursing diagnosis of very young children, is an alteration in integration and modulation of the physiological and behavioral systems of functioning (autonomic, motor, state-organizational, self-regulatory, and attentional-interactional systems) in an infant (The Free Dictionary, 2017, para.2.4). As another example, disorganization observed in older children and/or adolescents can be a tell-tale sign of possible, organizational learning disorder or executive function disorder. The word behavior in its general sense refers to a wide range of actions and mannerisms manifested by any artificial entity (e.g., a robot), a human individual like you and us, any non-human organism (e.g., a dolphin, a cat or a beetle) or even a system (e.g., an artificial intelligence or AI system that decides the behavior of a chatbot) in conjunction with itself within a given context that may include other systems or organisms in an inanimate environment. Reber, Allen and Reber (2009), in the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, have also defined behavior (or behavioral act) as [“] generic term covering a wide range of deeds such as acts, activities, responses, reactions, movements, processes, operations, etc. (p.90). Among the broad range of deeds, reactions and responses need to be elaborated further as they can be quite confusing to a layman. A behavioral reaction and a European Journal of Social Sciences Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 57 Ban Meng Lee, Boon Hock Lim, Kok Hwee Chia THE SIX LEVELS OF BEHAVIORAL PROFILE TYPES: FROM BEHAVIORAL DISADVANTAGES TO BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS behavioral response are not the same thing. According to Chia and Lim (2017a), any behavioral reaction is instinctual and it includes impulsivity and spontaneity, while any behavioral response is deliberate and thoughtful. The former can be expressed in one of the three forms of action – flee, fight and/or freeze – and it is needed for one’s adaptive survival in a competitive or hostile environment, while the latter is needed for careful planning, proper organization and management of one’s activities as it helps one to respond appropriately to the environment in order for one to be accepted by others (see Figure 1). 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