Self-Management

Self-management is a behavioral intervention approach in which individuals learn to independently monitor, evaluate, and modify their own behavior to achieve specific goals. In disability contexts, self-management strategies are widely used to help individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities build skills for independence by identifying target behaviors, tracking their occurrence, and applying self-reinforcement. Effective self-management programs typically involve goal setting, self-monitoring (recording one's own behavior), self-evaluation (comparing behavior against goals), and self-reinforcement. Research shows that cooperative approaches — where goals are negotiated between the individual and their caregivers rather than imposed unilaterally — tend to be more effective, particularly for adolescents.