Is the individual looking for a reaction? Meltdowns display either a constant intensity of behavior or a constant escalation of behavior without pauses. For instance, could be the person hitting and kicking for a minute and then stop to look around the room to find something to break, but go back to aggression after standing calmly for 10 seconds. When an individual is having a tantrum, their intensity can fluctuate repeatedly and involve planning. The following questions can help determine if an individual is having a tantrum or meltdown: 1. To better define those differences and be able to functionally address each, comparisons should be made. If giving a general rule to distinguishing between a tantrum and meltdown, the easiest answer is when someone is having a tantrum, they are actively choosing their behavior and a meltdown develops when they are reacting instinctively to their environment without control of their behavior. Therefore, how do we define each behavior to better address the antecedents (or triggers) and the consequences (or responses) to the behavior? However, there is more discrimination that constitutes a behavior to be a meltdown versus a tantrum and both can look very similar. When discussing behaviors of an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the word “meltdown” is often used to describe high-intensity behaviors.

Meltdown definition