Understanding Behavior, Autonomy, and Disability
Behavior Analysis: Molar and Molecular
The analysis of behavior from a molar perspective is assessed globally or generally. Molar analysis does not specify what a person is doing right or wrong, but it is important because it provides a measure of social validation and supports the idea that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Molecular analysis involves dividing the conduct into specific components to be measured objectively and reliably, giving validity to the behavior.
Capacity for Autonomy
- Capacity: Capacity can be defined as the ability or attribute – physical, mental, and social – that a person has to carry out certain activities and behaviors, allowing them to function in their social environment.
Components of Autonomy
Competition or Ability: Competition, meaning ability attribution or social value, is the ability a person shows to carry out a behavior.
Habits: According to M. J. Comellas, habits are functional learning that promotes the acquisition of autonomy.
Routine: Routine refers to the automation of behaviors.
Autonomy and Independence: These are intended for the acquisition of autonomy, understood as the ability to do basic activities of daily living by oneself and without help from another. Autonomy depends on the individual’s capabilities or skills and environmental characteristics; that is, situations or experiences that facilitate their development. Some professionals believe that differentiating the two concepts of independence is a mood, an attitude towards life that allows people to decide what, how, when, and with whom they want to perform basic activities of daily living.
- Self-determination: Self-determination can be seen as determining one’s destiny without obligation (personal self) and the freedom of individuals in a particular area to decide their own status or independence (collective self).
Understanding Disability
Key Terms
Deficiency: Deficiency means any loss or abnormality of structure (member, organ, tissue, etc.) or psychological, physiological, or anatomical function.
Disability: Disability is any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner (or within the range) considered normal for a human being. Disability is the inability, due to excess or insufficiency, to carry out routine or daily behaviors. Like impairment, disability may be temporary or permanent.
Handicap or Decrease: This is considered a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability, that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal for them (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors). Disability refers to what the individual expects of themself and what their environment or group demands.
Dependence: Dependence can be seen as the consequence of unsuitable or improper functioning of a person to resolve the core activities of their environment, which involves the use of human, material, or social barriers to its implementation.