Behavioral Solutions for Families and Professionals

About Us

Behavior Tool Box, Inc. is centered in Victoria on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada. The company is comprised of a group of people who are passionate about helping children and their families deal with emotional and behavioral difficulties. David Erickson PhD (Counseling Psychology) is President of the company. He’s been interested in technology and it’s application to family counselling for many years. More...He has worked extensively in several areas of applied psychology including community mental health, pediatric rehabilitation, and developmental disability. If truth be known, he is a bit of an information junkie! He loves reading about things that work for families and keeping track of them in a now very large database. In addition, Dr. Erickson has also collected a lot of information specifically for professionals who work with families whether it be physicians, teachers or mental health workers. When not doing his research you can find him enjoying the outdoors and kayaking with friends and family through the hidden gems of Todd Inlet.

What we believe

We’re focused on building the existing strengths of families. It’s our belief that families are trying to do the best they can but don’t always have the information or supports they need. We believe in the concept of Capacity Building. It’s been our experience that the more tools that we can provide families to manage life’s challenges, the less dependent they become on professionals. More...

We believe that all children are different. If you have five children, you usually have five distinctly different personalities. The same is even more true if you have a child with a medical or psychological diagnosis. Autism is a good example. It’s now referred to as autism spectrum disorder, because no one is the same although they do share some of the same characteristics. Our software reflects this. We present different approaches because children and their families are all different.

What we do

We develop our software to be used by both families and professionals to help them deal with both behavioral and emotional concerns of children. It contains practical strategies to deal with a wide variety of child and family concerns. Our main database of over 7000 strategies covers more than 100 different topic areas from anxiety More..., depression, developing friendships, managing anger, dealing with natural disasters, and refugee adjustment. The software is meant to be easy to use and requires little, if any, instruction. With our latest mobile software focusing on autism we deal with topics such as self-stimulation, meltdowns, and self-abuse. Dr. Erickson has spent thousands of hours over a 40 year career listening to parents and professionals and taking note of their major concerns. He’s continues to do regular reviews of the research literature as well as searches on the Internet. He reduces the amount of information that parents have to go through to present advice they can trust.

Our Products



Online Web Based

There are six products in the Behavior Toolbox series which we refer to as our Online versions. Our earliest online product was the Child Behavior Toolbox, followed by the Adolescent Behavior Toolbox, the Family Behavior Toolbox, the Autism Behavior Toolbox and the Autism Behavior Toolbox for Families. Our latest product is the ADHD TOOLBOX. Our two mobile iOS apps, the Autism Family Behavior Toolbox - Challenging Behaviors and the the Autism Family Behavior Toolbox – Social Skills are available from the Apple App Store. While there are more Apple apps on the way, it’s important to note that our online versions run nicely on most mobile platforms and devices whether Apple or Android.


Child Behavior Toolbox (CBT) – Infancy to 12 Years
The Child Behavior Toolbox is the longest standing edition of the series. The current edition supports professionals in education, mental health and healthcare. It covers a diverse range of behavioral concerns addressing 15 major subject areas. and 90 distinct behaviors. These are grouped according to age (Infants-age 2, ages 3-5, ages 5-8, and ages 9-12). Results can be tailored for use at home, preschool, school and in therapy.

Subject areas include behavior management, emotional and social adjustment, executive functioning difficulties, language expression, learning and attention, learning and memory, learning and perceptual motor skills, social media and technology, pain and stress management, self-help skills, sensory difficulties, social skills, and special topics.

Some of the 90-distinct behavioral and emotional - developmental issues include aggression, lying, stealing, oppositional defiance, selective mutism, cooperation, teasing, bullying, anger, tantrums, anxiety, self-esteem, cyber abuse and social problem solving. Special topics include areas such as dealing with natural disasters, issues for refugee children, terrorism, divorce, moving, death and grieving, and violence.


Topics Covered
  • Aggression
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Auditory attention
  • Bad language
  • Beginning social skills
  • Biting
  • Building language
  • Bullying
  • Bullying and teasing
  • Choosing and using mobile devices
  • Compulsions
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Cyberbullying
  • Dealing with excessive biting
  • Death and grieving
  • Depression
  • Developing attachment
  • Disability awareness
  • Distractibility
  • Divorce
  • Early language development
  • Eating concerns
  • Eating too little
  • Eating too much
  • Encouraging exploratory play
  • Encouraging healthy sleeping
  • Expressing feelings
  • Fears and phobias
  • Fine Motor
  • Following-directions
  • Getting the most out of your mobile device
  • Guidelines in the use of electronic games
  • Guidelines in the use of social media
  • Helping with homework
  • Hyperactivity
  • Impulsivity
  • Inferential thinking
  • Internet usage
  • Lying
  • Making friends
  • Managing our electronic environments
  • Managing pain
  • Managing stress
  • Memory games
  • Memory strategies
  • Memory tools
  • Moving
  • Nail biting
  • Natural disasters
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Obsessions
  • Obsessive compulsiveness
  • Oppositional defiance
  • Organization
  • Play
  • Playground behavior
  • Promoting healthy nutrition
  • Reading
  • Refugee children
  • Riding a school bus
  • Selecting toys
  • Selective attention
  • Selective mutism
  • Self-abuse
  • Self-esteem
  • Self-regulation
  • Self-stimulation
  • Sensation - Low arousal
  • Sensation avoidance
  • Sensation Seeking
  • Sensation Sensitivity
  • Sharing
  • Shyness
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social problem solving
  • Social skills for school
  • Soiling
  • Stealing
  • Tantrums
  • Teasing
  • Terrorism and war
  • Thumb sucking
  • Toileting
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Victimization
  • Violence
  • Visual attention
  • Visual motor
  • Visual perception
  • Wandering
  • Wetting
  • Working memory
  • Worry

The Adolescent Behavior Toolbox (ABT)
The Adolescent Behavior Toolbox was developed to extend support for education and mental health professionals into the older age groups through to adulthood. It is a continuation of CBT but deals with the specific behaviors experienced in the 12 to 18 age group.

There are 10 major subject areas covering over 65 distinct behavioral and emotional-developmental concerns. Major topic areas include behavior management, emotional and social adjustment, executive functioning difficulties, learning and attention. learning and problem solving, mobile and Internet related issues, pain and stress management, social skills, special topics, and teen relationships. Topics of particular importance to those working with teens include self-esteem, suicide intervention, communicating with teens, peer pressure, sexuality, conversational skills, developing friendships, substance abuse, and school attendance to mention only a few.


Topics Covered
  • Aggression
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Auditory attention
  • Bad language
  • Body image
  • Bullying
  • Bullying and teasing
  • Choosing and using mobile devices
  • Communicating with teens
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Cyberbullying
  • Death and grieving
  • Depression
  • Distractibility
  • Divorce
  • Eating disorders
  • Eating too much
  • Expressing feelings
  • Fears and phobias
  • Going shopping
  • Guidelines in the use of social media
  • Hair-pulling
  • Hyperactivity
  • Hyperactivity/Impulsivity
  • Improving adherence
  • Improving nutrition
  • Impulsivity
  • Internet usage
  • Lying
  • Making friends
  • Managing conflict
  • Managing criticism
  • Managing pain
  • Managing stress
  • Memory
  • Moving
  • Nail biting
  • Natural disasters
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Obsessive compulsiveness
  • Oppositional defiance
  • Organization
  • Peer pressure
  • School attendance
  • Selective attention
  • Self-abuse
  • Self-esteem
  • Self-stimulation
  • Sexuality
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social problem solving
  • Stealing
  • Substance abuse
  • Suicidal indicators
  • Suicide intervention
  • Teasing
  • Terrorism and war
  • Transition to adulthood
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Victimization
  • Violence
  • Visual attention
  • Working memory
  • Worry

The Family Behavior Toolbox (FBT)
The Family Edition is intended for parents and family members who wish to deal with some of the behavioral challenges in raising children between the ages of 2 and 12. It covers 18 major subject areas including behavior management, emotional and social adjustment, executive functioning difficulties, language expression, language understanding, learning and attention, learning and memory, learning and perceptual motor skills, mobile and Internet issues, electronic games, pain and stress management, self-help skills, sensory difficulties, social skills, and special topics. Over the 18 major topic areas there are over 75 specific behavior and developmental concerns that are dealt with.

Examples of some of the 75 specific concerns dealt with include dealing with anxiety and fear, depression, lying, stealing, homework, self-esteem, worry, distractibility, organization, memory, cyberbullying, shyness, and making friends.


Topics Covered
    Aggression
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Auditory attention
  • Bad language
  • Beginning social skills
  • Biting
  • Building language
  • Bullying
  • Choosing and using mobile devices
  • Climbing
  • Compulsions
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Cyberbullying
  • Dealing with excessive biting
  • Dealing with problems of electronic game...
  • Death and grieving
  • Depression
  • Disability awareness
  • Distractibility
  • Divorce
  • Early language development
  • Eating too little
  • Eating too much
  • Encouraging exploratory play
  • Encouraging healthy sleeping
  • Expressing feelings
  • Fears and phobias
  • Fine Motor
  • Following-directions
  • Getting the most out of your mobile device
  • Guidelines in the use of electronic games
  • Guidelines in the use of social media
  • Helping with homework
  • Hyperactivity
  • Impulsivity
  • Inferential thinking
  • Internet usage
  • Lying
  • Making friends
  • Managing our electronic environments
  • Managing pain
  • Managing stress
  • Memory games
  • Memory strategies
  • Memory tools
  • Moving
  • Nail biting
  • Natural disasters
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Obsessions
  • Obsessive compulsiveness
  • Oppositional defiance
  • Organization
  • Play
  • Playground behavior
  • Positive functions of electronic games
  • Promoting healthy nutrition
  • Reading
  • Receptive communication
  • Refugee children
  • Riding a school bus
  • Safety at home
  • Safety in the community
  • Selecting toys
  • Selective attention
  • Selective mutism
  • Self-abuse
  • Self-esteem
  • Self-regulation
  • Self-stimulation
  • Sensation - Low arousal
  • Sensation avoidance
  • Sensation Seeking
  • Sensation Sensitivity
  • Sharing
  • Shyness
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social problem solving
  • Social skills for school
  • Soiling
  • Stealing
  • Tantrums
  • Teasing
  • Terrorism and war
  • Thumb sucking
  • Toileting
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Victimization
  • Violence
  • Visual attention
  • Visual motor
  • Visual perception
  • Wetting
  • Working memory
  • Worry

The Autism Behavior Toolbox
Autism Behavior Toolbox is a specialist edition providing professionals with intervention strategies to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families.

Teachers, psychologists, behavior analysts, family physicians, social workers, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and many other professionals can benefit from this instantly accessible resource. Strategies are directed at children on the autism spectrum between ages 5 and 12.

The focus of this Toolbox Edition is on promoting positive behavior, eliminating or reducing behavior that is harmful to the child and to others, teaching more appropriate ways of having their needs met, and building on present strengths. Due to the complexity of autism spectrum disorder, including difficulties in communication, social skills deficits, and delays in self-help skills, they should all be considered to create an effective plan.

The Autism Toolbox targets more than 60 specific behaviors. They include aggression, meltdowns, repetitive behavior, self-regulation, self-abuse, making transitions, riding a school bus, going to the dentist, getting a hair cut, making friends, communication and language development, etc.

The field of autism treatment and research is expanding exponentially and the Autism Behavior Toolbox will continue to grow and summarize interventions and make them readily accessible to educators and clinicians.


Topics Covered
  • Academic accommodations
  • Aggression (physical)
  • Aggression (verbal)
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anxiety
  • Arranging the environment
  • Arranging your home environment
  • Auditory attention
  • Augmentative and alternative communication
  • Beginning social skills
  • Building language
  • Bullying and teasing
  • Climbing
  • Comprehension
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Depression
  • Distractibility
  • Establishing homework routines
  • Expressing feelings
  • Following-directions
  • General behavioral tips
  • General guidelines for improving behavior...
  • General teaching tips
  • Generalizing meaning
  • Getting a hair cut
  • Going shopping
  • Going to restaurants
  • Hyperactivity
  • Improving memory
  • Impulsivity
  • Inferential thinking
  • Joint attention
  • Leisure and recreation
  • Making friends
  • Making transitions
  • Medication
  • Meltdowns
  • Memory games
  • Memory strategies
  • Memory tools
  • Motivators
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Organization
  • Pica
  • Play
  • Playground behavior
  • Problems communicating in different...
  • Reading
  • Recess and lunch breaks
  • Repetitive behavior
  • Riding a school bus
  • Riding in the car
  • Running
  • Safety at home
  • Safety at school
  • Safety in the community
  • Selective attention
  • Self-abuse
  • Self-regulation
  • Self-stimulation
  • Sensation - Low arousal
  • Sensation avoidance
  • Sensation Seeking
  • Sensation Sensitivity
  • Sharing
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social pragmatics
  • Social problem solving
  • Social rule deficits
  • Social skills for school
  • Stripping
  • Tantrums
  • Teaching the non-verbal child
  • Teasing
  • Traveling and vacations
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Visiting the dentist
  • Visiting the doctor
  • Visual attention
  • Visual motor
  • Visual perception
  • Wandering
  • Working memory
  • Working together as a family

The Autism Family Behavior Toolbox
The Autism Family Behavior Toolbox was developed to provide families with very practical and proven strategies. Similar to our professional version, the focus of this Toolbox Edition is on promoting positive behavior, eliminating or reducing behavior that is harmful to the child and to others, teaching more appropriate ways of having their needs met, and building on present strengths.

The software contains 12 categories of behavioral and developmental concerns including behavior management strategies, emotional challenges of autism, enhancing success at home, school, and in the community, language expression and understanding, home safety, sensory difficulties, and social skills.

More than 60 behaviors are addressed and include dealing with meltdowns, anxiety, self-abuse, pica, running, self-regulation, self-stimulation, sibling relationships, travelling, going to the dentist, repetitive behavior, etc. The focus is on positive strategies that help the child achieve independence by both acquiring new skills and behaviors and minimizing the effect of negative ones.


Topics Covered
  • Aggression (physical)
  • Aggression (verbal)
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anxiety
  • Arranging your home environment
  • Auditory attention
  • Augmentative and alternative communication
  • Beginning social skills
  • Building language
  • Bullying and teasing
  • Climbing
  • Comprehension
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Depression
  • Distractibility
  • Establishing homework routines
  • Expressing feelings
  • Following-directions
  • General behavioral tips
  • General guidelines for improving behavior...
  • General teaching tips
  • Generalizing meaning
  • Getting a hair cut
  • Going shopping
  • Going to restaurants
  • Homework
  • Hyperactivity
  • Improving memory
  • Impulsivity
  • Inferential thinking
  • Joint attention
  • Leisure and recreation
  • Making friends
  • Making transitions
  • Medication
  • Meltdowns
  • Memory games
  • Memory strategies
  • Memory tools
  • Motivational tips for home
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Organization
  • Pica
  • Play
  • Playground behavior
  • Problems communicating in different...
  • Reading
  • Recess and lunch breaks
  • Repetitive behavior
  • Riding a school bus
  • Riding in the car
  • Running
  • Safety at home
  • Safety in the community
  • Selective attention
  • Self-abuse
  • Self-regulation
  • Self-stimulation
  • Sensation - Low arousal
  • Sensation avoidance
  • Sensation Seeking
  • Sensation Sensitivity
  • Sharing
  • Sibling relationships
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social problem solving
  • Social skills for school
  • Stripping
  • Tantrums
  • Teasing
  • Traveling and vacations
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Visiting the dentist
  • Visiting the doctor
  • Visual attention
  • Visual motor
  • Visual perception
  • Wandering
  • Working memory
  • Working together as a family

The ADHD Behavior Toolbox
The Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Deficit Toolbox is our latest and newest product that was developed at the request of a group of community professionals. It consists of 10 categories of behavioral and developmental issues targeting over 50 specific concerns. It is designed for professionals and parents.

The 9 categories of behavioral and developmental issues include behavior management, emotional and social adjustment, executive functioning difficulties, learning and attention, learning and memory, learning and perceptual motor skills, learning and problem solving, social skills, and medical management. New categories and strategies will continue to be added and updated.

This software will be suitable for teachers, parents, and associated professionals working with children with ADHD.


Topics Covered
  • Aggression
  • Alternatives to aggression
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Auditory attention
  • Bad language
  • Beginning social skills
  • Building language
  • Bullying
  • Conversational skills
  • Cooperation
  • Depression
  • Distractibility
  • Expressing feelings
  • Fears and phobias
  • Fine Motor
  • Following-directions
  • Hyperactivity
  • Impulsivity
  • Inferential thinking
  • Lying
  • Making friends
  • Medication
  • Memory games
  • Memory strategies
  • Memory tools
  • Nonverbal problem solving
  • Oppositional defiance
  • Organization
  • Reading
  • Selective attention
  • Self-regulation
  • Sibling rivalry
  • Sleeping
  • Social problem solving
  • Social skills for school
  • Stealing
  • Tantrums
  • Verbal problem solving
  • Victimization
  • Visual attention
  • Visual motor
  • Visual perception
  • Working memory

For a printable version of this product information, download our Product Information Document (PDF).

Mobile Apps

Our development team has focused on the development of six iOS apps for iPhone and iPad. Our first app is the Autism Behavior Toolbox for Families-Challenging Behaviors. It’s focuses on the parents who have children on the autism spectrum with particularly challenging and some of the more difficult behavioral issues. Its a good place to start when parents feel unsure of where to begin, especially at the early diagnostic stage. Parents can get strategies for themselves as well as choosing ones for grandparents or for care providers outside the home. Results can be shared via email or text in the form of a PDF file. It includes self-abuse, self-stimulation, personal safety, pica (eating non-food substances), climbing, wandering, sleeping and stripping as but a few examples. A suggested reading list is attached for each topic.
The Autism Behavior Toolbox for Families - Social Skills contains suggestions for parents on how to develop independence in community settings. It contains ideas on conversational skills, friendships, bullying and teasing, going to community professionals (doctor, dentist, hairdresser) riding a school bus, play and leisure skills, travelling, going shopping and to restaurants, and many others. Using the same format to our Challenging Behaviors App, results can be sorted according to age. You can also share results with anyone of your choice through email or text. You can store the results in a file that you can use for further reference.
The ADHD Behavior Toolbox for Home and School contains suggestions for parents and professionals on how to manage the behavior and learning environments of children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in the 5 to 12-year-old range. Parents and professionals, especially those working in a school setting will find many useful ideas. It contains strategies on dealing with aggression, anger, More... anxiety, auditory attention, bad language, conversational skills, cooperation, distractibility, following-directions, hyperactivity, impulsivity, lying, making friends, managing screen time, medication, memory games, memory strategies, memory tools, nonverbal problem solving, oppositional defiance, organization, selective attention, self-regulation, social problem solving, stealing, tantrums, verbal problem solving, visual attention, and working memory.
The Child Behavior Toolbox – Home and School Edition is a resource for both parents, teachers, and mental health workers. Covering children from ages 3 to 12, it provides strategies which address over 40 common behavioral and emotional concerns including aggression, bad language, lying, stealing, sharing, sleeping, sibling rivalry, hyperactivity, dealing with death and grieving, managing stress, depression, shyness, self-esteem, cooperation and many more. Along with strategies are resources for further reading including lists of books, magazine and journal articles, and websites.
The Child Behavior Toolbox – (Social Skills) is a resource for both parents, teachers, and mental health workers. Covering children from ages 3 to 12, it provides strategies which address over 30 specific social skills including dealing with bullying and teasing, making conversation, sharing, turn-taking, improving cooperation, making friends, to mention only a few. Along with strategies are resources for further reading including lists of books, magazine and journal articles, and websites.
The Adolescent Behavior Toolbox – Home and School Edition is a resource for both parents, teachers, and mental health workers. Covering individuals from ages 12 to 17, it provides strategies which address over 50 common behavioral and emotional concerns of adolescents. They include bullying, choosing and using mobile devices, communicating with teens, conversational skills, cooperation, cyber bullying, death and grieving, depression, distractibility, divorce, eating disorders, eating too much, expressing feelings, fears and phobias, guidelines in the use of social media, substance abuse, suicidal indicators, suicide intervention, sleeping, vaping, victimization, violence, worry, and many more. Along with strategies are resources for further reading including lists of books, magazine and journal articles, and websites.

Research

The strategies for the Toolbox software have come primarily from psychologists, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and teachers. Valuable input has also come from social workers, nurses, dietitians, and physical therapists. This is a reflection of the value we place on team work. It was also during Dr. Erickson’s time as a practicing psychologist that the toolbox products were being steadily developed. More...His interest in the area of autism was a direct result of his appointment as an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta and his participation as a Psychological Consultant for Family Supports for Children with Disabilities, Province of Alberta, Canada. During his seven year tenure, as part of a multidisciplinary review panel, he was involved with over 300 families, the vast majority of which had a child with autism spectrum disorder.

Who’s using the software?

It’s a real mix. We’ve supplied our software worldwide. We have lot’s of stories to tell about who’s using it and how. We’ll post some of them in the future. It’s in place in medical, mental health, social service and educational settings as well as in one provincial library system. We offer our online products in the form of site licenses. More...It means we can perform our updates seamlessly over many world time zones to our entire user base. That makes it easy to administer for both the customer and ourselves. It’s been licensed in Canada to entire provinces, in the United States, statewide, and in the United Kingdom on an entire county basis. One site license we are administering provides access for over 2,000,000 individuals. Using a quickly updatable system we can respond to our users who need information on topics not currently covered. We also contract with professionals who have expertise in the areas we need.

Product Pricing

We want our software to be used by as many families and professionals as possible. Email us and tell us what your needs are. Go to Product Information Document (PDF) for general pricing guidelines. We give special pricing to individuals, schools, and professionals, as well as larger organizations. If you are a classroom teacher, with a limited budget, just let us know. If you are part of an organization that has a very limited budget for this type of software, let us know that too. Secure payments can be made through PayPal. All major credit cards are accepted. We welcome your queries. If you wish to discuss your needs please call us at 1-250-217-0241, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Contact

Please email david.erickson@behaviortoolbox.com if you have any questions or comments.
©2022  Behavior Toolbox Inc.