I used to have two budgies that were terrified of the door bell . If they heard it you would hear them both make a little chittering sound poop where ever they were then they would scatter for cover together , well more like buddy ran for cover and Roscoe followed . Pissed me off when my cockatiel figured out how to ring the door bell and watch them run . I had an enclosed patio and he would hang out side but after he started ringing the door ball non stop I disconnected it . <| sep |> Nature is such a lovely thing . <| sep |> I never , ever implied that it was a ' bad habit ' my post describes that the therapy my son gets is exactly what you speak of here . His ABA has helped him to cope with meltdowns and they have become less intense and less frequent . It wasnt a decision I made to call it a behavior , this is always been the word used to describe meltdowns to me by professionals . As a parent I am learning as much as I can to help my child . He is 5 he got his diagnosis at 3 so I have had only two years to learn a lifetimes worth of information . Believe me watching my child have a meltdown is terrifying , I can see how he is not in control of his body or his actions , I can see how scared he is . All I want is to help him communicate his way through these moments so he doesn ' t have to get to that frightening place . To tell me that my post implies that I think something like this is a ' bad habit ' is so insulting and you probably need to go back and read my other comments . I fight every day against ignorant people out in the world judging my son . He hurts himself , he hurts other people , he breaks things , if instead he can learn through therapy that he can ask for the blue straw instead of the yellow straw so it matches his cup and he is then capable of carrying on with his day instead of an hour long meltdown you better believe we will be doing the therapy that helps him with this .