<p>Self-injurious (SI) or injurious (I) behaviors have been related to biological, social and individual factors; in which close people, caregivers and professionals often feedback the appearance of SI or I behaviors, making the behavior general and obtain a communicative function. The research found indicates that SI or I behaviors become adaptive verbal behavior (VB), since it is quick to train and inexpensive, inhibiting the appearance of linguistic verbal behavior (LVB), which is equivalent but more expensive to learn; The research collected in this literature review focuses on variables related to SI or I and their prevalence when linguistic VB is affected.</p>