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The tricky thing about behavior is that just because you know the right thing to do doesn’t actually mean you have the will power to do it. Thankfully I have a few other tools up my sleeve because with a cat scratching at my door she would win every time. I tried to cover my ears so I couldn’t hear her. I tried waiting her out but I was no match for a very persistent cat. It only got worse as now the scratching at the door was on a nice variable schedule of reinforcement. I was only making it worse and it was awful.
It ends up that my cat loves attention, sleeps alot and likes to be warm. So when she crawls into my bed what does she get? Attention, a great place to sleep, and it’s toasty warm. So how did I fix this problem? First tons of attention and affection earlier in the night. Typically she is home alone so she has been deprived of attention all day. Then she got her very own cat bed which she loves. After that we added on several rounds of laser chase to tucker her out but the thing that made the biggest difference was the heating pad in the cat bed.
If your child or someone you know has a behavior problem that is driving you crazy and you know what the right thing to do is and you don’t want to reinforce the behavior but you know your self well enough to know that you are going to end up reinforcing it anyway try looking at what else you might change to get the behavior to occur less frequently so you will at least have a fighting chance.
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Echoics and mands are both verbal operants. An echoic is when your child copies or repeats something they hear. A mand is when your child makes a request or asks for something. For example if your child is watching Sesame street and one of the charatcters says “cookie” and your child repeats this, it is called an echoic. On the other hand if your child says cookie because they want to have a cookie we then call this a mand.
This program idea is meant to work with those children who are able to speak but for some reason don’t use their words to ask for things they want. For example if a child says letters and numbers while looking at a computer or repeats phrases they heard on television yet won’t or can’t ask you for a toy or piece of food when they want one then this program is for them
Prepare a bowl with tiny cut up pieces of your child’s favorite food. If you are ok with them eating candy like M&M’s this would be great, provided of course that they like them. Any item that isn’t messy and that can be broken into pieces will do. To choose which item you would like to use you can perform a preference assessment.
To start hold up one of the things that your child wants close enough so that if they reached out their hand they could take it from you. When your child reaches for the item say the name of the item you are holding and give it to your child. The timing of this is very critical. Try to say the name of the item and not hold onto it for more than 1/4 of a second at the same that your child has the object. Also try not to say the name of object too soon. This is equally important. What you are trying to do is pair the name of the item your child likes with that particular item. Specifically you want to pair the name with the act of receiving the item. Such that they will learn themselves to say the name of the item and they will get the item.
Do this many many times. Try to get it just right. Not saying the name of the object too soon or too late. If you need to have the item in the palm of your hand so they can take it from you without any resistance. As soon as they have their hand on the object you say the name of the item.
Ideas for items to use include small pieces of food, small pieces of playdoh so each time they take the small piece from you they have even more playdoh. Anything that is part of set that they want to keep or use at the same time. The idea is for them to hear a certain word 20 times in less than 5 minutes.
Things you should not do
1. Do not under any circumstances take the item back from the child.
2. Do not talk or say any other words at all when you are doing this program. Very Critical. The only word your child should hear at this stage is the label of the item at the correct time.
3. Do not use the word more at any point in time while doing this. Again this is extremely important.
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In addition to having materials to teach your student you will also need materials to maintain your ABA program. A few things that have come in useful are a computer, printer, token board, timer, data sheets, digital camera video camera, and a counter. Don’t worry you can still get started even with out these materials.
These materials are not specific to individual drills but should be part of your supplies for your home program. The digital camera will come in very handy as you snap pictures for schedules or receptive/expressive identification. The video camera will be handy for monitoring progress, which you should do on a monthly basis. If you video tape your child regularly a one hour snap shot every month should be fine. Quite often parents will video tape 10 hours then nothing for the next year. You want to see the gradual progress of your child and monitor your therapists to give them feedback so monthly taping is preferable to the once a year taping. The computer and printer will be for making data sheets and printing those pictures you took with the digital camera.
In addition to the above materials you want to have materials specific to some of the drills you have. The materials your child uses will vary depending upon the age and functioning level of your child. For example one child may be working a on 3 piece puzzle while another child will be doing a ten piece interlocking puzzle. Notice that each child is doing a puzzle but what is appropriate for one child is not appropriate for another child. Also depending upon how long your therapists have been doing ABA some of them may be able to bring their own materials.
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AU: Autism
AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress
BIP: Behavior Intervention Plan
BSP: Behavior Support Plan
CAHSEE: California High School Exit Exam
CF: Child Find
CMA: California Modified Assessment
CPI: Crisis Prevention Institute
CST: California Standards Tests
CTEM: Comprehensive Transition Educational Model
CTSM: Comprehensive Transition Service Model
EC: Education Code
ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
GLAD: Guided Language Acquisition Development
FBA: Functional Behavior Assessment
FERB: Functionally Equivalent Replacement Behavior
ID: Intellectually Disabled
ISP: Individual Service Plan
ITP: Individual Transition Plan
NCLB: No Child Left Behind
PBIP: Positive Behavior Intervention Plan
PTIC: Parent Training and Information Center
PWN: Prior Written Notice
RTI: Response to Intervention
SLD: Specific Learning Disability
STAR: Standardized Testing and Reporting
STO: Short Term Objectives
TBI: Traumatic Brain Injury
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There are many ways to potty train your child. This is just one possible method you may want to try. You will need a picture of a bathroom or potty before you begin. It is also preferable, though not necessary that the child have the prerequisite skill of sitting in a chair for several minutes before you begin the potty training. This method teaches the child the routine of going to the bathroom before the child is expected to void in the potty. Once the child is comfortable with the routine you can begin to increase liquids to set up a successful situation in which your child uses the potty.
Step 1. Use a hand over hand prompt so the child picks up the potty card. Immediately reinforce picking up the card with an edible. Continue to do this until the child spontaneously picks up the card when ever he sees it. (This may take minutes, hours, days or weeks. Each child is different.)
Step 2. The child must pick up the card and hand it over to the parent or therapist. The child will receive the edible for handing over the card, he does not receive the edible for picking up the card. Continue this until the child does it spontaneously.
Step 3. The child picks up the card, hands it to the teacher and walks to the bathroom. You may want to have the chair only 3-4 feet away from the bathroom. The child receives the edible after walking to the bathroom. Continue until the child does this spontaneously.
Step 4. The child picks up the card, hands it to the parent, walks to the bathroom, and sits on the toilet. Give reinforcement as soon as the child sits on the toilet. The child at this point is only sitting for a few seconds. Once this is firm wait until the child is sitting 15 seconds before giving reinforcement. After this is done spontaneously, move to the next step.
Step 5. The child picks up the card, hands it to the therapist, walks to the bathroom, sits on the toilet, and washes his/ her hands. (You may want to break down washing hands into smaller steps) Reinforcement happens after hand washing.
After you child knows the routine of using the bathroom you will want to increase the chances of her urinating on the potty. If practical have your child in underwear so you can monitor for several days how frequently your child is urinating. There will be plenty of cleaning and washing of soiled clothing but it will be worth the end result of a child who initiates and goes to the bathroom independently. Once you know how frequently your child is going to the bathroom designate a few hours each day to work on potty training. During this time increase the child’s liquids and work on just the bathroom routine. Once your child urinates in the potty and this will happen introduce a second reinforcer even more powerful than the first. Continue to reinforce initiation even if the child does not go in the potty.
Of course you may run into any number of issues. One I encountered recently was of a child who slapped his face when I attempted to help him pull down his pants. Now I didn’t immediately associate it with the bathroom or the physical prompt until he did it again in the same way right after I helped him pull down his pants a second time. We spent the next 10 minutes in which I pulled down his pants and immediately after that he got a raisin and then immediately after that his pants were pulled back up again. Now if you combine this with deprivation of raisins which he likes during the regular day he will be more likely after he associates his pants coming down with getting raisins to let me help him pull down his pants.
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By 1-09 Sandy will name 4 coins with 100% accuracy in a 1:1 instructional setting for 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by data collection by the teacher
By 1-09 Sandy will count to 10 with 1 or fewer mistakes, 2 consecutive sessions, as measured by data collection by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will count to 31 with 1 or fewer mistakes, 2 consecutive sessions, as measured by data collection by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will identify the numbers 1 to 20, 2 consecutive sessions, as measured by data collected by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will add single digit numbers 0-9 of 10 random problems with 90% accuracy as measured by data collected by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will add double digit numbers with carrying of 10 random problems with 90% accuracy as measured by data collected by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will complete an AB pattern with 90% accuracy as measured by data collected by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will identify 6 shapes with 100% accuracy, 2 consecutive sessions, as measured by data collection by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will use concrete objects to determine the answers to addition and subtraction problems.
By 1-09 Sandy will compare and order whole numbers to 100 by using the symbols for less than, equal to, or greater than with 90% accuracy, 2 consecutive sessions, as measure by classroom exam.
By 1-09 Sandy will count by 2′s, 5s and 10s to 100 with 100% accuracy as measured by data collected by the teacher.
By 1-09 Sandy will tell time to the nearest half hour with 90% accuracy as measured by a 10 questions classroom exam.
By 1-09 Sandy will tell time to the nearest quarter hour with 90% accuracy as measured by a 10 question classroom exam.
By 1-09 Sandy will count, read, and write whole numbers to 1000 with 90% accuracy for 2 consecutive sessions as measured by teacher exam.
To get ideas for goals check out the state standards. You can then use this format to write your goals.
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