understanding the ablls-r part 5: section e vocal imitation
I would like to make it very clear that reading this series DOES NOT replace formal training on the ABLLS-R and that anyone using the ABLLS-R should read the companion guide as well prior to using the assessment. Here is the link for purchasing the ABLLS-R and/or Companion Guide Additionally, what you will find below is all based on my OWN experience. As far as I know there is limited to no research to support my suggestions. I made theses suggestions and provided these explanations based on my experience with how clients acquired skills and what worked best for my purposes. Always remember to invdividualize programming for your child/client and consult the research. The information that I am sharing here is to provide a basic skeleton for people who are not familiar with the sections of the ABLLS. Hopefully after reading this series you will have a better understanding of what skills are targeted in each section of the ABLLS, how to combine goals when possible, and what the typical progression of skills is like for children on the spectrum. "Typical" progression means that typically the skills are easier when done in this order however this is not always true. For instance, sometimes you will have a child who is highly verbal but does not listen well so it is easier to teach them expressive tasks first then receptive. If any providers/parents who read this blog have suggestions on other ways to combine/target/organize goals, please do share
ABLLS-R Section E – Vocal Imitation
Focus: The focus of this section is on basic vocal imitation then advanced vocal imitation.
Skill Progression: imitating basic sounds imitating sound combinations imitating words matching the model exactly imitation of phrases imitation of number sequences repeating a message to a person/spontaneous imitation.
When/how to implement: This program obviously cannot be started unless the child is making vocalizations. The program can be implemented with basic sounds if you start using the sounds the child already makes. It is very tricky to implement and hard to reinforce. We typically informally target imitation during mand training first. Once the child is making sounds/words reliably for preferred items then you can target sounds. Some clients do better with sounds and some do better with words start with what you client does better with. Vocal imitation may be an ongoing programming in order to improve articulation of words as the child has difficulty with annunciating them.
Goals that can be combined:
- E1/E3/E8/E9/E10/E12 – all of these goals focus on imitation of sounds or words. They can be combined in a vocal imitation program. For targets use the resources listed above, resources from the speech teacher, and work on sounds/words you hear the child have difficulty with. Always start with sounds/words you hear the child say then move onto novel sounds/words.
- E2/E4/E5/E6/E7 – These all focus on advanced imitation of sounds. You might want to target these before targeting words if you have a client that has difficulty saying words. Each goal can be a target in an advanced imitation of sounds program. A lot of the children probe out of these goals.
- E15/E16/E17 – These focus on advanced imitation of sounds and words. You want to wait to target these until the child is reliably imitating a variety of sounds and words.
convincing your school to allow aba
understanding the ablls-r part 4: imitation
I would like to make it very clear that reading this series DOES NOT replace formal training on the ABLLS-R and that anyone using the ABLLS-R should read the companion guide as well prior to using the assessment. Here is the link for purchasing the ABLLS-R and/or Companion Guide Additionally, what you will find below is all based on my OWN experience. As far as I know there is limited to no research to support my suggestions. I made theses suggestions and provided these explanations based on my experience with how clients acquired skills and what worked best for my purposes. Always remember to invdividualize programming for your child/client and consult the research. The information that I am sharing here is to provide a basic skeleton for people who are not familiar with the sections of the ABLLS. Hopefully after reading this series you will have a better understanding of what skills are targeted in each section of the ABLLS, how to combine goals when possible, and what the typical progression of skills is like for children on the spectrum. "Typical" progression means that typically the skills are easier when done in this order however this is not always true. For instance, sometimes you will have a child who is highly verbal but does not listen well so it is easier to teach them expressive tasks first then receptive. If any providers/parents who read this blog have suggestions on other ways to combine/target/organize goals, please do share
ABLLS-R Section D – Motor Imitation
Focus: Teaching basic and advanced imitation skills. Imitation is a skill learned very early on by typically developing children and it is a prerequisite skill for learning a lot of other skills.
Skill Progression: basic imitation imitation of facial/mouth movements advance imitation matching model exactly imitation of sequence of actions/combining imitation with vocals spontaneous and delayed imitation
When/how to target: A basic imitation program for motor movement and object imitation should be included at the very beginning of programming. More advanced imitation skills can be targeted as soon as basic imitation is mastered but only if the child attends well. Sometimes the child also needs to be tested to see if the more advanced imitation is frustrating. If it is you want to hold off on teaching it for a few months, and then try to introduce again. Also, make sure to use the phrase “do this”. The biggest mistake I see with this program is the instructor saying the action “clap” or “push car” instead of “do this.” If you tell the child what you want him/her to do, then the child might not even be attending to your movements. The child might just hear the phrase and do the action. The whole point of imitation is for the child to attend to a model and then imitate. You want them to learn that the phrase “do this” means do what I am doing.
Goals that can be combined:
- D1/2 – Both of these target imitating with objects. The first is in isolation and the second is with discrimination. You can either have a column on the program sheet for mastery of both ways or you can have it understood in the program protocol that targets start in isolation then are put in discrimination before being mastered. Some children don’t need the isolation portion. Doing in discrimination means you have the object and 2 other objects so the child has to watch what you do with the object and discriminate from the field which object to use. It is important that your objects are identical at first to make discrimination easier. For instance, if you are doing imitation of pushing a car; you should both have the same exact car.
- D3/4/5/9 – these all deal with imitation of different body parts. Combine them into a motor imitation program and make sure to target a variety of movements. Use movements that are distinctly different at first. For instance clapping and stomping because these movements involve different parts of the body.
- D10/D11/D14 – these all deal with facial and oral movements. Combine into one program and target AFTER body part imitation is mastered unless you have a child who spontaneously imitates facial movements. A mirror is often helpful for this program.
- D12 – this isn’t combined with anything but its fine motor skills and typically you want the child to be able to do the movement but do it a few times in a row to build endurance. So instead of touching pointers together have the target be touches pointers together five times. Then you would say the child scores correct if he will follow the instruction “do this” touch pointers 5x in a row.
- D6/D15/D16/D17/D21/D22 – These all deal with advanced motor imitation. They can be combined into an advanced imitation program and each goal can be targeted as a target in the order of the ABLLS.
parent question about joint attention and referencing
Parent Question about Referencing and Joint Attention
A while ago a parent asked me about the difference between referencing and Joint Attention. Joint Attention is a relatively new concept in the behavioral literature with a few studies being conducted prior to this century but most studies occurring within the past 10 years. Because of this, the skill and techniques to teach the skill is a little trickier to explain. Research is still being conducted on effective ways to teach Joint Attention which I will discuss later in this blog. While I do focus on teaching Joint Attention with my clients, I also decided to send this question to some of my BCBA colleagues to get their input on the topic as well. First I will provide my response and then responses from 2 other BCBAs who kindly shared their input on the topic.
When I first read this question, my initial response was simply: Joint attention is a more complex skill whereas referencing is one of the precursor skills that a child would need in order to engage in Joint Attention. I didn’t have much more of an explanation than that but after reading input from my colleagues, I am now better able to explain what I meant.
Steve Ward, BCBA provided an excellent explanation of the difference between referencing and Joint Attention. He also provided some of the techniques that he uses for teaching Joint Attention. Here is Steve’s response:
Referencing refers to looking at others, especially others' eyes, for a variety of reasons, including things like: attending to name, looking for information about the location of a reinforcer, waiting for the answer to a question, checking for emotional reactions, etc.
Joint attention is a higher skill than simple referencing, requiring the learner to:
- Demonstrate motivation to direct anothers' attention to an item or event,
- Recruit that person's attention,
- Direct that attention toward the item/event,
- Monitor that person's attention to assure that it is fixed on the relevant item or event.
It is very important to note that this should not be called "joint attention" if the motivation is merely to receivethe relevant item. It is only “joint attention” if the motivation is to share the experience of the item with the other person.
In terms of skills, I frequently start teaching joint attention by establishing all of the components of the skill under motivation for tangible gain (e.g., the learner wants a cookie). I'll begin by requiring attention mands, teaching learners to point at reinforcers that are out of reach, and teaching them to repair the actions of a deficient listener. One exception to this is a learner who either naturally demonstrates, or can easily be taught, that our reactions to items/events is very interesting to them. In that case, I use that natural motivation to shape responses that direct my attention to an item/event. Another program I'll introduce is essentially a very early version of "show-and-tell", particularly for items a learner has produced, about which they can brag. I use a lot of reinforcement for this bragging, preferably social, but tangible if necessary.
For simple referencing, the first thing I do, especially during pairing, is capture as many spontaneous demonstrations of referencing as possible, and look for ways to contextually reinforce. I may walk around with small tangible reinforcers and occasionally say the learner's name, and reinforce looking toward me within a second or 2. I sometimes play "Hide-the-prize" (taken from RDI). I can almost always establish strong referencing by playing Red Light/Green Light (described in the play book I mentioned). For slightly more advanced learners, I can usually get some referencing by teaching Hotter/Colder (also described in the play book).
-Steve Ward, BCBA www.wholechildconsulting.com (352)425-2063
I would like to thank Steve for his excellent description and explanation of some activities to do to help develop Joint Attention and Referencing skills. I also would recommend using activities from RDI (Relationship Development Intervention). It is important to note that there are not very many studies (at least that I know of) indicating the effectiveness of the RDI protocol but the exercises in the RDI book serve as wonderful ideas for relationship developing programs to do with a child. For each activity in the book, there is also a description of which skills the activity is targeting such as eye contact, gaze shifting, etc.
Toby Stahlschmidt-Kah, M.A., BCBA also provided me with a powerpoint and poster presentation that she did which focused on a literature review of Joint Attention. A summary of the presentation is below:
- Research on Joint Attention started in the 1970s, however the focus has shifted over time from defining Joint Attention to determining techniques on how to teach Joint Attention
- Some points on Joint Attention from a behavioral perspective:
- The initiative behavior observed at the beginning of a JA behavioural chain such as gaze shifting, could be seen as a mand for someone else’s behaviour of attending ‘to’ an object which is different, than a mand ‘for’ an object.
- Contingencies of behaviour are important to demonstrate this concept.
- A change in motivating variables sets the occasion for different behaviours.
- The likelihood a child will or will not look to an adult at the onset of the interesting event, is contingent on whether or not the adult-mediated consequence has a positive value for the child, and also depends on the individual’s learning history; if in the past looking to an adult has yielded reinforcing effects
- Both form and function define JA behavior. This means that you cannot just teach a child to look at an object and then look at you and call this joint attention. In order to have really taught the skill of JA the child must be looking from the object to the person in order to determine if the person is sharing in the experience.
Toby’s presentation also included references to some of the studies that have been done regarding techniques to teach Joint Attention. Below is the description of these studies from Toby’s presentation:
- Pierce and Schriebman (1995) found that Pivotal Response training led to gains in JA for 4th graders diagnosed with autism.
- Leekam, Hunniesett, & Moore (1998) shaped JA Gaze shifting responding by using remote controlled boxes with flip opening lids. The trainer would flip the lid on the box if the child followed their gaze. At first, the lid was flipped regardless of whether the child looked in the right direction. Then, the lid was only flipped if the child followed the experimenter’s gaze.
- Baker (2000) incorporated ritualistic behaviors into games that were played with the autistic children’s siblings. The study showed that positive supported and coordinated JA increased during the intervention and were maintained at 1 and 3 month follow-ups
- Hwang & Hughes (2000) used social interactive training to increase JA for 3 preverbal autistic children. The training consisted of imitation of participant’s actions, presenting an expectant look, and naturally occurring reinforcement. The JA behaviors did not generalize though.
- Tsuchiya & Yamamoto (2001) presented preferred stimuli passing behind an adult who was facing the child. Guiding the examiner to look at the objects, referential looking, pointing and declarative responses all increased.
- Whalen & Schreibman (2003) used response training with 11 children teaching them 6 levels of skills: hand on object, tapping on object, showing of object, eye contact, following a point, and following a gaze to increase JA.
- Robins, Dickerson, and Stribling (2004) used a Robot to increase JA for 3 children with autism. The children interacted with the robot and their ability to follow pointing and gaze of the examiner increased.
Toby also sent me a description of how she focuses on Joint Attention and an article about Joint Attention. I have pasted her response here:
Something I really focus on when teaching JA, is the three-way relationship. For example the child is taught to look from me, to the item they are showing, and back to me. This is very different than a 2-way, where the child looks from me to an item, or from an item to me. I've used techniques from Per Holth (2005) for teaching JA. The article can be found here:http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/44/a8/82.pdf
-Toby Stahlschmidt-Kah, M.A., BCBA Email: tskbxservices@istar.ca
I would like to thank Toby for her thorough review of the literature on JA. It is important to note that Toby’s review included studies up to 2005. More studies on JA and techniques to teach JA can be found in the behavioral literature.
Here are some additional articles and other resources regarding Joint Attention:
- Article about the importance of Joint Attention and techniques to use to increase social interactions, motivation, and Joint Attention from a Speech Therapist’s perspective: http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?CC=116835
- Another blog about Joint Attention and how a teacher is using technology to develop JAhttp://techpsych.blogspot.com/2009/03/establishing-joint-attention-with.html
- Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism book by Koegal and Koegal ttp://www.amazon.com/Pivotal-Response-Treatments-Autism-Communication/dp/1557668191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264539179&sr=8-1
- Overcoming Autism book by Koegal http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Autism-Finding-Strategies-Transform/dp/0143034685/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
- Relationship Development Intervention book by Gutstein http://www.amazon.com/Relationship-Development-Intervention-Young-Children/dp/1843107147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264539346&sr=1-1
understanding the ablls-r part 3: receptive lanugage
I would like to make it very clear that reading this series DOES NOT replace formal training on the ABLLS-R and that anyone using the ABLLS-R should read the companion guide as well prior to using the assessment. Here is the link for purchasing the ABLLS-R and/or Companion Guide Additionally, what you will find below is all based on my OWN experience. As far as I know there is limited to no research to support my suggestions. I made theses suggestions and provided these explanations based on my experience with how clients acquired skills and what worked best for my purposes. Always remember to invdividualize programming for your child/client and consult the research. The information that I am sharing here is to provide a basic skeleton for people who are not familiar with the sections of the ABLLS. Hopefully after reading this series you will have a better understanding of what skills are targeted in each section of the ABLLS, how to combine goals when possible, and what the typical progression of skills is like for children on the spectrum. "Typical" progression means that typically the skills are easier when done in this order however this is not always true. For instance, sometimes you will have a child who is highly verbal but does not listen well so it is easier to teach them expressive tasks first then receptive. If any providers/parents who read this blog have suggestions on other ways to combine/target/organize goals, please do share
ABLLS-R Section C – Receptive Language
Focus: The focus in this area is on developing the child’s ability to follow directions and identify things receptively.
Skill Progression: follow instructions to do preferred activities follow instructions to touch common itemsfollow instructions in routine situations select objects/select pictures/identify body parts/identify clothingdiscriminate instructions/follow gaze/follow hand signals/follow instructions to go to person select adjectives/select associations/select feature/select function/select class/demonstrate actions with objects selecting 2 items/select community helpers/select environmental sounds select items from larger picture/selecting items based on specific characteristics/two step instructions select prepositions/select pronouns/select emotions/select non-examples/select same
different
When/How to target: most of the programs in this section need to be targeted formally. Most of these programs won’t be targeted until the child has mastered a few goals in section B. When first starting with a child you will target C3 – attending to a reinforcing item. You will also target following instructions to do preferred activities and touch common items before targeting the rest of the goals. For this area, you will move through the goals mostly in the order given. Sometimes will we introduce the feature, function, class sections earlier so that the child can learn to sort and start doing them expressively but the child needs to be ready for this. You also typically don’t want to target C9 doing simple motor action until the child has mastered a few imitation items. This is so that you know the child can actual do the actions. If you have a child that has shown the actions in the natural environment you might start with naturally occurring instructions prior to mastery of a few imitation targets. Prior to implementing a goal make sure that it there isn’t a similar one in section B that you should be implementing first.
Goals that can be combined:
- C2/C6/C7 – Both of these target following instructions during activities. One is doing the preferred activity within context and one targets doing out of context and the last one targets following instructions during a routine. For this you would have 2 columns and show mastery in and out of context. You would also start with preferred activities then move to routines. For routines you wouldn’t target out of context.
- C3 is often combined with A3 in an attending program.
- C4/C5 – these both target touching an item. One is a reinforcing item and the other is common item. For this program you only have the item and you say “touch” You should start with reinforcing items then move to non-reinforcing items.
- C10/11/12/13/14 – these all deal with selecting items. The goals start with selecting reinforcing items and then moves to common objects and pictures. These can be combined such that you have columns for mastery of picture and object. Then you would target reinforcing items in isolation then with distracters then common items in isolation and with distracters. Use the same items you used for matching. You may be able to probe this goal for some children.
- C15/C21 – these both target body parts. One is touching body parts on self and one is on others or in pictures. IF the child is advanced enough you can teach them body parts on self and others at the same time. Have a column for mastery of both.
- C27/28/29/30 – these all deal with going to a person and some other criteria. Each of the goals can be targeted in one program.
understanding the ablls-r part 2: section b visual performance
ABLLS-R Section B – Visual Performance:
Focus: the focus is on developing a learners visual perceptive skills by starting with basic visual tasks and building up to more advanced tasks.
Skill Progression: Students progression in this area varies depending on their strengths typically our clients progress in a different order than the ABLLS in this section: Simple 3 piece puzzles/matching/shape sortersort non-identical items more advanced puzzles/block imitation match associate pics/match patterns/sort feature function class delayed finding a sample/delayed replication of a sequence/extend patterns seriation/picture sequences/mazes
When/how to target: Most of the programs in this program need to be written as formal programs. Make sure to assess your child’s visual strengths when deciding which goals to implement. You definitely want to start with easier items such as 3 piece puzzles, matching, and shape sorter when first starting with a client. You don’t want to do sorting feature, function, and class until the child has learned these receptively or expressively. You also don’t want to do patterns until the child knows at least their colors. The child must have good attending skills before doing most of these goals.
Goals that can be combined:
- B1/B10/B11/B14/B15 – All of these goals target puzzles. You can combine them into a puzzles program and make sure to follow the sequence described in the ABLLS. Start with small puzzles and build up to more complex. Best way to teach puzzles is to chain the pieces. This means have the child either do the first 2 pieces of the puzzle and nothing else and then slowly add in pieces or have the whole puzzle done except the first piece and have the child put in that piece then build up the number of missing pieces (all of the puzzle is done except the first 2 pieces, then first three pieces, etc)
- B3/B4/B5/B6 – All of these goals target matching. You can combine them into a matching program. Have a column on the target sheet for each style of matching: object to object, picture to picture, object to picture, picture to object. Determine which order to teach based on the child’s performance. Some do better with objects, some do better with pictures, some do better with an object and a picture. Make sure to start with identical items/pictures first.
- B13/B22 – These both target patterns. Start with matching the pattern then do extending the pattern. This can be done by having intro/mastery columns for each. You can do all the sequences matching first then extend or you can run both at the same time and target the extension once the sequence is mastered matching.
- B9/B12/B23 – These all target block design. I tend to do blocks slightly different from the ABLLS. I prefer to do block imitation with base + number of blocks, imitating block structures (car, rocket, etc), and hidden block designs (building the structure then hiding it to see if the child can build the structure without seeing it).
misrepresentation and why it is not just wrong but harmful
Principle | Son-Rise | ABA |
Autism is not a behavioral disorder | Explained as a neurological disorder. "Behavioral challenges" exist because of relational deficits. *I would like to note the terminology in this heading makes it appear that people who promote a behavioral approach would be doing so in error because autism is not a behavioral disorder. To me they purposely use this terminology to separate their approach from ABA. | Autism is explained almost exactly the same way as a neurobehavioral (meaning that it is neurological but is diagnosed based on symptoms that are behavioral) disorder. The ASAT site also explains that there is an impairment in communication/social skills. BCBAs might say that a "behavioral challenge" exists because of a relational deficit but only if the child does not possess certain skills related to relationship building such as joint attention, reciprocal interactions, etc. BCBAs go way beyond just saying that everything is due to "relational deficits" they provide an actual analysis of the "challenge" to determine the environmental aspects, skill deficits, and any other factors that might result in the behavior occurring. The behavior analyst then focuses on not only teaching the skills that are lacking but also arranging the environment and other factors to set the child up for success and make skill acquisition much more likely and less frustrating. |
Motivation Not Repetition Holds the Key to all Learning | Explained as determining the child's motivation and using this to teach the child the skills he/she needs. *I would also like to point out that this is statement also seems to be an attack on ABA. The site says that some interventions require endless repetition. It appears as though Son-Rise has not stayed on top of the advances made in intervention practice for ABA in the last 40 years. As I said, when Lovaas first applied the principles, this was the way he did it. But it was the only way that worked at the time and research has come a long way since then. Additionally, regardless of having the child's motivation, repetition to a degree will be necessary. It will depend on the child how much repetition is necessary but EVERYONE learns through repetition. I surely do not remember how to do calculus a class a took for 1 year in high school but I do remember how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, skills that were practiced year after year starting in 1st grade. | Motivation has been a key focus in the field of behavior analysis since its origins. Behavior analysis heavily focuses on using positive reinforcement to acquire and maintain skills. Simply providing reinforcement after a behavior, is not nearly as effective as capturing the child's motivation prior to presenting the task in the first place. A quick search in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) for "motivation" reveals 470+ articles dating back as far as 1969 (many years before the Son-Rise program was even developed). In fact Keller and Schoenfeld (1950) described the establishing operation as a "motivational variable" 60 years ago. Additionally Jack Michael focused heavily on this topic starting in 1982 and to date there are many well known behavior analysts who research the area of motivation. It is very rare to find a behavior analyst who does not work off the child's motivation. People who have not been formally trained in ABA who still follow Lovaas' early work might make this error. Or you will find some behavior analysts who are not good at identifying and capturing the motivation of the child but it is still a main principle and tenet of the field and it is even a large section of the task list that we study and are tested on in order to become board certified. |
Your Child's "Stimming" Behaviors have Important Meaning and Value | Explained as having deep acceptance and respect for the children. Instead of stopping repetitive behavior, it is recommended to join in the repetitive behavior. This in turn leads to the development of social skills, eye contact, and interaction. This sounds very nice and almost makes me want to try it. The problem is, there is absolutely no data to support this claim. I am very curious to know what is done if a child starts stimming during instructional time. Does the instruction end and the therapist joins in on the stimming? For some children this might be ok. But what if a child uses this as an escape from learning and never learns the skills that they need to learn? I am not saying stimming should always be stopped or that parents should not join in with their children's stimming behavior. I am simply saying that there isn't research to date to suggest that this beneficial. Based on current research though I can tell you that there are plenty of children who still developed social skills despite their parents not joining on the stimulatory behavior. I also see where it could be beneficial especially if you have a child who literally has not interests beyond stimulatory behavior. You could use their interest in this behavior as means for developing first interactions. But all you are really doing here is working off the child's motivation which is really nothing new. The parent could either work off the child's interest in a toy, or work of their interest in stimming but you are still doing the same thing. And what is recommended when the stimming is interfering with the learning process or it is dangerous? | The websites I am using as a reference do not include an explanation of responding specifically to stimming behavior. However, behavior analysts analyze this behavior just like they would "challenging" behavior. Very specific steps are taken in order to determine why the child is engaging in the stimulatory behavior, what input the child is receiving from the behavior, if the behavior is not safe what would be an appropriate replacement behavior that would give the same sensory input, how to provide the child with the sensory input throughout the day so that when it is time to learn, play, and interact with their world the child has received enough of the sensory input that he/she is able to focus. Additionally, another search on JABA over 200 articles on stereotypy (stimming) and automatically reinforcing behaviors (stimming). Of these articles multiple interventions are recommended not just "joining" but interventions that will be effective in helping the child focus and engage in the world around them. One recent article that jumped out at me was published in 2009 and focused on rumination. Rumination is when a child regurgitates food and then chews and swallows it again. This is technically a stim because it is automatically reinforcing. I would be really curious to know how "joining" in this stim would help the child with this dangerous behavior? Rhine and Tarbox (2009) successfully used chewing gum as an alternative replacement behavior for the rumination. The autistic child's rumination decreased significantly during times where he was given gum to chew. This stimulatory behavior had resulted in the child losing several teeth because of severe decay. |
The Parent is the Child's Best Resource | Explained as focusing time and energy on training the parents so that they have the skills to work with and direct their child's programming. | Parent training is a heavy focus for ABA as well. Research on how to do effective parent training dates back to 1969 as well. A JABA search revealed 330 articles on parent training. I will admit that when the principles of behavior analysis were first applied as an intervention for autism, there was very little focus on training the parents. I am not entirely sure of the reasoning for this but even today parents will receive the training so that they have the skills to work with their child but they still opt to hire behavior analysts or professionals supervised by behavior analyst to work with their children. Part of this is because of the time involved, most parents are working all day so the therapist work with the child while the parent is at work. However, it is extremely important that the parents are able to apply principles of behavior in the natural environment and can practice skills with their child even if someone else is providing most of the instruction to the child. Recent advances in parent training include the website Rethink Autism where parents can watch videos of sessions and learn more about how to work with their child. Additionally, there are several books that teach parents how to work with their children using the principles of behavior analysis. And of course there are hundreds of providers and clinics designed to teach parents how to use the principles of behavior analysis. |
Your Child Can Progress in the Right Environment | Described as setting up the environment so that it is not overly stimulating and so that the play room reduces the "control" issues that often arise. | As I have already mentioned behavior analysis heavily focuses on the setting up the environment to result in optimal learning for your child. Behavior analysts provide recommendations to the parents on how to structure not only the play room/work environment to reduce distractions and "control" issues but they analyze down to the bone everything about the environment when necessary. The analyses can be as thorough as looking at the type of demand, number of demands presented, combination of demands presented, wording of the demand, presentation of the demand, prompts used, person presenting the demand, time of day, day of the week, etc. Behavior analysts are highly trained and skilled in providing environmental assessments. This is another large section on the task list for the test that behavior analysts take in order to become certified. A search on JABA turned up almost 500 articles discussing setting events and ecological assessments, which refers to setting up the right environment. |
Parents and Professionals are most effective when they feel comfortable with their child | Described as having confidence in the child and focusing on the child's potential. | Behavior analysts would agree with this statement as well. All of the programming and training produced by behavior analysts focus on the child's potential and determining the most effective ways to assist the child in acquiring skills. In fact, behavior analysts are often brought in by parents and schools who have lost hope and the behavior analysts are able to regain the parents/teachers confidence in the child when they see what the child is capable of. |
new series: understanding the ablls-r section a cooperation and reinforcer effectiveness
Focus: gaining cooperation with learners by starting with compliance regarding immediate access to reinforcing items.
Skill Progression: compliance with preferred activities/items responding with immediate reinforcement fading reinforcement performing for multiple people and with a variety of reinforcers.
When/How to target: typically targeted with new clients, non-compliant clients, early learners using compliance training. More advanced goals such as fading reinforcement and working for multiple reinforcers can be targeted informally and are usually done with learners who have been receiving instruction for a longer amount of time
Goals that can be combined: A3 Look at non-reinforcing item is typically combined with C3 look at reinforcing item in an attending program.
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