Tag Archives: autistic spectrum disorder

Pick of the Week: NEW! Super Duper Flashcards & Fun Decks — Teach parts of speech, vocab & more

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We’ve added a bunch of new Super Duper® flashcards and fun decks to our collection! This week, you can save 15% on any of these select card decks that teach parts of speech and vocabulary — everything from nouns and irregular verbs to prepositions and synonyms! Use our promo code SUPERJUNE to redeem your savings at check-out.

With the Webber BIG Vocabulary Nouns Photo Cards, students will learn how to name, describe, identify attributes, compare and contrast, and formulate sentences in conversation with 600 vivid photo cards. This enormous set contains 5″ x 7″ photo cards that cover 14 different categories: Alphabet (26 cards); Animals (68 cards); Around the Home (80 cards); Clothing and Accessories (55 cards); Colors (12 cards); Food (83 cards); Numbers (11 cards); Occupations (46 cards); Places (70 cards); Plants (20 cards); School (38 cards); Shapes (7 cards); Toys (36 cards); Transportation (34 cards).

 

 

Synonyms Photo Fun Deck contains 28 pairs of photo cards to teach synonyms. Each pair of photo cards helps illustrate one sentence using two synonyms. This set also comes with game ideas for extra practice!

Each of the cards measures 2½” x 3½” and all come stored in a sturdy storage tin.

 

 

Irregular Verbs Fun Deck is a wonderful resource for teaching past and present tense for 26 irregular verbs pairs. Students will learn the ins and outs of “eat/ate,” “buy/bought,” “spend/spent,” and so much more. This illustrated fun deck will make teaching these difficult verbs fun and accessible for learners of all ages!

 

 

Don’t forget to use our discount code SUPERJUNE at check-out this week to save 15% on any of our select Super Duper card decks! View the entire sale here.

*Promotion is valid through June 28, 2016 at 11:59pm ET. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases, combined with anyother offers, transferred, refunded, or redeemed and/or exchanged for cash or credit. Different Roads to Learning reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time. To redeem offer at differentroads.com, enter promo code SUPERJUNE at checkout.

Elopement and Neighborhood Safety

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As the end of the school year approaches and students are let out on vacation, it’s important for us to consider the risks of elopement and overall neighborhood safety for children with autism. This month, we’re sharing a special feature from ASAT written by Kate Britton, EdD, BCBA and Bridget Taylor, PsyD, BCBA from Alpine Learning Group in New Jersey. Here, Kate and Bridget offer their guidelines on preventing potentially harmful situations and ensuring the safety of your children. To learn more about ASAT, please visit their website at www.asatonline.org. You can also sign up for ASAT’s free newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, and like them on Facebook!

Elopement and Neighborhood Safety
Bridget Taylor, PsyD, BCBA and Kate Britton, EdD, BCBA
Alpine Learning Group, NJ

You are not alone. In fact, according to an online survey conducted by the National Autism Association in 2007, 92% of the parents indicated their child with autism was at risk of wandering away from his or her home or care provider. More recently, Kiely et. al. (2016) reported survey results of families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders which found that 49% of those children had made an attempt to elope since the age of four. Additionally, 62% of parents of children who elope reported that this behavior prevents them from participating in activities away from home. Children with autism are especially vulnerable if they wander away from caregivers, as they may not be able to communicate that they are lost, take steps to ensure their safety such as identifying who in the community is safe vs. unsafe, asking for assistance, or stating important information such as their phone number. We hope the following guidelines can help you in preventing potentially harmful situations.

Develop a “safety / reaction plan”. Develop a family safety plan and practice that plan. In the event of your child wandering, time is most important and a quick, efficient response can make a difference. For example:

  • Which family member will call the local police?
  • Which family member(s) will go out looking and where (e.g., the route to the child’s favorite park)?
  • Which family member will call neighbors of homes with pools?
  • Which family member will stay by the phone in case the child is found and returned home or to receive updates?

You can find a sample plan at the Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response and Education (AWAARE) Collaboration website (www.awaare.com). It would also be important for your child’s school or treatment center to implement an emergency plan for elopement.

Secure your home and yard. Secure your home and yard area so that your child is less likely to wander away. Sometimes standard locks are not enough as many children quickly learn how to operate standard locks on doors, windows and gates. Install locks on doors and gates in the yard that your child cannot open (consider location height and lock complexity). In addition, if your home has an alarm system, keep it set to go off whenever a door or window has been opened. If your home does not have an alarm, install an alarm system that signals when a door or window is opened. There are a variety of systems available, including high-tech and low-tech options. You may consider contacting a medical or educational provider, who can help identify resources to help obtain funding for such systems/equipment. Here are some suggested websites:

Install monitoring systems. Additionally, be sure to regularly monitor your child around the house by using a video monitoring system or a baby monitor that has video monitoring capability, such as:

Make the yard and pool area safe! If you have a pool or there is a pool nearby, ensure there is a locked fence surrounding the pool. You can also purchase a pool alarm for yours and/or your neighbors’ pools (e.g., www.poolguard.com). If your child goes into pools unsupervised, you can also use the Safety Turtle (www.safetyturtle.com), which is a wristband that locks securely around your child’s wrist and sounds an alarm if it becomes immersed in water.

Inform law enforcement. It is also critical to inform your police and fire departments that an individual with autism resides in your home. You can do this by calling your local non-emergency telephone number and asking personnel to note in the 911 database that someone with autism lives at your address. If there is ever an emergency, the emergency responders will know in advance that they need to respond accordingly. We also recommend giving local police and fire departments a picture of your child with your contact information on the back which can be helpful in identifying your child if s/he is ever brought to the station by someone else. Another suggestion would be to register with the National Child Identification Program (www.childidprogram.com). The program provides a kit that includes information on everything law enforcement would need in case of an emergency.

Educate neighbors. Another tip is to make sure your trusted neighbors are aware of your situation. Give them a picture along with some helpful information about your child (e.g., s/he is unable to speak, s/he responds to simple commands, s/he likes to swim so please keep your pool gate locked) and about autism in general. Also include your cell phone and home phone numbers, and ask them to call immediately in the event they ever see your child wandering away from the house or walking the street unaccompanied by an adult. Also, assess your child’s current level of communication. For example, can s/he answer social questions and be understood by novel listeners? Strangers will be most likely to ask your child, “What’s your name?” So it is important that your child can be understood by listeners who don’t know your child. If your child will not be understood or can’t relay enough information, you could use medical identification jewelry, such as a bracelet (e.g., www.medicalert.org).

Safety on vacations. Once your home is secure, vacations may still seem unrealistic. However, there are some steps you can take to allow your family to safely stay in a hotel or space other than the safe haven you have created. When planning for a vacation, really think about your vacation destination and determine the potential risks for your child with autism. Specifically, if your child has a history of wandering (especially towards pools or other swimming areas) you may want to ask for a room furthest from the pool area or without an ocean view-or maybe even choose a location that does not have a pool. When checking into the location, inform the hotel staff about your child and advise them that s/he will require supervision at all times and if they see him/her unsupervised to call you immediately. Also, consider using portable door alarms for hotel rooms, a child-locator systems and/or a global positioning systems (GPS). You can find low-tech tracking devices and high-tech devices online.

Teach skills to increase safety. Lastly, it’s essential to proactively teach your child skills that will increase his/her safety. Work with your child’s school or treatment program to include the important safety goals in your child’s individualized education plan (IEP) such as:

  • responding to “stop”
  • answering questions to provide information
  • responding to name
  • holding hands
  • requesting permission to leave the house
  • requesting preferred items/activities
  • waiting appropriately
  • using a cell phone
  • crossing the street safely (if appropriate given age and level of functioning)
  • seeking assistance when lost
  • cooperating with wearing identification jewelry
  • identifying outdoor boundaries (i.e., not leaving the front lawn)
  • learning clear rules about outdoor play (getting a parent if a stranger approaches, asking for help if ball goes into street)
  • swimming more proficiently
  • learning rules about pool use

Check out www.awaare.org for sample letters to submit to your case manager and attach to your child’s IEP. Finally, it cannot be overstated that children with autism require very close supervision when in harm’s way. We hope you find these proactive and teaching suggestions helpful in minimizing your child’s risk.

Additional toolkits and resources

References

Anderson, C., Law, J.K., Daniels, A., Rice, C., Mandell, D. Hagopian, L. & Law, P. (2012). Occurrence and family impact of elopement in children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics, 130(5), 870-877.

Kiely, B., Migdal, T. R., Vettam, S., Adesman, A. (2016). Prevalence and correlates of elopement in a nationally representative sample of children with developmental disabilities in the United States. PLoS ONE 11(2): e0148337, doi:101371/journal. Pone.0148337

About the Authors

Dr. Bridget A. Taylor, PsyD, BCBA is Co-founder and Executive Director of Alpine Learning Group and is Senior Clinical Advisor for Rethink. Dr. Taylor has specialized in the education and treatment of children with autism for the past twenty-five years. She holds a Doctorate of Psychology from Rutgers University, and received her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Columbia University. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Licensed Psychologist. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and serves on the editorial board of Behavioral Interventions. She is a member of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and serves on the Autism Advisory Group for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Dr. Taylor also serves on the Scientific and Community Advisory Board for SPARK a new program at the Simon’s Foundation Autism Research Initiative. Dr. Taylor is active in the autism research community and has published numerous articles and book chapters on effective interventions for autism. She is a national and international presenter and serves in an advisory capacity for autism education and treatment programs both locally and abroad. She has been influential in the development of autism treatment centers both locally and in Italy, India, Canada, France, Australia and Kosovo. Dr. Taylor’s current research interests are in identifying innovative procedures to increase the observational learning repertoires of children with autism.

Kate E. Cerino Britton, EdD, BCBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a certified teacher of the handicapped, and has worked with individuals with autism since 1997. She is currently the Principal of the education program at Alpine Learning Group. She holds a Masters in Education Administration from Caldwell College and Special Education from Long Island University and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University. She serves on the New Jersey Association for Behavior Analysis Board of Directors as the Secretary and Continuing Education Chair and has presented at national and international conferences on increasing socializing, problem solving, small groups and dyad instruction, promoting safety, and augmentative communication.

Pick of the Week: NEW! 3-D Storybooks

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Read and re-enact classic children’s stories with charming 3-D objects! This week, we’re offering 15% off our new collection of 3-D Storybooks. Just apply our promo code 3DSTORIES at check-out!

These classic storybooks represent some of the finest children’s literature available. Each set includes the book, plus a carefully selected set of charming manipulatives to help young students retell and re-enact these wonderful stories in their own words.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie includes everything you will need to feed and take care of this very energetic mouse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A favorite, Goodnight Moon comes with a sturdy paperboard room to create your own diorama with accompanying animal manipulatives and a furniture set!

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo will make counting fun for younger children! This set comes with 56 animals, plus number tiles to make 1–10.

Don’t forget to apply our promo code 3DSTORIES when you check out online or over the phone to take 15% off any of these three great 3-D storybooks!

Tip of the Week: Using Token Economies In Autism Classrooms

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Token economies are used in many different environments. They’re typically simple to implement and achieve desired results for behavior change, especially in autism classrooms. Furthermore, there are tons of research on how to best use them. If you want to get the best results while simultaneously promoting independence in your learners, it is not as simple as just putting some stars on a chart.

 

  • Use a preference assessment. This will help you identify reinforcers your learner may want to earn. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I often use the Reinforcer Assessment for Individuals with Severe Disability (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, & Amari, 1996). You can view it here.
  • Define the target behavior. What behaviors do you want to increase? And how can you define them so they are clearly observable and measurable. For instance, your learner could earn tokens for raising his or her hand in class or responding to a question within 3 to 5 seconds. It is important the behavior is clear and everyone using the token economy agrees on what each behavior looks like.
  • Choose your tokens. When I was a classroom teacher, I had a class-wide token economy in which my students earned paperclips. The paperclips had no value initially, but once the students understood the system, I could put paperclips in the bags of the students who were sitting quietly while still continuing to teach my lesson. It allowed them to reinforce the appropriate behaviors and make the most of instructional time. For other students, I’ve used things such as Blue’s Clues stickers, smiley faces I drew on a piece of paper, and even tally marks on an index card.
  • Choose when and how tokens will be exchanged. With the paperclip system in my classroom, exchanges occurred at the end of the day. After everyone had their bags packed and were sitting at their desk, we did the “paperclip count” and students could decide whether to spend or save. There was a menu of options ranging in price from 10–100 paperclips. It was also a great way to reinforce some basic math skills (such as counting by fives and tens and completing basic operations). For other students, they might be able to exchange tokens after earning a set amount. Depending on their level of ability, that set amount may be very small (such as 2 to 3) or much larger (such as 25). Sometimes, students have a choice of items or activities, while at other times they earn a pre-selected item or activity.
  • Keep it individualized. Conducting a preference assessment helps to make sure it’s individualized to your learner’s preferred items. With my students, the menu of items/activities they could earn was generated through a conversation with them.
  • Decide if you will implement a response cost. For my students, I have never used a system in which they could lose tokens they had already earned. But you may find that utilizing it may help. It all depends on your particular learner, which makes the next point all the more important.
  • Take data. You need to take data so you will know if your token economy is helping you achieve your goal with the target behaviors you have set.
  • Thin the reinforcement over time or change the target behaviors. I do not want any of my learners to be using a token economy for one behavior for all eternity! Let’s say I start with a young learner who is not sitting down for instruction. I may start the token economy by having my student earn a token for every instance in which they are seated correctly for a specified period of time. As my student masters that, I will increase the amount of time required before a token will be earned. Once they’ve achieved the goal I set, I can either fade out the token economy, or keep the token economy but use it for a new behavior.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College.

Pick of the Week: Social Skills Games for Special Needs

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Help students who are struggling with interpreting social situations, reading facial expressions, noticing body language, and understanding idioms and other metaphorical forms of speech with these great social skills games and cards sets. This week, you can also save 15% on any of these games by using our promo code JUSTRIGHT at check-out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Set of 6 Social Skills Board Games targets good social skills and behavior. The six games included in the set cover Morals, Manners, Empathy, Showing Emotions, Friendship, and Managing Emotions. Each game supports the development of social and emotional skills and the consolidation of those already learned.

Clue Cards aims to help students who are struggling with interpreting social situations, reading facial expressions, noticing body language, and understanding idioms and other metaphorical forms of speech. Because the cards are flexible and adaptable, they can be used with both younger and older children, with mild or sever socio-emotional difficulties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Too Close, Too Far, Just Right help kids learn what’s “too close,” “too far,” or “just right” in social situations. Children take turns performing social scenarios described on the Role Play Cards, and then the instructor or group of students decides whether their proximity to each other is appropriate for the particular situation. Focused and engaging, this game is a gentle way to help students with autism and ADHD grasp the idea of appropriate proximity and physical boundaries and thereby improve their relationships.

Too Much, Too Little, Just Right teaches children to pay attention to tone of voice, observe body language, and note how these cues affect the message. Children assume two roles during game play: Messenger and Listener. They learn by observing others and by getting immediate feedback about their own expressive abilities. They learn to adjust volume, expression, gestures, and other physical cues in order to communicate effectively and achieve greater self-control.

I Feel Angry When… teaches children the important skills of learning how to keep their “cool” by expressing their anger in a nonthreatening way. Kids learn to respond in positive ways when they feel angry by using I-Messages, a verbal template that offers a way to communicate how you feel and what you want without offending others.

Social-Skills-Games-Sale_05

*Offer is valid for one-time use only through June 14, 2016 at 11:59pm ET. Not compatible with any other offers. Call our friendly customer service staff at (800) 853-1057 with any inquiries about this promotion. To redeem offer at differentroads.com, enter promo code JUSTRIGHT at checkout.

Using Smartphones and Tablets in Video Modeling For Autism

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There are tons of articles and lists about the best apps for kids with autism. However, you may be missing out on one of the best possible uses of smartphones and tablets for improving services for your learner: the camera app that is already built into the device.

A wealth of research has shown the efficacy of using video modeling to teach children and adults with autism, to train staff on how to implement programs and procedures, and to train parents on interventions. Smartphones and tablets make creating such videos much easier than it was in the past. Here’s why you should be using smartphones and tablets for video modeling for autism, as well as a few things to consider:

  • Be sure you have named the steps of the procedure or program you are modeling. It may be helpful to have those steps written down for the person using the video model.
  • If you are a teacher or practitioner recording your learner, be sure you have consent from the individual’s guardian(s). Also, check in about any recording policies at your school or center.
  • If you are a parent struggling to implement an intervention, request that the teacher or practitioner create a video model. It’s helpful to see someone else doing and to be able to refer back to that video as necessary.
  • If you are taking video of your learner for the first time, you may want to set up the tablet or smartphone without taking video for a few sessions before you actually create the video model. This will help avoid problems with the learner changing his or her behavior because a new (and often desirable) object is in the environment.
  • Consult the literature! As I mentioned before, there is a huge amount of research on video modeling. In recent years, it has been used to teach children with autism to make requests (Plavnick & Ferreri, 2011), increase treatment integrity for teachers implementing interventions (DiGennaro-Reed, Codding, Catania, & Maguire, 2010), teach children how to engage in pretend play (MacDonald, Sacramone, Mansfield, Wiltz, & Ahearn, 2009), increase social initiations of children with autism (Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2004), and more.

With the easy-to-use technology at our fingertips every day, video modeling is a simple and efficient way to demonstrate a new skill. This basic use of smartphones and tablets should not be overlooked because it can have a huge impact on teaching learners with autism new skills or helping parents and staff implement stronger programs and interventions.

References

DiGennaro-Reed, F. D., Codding, R., Catania, C. N., & Maguire, H. (2010). Effects of video modeling on treatment integrity of behavioral interventions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43(2), 291–295.

MacDonald, R., Sacramone, S,. Mansfield, R., Witz, K., & Ahearn, W.H. (2009). Using video modeling to teach reciprocal pretend play to children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42(1), 43–55.

Nikopoulous, C.K. & Keenan, M. (2004). Effects of video modeling on social initiations by children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37(1), 93–96.

Plavnick, J. B., & Ferreri, S. J. (2011). Establishing verbal repertoires in children with autism using function-based video modeling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 747–766.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College.

Pick of the Week: Social Skills by Dr. Jed Baker – 20% Off!

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Save on these fantastic social skills materials from Dr. Jed Baker this week! Just use our promo code SOCIAL20 at the check-out.

The Social Skills Picture Book is a photographic picture book that depicts children demonstrating various social skills broken down into concrete steps. This book looks at the importance of visual aides in teaching children with autism. Different methods of teaching social skills are outlined, explaining initial instruction, review and generalization of skills. Some of the skills illustrated include:

  • Sharing
  • Taking Turns
  • Tone of Voice
  • Asking to Play
  • Showing Understanding

A concluding chapter addresses promoting peer acceptance through sensitivity training programs for students of various age groups and school staff. This is a complete and practical resource on social skills training for students of all ages!

The Social Skills Training Manual is a comprehensive how-to manual for teaching and developing social and communication skills in students with Asperger Syndrome and related pervasive developmental disorders. This manual covers 70 social skills that most commonly cause difficulty for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Each skill is presented with activity sheets listing how to demonstrate, practice and reinforce the skill, both in the classroom and at home, and also contains a reproducible handout.

 

“Be a Friend: Songs for Social Skills Training” contains 16 original songs that teach invaluable social skills on an audio CD. Research has shown that learning occurs more rapidly when children are highly motivated to attend. The catchy tunes include:

  1. Be A Friend
  2. Hello
  3. Personal Space
  4. Eye Contact
  5. Volume of Speech
  6. Sharing
  7. Turns
  8. Ask to Play
  9. Compromise
  10. Complement
  11. Sensitive Topics
  12. Teasing
  13. Accepting No
  14. Making Mistakes
  15. Calm Down
  16. Feelings

Tip of the Week: Could Teaching Environments Affect Solving Problem Behaviors?

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A few years ago, I went in to observe an ABA therapist I was supervising. The first thing I noticed when I walked in to observe was that she did her entire session at a long wooden table, sitting side-by-side with her student. She was working with a ten-year-old girl with Aspergers. One of her goals was to increase eye contact during conversation, but her student wasn’t making much progress in this area. She had consulted the research and was considering a new behavior intervention plan, and wanted my input before doing so. I wondered could teaching environments affect solving problem behaviors?

After watching for about ten minutes, I asked if we could change the seating arrangement. We moved her student to the end of the table, then had the therapist sit next to her, but on the perpendicular side. This way, eye contact was much easier as they were able to face each other. The student’s eye contact improved instantly with a small environmental change. (Of course, once we made the environmental change, we worked together to address other changes that could be made to encourage eye contact.)

Environmental changes can be a quick and simple solution to some problem behaviors. Here are some questions to consider in order to alter the environment effectively:

Is it possible that a change in furnishings could change the behavior? For example, moving a child’s locker closer to the classroom door may decrease tardiness, putting a child’s desk in the furthest corner from the door may decrease opportunities for elopement, or giving your child a shorter chair that allows them to put their feet on the ground may decrease the amount of times they kick their sibling from across the table. You may also want to consider partitions that allow for personal space, clearly-marked spaces for organizing materials, proximity to students and distractions (such as windows or the hallway).

Can you add something to the environment to change the behavior? For example, your student may be able to focus better on independent work if you provide noise-cancelling headphones, line up correctly if a square for him/her to stand is taped to the floor, or your child may be more efficient with completing chores if they’re allowed to listen to their favorite music while doing so. I’ve also seen some cases in which the teacher wears a microphone that wirelessly links to a student’s headphones, increasing that student’s ability to attend to the teacher’s instruction.

Will decreasing access to materials impact the behavior? For example, removing visuals such as posters and student work may increase your student’s ability to attend or locking materials in a closet when not in use may decrease your student’s ability to destroy or damage materials.

Will increasing access to materials impact the behavior? For example, making a box of pre-sharpened pencils may decrease the behavior of getting up frequently to sharpen pencils. (I recently visited a classroom in which the teacher put pre-sharpened pencils in a straw dispenser on her desk, and each week one student was assigned the job of sharpening pencils at the end of the day).

Whenever you do make changes to the environment, you may want to consider if the changes require fading. For example, if I make a square on the floor out of tape to teach my student where to stand in the line, I will want to fade that out of over time to increase their independence.

A final consideration is that whatever impact you expect the environmental change to have should be clearly defined and measured. Take data to ensure that the intervention is working so you can make adjustments as necessary.

For more detailed information on modifying environments, there is a great article from the Council for Exceptional Children by Caroline A. Guardino and Elizabeth Fullerton entitled “Changing Behaviors by Changing the Classroom Environment.” Click here for the article.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College.

Pick of the Week: Executive Function Books & Curricula

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Executive function is a set of mental processes that help us organize, make plans, focus our attention, remember things, and juggle multiple tasks. This week, you can SAVE 15%* on any of our books on executive function in students with autism. Use use our promo code EXECFXN at check-out!

Executive Function Books

Unstuck & On Target is a robust classroom-based curriculum book that helps educators and service providers teach executive function skills to high-functioning students with autism through ready-to-use lessons, materials lists, and intervention tips that reinforce lessons throughout the school day. Topics touched upon include flexibility vocabulary, coping strategies, setting goals, and flexibility in friendship. Lessons will target specific skills, free up the instructor’s time, fit easily into any curriculum, ensure generalization to strengthen home-school connection, and best of all, make learning fun and engaging for students in the classroom! The guide also comes with an accompanying CD-ROM that contains printable game cards, student worksheets, and other materials for each lesson.

Solving Executive Function Challenges is a practical resource for parents, teachers, and therapists helping high-functioning students with autism improve on their executive function skills. To be used with or without the curriculum Unstuck & On Target, this book contains strategies to teach EF skills, including setting and achieving goals and being flexible, as well as ideas for accommodations and actions to address common problems, such as keeping positive, avoiding overload, and coping.

Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents explains how executive function processes develop and why they play such a key role in children’s behavior and school performance. With more than 24 reproducible checklists, questionnaires, planning sheets, and assessment tools, this manual provides step-by-step guidelines and practical tools to promote executive skill development by implementing environmental modifications, individualized instruction, coaching, and whole-class interventions.

*Promotion is valid until May 24, 2016 at 11:59pm EST. Offer cannot be applied to previous purchases, combined with anyother offers, transferred, refunded, or redeemed and/or exchanged for cash or credit. Different Roads to Learning reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time. To redeem offer at differentroads.com, enter promo code EXECFXN at checkout.

Tip of the Week: What Is Reinforcement In ABA?

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Sometimes, people hear about ABA and equate reinforcement with bribery. But the two are quite different, and it’s important to understand those differences. First, let’s look at bribery. The definition of bribery is “to persuade someone to act in one’s favor by a gift of money or other inducement.” The first thing to note is that bribery helps the person persuading, not the person completing the action. The second thing to note is that when we consider bribery with children, it’s often implemented when the child is already engaging in an inappropriate behavior. For instance, you might see a child throw himself on the floor in the grocery store and begin kicking and screaming. If the father says, “If you get up, I’ll buy the candy bar,” that would be considered bribery.

So what is reinforcement, then? Reinforcement is anything that occurs immediately after the behavior that increases the future likelihood of the behavior. And reinforcement occurs all the time in real life! If I turn on a new radio station and it happens to be playing by favorite song, I am more likely to turn to that radio station again in the future. If I send a text to a friend and she responds immediately, I am more likely to text her again in the future. If my stomach is upset, then I drink a seltzer and it calms my stomach, I am more likely to drink seltzer in the future when my stomach hurts.

Where confusion often sets in is when we plan reinforcement to increase the behavior of an individual. It’s important to understand that the goal in ABA teaching should always be to move from planned reinforcement to unplanned or natural reinforcement. Think of it as jumpstarting a behavior that will benefit the individual. For instance, I have a student that would run into the street if you let go of his hand. Part of teaching procedure was to teach him to stop at the curb. This behavior is obviously a benefit to him and helps increase his safety. When he stopped at the curb, he earned a token. When he had earned five tokens, he earned access to the iPad. After he was successfully stopping at the curb, we taught him the next step was to reach for the adult’s hand. He no longer earned tokens for stopping at the curb, but he did earn tokens for completing both steps. We continued in this way until he was appropriately stopping at the curb, reaching for the adult’s hand, then waiting for the sign to say “Walk,” looking both ways, then walking into the street. It was a lengthy process, but planned reinforcement in the form of tokens was the best method for teaching him to be safe on the street.

A final note about reinforcement: it varies by individual. Some individuals are highly reinforced by chocolate or books or access to music. Others are highly reinforced by playing with a ball or going for a walk. In ABA, we don’t just walk in and give a kid M&M after M&M and hope their behavior magically changes. The first step is to conduct a preference assessment. A common one I use can be found here. This tool will help guide you to the most effective reinforcers for your learner and make your intervention more efficient.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College.