Tag Archives: special education

Guest Article: “Seamless Separation: Transitioning to School” by Bridge Kids of New York

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As our kids and students prepare to go back to school, we thought it was the perfect time to share this wonderful guest post on transitioning into a new school or classroom, submitted to us by Bridge Kids of New York. Read on below for exclusive tips on how to best help you and your child have a smooth transition back to school.

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Seamless Separation: Transitioning to School
by Bridge Kids of New York, LLC

When your young child enters into a school or daycare setting for the first time, the transition can be challenging for both you and your child!  This may be the first time your child has had to navigate a new environment without your support and it may be the first time you have had to entrust your little one to someone else.  Of course this has the potential to be stressful for everyone involved!

Here are a few proactive tips to help both you and your child have a smooth transition:

  • Try to meet with your child’s teacher prior to the first day of class.  Discuss your concerns, goals, and values.  Share important information about your child and ask the teacher to fill you in on any key information you should know about the classroom and/or the teacher’s approach. This conversation may help to ease your anxiety and build trust between you and your child’s new teacher.
  • Establish a communication system.  Talk to the teacher and/or the school’s administration to determine the best means of exchanging important information and find out how frequently you can expect communication.  This will help to establish trust, create consistency between home and school, and keep you informed as to all of your child’s triumphs!
  • Have a game plan for the first week of school.  Although we certainly hope you and your child will transition to school without any difficulties, we always advise that you be prepared just in case!  Expect that the separation may initially be challenging for your child.  Talk to the teacher and school administration ahead of time and develop a plan for how you can help your child to be successful.  Rather than waiting for a difficult and emotionally-charged situation to arise and then reacting to it, we suggest that you take proactive measures and develop a plan when both you and your child are calm.  We highly recommend that you consult with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst when developing this plan to ensure its integrity as well as the safety of all involved.
  • Try to remain calm and confident for your child.  Children are often very good at reading our moods, emotions, and energy.  If you enter into the school transition with outward uncertainty and nervousness, you may send your child the message that he should feel the same way.  Instead, try to remain calm and positive about the change—model the behavior you want to see.
  • Prepare your child for the transition to school.  Discuss this new chapter in a way that expresses excitement and positivity.  Provide your child with clear information on what to expect.  Surprises or confusion can make this process more challenging for your child so do your best to help him understand what will happen.
  • Create a “Going to School” storybook.  Consider creating a fun storybook to help your child get ready for this new transition.  Your storybook can include both text and pictures of the school, your child’s teacher, your family, and even some of his classmates (with consent from those parents, of course).  You will want to provide your child with a step-by-step guide for what to expect.  Using actual photographs may help your child to feel familiar with the school environment before the first day.  We suggest reading this storybook to your child for at least 1-2 weeks prior to starting school, in the morning before school, and again after school until he/she is adjusted.  You may even send the storybook to school with him.  These types of books help to provide important information and also serve as a cue to remind us to talk about it!
  • Do a dry run.  Ask the school for permission to bring your child for a visit before school starts.  Allowing your child to see the classroom and meet the school staff may help him to feel more comfortable on the first day.  You may even consider taking pictures of your child in the school building or with her teacher to post in her bedroom or to include in your storybook.  If school is in session and the administration gives you permission, you may even consider trying to walk out of the room for a few minutes during the visit to assess how your child will adapt to you leaving later on.  (As a pointer, try not to make a huge production out of leaving!  A dramatic exit may lead to a dramatic response!)
  • Practice separating from your child in familiar environments.  If separation is very challenging for your child, you may want to consider practicing this separation in a familiar environment.  It may be overwhelming for your child to adjust to separation from you and the introduction of a new environment and new people all at the same time.  In preparation for school, try separating from your child in environments where she already feels safe and secure (e.g. in your home).  Provide your child with lots of praise and reinforcement for separating from you calmly and successfully!
  • Gradually increase the length of separation.  Some children benefit from gradual and systematic separation.  You may initially just try walking out of the room for 10 seconds, then 30 seconds, then 1 minute, and gradually increase from there.
  • Try to engage your child in a favorite activity before separating.  By doing this, you are pairing the separation with something your child enjoys, which may make the separation itself less aversive.  It may also serve as somewhat of a distraction, so your child is less likely to focus on your absence.  Remember to do this proactively, not in response to problematic behavior.

Important Note:  The tips outlined in this post are proactive measures only.  We hope that applying this advice will help to prevent or reduce interfering behavior and set your child up for success.  However, despite these proactive measures, some children may engage in interfering behavior that is dangerous to themselves and/or to others.  We do not recommend implementing a procedure that may result in an unsafe situation.  For this reason, we highly suggest you consult with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) prior to implementing intervention procedures.  A properly trained professional can assist you in keeping the situation safe while helping your child to be successful.

We hope these pointers will help to make the school transition smooth for both you and your child!  Of course this list of tips is not comprehensive and our behavior team is full of other suggestions, so feel free to contact us for support!  You may find our upcoming Seamless Separation Workshop to be helpful!  Click here to register for this FREE workshop.  We understand that every child and family is unique and that successful transitioning may need to be individualized based on your unique needs.  We are always here to help!

For more information about Bridge Kids of New York, please email info@bridgekidsny.com or visit www.bridgekidsny.com.

Tip of the Week: How to Implement a Successful Behavioral Intervention

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Creating a successful behavior intervention is more challenging than it first appears. Below, I’ve listed four essential parts for changing maladaptive behaviors and increasing desired behaviors. Most of the time, when a behavior intervention is not working, one or more of these steps has been neglected.

1.  Find a BCBA or ABA provider who can guide you through the process. Getting help from someone with experience in addressing challenging behaviors is an essential first step. They should be a wealth of information about each of the following steps, provide check-ins and troubleshooting during the intervention process, and maintain data on the behavior to insure the intervention is working.

2.  Identify the function of the behavior. There are four reasons that any of us behave: attention, escape/avoidance, access to a tangible (such as chips or a toy train), and automatic reinforcement (meaning physical sensations that are not related to social interactions, including sound, taste, touch, or a response to movement). A BCBA can be especially useful in helping to identify the function of the behavior. They may utilize an ABC chart to determine the function, which means they observe the behavior and note it’s antecedent, what the behavior looks like, and the immediate consequence. If the ABC chart is not helpful, they may perform a more formal Functional Analysis. Before any intervention is put in place, all parties interacting with the child should understand the function (or reason) for the problematic behavior.

3.  Provide a replacement behavior. As a part of the intervention, a replacement behavior should be provided. A BCBA or ABA provider should be able to help you find appropriate replacement behaviors for the problematic behavior. For example, with one student who was chewing his shirt, we introduced a replacement behavior of chewing gum. With another student who was throwing his iPad, we used tape to put an “X” on his desk and taught him to place it on the “X.” The idea is to provide an appropriate behavior that is incompatible with the problematic behavior. But that’s not always possible. For example, one of my former students was banging her head on the table during instruction. We taught her to request a break by touching a picture of a stop sign. Realistically, she was able to bang her head while simultaneously touching the stop sign, but once she learned that she got to escape the activity by touching the stop sign, she stopped banging her head in order to escape. It’s important to note that using the stop sign wouldn’t work for all head-banging behavior, but we had identified the function of the behavior and were able to introduce a replacement behavior that served the same function while meeting the skill level and needs of that individual student.

4.  Provide reinforcement for appropriate behavior. A specific plan for providing reinforcement for use of a replacement behavior and any other desired behaviors is essential. The reinforcement for the appropriate replacement behavior should serve the same function as the problematic behavior. This can sometimes be difficult to achieve, but without this aspect of intervention, you may see slow success, or no success at all.

Again, creating a multi-pronged intervention can be a challenge. It’s important to seek out help, and to take a look at research related to the problem behavior you are trying to address. It is possible to create a strong intervention that has a huge impact on your learner, but it must include the aspects listed above to have the highest potential for success.

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.

Pick of the Week: NEW! Caterpillar Token Board – Reinforce and monitor behavioral success

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Reinforce and monitor behavioral success with our brand new Caterpillar Token Board, a versatile chart that’s perfect for focusing on a specific task, behavior, or goal. This week, you can save 15%* on your Caterpillar Token Board by entering or mentioning promo code CATERP1 online or over the phone during check-out.

With a cute, furry friend, kids will be motivated to work and stay on task both at home and in school. Use the Caterpillar Token Board for a short-term goal, such as helping your child sit still at the dinner table, or getting their homework done without complaining, as well as tracking long-term goals. This token board serves as a portable reward system to encourage positive behavior and reduce anxiety. The Caterpillar Token Board comes with 8 reusable reward stars, a magnetic strip on the back for easy display, and a Suggestion Guide. Measures approximately 9 x 5 inches.

Don’t forget to take 15% off* your order of the new Caterpillar Token Board by applying CATERP1 at check-out!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on August 19, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Simplifying the Science: Are You Giving Your Student Enough Freedom?

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One of my favorite research papers was published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis in 1990 by Diane J. Bannerman, Jan B. Sheldon, James A. Sherman, and Alan E. Harchik. The title is Balancing the Right to Habilitation with the Right to Personal Liberties: The Rights of People with Developmental Disabilities to Eat Too Many Doughnuts and Take a Nap. It’s an in-depth look at the level of control practitioners can exert over the individuals they serve, and the implications of that control.

It’s important to consider the ethical implications of requiring the individuals we work with to complete specified exercises at scheduled times, eat a healthy diet for all meals, and limit TV. I have seen situations in which the practitioner is holding the individual with developmental disabilities to a higher standard than they hold themselves! Most of you reading this can probably quickly rattle off the name of the last TV show you “binge-watched” or the delicious ice cream you enjoyed too much of.

So how do we teach making appropriate choices to individuals with developmental disabilities without denying the personal freedoms we all value?

One quote from the paper states, “Not only do people strive for freedom in a broad sense they also enjoy making simple choices, such as whether to engage in unproductive, though harmless, activities, like watching sitcoms on television, eating too many doughnuts, taking time off from work, or taking a nap before dinner.” In an effort to teach our learners independent skills, we often neglect to teach meaningful decision-making that reflects the types of decisions neurotypical adults make every day. Since the paper was originally published, there has been more work done on promoting decision-making skills for learners with developmental disabilities, but the issues described in the paper are still relevant today.

Here are a few key considerations described:

  • We need to consider client preference when creating daily schedules, goals, and access to preferred activities.
  • A client’s refusal to participate in an activity may not be a failure to teach appropriately but an expression of preference.
  • It is important for practitioners to teach choice-making. The paper states, “Many people require teaching to help them discover their own preferences and learn to make responsible choices.” We should consider this as an essential step towards promoting independence in our clients.
  • Inflexible schedules for clients can sometimes be obstacles to opportunities for choice-making.

The paper goes on to cite multiple research articles and laws for both sides of the argument about the right to choice for those with developmental disabilities. You can read the full text here.  Overall, I consider this article to be essential reading for anyone working with clients with disabilities. It provides a lot of information to support its final conclusion that “all people have the right to eat too many doughnuts and take a nap” and we have the responsibility to teach clients how to exercise such freedoms.

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.

Pick of the Week: Following Auditory Directions—Improve Auditory Processing of Visual & Spatial Information

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Improve auditory attention, processing, and memory of visual and spatial information with Following Auditory Directions by SLP Jean Gilliam DeGaetano, and save 15%* on it when you apply our promo code FAD15 at checkout!

With 33 different cartoon illustrations and accompanying instructor directions, this unit will help your students stay engaged and attentive, as they listen carefully and translate auditory directions onto their picture pages. Each instructor’s page also has directions so that parents may review lessons at home as needed. Example directions include: Circle the picture that shows Fido in front of the front door; Find the picture where Fido is in front of the dog house, and color Fido brown; and Put dots on the hippopotamus that has painted toenails and is wearing a bow.

Spatial concepts include: front, top, in, on, behind, next to, close to, long, short, most, different, none, almost, beginning, end, few, dirty, clean, inside, under, near, tall, medium, between, middle, over, center, closed and open.

Don’t forget! You can take 15% off* your order of Following Auditory Directions this week only when you mention or enter promo code FAD15 at checkout!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on July 29, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Tip of the Week: Teaching Language—Focus on the Stage, Not the Age

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Teaching language skills is one of the most frequent needs for children with autism, but also one of the most misunderstood skillsets amongst both parents and practitioners. The desire to hear your learner speak in full sentences can be overwhelming, making it especially difficult to take a step back and consider what it means to communicate and how communication skills develop in neurotypical children. Many times we get hung up on what a child should be capable of communicating at a certain age, rather than focusing on what they are capable of communicating at this stage of development.

Many practitioners and curricula utilize Brown’s Stages of Language Development.* Brown described the first five stages of language development in terms of the child’s “mean length of utterance” (or MLU) as well as the structure of their utterances.


From aacinstitute.org

Sometimes it is necessary to compare a child to his or her same-age peers in order to receive services or measure progress, but it can be detrimental to focus on what a child should be doing at a specific age instead of supporting them and reinforcing them for progress within their current stage.

Research has suggested that teaching beyond the child’s current stage results in errors, lack of comprehension, and difficulty with retention. Here are some common errors you may have witnessed:

  • The child learns the phrase “I want _____ please.” This phrase is fine for “I want juice, please” or “I want Brobee, please,” but it loses meaning when overgeneralized to “I want jump, please” or “I want play, please.” It’s better to allow your learner to acquire hundreds of 1-2 word mands (or requests) before expecting them to speak in simple noun+verb mands.
  • The child learns to imitate only when the word “say” is used. Then the child makes statements such as “say how are you today,” as a greeting or “say I’m sorry,” when they bump into someone accidentally. Here, the child clearly has some understanding of when the phrases should be used without understanding the meanings of the individual words within each phrase.
  • The child learns easily overgeneralized words such as “more.” This is useful at times, but the child can start using it for everything. Instead of saying “cookie” he’ll say “more.” Instead of saying “train,” he’ll say “more.” And he may say “more” when the desired item is not present, leaving the caregiver frustrated as he/she tries to guess what the child is requesting. Moreover, as language begins to develop, he may misuse it by saying things such as “more up, please.”
  • The child learns to say “Hello, how are you today?” upon seeing a person entering a room. A child comes into the classroom and the learner looks up, says “Hello, how are you today?” The child responds, “Great! Look at the cool sticker I got!” Your learner then doesn’t respond at all, or may say “fine,” as he has practiced conversations of greeting.

These are only a few of the common language errors you may see. While you may want your learner to speak in longer sentences, your goal should be to have them communicate effectively. With this goal in mind, it becomes essential to support them at their current stage, which means it’s essential to assess them and understand how to help them make progress.

This is why I always use the VB-MAPP to assess each child and make decisions about language instruction. I need to have a full understanding of how the learner is using language, and then move them through each stage in a clear progression. I may want the child to say “Hello, how are you today?” But when I teach them that, do they understand those individual words? Do they comprehend what today means as opposed to yesterday or tomorrow? Do they generalize the use of “how” to other questions?

As you make treatment decisions for your learner, think about their current stage and talk about how to support your child with both a Speech Language Pathologist and an ABA therapist.

*Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

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.

Pick of the Week: Auditory Timer – ONLY $5 This Week!

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DRT207Keep your student on schedule with our popular Auditory Timer, and get yours for $7.95 only $5 this week (37% savings)! Enter promo code TIMER5 to redeem your savings at check out!

Our versatile white Auditory Timer can count both forwards and backwards, up to 99 minutes. The timer also counts seconds, and beeps when time has elapsed. You can also set it to go off in increments, such as every 5 minutes, with the simple push of one button. Press “START/STOP” to begin or stop timing. Then press both the “MIN” and “SEC” buttons simultaneously to reset the time. The personal timer also has a magnetized clip on the back so that it can be attached to pockets, belts, or the refrigerator. Only 1 AAA battery required.

Don’t forget—you can get your Auditory Timer for only $5 this week (37% savings) by using promo code TIMER5 at check out!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on July 15, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Modified Instructions for Laundry Jumble Game

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We’re excited to bring you the fifth installment of our series of Modified Instructions, created by Sam Blanco, BCBA. In this installment, we’re introducing Sam’s Modified Instructions for Laundry Jumble Game, one of our favorite matching and sorting games. Laundry Jumble is an adorable matching and sorting game that also develops tactile and fine motor skills.

Beautifully illustrated cards display various animals that tell users which article of clothing they need to find. Reach into the dryer to find the piece of clothing that matches the card using only your sense of touch. Make a match and you can keep your card. Watch out for the Skunk’s undies, though! Draw that and you lose a card. This is a fun and engaging game that encourages tactile exploration and fine motor skills with laughter.

Included in the game are 11 pieces of washable doll–size clothing, 30 game cards featuring full–color illustrations, and a fabric dryer measuring 8″L x 6.5″W x 10″H. Don’t forget to download our free Modified Instructions for Laundry Jumble Game today!

Sam’s Modified Instructions present 3-4 additional ways to play a mainstream game to make it most useful and accessible for our students with special needs.  These alternative instructions break down each adapted game by:

  • Age/Skill Level
  • Number of Players
  • Object
  • Skills Required
  • Materials Needed
  • Prep
  • Instructions
  • Considerations

Pick of the Week: Decisions ColorCards – Teach reasoning skills in problem situations

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Inspire rational decision-making with Decisions, a set of 30 beautifully clear images printed on large photo cards. This week only, you can take 15% off* your order of the Decisions ColorCards by entering in promo code DECIS6 at checkout!

Each card depicts an unexpected, unwelcome, or difficult situation to encourage logical thinking, using reasoning skills, and making prompt and rational decisions. Each scene presents a problem or requires specific decisions to be made, and varies from minor difficulties that upset daily life (e.g. missing a bus, waiting for a visitor) to elements of risk and danger (e.g. finding a pan on fire in the kitchen, stopping a water leak from the ceiling).

With the Decisions ColorCards, students will learn to:
  • make responsible choices
  • develop independent thought
  • keep safe
  • recognize consequences of intervening
  • understand the differences between minor difficulties and emergencies
  • find a balance between acting quickly and considering all aspects of a situation

Also included in this set is a CD-Rom that features printable versions of each card and graphic organizers that are useful for prompting meaning conversation.

Don’t forget—this week only, save 15%* on your purchase of the Decisions ColorCards by using or mentioning promo code DECIS6 when you check out online or over the phone with us!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on June 24, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Data Sheets Now Available for Hooray for Play!

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I get pretty excited about pretend play and it isn’t unusual for me to engage colleagues at length in a conversation about how it can be incorporated into a learner’s home program using naturalistic behavioral methods. I can go on and on about all of the various play schemas that can be taught, my observations regarding which play schemas are of the greatest interest to the learner’s peer group at the moment, and regular items from around the house that can be incorporated as props.

The Hooray for Play! cards break down all of this information into a framework that is easy to reference and remember. Additionally, the simple illustrations provide visual stimuli to facilitate conversation about various schemas, to prime a student before play begins, or to help facilitate choice during pretend play. However, it isn’t long into our conversation when my colleagues ask, “What about the data?” Of course, this is where the conversation ends up because in an ABA program, all decisions are data-driven and based on observable and clearly defined target behaviors. However, with something as fluid as pretend play, it can sometimes feel a bit daunting to break the play down into smaller parts without scripting it completely.

The Hooray for Play! Data Sheets allow for the most salient elements of a play schema to be taught while still leaving room for variation and flexibility, which can be critical when generalizing to peers. Additionally, the targets are not predetermined so that they can be individualized for the learner. Below, you will find an example of the data sheet with some rows filled in to illustrate what it might look like. A blank version is also available in the set, so that it can be individualized for a specific learner.

HoorayForPlay_DataSheets_Example

There are a variety of techniques founded in the science of Applied Behavior Analysis that are effective in increasing and improving play skills. Research-based procedures can range from very structured to more naturalistic and should be chosen based on an approach best suited for the learner.

Some examples include:

  • Video Modeling
  • Play Scripts
  • Pivotal Response Training (PRT)
  • Peer Training

References:
Charlop-Christy, M. H., Le, L., & Freeman, K. A. (2000). A comparison of video modeling with in vivo modeling for teaching children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30 (6), 537-552.

Goldstein, H. & Cisar, C.L. (1992). Promoting interaction during sociodramatic play: teaching scripts to typical preschoolers and classmates with disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 265–80.

Koegel, L.K., Koegel, R.L., Harrower, J.K. & Carter, C.M. (1999). Pivotal response intervention. I: Overview of approach. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 25, 174-85.

Stahmer, A.C. (1999). Using pivotal response training to facilitate appropriate play in children with autistic spectrum disorders. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 15, 29–40.

Pierce, K. & Schreibman, L. (1997). Using peer trainers to promote social behavior in autism: Are they effective at enhancing multiple social modalities? Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 12, 207–18.