Behaviors and the Environment

One of the core principles of Applied Behavior Analysis is that behaviors are related to the environment in which they occur. And no, we are not talking about global warming nor are we going to tell you to “go green”. When we talk about the environment, we are referring to (a) the physical setting in which a behavior occurs and (b) the behaviors of the people who interact with the child.

a.     Physical Setting: This means the places where he/she spends the most time, home, school etc.  Lack or abundance of sensory stimuli such as lighting, temperature, noises, clutter, activities, curriculum, demanding routines (or lack thereof) are some examples.

b.     But behaviors are also affected by other factors in the environment such as the people and how they behave. “You change child behaviors by changing the behaviors of the adults who deal with that child. Pure and simple” (Cipani and Schock- 2011)

When attempting to change a behavior, a behaviorist’s first step is to assess environmental factors that trigger behaviors. Something either IS in the environment or IS NOT in the environment, which is causing the occurrence of the behavior.  One example (discussed in a previous blog, “Tantrums in Public”) of this is meltdowns that commonly occur at large retail stores like Target or supermarkets.

Another example is when parents tell us that their child behaves well at school but not at home or vice versa. When analyzing the situation one easily concludes that since the child is capable of handling himself at school, there must be something in the environment or something missing from the environment at home (or vice versa) that is causing the problematic behaviors. 

If you are experiencing problems with your child’s behaviors, take a look at some of the environmental factors that could be contributing to the problem. A few examples include:

-        Lack of structure and consistency, or too demanding routines, which can increase anxiety and/or boredom, some of the top causes of acting out in children.

-        Physical environments that don’t fit the child’s sensory needs (like the one described at Target).

-        Lack of opportunities to release energy appropriately, such as when a child is expected to sit still for too long at the dinner table or restaurant.

-        Unrealistic expectations: too many “No’s” and “Must Do’s”.

-        Lack of following through with instructions, giving in to challenging behaviors.

-        Others’ undesired behaviors that the child imitates.

-        Adults’ stress.  

If parents pay attention to the environmental factors and become aware of the cues that a meltdown is about to occur, it can go a long way in prevention.

 

Daniel Adatto, Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Behavior Detectives

The behaviorist was observing the student when the teacher said “We’ve tried everything, nothing works with him.” The behaviorist response was “There is something, we haven’t found it yet.”

B. F. Skinner (1904- 1990) is considered the father of Behavior Analysis, the environmental approach that revolutionized the understanding and treatment of behaviors. Throughout the years I’ve been gathering some of his assertions regarding the field of behaviorism. Here are some jewels, in my opinion.

“One can picture a good life by analyzing one’s feelings, but one can achieve it only by arranging environment contingencies.” 1

“The subject is always right.” 2

“Control the environment and you will see order in behavior.” 3

“Responses in relation to environments were precisely the objects of study for those psychologists who called themselves behaviorists, and Skinner counted himself among them. For Skinner, behavior was worthy of study in its own right, not as a symptom to be used as a window on physiological processes.” ₄

“The task of a behavior analyst is to discover all the variables of which probability of response is a function. It is not an easy assignment, but it is at least an explicit one.” 5

This is what the behaviorist meant when she said “We haven’t found it yet.” A good behaviorist does not rest on the assumption that there is nothing to do because the child is “broken” or “there is something wrong with him.”

It’s detective work. Understanding the variables that elicit the behaviors involves searching the environment for evidence: tight routines and structure, or lack of; physical setting, such as furniture, lighting, ventilation, space, big or small groups, etc.; and last but not least the behaviors of the people who interact with that child. How is the parent/teacher giving directions? Are caregivers frustrated and reacting violently to the child (yelling, threatening, punishing)? Are the curriculum, materials and demands appropriate for this child? Are the tasks the child is expected to complete too difficult, long and/or boring?

I worked with this family a few years ago. We eventually discovered the main problem was homework. It used to take hours for this child to complete his work, and a great deal of nagging and yelling from his mom. When I asked him why he did not want to do homework, he responded without hesitation “Because it’s boring.” And it was. Basically, it was “paper-pencil” work. After consulting with the teacher the student was allowed to do homework using the computer, a preferred activity of his. The problem was reduced by about 75% overnight.

Of course it is not always overnight, but oftentimes simple environmental changes suffice. For more information, see our blog “Behaviors and Environment” at http://totaleducationsolutions.blogspot.com/search?q=Behaviors+and+the+environment

Ask the detectives, become one yourself. And stay away from the excuse “nothing works.” Something works. You just haven’t found it yet. Your child and your family will thank you.

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

cadatto@tesidea.com

 

References

1.     Skinner, Notebooks, p.127 1983

2.     Skinner, 1948, p 240

3.     Skinner, 1967, p. 399

4.      J.E.A.B- Nov 1999, 72–461 NUMBER 3. CHARLES CATANIA AND VICTOR G. LATIES

5.      J.E.A.B.- VOLUME 9, MAY, 1966- B. F. SKINNER

 

Pivotal Behaviors

Individuals with developmental disabilities present a myriad of challenging behaviors. Addressing each one of them separately can be a daunting task for parents, staff and the clients themselves. Successfully addressing multiple behaviors with one intervention is often necessary. PRT (Pivotal Response Training- Koegel, O’Dell and Koegel, 1987) focuses on critical behaviors that are central to many areas of functioning, such as communication and social skills. PRT is built on the premise that improvement in these key pivotal behaviors opens the door to improvement in other areas as well. In other words, teaching pivotal behaviors produces widespread positive effects on other behaviors.  

This is a positive, naturalistic behavior intervention based on Applied Behavior Analysis principles that focus on teaching specific behaviors in the natural settings and is used successfully to help children with ASD and other developmental disabilities. Key pivotal behaviors addressed include motivation and responsivity to multiple cues. 

Motivation: Children with developmental disabilities are frequently viewed as lacking motivation to initiate and respond appropriately to stimuli, to learn new tasks or engage in their social environments. They demonstrate this lack of motivation by engaging in non-compliance, tantrums or other challenging behaviors to escape tasks and social interactions. They may not initiate conversations or ask and answer questions. These children are so difficult to motivate perhaps because since they often fail, they have learned not to try.

Thus, motivation is a key component of a behavior modification program. Lack of motivation constitutes a barrier to teaching appropriate behaviors. A motivated child is interested in learning. Research indicates that increase motivation has a dramatic positive effect on children’s learning (Koegel, O’Dell, & Dunlap).

I like the phrase “We can not teach if we cannot motivate” because it summarizes the importance of focusing on motivation.

Responsivity: Children with developmental disabilities are characterized by “stimulus overselectivity”, and attention deficit in which they select or focus on only one part of the environment or an object. A child may focus only on round part of an object such as the wheels on a car. Increasing children’s responsivity to multiple cues is an important pivotal behavior that may help them to learn more from typical educational strategies and naturally occurring situations, which ultimately leads to engage more in desirable and functional social behaviors.

Parents and professional should focus and take advantage of naturalistic child and family-centered situations. Here are some tips:

1. Implement teaching sessions around objects, activities or topics that the child prefers in order to increase motivation. For example, if your child is “crazy” about cars, engage in playing with him the way he plays with cars (start imitating what he does), and slowly include and model social interactions, such as “the red car asks the blue car to play”, or “all the cars are having a playdate” and they take turns while playing games, share toys, collaborate in building with Legos, etc.

2. Take advantage of natural situations to teach. For example, having dinner, taking a bath or doing groceries are great opportunities to model behaviors and increase motivation.  

3. Parent, teacher, make sure that the child is attending to you by getting down to his level, calling his name or asking “Are you ready?”, and then presents the child with a question or instruction that is directly related to the setting, task and material available. In our example, playing with cars.

4. Very Important: All attempts to respond appropriately (even if the response is not perfect) are rewarded. Ample time is allowed so the child can try to respond without stress. Prompt (model, guide) appropriate responses to end always on a positive note, the reward. This allows the child to experience success, which increases motivation.

5. Use rewards directly related to the task and the natural environment. If you are playing cars, the child receives another car, or gets access to his favorite car, for example.  

In sum, teaching pivotal behaviors is a child-centered intervention that can be implemented across settings (school, home and the community) and across caregivers. Once parents learn how to do it, they become the therapists and thus, the intervention is in place 24/7.  

This intervention has been most successful in improving social and communicational behaviors of children with developmental disabilities in the areas of language, play and social interaction.

Another example of an effective way we can help to improve the quality of live of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

 

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

 

Understanding Applied Behavior Analysis

Behavior disorders in children are common and could be the result of a variety of causes. We, Applied Behavior Analysts, sort those causes and develop individualized treatment plans. We will evaluate your situation and work with you to develop a treatment plan. We believe that every child is unique and deserves an in-depth look into their particular situation. Each treatment plan we develop is tailored to meet the needs of each individual child.  Not all challenging behaviors in children are cause for concern but if you have any doubt, it is always best to have a professional assess your child.

The process starts with a comprehensive evaluation: The Functional Behavior Assessment. 

Functional Behavior Assessment is a process for gathering information to understand problem behaviors and develop effective behavior intervention plans. Functional Behavior Assessment is a set of methods for defining the environmental factors that contribute to, reliably predict, and maintain challenging behaviors. Understanding why a behavior occurs directly leads to how it can be changed. “By determining the contingencies that maintain problem behavior, functional analyses allow the development of effective function-based treatments.” (Iwata et al.,1994).

According to E. Cipani and K. Schock, “a function-based diagnostic does not presume that challenging behaviors are driven by characteristics inherent in the person, which is a sharp contrast with the traditional psychiatric approach to diagnosing clients’ behaviors (e.g. DSM-IV-R).” “In a function-based diagnostic, the form of the behavior (how the behavior looks like) does not dictate the function.”  This has significant implications in designing effective behavior interventions. If behaviors are identified according to their form, each and every behavior would require a different plan. When behaviors are assessed according their function, one intervention could be prescribed for different behaviors that serve the same function. As an example, a child that engages in hitting, kicking, throwing objects, crying, and screaming in order to avoid non-preferred activities (negative reinforcement function), would be prescribed with one intervention rather that five (one for each behavior).

Therefore, when trying to understand problematic behaviors in children it is important to consider the many different variables that could be playing a role in the behavior.  Every child throws tantrums. But each situation is different and there are countless motivating factors that could be causing the tantrum. Evaluating the environment in which the tantrum occurs, understanding the child's motivations, and assessing how the adults and caregivers in the child’s life react to the behavior are all factors that help us develop a strategy to treat the behavior disorder.  To give us the complete picture, we look at all the possible reasons why a child is behaving a certain way. We include interviews with the family as well as all those who interact with the child, such as a teacher or relative, to give us a more in-depth look at the child’s life.

We observe the child in different situations, including when and where the behaviors are less likely to occur, because those situations give us an insight of what works for this child. We analyze the variables that contribute to the occurrence and non-occurrence of the challenging behaviors, and develop hypotheses about their functions, the why this child engage in these behaviors? What is the child trying to obtain or avoid?

We manipulate those variables to prevent undesired behaviors and trigger desired ones, thus confirming or ruling out our hypotheses.

And we develop behavioral plans that match the functions of the behaviors.

In sum, by taking an individualized approach, we maximize the chance of success of the treatment plan.

Daniel Adatto, MA, BCBA

The Role of the Behavior Analyst in the IEP Team

When a child receives a diagnosis related to a developmental disability that requires special educational needs, the first step in the process is putting together an Individualized Educational Program (IEP).  The IEP is designed to provide the child with an educational program taking into consideration all areas related to the disability.  The goal of the IEP is to provide the child access to the general education curriculum and to allow the student be successful in the least restrictive environment. The IEP team comprises professionals from a multitude of disciplines, which may include a school psychologist, a speech & language pathologist, an occupational and physical therapist, a behavior analyst and more depending on the child’s needs. 

When a child demonstrates behavioral challenges that prevent him/her from gaining access to educational requirements – this can include both behavioral problems and/or a skills deficit – a Behavior Analyst is requested to participate in the educational planning. Parents have the right to request a Behavior Analyst in the IEP team.

Behavior Analysis is the scientific study of behavior. Behavior Analysts seek answers by looking at the environmental factors that trigger the occurrence of a behavior.  As discussed in previous blogs, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a scientifically proven method that promotes positive conduct in children while decreasing undesired behaviors. In recent years, ABA has gained the reputation of being the most effective method of treatment for behavior problems that are associated with autism spectrum disorders and pervasive development disorders because it effectively addresses behavioral issues and skills deficits associated with the disorder. ABA is the systematic study of the relationship between behaviors and the environmental factors that trigger and maintain those behaviors.  Behaviors serve a purpose for a child. They allow a child to have a need met and are used as a tool to get something the child wants or escape something the child does not want to do. When we understand the purpose of a behavior we can work to improve behaviors and achieve the best results during therapy sessions.

Possibly the most important aspect of ABA is that it can also be used to build socially appropriate and productive behavioral repertoires by teaching a child an appropriate alternative behavior to replace the undesired behavior. Using a system of positive reinforcement, new skills can be taught by breaking down complex skills into small, achievable components and rewarding each step towards the desired behavior.

It is crucial that any behavior intervention program be carried out across all settings. This means that the procedures must be implemented anywhere the child interacts: school, home, the community. Since Behavior Analysis treats behaviors, in essence any therapist that works with a child becomes an implementer, regardless of the symptom being treated, whether it is speech, occupational or physical. If we understand this, it becomes logical that for any therapeutic program to be effective, all caregivers, educators, parents and therapists must work synergistically to implement the program. The job of the behavior analyst supervising the program is to notify the other therapists on what works to motivate a child and to appropriately coordinate the IEP objectives and learning goals to help the child achieve maximum progress.

Children can realize their greatest potential when teaching techniques are consistent across all settings. Best results are achieved when the therapeutic team works in synergy to implement the program in accordance with behavioral principles.

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA
cadatto@tesidea.com

Parent Training

Families thrive when parents know how to bring out the best in their children.

Parent training is a crucial component of every behavior intervention program. Since parents play the most important role in a child’s development, the goal of behavior management training is to empower the parents to become the child’s primary teacher in developing appropriate behaviors, so the intervention takes place at all times (weekends, night, vacation, holidays), and in the most natural environment.

You can be a loving and nurturing parent yet still set reasonable, predictable limits. First, learn what motivates your children's behaviors. B.F. Skinner's approach states that anyone can manipulate behavior by first identifying what the individual finds rewarding. Once the rewards of an individual are known, then those rewards can be selected to give in exchange for good behavior. Skinner calls this "Positive Reinforcement Psychology". In order to effectively address behavior problems, individuals must be persuaded (motivated) to want to behave appropriately.

Key Concepts

§  Behaviors serve a purpose for the child. Allow the child to get a need met. The behavior works to get something the child wants, or avoid/escape something the child does not want. 

§   Behavior is related to the context/environment in which it occurs. Something either IS in the environment, or IS NOT in the environment, which increases the likelihood the behavior will occur.

§  Changing behaviors requires both addressing the environmental issues, and teaching a functionally-equivalent behavior that the child can use to get the same need met, but in an acceptable way.

Principles

§  Behaviors are learned. They are the result of what we’ve learned in the past. With reinforcement they become a habit.

§  Learned behaviors continue in the present. They keep happening because they work in order to meet the child’s needs, and because of the way parents and children interact with each other.

§  Behaviors can be changed. Through reinforcement and extinction, new behaviors can be learned that can substitute the negative behaviors that we would like to see disappear, while at the same time, serving the same purpose more appropriately.

The goal of the Parent Training on Behavior Modification is to help parents help their child develop the kinds of behaviors they need to get along better in the world.

Behavior management vs. behavior modification

Behavior management and behavior modification are not exactly the same. In behavior modification the focus is on changing behavior by teaching functional equivalent replacement behaviors, while in behavior management the focus is on maintaining order. Hence, behavior modification focus on building functional (socially appropriate and valuable) behavior repertoires.

Behavior management skills are of particular importance to teachers in the educational system. Behavior management include all of the actions and conscious inactions to enhance the probability people, individually and in groups, choose behaviors already in their repertoires, which are personally fulfilling, productive, and socially acceptable.^[1]


There is a great deal of research related to "behavior change" and "behavior management". B.F. Skinner's approach says that anyone can manipulate behavior by first identifying what the individual finds rewarding. Once the rewards of an individual are known, then those rewards can be selected and provided in exchange for good behavior. Skinner calls this "Positive Reinforcement Psychology". In order to effectively address behavior problems, individual must be persuaded (motivated) to behave appropriately.

Behavior Management:

Many of the principles and techniques used are the same as behavior modification yet delivered in a less intensively and consistent fashion. Usually, behavior management is applied at the group level by a classroom teacher as a form of behavioral engineering to produce high rates of student work completion and minimize classroom disruption. In addition, greater focus has been placed on building self-control.

Brophy (1986) writes:

"Contemporary behavior modification approaches involve students more actively in planning and shaping their own behavior through participation in the negotiation of contracts with their teachers and through exposure to training designed to help them to monitor and evaluate their behavior more actively, to learn techniques of self-control and problem solving, and to set goals and reinforce themselves for meeting these goals." (p. 191) ^[2]

In general behavior management strategies have been very effective in reducing classroom and home disruption.^[3] In addition, recent efforts have focused on incorporating principles of functional assessment into the process.^[4] This means understanding the function (needs and wants) of the challenging behavior and developing interventions with the objective of teaching functional equivalent behaviors.

While such programs can come from a variety of behavioral change theories, the most common practices rely on the use of applied behavior analysis principles: positive reinforcement    and mild punishments (such as response cost and time-out). Behavioral practices such as differential reinforcement are commonly used.^[5] Sometimes, these are delivered in a token economy or a level system.^[6] In general the reward component is considered effective. For example, Cotton (1988) reviewed 37 studies on tokens, praise and other reward systems and found them to be highly effective in managing student classroom behavior.

Behavior Modification:

As parents and teachers we should be aware of the importance of incorporating behavior modification as a crucial component of our approach, especially when working with children with special needs. These kids do not learn from the environment like regular developed ones do. They have to be taught the appropriate behaviors that will replace the challenging behaviors ones. As I said in previous blogs, “We are in the business of building socially appropriate behaviors repertoires. We are behavior teachers.”

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

cadatto@tesidea.com

References

1.      ^ Baldwin J.D. and Baldwinn J.I. (1986). Behavior principals in everyday life (2nd Edition), Engle Wood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

2.      ^ Brophy, J. (1986). "Classroom Management Techniques." Education and Urban Society 18/2, 182–194

3.      Brophy, J.E. (1983) "Classroom Organization and Management." The Elementary School Journal 83/4, 265–285.

4.      Angela Waguespack, Terrence Vaccaro & Lauren Continere (2006). Functional Behavioral Assessment and Intervention with Emotional/Behaviorally Disordered Students: In Pursuit of State of the Art. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 2 (4), 463–474. [1]

The Five Most Common Parenting Mistakes That Are Easily Avoided:

Making positive behavioral changes can help every parent avoid these common parenting mistakes.

1. Giving attention to bad behaviors   
2. Ignoring good behavior
3. Placating the whining or crying request
4. Saying No when you can say Yes
5. Using time-out as a punishment

1. We parents devote far too much time attention when our children misbehave. In a child’s mind, negative attention is better than no attention so by eliciting a negative reaction (yelling, punishing etc.), the child has in essence won the battle. By rewarding the bad behavior with attention, you are teaching your child that crying, hitting, disobeying, etc., is the way to get your attention and you are perpetuating the bad behavior.

2. This brings us to common mistake no. 2. We punish the bad behaviors, but do we take notice of the good ones? Reverse your negative patterns by catching your child doing something good and reward him/her for behaving. Is your child playing nicely? Don’t run away to make a phone call. Commend that behavior first, reward your child with a positive interaction and you will increase good behaviors while reducing the undesired ones.

3. Placate now – pay later. And pay dearly you will! We parents are so irritated by the crying or whining child that we so often give into the request just to make it stop. Children are very clever. They know that this works.  But ask yourself, is the price worth it? By giving into the request, we are teaching the child to cry or whine to get whatever he wants. I can not stress this enough - Never ever give in to a crying, whining or tantrum request! If your child requests something while crying, you must demand that he/she stops crying and asks nicely before you give him whatever he/she wants. If you are consistent, the crying and whining will decrease over time.

4. We say “NO” 100 times a day and I can almost guarantee that 75% of those NO’s could be Yesses. If we rephrase our response to a more positive alternative and redirect the child instead of just saying no, we can reduce the child’s frustration in being told NO.

• Instead of saying just NO, what he CAN’T do, tell the child what he CAN do. “Can I have a cookie mom?” Instead of immediately saying no, you can say “you can have a cookie when you finish your dinner”.
• Do not forget to give at least two Yesses for each NO. “I want to play outside” Try “It’s too cold right now but we CAN play blocks or dance inside”.

By the way, when you say “NO” to your child, you are teaching him/her to say “NO” to you when you place a request on him/her. So, save the NO’s for when it is necessary. If you child is running to the street or playing with a knife, that’s a NO.

5. A Time-Out should be used to remove a child from an environment where he is receiving attention for a bad behavior, and place him/her in an environment where he/she receives NO attention for the behavior. If you are in the grocery store and your child throws a tantrum, be ready to leave the cart full of groceries and remove your child from that environment where he is getting a lot of attention from you and the rest of the customers, and take him to the car, where you are able to ignore the crying and screaming, thus placing the behavior on extinction: no attention.

Be sure that the tantrum is your child’s way to get attention. If your child is over stimulated by the environment, in pain, scared, hungry or tired, do not use time-out, do not ignore the behavior. Your child needs your help.

And remember, you are there to help your child, not the other way around.

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

cadatto@tesidea.com

What to look for in an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Intervention?

The road to finding the right treatment for your child with special needs can be confusing and cumbersome. Among other options, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has unique features. I hope the following will assist you in choosing the most effective help for your child.

1.      ABA interventions are individualized: they are developed and carefully monitored to ensure progress for clients. Therefore, ABA is a continuous data-based decision making progress that guarantees “to be certain, through constant measurement and experimentation, that the particular case in hand is going well and will continue to go well,” as stated by Cooper, Heron and Heward in the preface of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2^nd edition, 2007. Weekly and monthly meetings with the supervisor of the program should be provided so you have the chance to discuss progress on a regular basis.

2.      Priority is placed on identifying challenging behaviors and replacement behaviors, reinforcements, proactive and reactive strategies, behavior tools to implement those strategies, and parent/caregiver training.

The anticipated outcome would be for your child to make steady progress in a variety of domains, such as social skills, functional communication, independent living skills, etc.) while undesired behaviors are decrease/eliminated, thus ultimately reaching their maximum potential. The main objective is for the child to function independently in all of the developmental domains.

The following are anticipated outcomes specific to behavior:

·        Clients will learn appropriate coping strategies in order to deal with frustration, and manage disruptive behaviors.

·        Clients will decrease the frequency, intensity, and/or duration of maladaptive behaviors that prevent them from accessing community settings.

·        Parents and caregivers will learn strategies and techniques to help facilitate positive interactions with their child while learning to manage problem behaviors.

·        Clients will develop functional communication skills in order to communicate independently.

·        Clients will increase their ability to function independently in their environment by improving independent living skills (e.g., dressing, potty training, eating with a utensil, drinking from a cup, washing face/hands, brushing their teeth, money management, community safety skills, etc.).

·        Clients will increase appropriate social interactions while decreasing behaviors that focus on isolation.  

·        Children will learn functional play skills in order to increase positive social interaction with peers, relatives, and siblings.

·        Clients and their families will learn specific strategies and techniques to deal with problem behaviors when they occur in the community.

The “Applied” component of Applied Behavior Analysis means that interventions are conducted in natural environments (i.e. home, school and community), rather than in clinical settings. This allows for the direct implementation of learned skills, thus aiming for generalization across settings, people and time.

As a parent, look for, request and demand the above mentioned components.

In sum, by taking this individualized, data-based approach, we maximize the chance of success of the treatment plan.

Daniel Adatto

cadatto@tesidea.com

The Five Most Common Parenting Mistakes

Making positive behavioral changes can help every parent avoid these common parenting mistakes:

1. Giving attention to bad behaviors
2. Ignoring good behavior
3. Placating the whining or crying request
4. Saying No when you can say Yes
5. Using time-out as a punishment

1. We parents devote far too much time attention when our children misbehave. In a child’s mind, negative attention is better than no attention so by eliciting a negative reaction (yelling, punishing etc.); the child has in essence won the battle. By rewarding the bad behavior with attention, you are teaching your child that bad behavior (crying, hitting, non-compliance etc.) is the way to get your attention and you are perpetuating the bad behavior.

2. This brings us to common mistake no. 2. We punish the bad behaviors, but do we take notice of the good ones? Reverse your negative patterns by catching your child doing something good and reward the desired behavior. Is your child playing nicely? Don’t turn away to make a phone call. Commend that behavior first, reward your child with a positive interaction and you will increase good behaviors while reducing the undesired ones.

3. Placate now – pay later. And pay dearly you will! We parents are so irritated by the crying or whining child that we so often give into the request just to make it stop. Children are very clever. They know that this works.  But ask yourself, is the price worth it? By giving into the request, we are teaching the child to cry or whine to get whatever he wants. I can not stress this enough - Never ever give in to a crying, whining or tantrum request! If your child requests something while crying, you must request that he stop crying and ask nicely before you give him whatever he wants. If you are consistent, the crying and whining will decrease over time.

4. We say no 100 times a day and I can almost guarantee that 75% of those NO’s could be YES’s. If we rephrase our response to a more positive alternative and redirect the child instead of just saying no, we can reduce the child’s frustration in being told NO.

·       Instead of saying just NO, what he CAN’T do, tell the child what he CAN do. “Can I have a cookie mom?” Instead of immediately saying no, you can say “Yes, you can have a cookie when you finish your dinner”.

·       Do not forget to give at least two YES’s for each NO. “I want to play outside” Try “It’s too cold right now but we CAN play blocks or dance inside”.             

 

By the way, when you say “NO” to your child, you are teaching him/her to say

“NO” to you when you place a request on him/her. So, save the NO’s for when it is

necessary. If you child is running to the street or playing with a knife, that’s a NO.

5. A Time-Out should be used to remove a child from an environment where he is being rewarded for a bad behavior, such as getting attention, and place him in an environment where he receives NO reward for the behavior. If you are in the grocery store and your child throws a tantrum, be ready to leave the cart full of groceries and remove your child from that environment where he is getting a lot of attention from you and the rest of the customers, and take him to the car, where you are able to ignore the crying and screaming, thus placing the behavior on extinction: no attention. Be sure that the tantrum is your child’s way to get attention. If your child is over stimulated by the environment, in pain, scared, hungry or tired, do not use time-out, do not ignore the behavior. Your child needs your help.   

Learn how to behave so your child will too.

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

Teaching Teachers

Henry D. Schlinger Jr., Director of the Graduate Applied Behavior Analysis Program at Cal State Los Angeles, published a very interesting letter in the June 22, 2013 edition of the Los Angeles Times. His position is that “the main thrust of teacher training programs should be how to teach.” To do so, he proposes that schools of education need to “stop relying on trendy but unscientific “theories” of learning and instead focus on those based on good science, such as behavior analysis.” I can not agree more.

He adds that “when teachers actually teach, behavior problems in the classroom decline.” This is because students need to be active and interactive learners.

So now the question becomes how can behavior analysis accomplish that?

One of the core principles of Applied Behavior Analysis is that behaviors are related to the environment in which they occur. B. F. Skinner, the father of Behavior Analysis, sheds some light:

“The subject is always right” (Skinner, 1948, p 240).

“Control the environment and you will see order in behavior’’ (Skinner, 1967, p. 399)

“The task of a behavior analyst is to discover all the variables of which probability of response is a function.”

Applying this to our subject matter, we can conclude that instead of forcing the kids to fit teachers’ way of teaching, teachers need to be able to change their way of teaching to fit their students’ needs. This couldn’t be more relevant than when talking about special education. Children with special needs do not learn the way we teach, so we need to teach the way they learn. Applied Behavior Analysis is a single-subject design. Each student needs an individualized program. That is the idea of IEP’s (Individual Education Plan).   

As a first step, teachers can have more of an impact by learning the art of motivation and the power of stimulating instructional routines and structure.

The art of motivation: Simply put, this means motivating students to perform non-preferred activities. Good teachers motivate their students when they tell them they can have 10 extra minutes of recess if they finish their work on time, or give them points towards a pizza party or a preferred activity. It is important to note that motivation does not always mean a treat, or a prize. Motivating materials (i.e. arts & crafts, music, computers and tablets loaded with educational software, etc.), topics relevant to kids, and a loving, warm, and passionate approach to teaching are excellent tools. Education does not have to be synonymous with boredom. It should be an amazing experience.

In my opinion it’s time to mainstream the concept that people engage in behaviors because they work, we get or avoid something through our behaviors. When we ask children to do something they don’t want to do, we need to motivate them, so they want to do it. Plain and simple.

So, three words: Motivation, Motivation, Motivation. Let’s get out there and motivate our kids instead of forcing them, or just hoping they will comply.

Under the title “The Power of Structure and Routines”, we published a blog on April 28^th, 2013, where we wrote “Structure and routines mean a stimulating, predictable and consistent daily schedule (time-space-people in charge). Lack of predictability and down time increase anxiety, which leads to problematic behaviors.” Predictability is what children need, and it should be implemented in the classroom setting. Keeping them busy is part of all this.

Skinner also pointed out that his main contribution was the measurement of behaviors. Behavior Analysis is a data-based decision making process. We need to be certain, through constant measurement and experimentation, that the program is working and it will continue to work. Data should be the indicator to make decisions to continue an educational program or change it. Sustaining an ineffective instructional program is like knowingly keeping a patient on medication that is not working. Doctors (scientists in general) analyze data and make changes accordingly. Teachers should do the same.

But more than anything good teachers share a crucial feature: passion. They are passionate about their jobs. They wouldn’t change it for anything else. Thus, the system should reward them. Parents should acknowledge and thank them.

As Henry D. Schlinger Jr. put it at the end of his letter, “It’s not rocket science, but judged on the basis of how rarely it occurs, one would think it is.”

I could not agree more.

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA

Limits and Consequences

In today’s pursuit of having confident children who believe they can achieve whatever they want, many parents overlook their responsibility to set limits for their children. Ironically, children who don’t learn limits may not develop the sense of security and self-esteem they need to achieve important life goals. One of the most challenging but fundamentally important principles of parenting is the ability to set limits for children and follow through with consequences when the boundaries have been crossed. Limits and boundaries provide children with a feeling of safety and love. Confidence develops when children know that their parents are looking out for them.

Limits and consequences are also a vital tool in behavior management. Limits are set to help your child to understand respect for himself and the world around him. The purpose of using consequences is to motivate children to make responsible decisions, not to force their submission. Consequences are effective only if you avoid having hidden motives of winning and controlling your child. Try not to establish rules solely for your convenience and always make sure you have realistic expectations. A child must have the cognitive capacity to understand the rules and the consequences for breaking the rules before the consequence is given. For example, an 18-month old child does not understand that he can get burnt from touching the stove. If he does not understand, he can’t be held responsible and should not receive a consequence. Instead, a parent can use distraction techniques or can arrange the environment to secure safety, such as putting up a safety gate when the stove is hot.

Consistency and follow-through are crucial when using limits and consequences to change a problematic behavior. If a limit has been established and been broken, a parent needs to follow through with a consequence. Any flexibility will teach the child what he can get away with in the future. In other words, mean what you say.

It will help you to set reasonable limits if you remember that your child needs freedom to explore, to learn and to discover. The right of children to play freely and to learn by doing things themselves must be acknowledged.

Here are some important guidelines when setting limits and consequences:

• The person whose rules were broken is responsible for enforcing and administering the consequence whenever possible. For example, school rules should be enforced at school by the teacher.
• One consequence per violation should be enforced.
• Be both firm and kind. Firmness refers to your follow through with the limit and consequence. Kindness refers to the manner in which you present the choice. A consequence should not be perceived as a punishment if it is to deter the behavior in the future. Be firm with the problem; be kind with your child.
• Consequences should be over as quickly as possible so a positive family atmosphere can be reestablished.
• Whenever possible, offer you child the chance for a do-over before enforcing a consequence. Give the child another chance to practice an appropriate behavior and be successful.
• Follow through with consequences as soon after the violation as possible so the child connects the consequence with his/her action.
• Be in control of yourself when administering or enforcing consequences. Any show of anger and frustration, such as yelling, name calling, criticizing or rage by the parent, cancels the effect of the consequence. Remember: it is you AND your child against the problem, not you against your child.
• Be patient. It will take time for the consequences to be effective.
• If you make the child feel bad, he’ll hold on to the behavior as part of his arsenal against the parent and this will not foster a parent-child alliance against the problem behavior.
• Consequences must be planned in advance. You should be prepared with a list of consequences you can call upon when the situation arises. Both parents should agree in advance what is an appropriate consequence.
• Choose consequences related to the violation, whenever possible. For example, if your child exhibits antisocial behavior, sending him to his room is a logical consequence (not as a punishment). If he’s disrupting the rest of the family, logically he needs to leave the room so as not to disturb the rest.
• Make sure the consequences you choose do not negatively affect you or the rest of the family more so than the child receiving the consequence. For example, limiting TV or cancelling a weekend outing may affect you and other siblings.

In sum, do not react to the behavior out of frustration and anger. When you implement consequences to manage challenging behaviors, think of it as helping your child to get back in control and teaching him important life skills such as patience, respect for others, and respect for himself.

After all, our kids are not our enemies. They don’t wake up in the morning thinking how to make us miserable. They are children, our son, our daughter, they are the most important thing in our lives, by far, and our love for them should be unconditional.

 

Daniel Adatto, BCBA