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It is hard to believe that 10 weeks have passed since our first blog post this semester. If you missed all the posts, not a problem! Let’s revisit all the reinforcement-based interventions that we have covered so far.

First, using reinforcement is not bribing your child. When using reinforcement, caretakers are proactive and it produces long-term positive outcomes. On the other hand, when a parent bribes a child, the child usually is in control and the results are short-lived.

When using reinforcement, you don’t always have to give your child an iPad or candy. A board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) will suggest that behavior-specific praise could also be a beneficial way to show your approval and letting the child know what she is doing correctly. With behavior-specific praise, not only you are showing excitement towards your child’s behavior, but you are also stating what she is doing right. Behavior-specific praise is an effective way to teach your child to engage in more appropriate behavior (e.g., listen to your instructions, using the word “please”).

It is easy to incorporate behavior-specific praise into your daily routines. However, as we all know, sometimes we are quick to notice when our kids are acting poorly. This phenomenon,  negativity bias, means we tend to pay more attention to what is going wrong in the environment and we fail to notice what is going well. It is essential for you to notice and find positive behavior to replace the behavior that you do not want to see. Once you identify the behavior, you will provide behavior-specific praise when you see that positive behavior.

As a parent, you might recognize your child does not know how to perform the positive behavior or your child has great difficulty learning the appropriate behavior. A BCBA might recommend considering a shaping intervention. Shaping is a way to slowly teach skills by celebrating small steps to achieve positive changes to your child’s behavior. For example, it could be something like having the child start doing a couple of the math questions instead of the entire worksheet.

Another reinforcement strategy that you might consider as a parent is a token economy in which could be a useful addition to all the aforementioned reinforcement-based interventions. In the token economy, you provide tokens for positive behavior displayed by the child and the child can exchange those collected tokens for predetermined desired items, activities, or privileges. We outlined the necessary steps for an effective token economy. Also, we discussed useful and practical tips on running a token economy program. When using a token economy you want to make sure your child helps selects rewards he or she can earn in their token system. In addition, remember to use behavior-specific praise when delivering tokens, and deliver tokens when you see easy tasks completed by the child at the beginning of the program.

Reinforcement strategies are widely used and recommend to parents, teachers, and therapists. By providing rewards for positive behavior systematically, children are motivated to perform behaviors that caretakers want to see. They have been proven to be extremely effective for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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