Averi is a graduate clinician here at the Husky ABA Clinic and just started working with us in January. She does work that is expected of a BCBA, but under more supervision and with greater guidance. This entails developing protocols, training parents, supervising the undergraduate clinicians, etc.
Averi’s first exposure to ABA was through the services provided to a family member. She became very interested once she started seeing the positive life changes the treatment brought about, and she wanted to be a part of a profession which impacted people in such a tremendous way. Following graduation, Averi plans to work in the Twin Cities Metro and surrounding areas, either in-home or within a clinic. Being involved with the Husky ABA Clinic has helped her decide that she wants to work with the primary stakeholders of children (especially parents!).
Being a graduate clinician has allowed Averi to exercise skills which have been instrumental in improving not only her quality of service provision, but her confidence in providing services, as well. One of Averi’s favorite moments from working in the clinic was the first time her client was able to use the skills Averi had taught her with her parents. Averi’s client asked for something she couldn’t get to without being prompted!
One last fun fact about Averi is that she been using ABA to teacher one of her dogs (a samoyed named Kaya), to attend to pictures of a star, smiley, butterfly, etc., and to respond to each image with a particular trick!
Now that we have introduced you to escape and attention-maintained behaviors it’s time to go over behaviors that are caused by access to tangibles. Tangibles are any items or activities that are highly preferred by a child.
A common example of this that you may have experienced once or twice is when you’re in a store and your child really wants a new toy, but you tell them no. In response to hearing you say this, the child may fall to the ground and start crying to try to get access to the toy. If you or someone else eventually gives in and gets your child the toy you are reinforcing their unwanted behaviors, or making it more likely to occur again in the future.
Another example of this type of behavior is a child who hits anyone that tries to take away her iPad. The child wants to keep playing, but you are trying to fight off their physical aggression and may even give in and just let her play for a bit longer. This once again, is reinforcing the behavior of hitting in order to get more iPad time. These behaviors can be tough to deal with at times, but there are some strategies that we have to help.
The purpose of any of these behaviors is to gain access to a preferred item or activity, which may or may not be something they already have access to regularly. The more you give the child access to the items they want or give in to their behaviors the more likely it is that they will continue to behave in ways that you don’t want them to. Follow us on Facebook to find out next week what you can do to prevent and react to these behaviors!
The world has drastically changed in the past four weeks. Even with all of the madness, our team at the Husky ABA Clinic is still hard at work. Though our tasks are now being completed remotely, we are committed to providing services to our clients in safe manner while also expanding our skill set during these unprecedent times.
Two of undergraduate clinicians, Cassidy and Amanda, have shifted thier focus to learning more about the field of ABA through research articles and podcasts. Cassidy has been learning about evidence-based practices in instructing preschool life skills, assessing and treating self-injurious behavior, and gaining knowledge in the foundations of ABA. Amanda is dividing deep into the literature to understand how our practice can be culturally competent with our clients and their families. While they are not able to work directly with our team and clients, Amanda and Cassidy are happy to be involved in the imperative, behind-the-scenes work that is not only crucial for their behavior-analytic knowledge, but also for the use of evidence-based procedures for our clients.
While the undergraduates have been critical in our understanding and developing of interventions, our graduate clinicians, Averi and Naomi, have not skipped a beat to best serve their clients remotely! In regard to their clinical work, they meet remotely with the clients’ family to increase the families’ skill set in implement evidence-based practices, trouble shoot potential issues that happening at home, and develop materials for the families to use. In addition, they are creating programming materials to directly work with their clients via teleconference on skill sets such as imitating others, requesting items and attention, remaining on-task, and engaging in eye contact with their parents. Naomi and Averi are also creating treatment materials for future clinicians at the Husky ABA Clinic.
All of us here at the Husky ABA clinic are grateful that we are still able to work with our clients and their families. We know it is a scary time. We see this is an opportunity to expand our knowledge in providing behavior-analytic services in new and meaningful ways.
Now that we have learned about attention-maintained behavior and possible ways to prevent behaviors we need to discuss ways to stop the behaviors when they do occur. The most important thing to remember when trying to stop the behaviors of a child is to avoid putting all of the attention on what the child is doing wrong. Instead you should tell them what they should be doing or only give them attention when they are following the rules.
One way to handle attention-maintained behaviors is to give attention to someone who is following the rules. This can be done in a classroom setting with other students or at home with another child. To do this successfully you need to ignore any attention seeking behaviors form one child and look for ways the other child is following the rules. For example, if you are playing a game with Joe and Jane and Jane is screaming you may look at Joe and tell him that he can go first because he is sitting calmly and waiting for his turn. Jane should be able to see you reinforcing Joe for his behavior so she can learn from your interactions. Seeing that she can get attention by following the rules should increase the chances that she will stop engaging in unwanted behavior so she can get attention.
Another method to stop the behaviors of a child seeking attention is to use something we call functional communication training. The goal of this is to teach the child a new verbal behavior that will replace the unwanted behaviors they are currently engaging in. An example of this is to teach a child who screams when they have to do homework on their own to say, “can you check my work?” when the child wants an adult to come over to him or her. Another example is if the child is hitting their peers to get attention you can teach him or her to ask their friends if they want to play. Giving children a new way to communicate with those around them can greatly reduce the number of inappropriate behaviors you see.
Children who are looking for attention should not be punished, but they should be taught what they should be doing instead. Here at the Husky ABA Clinic we want children to be able to get attention, but we want them to get it through the use of socially acceptable behaviors.
Make sure to praise your child when they are following directions
Our last post was focused on behaviors that occur to get attention and what they may look like for your child. Attention maintained behaviors, like most other behaviors, can be prevented in some cases. Although these strategies may not work for every child, they are a good starting point for addressing the behaviors you are seeing at home.
One way that these can be prevented is to stay close to your child. This can be as simple as sitting next to them while they color or work on homework. If they are looking to get attention, having you near may be enough to keep their unwanted behaviors to a minimum. This can also help with the second strategy to prevent these behaviors, which is telling them when they are doing a good job.
Praising your child can also help stop unwanted attention seeking behaviors. If you are near your child, you can watch what they are doing and praise him or her when they are following directions and doing what they are expected to. For example, if they are quietly reading in their chair you can give them behavior specific praise and say, “You’re doing a great job reading!” This shows them they can get attention for doing what they are supposed to and lowers the chance that they will start to cry or yell to get attention.
Check back next week to find out the Husky ABA Clinic’s techniques for stopping the behaviors if these preventative strategies don’t work!
Meet Amanda Addo, an undergraduate clinician at the Husky ABA Clinic! Amanda has been working at the clinic since the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester. At the clinic, Amanda works with undergraduate and graduate clinicians to provide services to children diagnosed with autism. Some of Amanda’s responsibilities include conducting assessments, running programming (such as working on toilet training and language acquisition skills), and a supportive, therapeutic relationship with her clients.
Amanda is a senior at St. Cloud State University where she is majoring in Community Psychology and minoring in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Amanda was originally minoring in forensic science but decided to make the switch to ABA. However, she still enjoys forensic psychology and has continued to take courses in that area of psychology as well!
Amanda came to be involved with ABA when working towards her major in Community Psychology, taking the ABA classes required to get the Community Psychology major. Amanda said, “I personally really enjoyed my ABA classes and really enjoyed the structure of the concepts that we were taught. I also investigated the ABA field because I do plan on graduating this fall and have heard so many wonderful things about the graduate program here at St. Cloud State University. Dr. Luna provided me with this amazing opportunity to put all my knowledge to practice.” Amanda’s interest and excellence in ABA led her to being chosen as one of the clinic’s first undergraduate clinicians.
After graduating with her major in Community Psychology, Amanda plans to complete her certification as a BCaBA (Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst). After earning her BCaBA certification next spring, Amanda hopes to decide on a master’s program to continue her education at.
One of Amanda’s proudest moments at the Husky ABA Clinic “was the day that both my client and I were so excited that my client remembered my name and expressed their comfortability with me. From the very first day, I met my client, to that day was an experience that was new for both of us. I came into this experience a bit nervous and doubted my own abilities for some time and the moment my clients face lit up after reciting my name and showing that they were comfortable around me, my confidence grew.”
Naomi is not our only multi-lingual clinician at the Husky ABA Clinic, Amanda is able to understand four different languages! Amanda’s parents are from Ghana, so she grew up hearing English and three Ghanaian languages. By the age of four, Amanda was able to understand these languages fluently. She says that speaking Ghanaian is a bit more difficult and she continues to practice them.
About the Husky ABA Clinic, Amanda said, “This experience has been the best one yet throughout my entire college career. I have learned so much from my colleagues, clients, and supervisor. Receiving so much support, as well as knowledge, while at the clinic truly makes me feel that I will be more than prepared for whatever experience I have in my future. This experience is one that I am glad I did not pass up and I am very appreciative to be a part of such a rewarding and exciting opportunity.”
Last week, we talked about the escape function of behavior. Now, we’re going to talk about behaviors that occur to get attention. These behaviors happen when other people are around and can give the child attention, good or bad. They can start to because the child doesn’t know the appropriate way to ask for attention, so they do anything they can to get adults or their friends to look their way. It is a normal and healthy desire to want attention. Time with a favored adult or friend can be extra valuable to children who have attention-maintained behaviors, but it is the adult’s job to teach the child the appropriate ways to get that attention.
An example of this is behaviors that happen at school, but not at home. Some of these include talking back and fighting. These are all behaviors that they know the teacher, or their peers will react to. The child may make noises out of nowhere or make inappropriate comments when they are in class, since doing so will get their peers to laugh and give them the attention they are looking for.
At home these behaviors may start happening if parents or caregivers spend time on the phone or computer instead of with them. A child may start to yell or whine until someone comes to check on them or looks their way. These behaviors can sometimes stop if the audience is removed, but the behaviors can also get more intense to gain attention from anyone else who is around. Tune in next week to learn more about how we handle attention-maintained behavior at the Husky ABA clinic!
Meet Naomi Ziegler, a first year graduate clinician at the Husky ABA Clinic!
Naomi Ziegler is a first-year graduate student in the SCSU Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) graduate program, she began in Fall 2019. Prior to beginning the ABA graduate program, Naomi received her bachelor’s degree in Community Psychology from SCSU and her associate’s degree in General Education with an emphasis in Biblical Studies from Rosedale Bible College in Ohio.
Naomi has worked with the clinic since its beginning, first by assisting with parent workshops in Fall 2019 and then as a graduate clinician beginning January 2020. At the clinic, Naomi is responsible for supervising the undergraduate clinicians with her co-graduate clinician Averiel Wright. Naomi and Averiel oversee the undergraduate clinicians with the guidance and support of the SCSU ABA faculty, including Dr. Ben Witts, Dr. Kim Schulze, Dr. Michele Traub, and Dr. Odessa Luna. As a supervisor to the undergraduate clinicians, Naomi is responsible for conducting behavioral assessments, which are then used to make treatment decisions and to develop and implement behavior change programs. Naomi is also responsible for training, directing, and giving feedback to undergraduate clinicians.
Naomi came to be involved in ABA after she took undergraduate ABA courses at SCSU. Naomi says, “I found it [ABA] fascinating and could really see how much of an impact it could have on people’s lives. I then decided to do my community psychology internship at Behavioral Dimensions, an organization that provides in-home behavioral services to children diagnosed with ASD. I loved this work and it fits with my desire to help others live up to their full potential.”
Naomi is still deciding on what she would like to do after graduating from the master’s program but is interested in potentially pursuing working with children and staff at summer camps. She expects that her prior experience at the Husky ABA Clinic and with Behavioral Dimensions has better prepared her for training others, working with children, developing and implementing plans and programs, and supervising staff. “I am growing in confidence and am learning so much from this experience. I believe that this experience will benefit any things I might go into in the future,” Naomi said of her experience at the Husky ABA clinic.
Since January 2020, Naomi has had the opportunity to work with a client and supervise others working with that client every week. In just a few short months, Naomi says that one of her proudest and most outstanding moments working at the clinic has been to see her client increase her skill set. Her client has made great strides in following instructions, making eye contact, and playing with others – skills that can be essential for clients to adaptively navigate their environments and be independent.
When Naomi isn’t in the Husky ABA Clinic or working on her graduate studies, she is busy taking advantage of every opportunity for adventure available to her. Naomi lived in Haiti from ages one to two and again from ages 16 to 18 and learned to speak Haitian Creole. She has spent the last four summers as a Boundary Waters Canoe guide, which can be found in northern Minnesota. Naomi has also spent two and a half months hiking on the Appalachian Trail. 700 of the 800 miles Naomi hiked on the Appalachian Trail were hiked barefoot.
So far, we have described avoidance behaviors and talked about how to prevent some of these unwanted behaviors. While your child is learning from your preventative strategies, like giving choices or changing the way you give the demand, your child will likely still engage in challenging behaviors to avoid some tasks. It is nearly impossible to stop every behavior from happening, so this week we will describe the best way to react to unwanted behaviors related to avoiding certain activities.
When responding to avoidance behaviors it is important that you do not give the child what they want unless they do what they are supposed to. For example. don’t let them watch tv until their spelling homework is done. You should wait them out, which may be difficult. A child’s behavior may get more intense if you don’t respond, but this is normal. If you give in and let them have their way, like letting them get out of doing their homework or cleaning their room, they will just be more likely be behave badly in the future.
Another way to respond to a child avoiding a task is to continue giving them the instructions of what they are supposed to be doing. Keep telling them that they need to be doing their spelling or picking up their toys, so they know what their expectations are. If they do start to work on what they are supposed to make sure you are providing behavior specific praise, like saying “thanks for starting to clean up, I like how you put your toys in the toy box!”
At the Husky ABA Clinic are graduate and undergraduate clinicians are using all of these strategies. Tune in next week to see a video of our clinicians in action!
Meet Cassidy! She has worked at the Husky ABA Clinic since January 2020. At the clinic, she works with clients to build rapport, take data on their current abilities, and implement interventions to expand their skills. Most of this work is integrated with their play, so she and the staff get to have fun and make great connections with everyone involved.
Cassidy is a senior in the Community Psychology program at St. Cloud State. She became interested in ABA after taking her first behavior intervention class this past summer. At the time she was going for school counseling, but found that Behavior Analysis just “clicked.” She ended up talking to one of our professors, Dr. Traub, about the master’s program and has not looked back since!
After graduation, Cassidy will being pursuing her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis at SCSU. Our clinic has given her first hand experience in the field, as well as connecting her to faculty and graduate students in the program she will be starting this Fall. Since starting at the clinic, Cassidy says she feels much more prepared and has a clear understanding of what she will be doing in the near future; she cannot be more excited!
One of Cassidy’s favorite experiences at the clinic so far was the first time that the client said her name and initiated in social play with her. At this point, Cassidy realized the strong connection she had made with the client and felt that she had earned her client’s trust, which is one of Cassidy’s biggest goals in this field.
One fun fact about Cassidy is she rescued a cat who was born with a muscular defect. His back legs do not work very well, which makes it very difficult to walk. However, he is the sweetest little guy and wants to be near you at all times. He loves to play with their other cat, even though he falls over pretty much the entire time, and is the best snuggler! Another fun fact about Cassidy is that she plays soccer here at SCSU. She has played soccer since she was 3 and has only grown to love the game more! Go Huskies!
Averi is a graduate clinician here at the Husky ABA Clinic and just started working with us in January. She does work that is expected of a BCBA, but under more supervision and with greater guidance. This entails developing protocols, training parents, supervising the undergraduate clinicians, etc.
