Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that usually impacts an individual in terms of social interaction and communication. Some children may show signs of ASD as early as infancy. Typically, the child will show a lack of eye contact, reduced response to their name, or restricted and repetitive behaviors. However, no two children diagnosed with ASD are alike; therefore, how doctors diagnose ASD may vary. Due to the variabilities of severity, there is not a specific medical test to determine the disorder. Usually, pediatricians are the first professionals involved in the autism diagnosis process. As children get an assessment during their well-child visits that occur at 18-and 24-months. Your child’s doctor will be looking for things such as: whether your baby started babbling and cooing by 12 months, if they were mimicking sounds and facial expressions by 9 months, or if your baby smiled by 6 months.
The following are other questions that the doctor might ask you as the caretaker:
- Does your child have trouble making eye contact?
- Do they have any unusual or repetitive behaviors?
- Are they sensitive to light, noise, or temperature?
- Do they respond when others seek their attention?
More tests would be required for further examination if your child’s doctor suspects that your child might be at risk of ASD. Specialists such as child psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists will provide more comprehensive tests. These tests consist of checking your child’s cognitive level, language abilities, and fine motor skills such as pointing, shaking objects, or drinking from a sippy cup.
There are two critical aspects that would make the specialist more inclined to diagnose your child with ASD:
Restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior: Commonly, children diagnosed with ASD might repeat phrases, rock their bodies, fixate on one subject, or are extremely sensitive to changes in routines.
Challenges with communication and social interaction: Children diagnosed with ASD have a hard time making connections or predicting the reactions of other people. Also, they could be missing the milestones of speaking compared to other children.
As parents, if you are concerned, make sure to contact your child’s doctor. This developmental monitoring and screening tool could be helpful as general milestones guidelines for your child.
Our Husky ABA Clinic is also a great resource to provide directions if you have more questions. Once your child is diagnosed, how will you decide if treatment is necessary for your child? Next week, we will delve into some of the determining factors when seeking treatment options.
quicktips.com
The applied behavior analysis program at Saint Cloud State University is one of the award-winning programs mention in the Redefining St. Cloud State University campaign. Our Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the only program of its kind in Minnesota. Our students are part of a top-ranked program that educates practitioners to help children who are diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. Our graduates are skilled professionals with expertise in a field of high demand with big impacts on children and their families. Learning is fostered by faculty who are nationally regarded for their teaching and research in the field of applied behavioral sciences.
The program prepares students to save families; “We are saving families when they receive services,” said Dr. Witts. Rigorous work is needed to succeed in the program. Dr. Witts said, “ I want students who are okay with tough programs that will help push them farther than they would push themselves, who understand that their work carries great responsibility; that they understand they will have a tremendous effect on the children they will work with and the future of their families.”
The ABA program has been ranked as the number one academic program in the world. For the growing number of families with children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The ABA program has been preparing students to provide services to families all over the world.
momjunction.com
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).
Remember to visit and like our Facebook page for the latest update on ABA Husky Clinic and future blog posts.
Come meet Mitchell, a senior graduate clinician at Husky ABA clinic! He is in his first year in the applied behavior analysis (ABA) master’s program at St. Cloud State University. At the clinic, Mitchell balances several tasks. He trains undergraduate and graduate clinicians. In addition, he assists and teaches parents how to implement behavioral programs and working directly with clients through telehealth.
Mitchell had experience working with individuals with various disabilities at camps when he was an undergraduate student. Upon graduating from college, Mitchell was working at a summer camp where he started using behavior-analytic interventions. It was his very first experience of being introduced to ABA and using ABA strategies (e.g., reinforcement). He became extremely interested in how practical and useful ABA interventions are after having hands-on experiences. Mitchell decided to go pursue additional certification in behavior analysis. He became a registered behavior technician (RBT) and gained more in-depth knowledge and training in ABA through the process.
After the experience working in the summer, Mitchell decided to pursue his master’s degree as he wished to expand the breadth of his current understanding in ABA. By having further education, he hopes to provide more effective service to his clients at the Husky ABA clinic. He also tries to use ABA interventions in different aspects of his life.
While studying hard in graduate school, Mitchell finds balance in his life by hiking, biking, and rocking climbing. He also enjoys cooking and hosting. Many of his classmates in the ABA master’s program have experienced his hospitality. In fact, Mitchell stated Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday, and loves spending time with his family. Also, most importantly, he eats amazing food. Given his passion for cooking, Mitchell has many strong opinions regarding food. He claims boneless chicken wings are solely glorified chicken nuggets, and they do not deserve to be called chicken wings! Having strong opinions also allows him to bring in many unique perspectives when contributing to discussions in classes.
Next week will conclude our reinforcement blog post series. It is okay if you missed the posts from the past 8 weeks or so. We will cover them all next week!!
Drink-tokens
Token economy systems are widely used as a part of applied behavior analysis interventions in different settings such as schools, homes, and clinics. The token economy is a method of delivering tokens for positive behavior to increase the frequency of the desired behaviors (e.g., instructions). Later, the tokens can be exchanged for rewards (e.g. treats, time of iPad, social interaction). You might think “well, I am bribing my child to behave.” To that, a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) might tell you “token economy is not bribing.” Remember the differences between reinforcement and bribery! Think of it as how you get paid for working. You would not call that bribery, would you?
When using a token economy, here are the necessary steps:
- Select a behavior: If your child has not experienced a token economy, a BCBA might recommend you choose one appropriate behavior initially. This ensures you can provide the token for that specific behavior. For example, using the word “please” when asking for something, going to bed on time, or doing 10 minutes of math homework.
- Choose rewards: Make sure to choose something that your child enjoys. These items can include their favorite, special snacks, activities, toys, or privileges like staying up late or having a pizza night. Of course, you can also ask your child to give you ideas!
- Select tokens: You can use checkmarks, poker chips, smiley faces, or cartoon characters that your child likes. You can find printouts here.
- Track the earned tokens: You could use a chart or a box and place it somewhere you and your child can see and track points easily.
- Determine how many tokens need to be earned: For different rewards, your child needs to earn a varied amount of token to exchange for them. (e.g. one token for a piece of candy, ten tokens for playing 30 minutes of video games). Also, make sure there are various small and big rewards so you child and get smaller rewards immediately or save up tokens for bigger rewards.
Here are some useful tips on running a token economy program:
- Make sure to provide a token along with behavior-specific praise immediately after the selected behavior.
- Start small and easy at the beginning of the program. You could even start by giving one free token to get the program going each day.
- Change up the rewards from time to time so your child will not lose interest.
- Have your child engages in the token economy development and creation. Your child can design the tokens, or what rewards to earn.
We will introduce another graduate senior behavior clinician at the ABA Husky Clinic next week and learn about how he discovers his love for ABA. To explore more ABA related topics and resources, check out our Facebook page.
We are excited to announce the application portal for our campus-based PsyD in Applied Behavior Analysis is now open!
Starting Fall, 2021, St. Cloud State University will be accepting its first cohort of students into its new 4-year post-baccalaureate PsyD in Applied Behavior Analysis. The PsyD is geared toward preparing students to be clinical directors, leaders, and owners, with emphasis on critical consumerism and bridging research to practice.
Students who attend SCSU will get hands-on experiences as clinic directors in our new autism clinics. Clinic directorship includes developing programs, training staff, working with parents, and managing an open-books clinic, amongst other duties. Coursework in business decisions and management and Organizational Behavior Management feature prominently.
While our program website is being built, we encourage anyone interested to please email Dr.Witts at bnwitts@stcloudstate.edu off-list. We are very happy to meet with interested students and any faculty or practitioners who might want to know if this program is right for their students/staff.
Application materials can be found here. Additional information can be found here.
Come meet Eva! she is a graduate senior behavior clinician at the Husky ABA Clinic. She provides behavioral therapy services to clients, guiding parents through what is like to implement behavior programs, and training undergraduate and graduate clinicians. She also assists in developing the registered behavior technician (RBT) training modules for the clinic. Through the Husky ABA Clinic, Eva is getting hands-on experience in developing training materials and instructing clinicians. Eva enjoys these responsibilities. She is excited about these new experiences as they will build and enhance her professional skills for her future career aspirations.
What sparks Eva’s interest in applied behavior analysis (ABA) is her curiosity in wanting to know why we behave the way we do. When she was young, Eva particularly liked to observe and question the way people and animals behave. She started taking multiple psychology-related courses in college trying to find the answer. Until she slowly developed a passion for ABA as it helps her understanding of human behavior.
Eva is currently working toward gaining her certification and becoming a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA). She is currently in the ABA master’s program at Saint Cloud State University. Eva hopes through working toward her master’s degree, she will gain knowledge in program development skills. Her goal is to create fun programs her clients will enjoy and learn essential life skills like communication, instruction following, and imitation.
As Christmas is approaching, Eva could not contain her excitement. She loves the holiday atmosphere. She loves to decorate her apartment and spending hours preparing for Christmas dinner. Most importantly, she enjoys spending time with people she loves.
Next week we will take a close look at a different type of reinforcement-based intervention, the token economy! For more resources on ABA for parents, teachers, and professionals click here. Make sure to like and share our Facebook posts
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First, what is shaping you might ask? Shaping is an invaluable technique used in applied behavior analysis (ABA) to reinforce small steps that eventually lead to the desired skills such as verbal skills, imitation, and independent play. It is especially helpful for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Shaping breaks down tasks into smaller pieces that are easier for the child to manage and master the skills.
Shaping allows parents to celebrate small steps and through these positive approaches to change behavior. Even though the process of learning a skill will be typically slower with shaping technique. However, for many children, it has been quite successful.
There are a few steps when practicing shaping:
- Identify a task you want the child to learn.
- Select something the child enjoys playing with, eating, or providing attention.
- Breaking the task down into small steps.
- Once the child performs the small step, make sure to provide the reinforcer and special praise (behavior-specific praise)
- After a couple times of successes, increase requirements gradually. In other words, adding the next small step.
Let us apply those steps with an example of sitting at the dinner table for 10 minutes.
- You would like the child to sit at the dinner table for 10 minutes. (identify a task)
- The child really likes goldfish crackers, so you decide to use them as a reinforcer. (select a reinforcer)
- You know sitting at the table for 10 minutes is way too difficult for your child. You decide you would start with 30 seconds. (breaking down the task)
- After you see your child sitting at the dinner table for 30 seconds you immediately provide a goldfish cracker and say “Mei, you did a great job sitting at the table” with a gentle pat on the shoulder. (provide selected reinforcer and behavior-specific praise)
- Now the child can sit at the dinner table for 30 seconds a couple times. You decide to make it one minute next time. (increase the small requirement)
Parents might ask “what if the child does not do the very first step?” A board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) will tell you to make the first step even easier and smaller. Also, you can always help the child when the first step is too difficult.
For more ABA-related topics and parenting skills in the coming weeks, check out our blog and Facebook page. For more resources on ABA, click here.
blogs.city.ac.uk
In Week 3, we discussed the topic of behavior-specific praise. This week we are going to incorporate the strategy with the new technique: praising the alternative behavior. Sometimes, parents want to simply change or get rid of behaviors that the child engages in. For example, arguing with siblings constantly, throwing a temper tantrum when told no, or not following instructions. When thinking of trying to stop a behavior, naturally we are more inclined to punish it. However, a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) will tell you to praise or reinforce alternative behavior instead.
Praising the alternative behavior is not as easy as it might sound. Simply recall the last time you praise your child when she was sitting quietly watching TV or playing nicely with siblings. You might ignore this until you are hearing them arguing then you might be inclined to yell at your child or even tell them to stop doing that. A phenomenon called negativity bias in which we have this natural instinct that forces us to notice more what is wrong in our environment because it has survival values. It makes noticing appropriate behaviors even more challenging.
To apply the technique of praising alternative behavior:
- caregivers will need to find the behavior that they do not want first.
- Next, find the positive behavior that can replace the behavior or identify what the opposite of the problem behavior is.
- Now, it is time to catch the child in the “act” or being good.
- As the child displays the positive behavior the caregivers want, behavior-specific praise will be provided.
For example, if you are trying to get rid of the behavior of the child arguing with the siblings (selecting the behavior you want to change). You would find times that the child is playing with siblings nicely ( the opposite of the problem behavior) and you could say “ Josh, it is so wonderful to see that you are playing with your sister so nicely” and give the child a gentle hug (delivering behavior-specific praise).
You might think why not just go ahead and punish the behavior? In applied behavior analysis (ABA), Punishment is always the last resort. Also, in this case, if you use punishment procedures, you only stop the problem behavior by using reprimands and not teaching the child what to do instead. Applying the technique of praising the alternative behavior will help the child to know what to do instead and by reinforcing the positive behavior, you will see more of it in the future.
For more information on the power of reinforcement check out this blog post and like our Facebook page for new content in the coming weeks.
Come meet Cheyenne! She is currently working towards her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis (ABA) program and working as a graduate clinician at the Husky ABA Clinic. Cheyenne assists with taking data on the individual progress her clients are making with a range of goals. In addition, she is also assisting with implementing interventions and parent training over telehealth for her clients. Cheyenne said that she started becoming interested in ABA when she was working as a staff member at a special needs summer camp. A friend of hers told her that they were looking into pursuing a degree in ABA. She changed her major after looking into the ABA program because she thought of her younger brother and how much he could have benefited from ABA interventions when he was a child and so can other children.
When Cheyenne is not pursuing her master’s degree in ABA, she is looking forward to Christmas. Without hesitation, Christmas is Cheyenne’s favorite holiday. Cheyenne loves everything from decorating houses with Christmas lights to the peppermint mocha, and of course, spending time with family. Cheyenne is also a former drum major of her marching band in high school and she competed in the St. Louis Ram’s dome in 2011. One of her most vivid memories is seeing Nick Cannon when he was in the local area for America’s Got Talent auditions. For a deployment, she was able to visit Iraq and the amazing capital city of Kuwait.
By working at the Husky ABA Clinic, Cheyenne strives to gain new behavior-analytic skills and help her clients. She strives to enhance her skill sets with data collection and intervention implementation and development, while ultimately meeting her final goal of becoming a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA)!
Check out our blog next week to find out how to promote positive behavior by catching the child in the “act”!
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that usually impacts an individual in terms of social interaction and communication. Some children may show signs of ASD as early as infancy. Typically, the child will show a lack of eye contact, reduced response to their name, or restricted and repetitive behaviors. However, no two children diagnosed with ASD are alike; therefore, how doctors diagnose ASD may vary. Due to the variabilities of severity, there is not a specific medical test to determine the disorder. Usually, pediatricians are the first professionals involved in the autism diagnosis process. As children get an assessment during their well-child visits that occur at 18-and 24-months. Your child’s doctor will be looking for things such as: whether your baby started babbling and cooing by 12 months, if they were mimicking sounds and facial expressions by 9 months, or if your baby smiled by 6 months.
