Photo Source: www.toysrus.com, www.terapeak.com
...“Get some flashcards”
Most
everyone involved with an ABA program has heard that sentence from someone, at
some point, while starting up services. While the goals for treatment will
vary, the intensity of treatment will vary, and the duration of treatment will definitely
vary, its common that the materials needed for ABA therapy are pretty similar
from one client to the next.
Here’s
the problem with that though: how much information did you receive about how to
select therapy materials? Not how to organize them or what materials to use,
but how to tell the difference between appropriate stimuli and inappropriate
stimuli. What I often see is this is an area that gets skipped over or quickly
mentioned, and many therapists are using inappropriate materials to teach
skills….and then wondering why the child is making no progress. Or as I refer
to it, the child has a data sheet full of eggs (that’s a score of “0”).
Yes,
accurate and precise teaching is important. Quality clinical supervision and
oversight is important. Evidence based methodology is important. I am not
minimizing any of these treatment components, I am just shining a light on an
area I often see lacking: the selection of appropriate therapy stimuli.
Hopefully
this will help you make some changes in how you teach, and improve the
materials you use regularly. I suspect that if you take the time to review the
materials you are using you may find large room for improvement…. which
will only benefit your clients.
And
look, I even made you a lovely table
STIMULI/MATERIAL
|
AVOID THIS
|
CHOOSE THIS
|
Flashcards/Pictures
|
Overly
distracting (too colorful, oversized, tiny, busy background, etc.)
Use
PEC images or purchased cards only
Word
+ image flashcards (unless you are intentionally
targeting this)
Present
stimuli in the same array across trials/Always put the correct response in
the same spot
Glance
at or hover your hand over the correct response
|
Cards
should be simple and only contain what you are teaching (if teaching the
client to tact “apple”, the card should not be an apple tree, a basket full
of apples, or a photo of Mickey Mouse holding an apple)
Generalization
is key: use multiple examples
Making
your own materials is always helpful to be able to use real-life examples (if
teaching “bed”, the photo is of the client’s actual bed)
Avoid
inadvertent prompting!
Laminate
everything (rough sessions happen)
|
3D
Toys/Manipulatives
|
Not
fully controllable /too distracting (example: if using a toy bus to teach the
tact “bus”, you pick a bus that sings songs, has multiple buttons that make
the bus talk, etc.)
Select
manipulatives that are too fun to touch or feel
Using
known reinforcers to teach skills (unless you are intentionally
targeting this)
Present
stimuli in the same array across trials/Always put the correct response in
the same spot
Glance
at or hover your hand over the correct response
|
Pick
objects that YOU can control during teaching/that are minimally distracting
Avoid
objects that blink, vibrate, buzz, are scented, etc.
Be
aware that using 3D items found in the home can pair that object to demand
situations
Generalization
is key: use multiple examples
Avoid
inadvertent prompting!
Maintain
control of your materials (client cannot pause mid-trial to play with the
materials)
|
Reinforcers
|
Look
around and grab whatever is near you to reinforce appropriate responding
Each
session bring out the same tired item/toy that the client worked for once,
and assume they will always want
to earn that
Silently
hand the client a reinforcer and ignore them as they interact with it
(silently collect your data)
|
Conduct
frequent Reinforcer Preference Assessments
Pair
novel reinforcers with known reinforcers to gradually expand what the client
finds reinforcing
Avoid
satiation on a reinforcer (switch ‘em up!)
Always
pair tangible reinforcement with social praise, so praise can be shaped into
a reinforcer on its own
Pair
yourself with reinforcement breaks by talking to the client, giving tickles,
or joining their play
|
Magical-Mary-Poppins-Good-Time-Happiness
Bag
|
Show
up to sessions empty handed
Expect
the parents/family to provide a wide array of materials and reinforcers
Assume
the client wants to work to earn things that are always at their house
|
Put
together your own therapist “goodie bag” and bring it to sessions
Include
a mix of reinforcers, sensory items/toys, and other fun things (crayons,
glitter glue, etc.)
Be
aware that some families/households don’t have toys, don’t own an iPad, etc.
Understand
that you now control access to things the client can only earn when you
are present
Regularly
change the content of your goodie bag
|
*Source:
(this is an amazing article)
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