Schramm autism. Childhood autism and ABA. ABA. Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy - Robert Schramm Robert Schramm

Attention! New channel Autism, autism spectrum disorder: what to do, where to read, where to go, how to work  or type in the search for the Telegram messenger - @nevrolog.
Behavioral neurologist and evidence-based medicine: so that later you don’t feel painfully sorry for wasted time, effort and other resources...

Subscribe to the channel * Child neurology, psychology, psychiatry or type in the search for the Telegram messenger - @nervos. The channel always contains up-to-date information, communication groups, support, feedback

☼ This is the territory of healthy nerves and calm brains! Necessary first-hand information for parents, based on the principles of evidence-based medicine and common sense

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (ABA)_1

Robert Schram Childhood autism and ABA

Autism is a disorder that involves abnormal behavior in a child. But it is the child’s behavior that is the only language, a system of complex codes through which others can understand his intentions, desires, and experiences. By carefully observing a child's behavior and carefully identifying reinforcers in the environment, adults can not only learn to understand it, but also respond to it using the language of ABA or Applied Behavior Analysis. ABA methods will help a child with autism adapt to reality, increase self-control and acquire new skills - from everyday life to academic ones.

The book by Robert Schramm, a recognized expert in behavior analysis, is great opportunity Learn about the unique power of ABA to help parents overcome the communication and learning challenges of children with autism and other behavioral difficulties. Robert Schramm, a certified ABA specialist, provides parents with methods and techniques to help correct any unwanted behavior in their child, regardless of the severity of the disorder, understand how to manage the child's learning new skills, and how to enable him to become more successful in life.

• Chapter 1. The road to better things
• Chapter 2. What does the diagnosis of autism mean?
  
• Chapter 3. ABA - the language of autism
  
• Chapter 4. How to recognize the goals of a child’s behavior
  
• Chapter 5: How to Increase Positive Behaviors
  
• Chapter 6: How to Reduce Problem Behaviors
  
• Chapter 7. Learning tools part two >>>
  
• Chapter 8. Types of verbal behavior
• Chapter 9. How to increase your child's motivation
• Chapter 10. Learning without mistakes
  
• Chapter 11: Breathe Life into Learning
• Chapter 12. Teaching a child functional speech
• Chapter 13. Basic techniques for analyzing verbal behavior
• Chapter 14. How to understand what to teach
• Chapter 15. How to overcome autism
• Conclusion
• Adapted dictionary of ABA concepts

Preface to the Russian edition

How to teach children? How to teach them to dress, use a spoon and fork, and say thank you? What should you do to ensure that your child behaves well at a party, in a store, kindergarten? These questions arise for all parents, and are especially acute for those raising a child with atypical development, such as autism.

This question is also of interest to psychologists, who pose it somewhat more broadly: how does a person learn in general? There is still no single answer to this question. Different psychological schools answer it differently, based on the theoretical premises on which they are based. One of the areas of psychology within which learning theory was created is called behaviorism.

Behavioral scientists have formulated basic principles that describe the functional relationship between behavior and other factors. Knowledge of how behavior works has allowed researchers to develop tactics aimed at changing behavior. This in turn led to the emergence of a direction called Applied Behavir Analysis (ABA), or applied behavior analysis, a scientifically based approach to the study of environmental factors that influence socially significant behavior and the creation of technologies that allow behavior change.

Behavior in this case refers to any interaction of an organism with the environment. Reading, walking, speaking, and baby babbling are all examples of behavior that can all be addressed with ABA techniques. Applied behavioral analysis is currently very widely used when working with children with atypical development. It has proven effective in teaching these children a wide variety of skills: self-care, academic skills, speech, etc. In Russia, this approach is little known and almost never used. Moreover, experience shows that often both parents and professionals have prejudices regarding ABA. As a rule, this is due to two things.

The first is the opinion that the learning process is similar to training. In fact, this statement is unfair. If we remember, for example, about fives and twos at school, the smiles of parents when a child cleaned the room well, or their dissatisfaction after their children fought, it will become obvious that people almost constantly use rewards or punishments to regulate the behavior of others. Another thing is that rewards or punishments do not always work as we would like. Scientists involved in ABA, having studied the laws of behavior, have created techniques that allow you to change behavior, avoiding failures.

The second point relates to the use of punishment. This is indeed a very important question from many points of view. It must be said that a large number of teaching methods have now been developed that make it possible to do without the use of punishment. Moreover, ABA ethical principles do not permit the use of penalties until it has been proven that other methods are ineffective. It is never about physical punishment. If punishment in a particular case is considered necessary, then it is always safe and does not infringe on the dignity of the child. These and other doubts will be removed after a closer acquaintance with ABA.

Robert Schramm's book is practically the first guide to applied behavior analysis in Russian. Designed for parents, it is written in simple, easy-to-understand language to teach the basics of ABA. The book doesn't just offer techniques to teach new skills or get rid of unwanted behavior. The book teaches you to understand a child - after all, only by understanding can you help

Appeal to readers

This book explores how therapists and parents can teach children with autism using behavioral theories. In this book, I deliberately simplify the definitions of complex concepts and avoid long theoretical discussions. At the same time, when explaining the reasons for using teaching techniques, I use terms such as “willingness,” “willingness,” “trying,” “awareness,” and “control.” Although some of these terms have nothing to do with "behavioral" terminology, I hope they will help make scientific text understandable to any reader.

Parents and teachers, when faced with the specific definitions that ABA professionals use to analyze behavior and create programs for children, are often confused and do not accept our science. Indeed, our parents and teachers lack practical guide, in which scientific principles would be adapted to their daily lives. Without such guidance, we as professionals are unable to effectively educate those who need our help, which in turn prevents many children who need it from receiving an education. And if we want our science to help parents become teachers of their own children, we must first become good teachers of parents in teaching the basics of behaviorism.

Chapter 1. The road to better things

Life is a journey that encourages us to constantly search for better ways. We are looking for good schools for our children, striving to find loyal and reliable friends, reliable ways to earn money, and generally learning to keep our hectic life under control. Once we achieve success, we become more persistent in repeating the type of behavior that will lead us to the desired result again. Conversely, we try to avoid behaviors that have proven ineffective in achieving our goals. This is the basic concept of behaviorism.

Once a child is diagnosed with autism, it is like going on a journey. This journey is essentially a search for new ways to help a child acquire the skills necessary to live a fulfilling life. True, for those who live far from big cities and do not have the opportunity to communicate with parents who have the same problems, this is a lonely journey along a deserted road in the steppe with a couple of signs on the side of the road. For those who live in the center of large cities, the road, on the contrary, is overloaded with signs and signs in all directions. In both situations, it is difficult for parents to raise their children without feelings of loss, fear and guilt. In other words, no matter how you solve your child's problems, you will always feel like you haven't done everything you could have done. This is fine. Just remember that parents cannot control the causes that lead to autism, and there is no reputable source that says otherwise.

In the late nineties, as an inclusive education specialist, I worked in California with children with various types of disorders. I spent six years studying the latest teaching methods and became a master in the field of special needs education. At the same time, I felt that all my experience and all my knowledge were not enough for me to confidently help children diagnosed with autism become more successful. I knew there was something incredibly special that was just for these kids. Time passed, but I couldn't find those really effective ways that would truly help these children become more successful. My futile attempts to become a beacon of hope that would inspire hope in my parents hurt me. I wanted to help children grow, learn and succeed in life. I tried to find better ways, and all I could think of was, “I just don’t know what else I can do.”

During my time working in California, one amazing child had a profound influence on me. Aaron was an unusually intelligent but troubled seven-year-old boy with autism. I was tasked with helping Aaron adapt to a regular first grade classroom. Like many other parents of children with autism, Aaron's parents wanted their child to receive a general secondary education. They couldn't bear to see him suffer in the auxiliary class or school. Aaron's parents believed that he needed to study in a place where the learning process would not be easy, where high demands would be placed on the boy, and where classmates would become models of behavior for their son. The parents understood that these were key conditions for the successful development of their son, despite his social skills and behavioral characteristics.

When Aaron was passionate about something he found interesting, he was sweet and smart, like any other child. The problem arose in school when he was asked to do something he didn't want to do. Under pressure from others, this little boy turned into a Tasmanian devil. He could easily destroy any program we developed if he was not interested in it. To help him, I used every trick and technique I had ever encountered, including advice from experts of every stripe I could find. I studied every behavior manual I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, new knowledge only again and again confirmed my powerlessness in this situation. Any plan designed to help the boy learn something, Aaron was capable of destroying if he did not feel the desire to follow it. Finally, I came to the same conclusions as other experts: Aaron cannot study in the general education system and must be placed in a special class.

It was a crushing blow to my self-confidence. What kind of inclusive education specialist could I call myself after I had to tell parents that their child could not study in the general education system?

To improve my skills, I began taking classes and training designed to help educate children with autism. I studied the system of communication using picture exchange (PECS-Picter Exchengе Communication System) and tried it with some success in working with my students. I studied the program “Treatment and Education of Children with Autism and Other Communication Disorders” (TEASSH: Tgeatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children) and also more or less successfully began to use it in working with my wards. I studied play therapy developed by Sidney I. Greenspan, MD, called Floor Play (www.floortime.org), and also began using it with my clients with some success. However, the occasional positive results I was able to get made me think that I was still learning how to use tools to learn how to build walls or make doors. I knew it wouldn't be enough for me or the children I wanted to help. If I really want to become a master at the craft I have chosen, I must find someone to teach me how to build a complete house. To do something for these children, I have to become a “carpenter.”

Finally, my search led me to applied behavior analysis (Applied Behavir Analisis, ABA) and then to the method of verbal behavior analysis (Verbal Behavior Analisis, VB) as a component of ABA. For many years, ABA as a scientific direction was known in the world of autism either as "behavior modification" or "The Lavaas method." However, it is more accurate to say that Dr. Lovaas and others were among the first to use ABA methods to help people diagnosed with autism.

The principles on which Dr. Lovaas based his program were developed by B. F. Skinner and published in his book “The Behavior of Organisms” (“Thieves and Opportunities”, 1938). Although Dr. Lovaas did much to introduce others to applied behavior analysis as a method of teaching children with autism, compared to today, the application of behavioral principles in the early stages of ABA development was often crude and inappropriate. Time and scientific research have brought significant changes to the way these early methods and procedures are applied. Although many behavior modification practitioners in the seventies and eighties used unacceptable procedures and left a negative imprint on everything related to the world of ABA, this scientific field has grown steadily over the past decades.

By revisiting and improving old teaching techniques and strategies, our understanding of how autism affects children's development and how we can influence autism has changed significantly. As ABA developed, the effectiveness of its use also increased. Today this scientific direction only slightly resembles the ABA of yesteryear. Training according to the general program was replaced by individual and direct, the use of discomfort-causing techniques - by positive reinforcing procedures. Instead of isolated classrooms, we now recommend more natural learning environments. However, regardless of any technical improvements, Skinner's principles have remained unchanged and are the theoretical basis of applied behavior analysis.

Parents who were accustomed to early ABA methods were often reluctant to opt for the new methods. Although the evidence for the effectiveness of new methods of teaching children socially acceptable behavior and academic skills was clear, parents preferred to deal with procedures that were resisted and unsightly. Many families who used ABA methods found them to be effective, but there were also families who felt that the results were not worth the effort.

There have been significant changes in ABA in recent decades, and today we can say with confidence that applied behavior analysis is the right choice for almost all children with autism and autism-like disorders. First of all, we are talking about the development of a method for analyzing verbal behavior as a component of ABA.

Verbal Behavior Analysis is both an ABA philosophy and a series of teaching techniques based on ABA principles to help children acquire verbal skills. In addition, the potential of ABA programs has been greatly expanded by EF specialists Dr. Jack Michael and others, including Dr. James Partington and Dr. Mark Sandberg, who have developed a series of new techniques for children with language delays based on Skinner's book Verbal behavior" 1958).

Over a fairly short period, from the late nineties to the 2000s, verbal behavior analysis as a method became widely used to treat autism in the United States. Thanks to ABA in general and the advantages of the method of analyzing verbal behavior in particular, there has been a significant leap in working with children. One of the main reasons for this success is the involvement of parents as the main teachers of their children. For too long, parents have waited behind the scenes, watching the distance between their children and society widen, when they had thousands of opportunities every day to interact with their children, to teach them acceptable social and communication skills and ultimately to help them to achieve significant success. If your child's therapist or teacher does not use ABA principles in their work, they are likely unfamiliar with advances in the field. If he uses ABA but does not include verbal behavior analysis in his classes with your child, then he is not aware of the latest research that supports this method.

Overcoming autism is not easy. You and other smart and caring people will experience both success and failure. No matter where you and your child are now, never forget that life is a road, and on this road no one has all the answers. I hope that this book will help you in your difficult work and perhaps become a good guide in your constant search for a better path.

Chapter 2. What does the diagnosis of autism mean?

In this chapter I will try to explain how and why a child receives a diagnosis of autism. I will not discuss the causes of autism and other known diagnoses. I purposely avoid this topic because it only misleads and distracts from the main goal: educating children. Knowing that there are two possible factors The Origins of Autism: Genetic disorders and environmental influences will not help you better prepare your child for the future.

Autism has been considered a mysterious phenomenon since ancient times, when it did not even have a name. The more our society studies autism, the more effective we become in defining the criteria for what is called autistic. Although more people are diagnosed with autism each year, the criteria for autism remain the same. What has really changed is the interpretation of the criteria and/or the number of people who meet them.

A child is diagnosed with autism when at least six specific behaviors can be observed in three areas: social interaction, communication and behavior (the child has repetitive and stereotyped behavior patterns and limited specific interests).

When determining the diagnosis, pay attention to the following deficits:

Signs of autism are also considered to be a delay in the development of speech or its complete absence, the presence of stereotypy (repetitive actions) in behavior, the use of repetition in speech, a passion for stereotypical activities or interests, and obsessive movements. Even if your child exhibits the minimum of the list of specific behaviors, he will likely receive a diagnosis of autism. I also note that the listed signs of developmental delay should be noticed before the age of three and not be associated with Rett syndrome1.

If a child exhibits some of these behaviors but is able to speak at an early age, they will likely be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

There is currently no blood test or genetic test that can determine whether a child has autism. The diagnosis of autism is made when a child exhibits specific types of behavior. But is it possible to find out if a child has autism without using a physical test? How to determine that a child has been cured? The answers to these questions are simple: if a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is made as a result of “ticking” a list of presented behaviors, then it is clear that if the child no longer exhibits a particular behavior, he is no longer considered a child with autism. Means Is it that the child is cured? Or that he is not sick? Or maybe he never had autism in the first place? These questions are often asked about children who have lessened the symptoms of autism and who have become more adjusted to life in society.

For me, these questions are not important - they are a waste of time and energy. The important thing is that we started working with a child who was diagnosed with autism and who, until that moment, could not directly communicate with others, play, or demonstrate those simple behavioral skills that have helped us all become, to one degree or another, successful and prosperous. . And when this child, after a while, does not confirm the diagnosis made by medical luminaries, and begins to possess, if not all, then most of the necessary skills, I will be convinced that this is the result that should be taken into account.

When you think of a child with autism, imagine him on the beach surrounded by a giant wall made of sand. This wall is uneven in height, has many cracks and is quite high in many places - so much so that the child cannot see the outside world beyond it. According to most adults with autism (those who can express their feelings in books or lectures on the topic), the world inside the wall is like a refuge from the confusing and unpredictable outside world. And the wall itself is a kind of barrier between the child and the rest of the world.

Now let’s try to imagine that individual sections of the wall are different skills that your child must master. To successfully interact with the world around him, he must have the skills that will allow him to rise above the top of this wall. The bottom of the wall represents skills that the child has acquired with little or no help. These, depending on how autism affects the child, include, for example, the ability to pull your hand towards something that he wants to get, or the ability to cry, throw tantrums, lose his temper, hit himself in order to achieve your attention or force you to leave him alone. A highly motivated child with sufficient development of some abilities will sometimes scale the middle section of the wall, demonstrating skills such as pointing or using one or more words. Finally, some parts of this sand wall will be so high for your child that he will not be able to climb it on his own without your help.

The essence of this metaphor is that it shows the need for synchronous work of the ABA program and the method of analysis of verbal behavior (VBA), necessary in order to help the child consistently overcome all the difficult sections of the wall and find himself in the outside world. To understand the methods of applied behavior analysis means to understand how to systematically and consistently use reinforcement (Camperset, 8K) or, in other words, how to create necessary motivation.

To overcome more difficult sections of the wall, the child must really want to do this, that is, be sufficiently motivated. You can create the proper motivation with the help of an incentive condition (Esabinty Orega Pop, EO) - words or actions that will temporarily change the value of the consequences of each action (behavior). In other words, it is a condition that makes a consequence, for a time, more or less valuable to your child than it would otherwise be.

For example, water tends to be more valuable to us on a hot, sunny day than on a cool and windy day. At the same time, the water itself does not change - your attitude towards water becomes different, which is influenced by the conditions: it has become too warm around you, or even, perhaps, there is a threat of dehydration. Motivation is an important factor in learning for children with autism, and the better you can manage your environment to create motivation, the better you can be as a teacher.

Dealing with autism is akin to a tug of war: to defeat the disease, you must hold your end of the rope, involving in this process an important ally - your child's environment. Most likely, your environment is currently a significant partner of autism - it is filled with things that distract you from your main goal. However, you can make your environment your ally. After all, only by rethinking its meaning will you be able to understand the child and properly motivate him. And then the child will be in the tug-of-war on your side, and not on the side of autism. Only by consciously managing the environment can you be sure that the child will constantly help you in your attempts to educate him. (More information on how to better understand a child’s world and make it your assistant in the learning process is written in Chapters 5 and 6.)

The goal of any good ABA/LE program is to identify the child's natural desires and use them in the learning process. To do this, a list of motivating conditions is compiled - the child’s favorite and desired activities, objects, toys and treats. By adding new, more acceptable objects and activities to those already known, we can make them more desirable for the child, and move less acceptable ones to the end of the list as least important for him.

If we recall our analogies, motivation can be compared to water. By filling the child's inner world with water so that he can rise and get as close as possible to the top of the surrounding sand wall, we will help him get over it. In other words, motivation will be the force that allows the desires and abilities that your child needs to acquire the skills you teach to emerge.

We view the verbal behavior analysis method as a tool that helps motivate the child at the initial stage of acquiring new skills, and ABA methods in general as a stimulating system that encourages the child to use these new skills again and again. Applied Behavior Analysis as a scientific field aims to study and apply ABA/CB methods to help people achieve success in the broadest sense of these words.

One of the key concepts of applied analysis is reinforcement - the most important principle of ABA, which has been used for a long time and successfully. Reinforcement is what happens after a behavior has occurred and increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. Everything we do is part of our behavior, including learning new skills. In the wall image, the behavior would be the child's attempt to leave his own world and overcome the wall, and the reinforcement would be the experience he gains when he succeeds. If the experience (reinforcement) is positive each time the child uses a particular skill, he will be motivated to use it again in the process of overcoming that sand wall. That is, reinforcing a certain behavior creates motivation in the child to try and demonstrate the skill again when the appropriate situation arises.

It is motivation that becomes the driving force that encourages the child to demonstrate the skill again and again. And reinforcement over and over again creates the conditions for internal motivation to become stronger than external motivation. The balance of motivation and reinforcement results in the child becoming increasingly willing to perform a skill to which they have been consistently practiced.

Let me note that the wall that surrounds your child is not made of solid rock - it is loose, which is both a problem and a blessing when teaching a child. The problem may be that cracks in the wall can allow the child to reach reinforcements without making the effort to use the skills you are teaching. If the cracks are left unfilled, a “motivation drain” will occur and the child will not have enough incentive to strive for success. Fortunately, the sand fills the cracks, making them invisible, and allows a motivated child to “jump” over the wall to the expected reinforcement, destroying the top of the wall along the way. The wall becomes lower and easier to overcome, and next time it will be a little easier to demonstrate the demonstrated skill.

ABA/EF programs use the principles of motivation and reinforcement to motivate your child to perform new and increasingly difficult skills, with the goal of increasing future willingness to repeat the skill and making it less difficult. Every time a child overcomes some part of the wall, it becomes easier for him to jump over it in the future. The sand, falling from above, fills the cracks in the lower part of the wall - and this is another advantage of using reinforcements: motivation does not leak, and it is easier to motivate the child to learn new skills.

Perhaps all of the above gives you the impression that we are talking only about children with autism. In fact, I described how each of us learns. From birth, we are surrounded by walls-barriers of different heights - restrictions that we must overcome through the development of more and more complex skills. This is the only way we can become full-fledged members of society. And only in this way will we be able to destroy the walls, no matter how high they turn out to be. Some will be able to do this better and faster, including because their walls turned out to be lower. For some, the wall will be so high that there will be no chance of getting over it. However, most often the walls around us are uneven: somewhere higher, and somewhere lower. A child with autism is no different from other children. He just needs to be helped to overcome the more difficult sections of the wall with the help of skills that society considers obligatory. The inability to independently overcome a wall is directly related to the insufficient level of development of skills in those areas that were listed at the beginning of the chapter: social interaction, communication and behavior (the child has repetitive and stereotypical behavior patterns and limited specific interests).

It is the absence or insufficient development of skills in these areas of life that are signs of autism.

Autism is a broad spectrum disorder that affects an increasing number of people. Autism affects a child’s ability to communicate and interact in various life, including educational, situations. If children are not educated, they will remain in the grip of autism until they completely lose contact with others. If parents and teachers are not trained, they will unwittingly motivate and reinforce the child’s increasingly problematic behavior. However, if you learn to understand your child's motivations and master the principles and techniques of ABA/EF, you can help him reduce unwanted behavior and achieve greater success in life.

Chapter 3. ABA - the language of autism

ABA, or applied behavior analysis, programs developed individually can be considered a specific plan. The fact is that certain types of behavior correspond to certain consequences, and if your reactions to the child’s behavior (consequences) are predictable and consistent, then they are understandable to the child. Accordingly, the child begins to understand you better. Your presence begins to have a calming effect on the child, he is less likely to get upset and becomes more open to interaction.

Most children and adults with autism love computers for their understandable “language.” ABA can be compared to a computer in terms of the degree of orderliness of actions and reactions. To successfully work or play on a computer, a child must select the required command. By pressing a certain button, he gets a predictable result, whether it is listening to music or simply wanting to turn on or off the computer. The key here is consistency, ease of use and lack of ambiguity. Using a computer mouse gives a child a sense of control over the situation. The computer will not start playing music unless it receives a special command, and will not tell the child when he should turn off the computer. He does not command, he responds to commands, and does this with enviable consistency.

If you want to be understood by your child, your language must be extremely clear, concise and consistent in both words and actions. Yes, the same as computer language. And if you offer your child certain behavior options with specific and understandable consequences for each option, your behavior will be understandable to your child. And if you are able to give your child clear and specific instructions on what to do and how to do it, with clear, specific and permanent consequences for his actions, the child will have a sense of order and control over the situation when interacting with you. As a result, the child will be less likely to seek control in other, less desirable ways. It should be noted that a parent who can quickly analyze a situation and give the child the instructions necessary to obtain the desired response can have a greater influence on the child's behavior than a programmed machine.

As a parent of a child with special needs, if you learn ABA/EF principles and strategies, you will feel empowered to teach. You can start by making small changes in your child's life that will help him or her make meaningful choices. different types behavior. However, without a clear understanding of ABA principles, your interaction with your child will not be systematic enough, which will cause misunderstanding of your requirements on the part of the child. If your behavior is confusing and inconsistent, your child will most likely prefer to spend time not with you, but in his own made-up world, finding in it the order and control that he so needs. As a result, he will plunge deeper into the world of autism.

Once you and your family have mastered the principles of ABA, your child will find that you understand and will be open to communication with you. The child will be able to feel comfortable in the circle of family, whose behavior was previously so annoying. Now he will begin to strive for communication, and the more he tries, the easier it will be for him to find himself in society. So, communication with a child based on the principles of ABA or, in other words, taking place in the language of autism, is comfortable for the child because he understands you - your language of interaction with him and your behavior. This means he won’t look for ways to avoid you. Life will become amazing and joyful.

I have never met a child with autism who was not able to use principles of behavior in the most unexpected and difficult situations to achieve their goals. But I know many parents who have behaved in unexpected ways, conforming to the ABA language manifested in their child's behavior.

For example, one mother of a child with autism had a bedtime ritual that continued every evening for half an hour. The procedure was always the same and looked something like this: the mother carried the child to the bedroom on her own shoulders. He agreed to sleep in only one pajamas: blue pants and a bright orange T-shirt. Then she adjusted the blanket and sang a lullaby. Before the end of the song, the child asked his mother to bring water, and she brought a glass of water from the bathroom. It was always the same glass, filled to the brim; the child, having drunk exactly half, asked his mother to fill it again. Then she had to put the glass on the nightstand and read the last chapter of the book “The Little Engine That Could...”. The child helped his mother hold the book and turn the pages. When the last page was turned, mom had to say: “Ko-o-no-e-ts!” Then she kissed him, wished him good night, left the room, closed the door and waited, standing outside the door, for the child to call her. Then she opened the door, looked into the bedroom, and the child wished her good night. And only after that he fell asleep.

So what's wrong here? Why do parents come under such control? Many will say that they have no choice. They believed that there was no other way. Whether this example seems strange to you or not, it is a very common situation where parents, not understanding ABA language, are influenced by the child. If you are familiar with this situation firsthand, then your child definitely subjugated you. Do you allow your son or daughter to choose his own clothes, even if he wears the same T-shirt three days in a row? Does the child in your family decide whether he will sleep between his parents every night, even if he is already twelve years old? Have you really been trained so that you know exactly when and how you are allowed to feed your baby? Does your child know how to have you follow him around and pick up anything he drops on the floor? Has your son convinced you that there is only one way home from school or only one correct way to the park? Have you made sure that you can talk on the phone and work on the computer only when he is sleeping?

Each of these examples shows that the child is applying ABA principles to you using his or her innate, natural abilities. ABA is the understanding of how antecedents and consequences can influence behavior. So, if you dress your child in the “wrong” pajamas, you will face the consequences of this action. If a child screams and hits himself in the head, it means that you have just made it clear that you made the “wrong” choice. If you ignore this message and continue to put him in the “wrong” pajamas, you may end up with another consequence - your child will bang his head against the wall. Naturally, you don't want your child to suffer, so in order to protect him from himself, you can change your behavior and put him in those same old blue pajamas. Your behavior will be rewarded: the child will become calm, smiling and obedient again. Once this procedure is repeated several times, you will suddenly notice that each time you choose the “right” pajamas for your child.

Have you noticed how your child was able to change your behavior using ABA principles? If you cannot answer in the same language that he understands, you will have a good chance to develop your own ritual, reminiscent of the situation with a mother putting her son to bed. Conversely, if you understand and accept the principles of ABA, you will be able to respond to the child in the same language, and then (if, of course, you are consistent and predictable), he will understand what you are talking about. Conciseness, clarity and consistency of your instructions will allow your child to predict your actions. He will be comfortable because he will be able to control his environment. This means he won’t have to try to gain comfort and control in ways you don’t want.

Your child understands and applies ABA principles. When you respond to him in ABA, you will both become much more comfortable communicating with each other. And comfort will increase as the child feels more and more confident in the society around him. Children who grow up in calm, predictable environments that they can control are happier and more willing to connect with others. Only when the child wants to constantly communicate with you can you begin full-fledged training.

This chapter is not intended to support scientifically proven principles of ABA/HC. There are hundreds of different studies that prove the effectiveness of the ABA technique. These studies can be found in scientific journals, links to which you will find at the end of the book. The purpose of this chapter is not to prove the effectiveness of ABA principles. This is a description of my own experience as to why ABA is such a powerful tool for helping a child with autism. Do the examples above match what you already know about your child? Have you noticed how your child is using ABA principles to manipulate you and others in his environment? Have you noticed how autism controls you? If so, keep reading and I'll show you how you can use ABA/EF to turn your child's behavior to your advantage.

Chapter 4. How to recognize the goals of a child’s behavior

I often ask parents who are new to ABA/EF what they find most difficult about teaching their child new skills. Top on the list is problem behavior. No matter how much of an impact autism has on a child's life, there will always be a behavior that a parent, teacher, or therapist feels needs to be changed. It is important for parents to understand what positively influences their child's behavioral choices before they make any attempt at teaching. I think most of you will agree that each of the basic learning skills is a set of specific actions. If you don't know how to positively influence your child's choice of a particular activity, you will not be able to positively influence the entire learning process. To better know how to help your child avoid ineffective or problematic behaviors, you need to understand the goals behind each type of behavior.

The only way to positively influence your child's behavior choices is to identify the purpose behind those choices. If you can't do this, you won't know how to influence behavior. Many parents say that their children often do things for no apparent reason. But after careful study, you can detect intention behind every child's action. If you don't understand what that intention is, then you don't have the necessary skills. Experts identify four possible goals of behavior: to receive something from someone (socially mediated positive behavior), to avoid something initiated by someone else, for example, an activity or communication (socially mediated negative behavior), to receive something desired (automatic positive behavior), remove something unwanted/avoid something unwanted (automatic negative behavior). The last two goals were not associated with the participation of other people.

To understand what the intention (goal) is, you need to quickly answer three questions:

1. What exactly did I not like about this behavior?

2. What happened before the behavior occurred?

3. What happened immediately after the behavior occurred?

The first question is designed so that you focus on the behavior/action that you would like to change, and not on the child himself. It is difficult to notice a change in the behavior of a “bad” child, who also “creates problems”, “does not try to try”, or is “autistic”. I deliberately put quotation marks around all these general phrases that do not reflect the actual action. It is much easier to work on a specific behavior such as “runs away from mom,” “doesn’t respond to his own name,” or “throws his plate on the floor during lunch.”

The second question is designed so that you can see if there is an antecedent stimulus (Anteceaen), that is, something that precedes the manifestation of the behavior/action that can be considered as its cause. For example, every time you put a certain sweater on a child, he bites himself. By understanding the preceding stimulus (the child is wearing a sweater), you can easily change the behavior (biting himself).

In addition, by answering this question, you can easily guess the purpose of such behavior. For example, in a situation where a child throws a plate on the floor immediately after the father answers the phone, you can understand that the purpose of this behavior is to try to get the father's attention. Or if a child constantly claps his hands and refuses to respond to the sound of his name, this may indicate that the purpose of the behavior is self-stimulation. A situation where a child leaves the room as soon as his mother picks up his toothbrush may lead you to believe that the behavior was used to avoid the unpleasant procedure of brushing his teeth.

The third question is the most difficult, but also the most important, and therefore requires the correct answer. What is the consequence that reinforces the behavior in question? Once you determine what has changed in the child's environment since the behavior occurred, you can then identify the reinforcing factor that increases the chance of the behavior occurring in the future.

Here are some examples of what you might do to change your child's problem behavior, given knowledge of the underlying goals of the behavior.

Attention (first goal). If the plate thrown on the floor was used to get the father's attention, the father should not show attention the next time the plate hits the floor. However, he must pay maximum attention to the child when he behaves properly during meals.

Evasion (second goal). If the plate was thrown on the floor to avoid following an instruction (for example, “Say “bread”), then the goal of the behavior is avoidance. In this case, the father should not reinforce this behavior by continuing to insist on the same or a similar instruction. If the child has followed the instructions, the father can reinforce obedience by reducing demands for a certain time.

Self-stimulation (third goal). Self-stimulation is behavior whose purpose is self-stimulation. Self-stimulation does not depend on whether the child is alone in the room or in the company of others. This behavior is not easy to influence because it is reinforced by natural arousal and you cannot artificially stimulate it.

If the reason for throwing the plate on the floor is because the child likes the sound it makes, you need to find a way to reduce the sound effect, which is an automatic (without the other person) reinforcement of the behavior. Here are some actions you can take: buy a rug or rug, replace the plate with plastic or paper. Discuss any possible options to help you reduce the sound effect that reinforces throwing the plate on the floor. Additionally, giving your child the opportunity to experiment with specific or similar sounds at appropriate times can significantly reduce the child's urge to do so at the dinner table.

So, when you ask yourself these three questions and determine the purpose of your child's behavior, you will understand what you can do to make positive changes in behavior. However, the only way to know for sure that your plan is reliable is to put it into practice and record the results of your observations. Only in this way will it be possible to understand how much the manifestations of unwanted behavior have decreased over time. Don't expect your child to change their behavior right away. However, even if his behavior changes for the better, this is not a real positive result and does not mean that the plan will ultimately be successful. Temporary improvements in behavior are great, but don't take these changes as an indication that the unwanted behavior is a thing of the past and that you won't experience the same behavior in the future.

So, the only way to determine whether problem behavior has actually decreased is to make ongoing observations and record the results. After a certain period of observation, you will be able, based on objectively collected data, to conclude whether the frequency of unwanted behavior has decreased or not. This is the only way you can figure out whether your intervention is having the desired effect. Usually one to two weeks is enough to determine if the plan is working. If the behavior continues or occurs more frequently after a week or two, you should stop, rethink possible goals, and move on to a different tactic.

Attention! If you observe specific unacceptable behavior that you are unable to control, or if you are dealing with aggressive behavior that puts the life and health of a child or others at risk, you should seek professional help immediately. Your best bet is to find a certified ABA practitioner who can perform a complete and detailed functional analysis of the behavior, experimentally determine its target, and develop a safe and effective treatment plan.

Chapter 5: How to Increase Positive Behaviors

Observation of the child's behavior is a mandatory part of standard testing. The examiner may ask him to perform an action, such as jumping, or clapping his hands, or repeating a sound.

As a rule, even those children with autism who have not previously participated in the AVAL program master these skills and demonstrate them spontaneously, on their own initiative. However, more often than not, untrained children do not understand the request or are unwilling to follow instructions. If a child does not comply with the adult’s requirements and does not demonstrate skills during testing, the examiner puts a minus sign next to the corresponding item, which means failure to complete the task. As a result, the child is not only diagnosed with autism, but also diagnosed with developmental delay or mental retardation.

Most children with autism do not lose mental abilities or personal qualities (kindness, intelligence, etc.), but these qualities and abilities do not seem to fit together. Children do not demonstrate these qualities consistently and in situations where they are expected to do so. On the other hand, if a child does not jump when asked to jump, this does not mean that he cannot jump at all. Or that he cannot learn to jump when asked. Similarly, a child may make sounds when he is alone in his room, but refuses to do so when asked by an adult. This does not mean that he is incapable of learning to speak, but rather that he has no incentive to follow your instructions or is uncomfortable with the stress that is inevitable in a situation where you have to develop these skills.

Scientific research in the field of behavior analysis1 has shown that the reasons that motivate a child to work on acquiring skills can be both external (reinforcement of desired behavior) and internal (the presence of appropriate motivation). The ability of a teacher, therapist or parent to manage a child’s behavior through conscious and purposeful reinforcement of desired behavior and the formation of motivation is usually called educational control. Having instructional control increases the likelihood that your instructions will encourage your child to give the correct answer; If you do not have educational control, you will most likely characterize your child’s behavior as “stubborn and uncontrollable.”

To obtain educational control, you must, firstly, evoke in the child a stable association with some pleasant things and activities (which can serve as reinforcement of the child’s desired behavior) and, secondly, develop such experience of interaction with the child in which he will follow your instructions when given appropriate reinforcement.

If you want the effectiveness of the learning process to be sustainable, you (the teacher, the learner) should always control the relationship process, and not the child (the student, the learner). Mastering the technique of educational control means, among other things, obtaining the child’s consent to allow you to make decisions about the conditions under which you will communicate with him. Such agreement will become possible when, thanks to your efforts, the child becomes motivated to participate in an activity where you play a leading role. The best way to motivate a child is to let him know that he can get what he wants quickly and easily if he follows instructions using verbal and behavioral skills.

Achieving this goal is your first step in creating motivation in your child and is the most important aspect of the teacher-student relationship and indeed of any therapeutic intervention. Only when you achieve this goal can you say that you have mastered educational control and the management of your child’s learning is completely in your hands. Until this happens, the child, ignoring your guidance of the learning process, acquires skills based on his own interests and is in complete control of the situation. If he cannot overcome his focus on his own desires and does not participate in the educational activities of your choice, you will not be able to provide meaningful help to your child.

Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) methods are used in conjunction with a traditional ABA program for a reason. The fact is that the purpose of using verbal behavior analysis techniques is to increase the value of learning through the use of reinforcement. The higher the value of learning, the less often the child makes attempts to avoid completing tasks. It is important to note that due to the inconsistent use of instructional control, even qualified and experienced counselors cannot always ensure that children consistently follow instructions and completely stop trying to evade classes. When working with the most difficult children, consultants often come to the conclusion that if you do not consistently adhere to the principles of EF, you end up wasting a lot of time trying to attract and hold the child’s attention during the learning process. Although in such situations it is possible to use such an EP method as the procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior (Escare Extension), it should be used only as a last resort and gradually used less and less.

I know that if I really want to help a child, I must make him want to study with me and see me as a teacher. For this to happen, I must give up trying to teach if the child wants to quit (i.e., avoid meeting the demands). However, the value of the consequences of quitting must be significantly lower than the value of the reinforcing consequences of the learning I planned. Motivation for learning must be maintained at such a level that in the future the child wants to study on his own. When this becomes possible, educational control will not be felt by the child as coercion. It is precisely this kind of motivation for a child to participate in the learning process that I must earn and deserve.

My research and experience working with children with autism resulted in the development of a series of comprehensive interventions that could allow parents to master academic control without the use of avoidant behavior suppression procedures. This system, which includes seven steps (stages, bridges), is based on methods of analyzing verbal behavior. These seven steps will allow you to control your child's environment and help you quickly and easily establish learning control. Whether you call it instructional control, compliance training, teacher-student relationships, or mutual respect, these seven steps will enable you to make your environment your ally in your fight against autism. When you begin to systematically apply knowledge of the seven steps, you will not have to actively control your child using the procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior.

As a result of your mastering and application of the seven steps, your child will have the desire (motivation) to spend time in your company, follow your instructions, and share responsibility for establishing and maintaining the relationship between you. He will begin to actively participate in increasingly complex tasks because you have earned his desire to support the process of communication with you. And only when this happens and the child, on his own initiative, decides to support the communication process, can you begin to teach him what he initially did not want to learn.

If you want to successfully teach a child and build a relationship with him, mastering the seven steps must be consistent. Failure to master even one level will lead to overall failure, and your child will constantly look for ways to avoid learning. I will add that using the seven steps in your daily life will allow you to support your child's positive attitude towards learning. The more parents, teachers, and therapists follow these seven steps, the more often their children will begin to choose desirable behaviors.

Understanding and applying ABA/HC methods is like a builder constructing a unique building. The process of mastering educational control is akin to a good and solid foundation for future relationships with a child. The quality of everything you build in the future will depend on the strength of this foundation. Some parents say: “The child does not recognize my authority.” The best way to gain authority in the eyes of your child is to master educational control, the seven steps of which will become the foundation of the process of effective learning.

Seven stages of educational control formation

Stage 1. Your child needs to know that you are in complete control of all the objects he wants to receive or play with, and only you decide when and for how long they will be in his possession.

Anything your child likes to play with “can serve as a potential reinforcer for your child to engage in desired behavior. Your control over these objects is important early in the development of learning control. This does not mean that the child will be completely deprived of these attractive objects. On the contrary, he should be able to obtain them if he follows simple instructions and behaves well.

It is you who create the environment surrounding your child. You choose what to buy him, what to wear, what to sleep on and what to eat. As a parent, you are responsible for deciding to purchase things when he needs them and to remove things he doesn't need. This happens regardless of whether you use this circumstance when teaching a child.

The first stage of developing educational control is deciding which of the surrounding objects your child can use and what he must do in order for you to provide him with this opportunity or deprive him of this opportunity. To limit access to a reinforcer (thing or toy), place objects that are attractive to the child in a place where they will be visible to him, but at the same time will be inaccessible to him. Make sure your child knows where these items are now. For small children, you can use a transparent container; for older children, a locker or drawer with a lock is suitable. Try not to remove an item while your child is playing with it, even if this means waiting until your child falls asleep or leaves the room.

Control of reinforcements is very important at the very beginning of working with a child. As soon as you see that the child is losing interest in the reinforcement, you should immediately remove it. If you notice that your child is trying to get an object, playing with it, holding it in his hand, or looking at something that you did not consider attractive to the child and for which you did not plan to limit access, write it down and, as soon as he finishes playing , put the item out of reach of the child. In this case, you can use this item later as a possible reinforcement.

If your child has favorite activities, think about how you can control them. Trampolines can be hung on the wall, curtains can be drawn, swings can be suspended and out of reach when not in use. Once you have full control over your child's access to favorite objects and activities, you can begin to use these objects at your own discretion, basing your decision on the instructions in the following steps.

Stage 2. Prove to your child that you are interesting. Each episode of communication should bring new experience to the child’s life and be a joy for him, so that in the future the child follows your instructions as desired and wants to spend as much time with you as possible.

"The best ABA/EF programs devote approximately 75% of the child's interaction time to the process of identifying/associating the teacher with enjoyment and reinforcement. This process should be based on the child's motivation and include nonverbal language and narrative language.

Narrative speech communicates your thoughts and feelings to your child without requiring any response from him. Name the objects the child plays with, his actions, yours and his feelings: “This is a ball. It's big and red. We are playing ball. I love playing with you!” You need to teach your child narrative speech by modeling it as you communicate. You must be able to share thoughts, ideas, using funny situations, without fear of appearing stupid and without demanding anything in return.

To form a connection in your child's mind between you and reinforcement, follow your child's interests and give him the opportunity to play with any object or toy for as long as you can be with him. Make re-Zenk's play time attractive to him because you are part of it. If your child wants to listen to music, you should be the one to provide the opportunity to listen to it. While listening, you can hold him in your arms, jump and dance with him. If your child wants to leave, starts playing with another toy, or stops listening, you can turn off the music. But as soon as he returns to the room or stops acting up, immediately turn on the music again.

Remember, in the early stages of learning and establishing educational control, it is important to demonstrate to your child that you will turn on the music as soon as he returns to the room or stops misbehaving. Another great opportunity to identify with reinforcement is when a child is swinging on a swing. You can make this activity more interesting by playing with your baby, trying to catch him or tickle him while he swings. Try swinging it harder or spinning it on a swing. Pretend to dodge the swing at the last second. Observe what makes him smile, and this will help you make a simple activity in your company more attractive than without you.

Associate your presence with the most powerful reinforcers. Write down all the subjects and activities that interest your child and think about how to make them more attractive. Try to make him increasingly enjoy playing with you - the kind of pleasure that he could not get when playing alone. Try not to get bored with these activities. This is sometimes much more difficult than it seems. If you don't know how to play with a child, you must learn to do so. This is a must to become a good teacher.

Stage 3. Show your child that you can be trusted. Always say what you mean and mean what you say. If you give your child an instruction to do something, don't give him reinforcement until he does it. This level allows you to help your child achieve success if necessary.

When communicating with your child, you should use command language only for 25% of the total communication time and only when you are not involved in an exciting activity with the child. Command language is a form of addressing a child when you expect some kind of reaction from him (words, gestures, actions). Before you demand anything, you must understand what exactly you want to hear in response, what exactly you expect from the child.

Only responses to your instructions that are acceptable from your point of view should be encouraged. During the learning process, do not reinforce your child for trying to avoid learning. When you present an order or instruction (I also call them discriminative stimuli), you should expect the child to follow these orders or instructions. A discriminative (specific) stimulus is a signal indicating that reinforcement is available. When you use reinforcement for educational purposes, your instructions are signposts that signal to the child that a certain type of behavior will lead to a positive outcome, but others will not. You should not provide reinforcement to your child until he responds to your cue correctly. If you don't reward the times when your child ignores your instructions, sooner or later he will choose to learn (follow the instructions) because you reinforce that choice. And the more consistent you are, the more often the child will choose learning.

The child should hear demands expressed in command language from you throughout the day in different situations. Sometimes you can teach the child at the moment when he wants to watch TV - in this case, you will turn on the TV only if the child follows the instructions, and after a while you will discreetly turn it off to give the next instruction. And when he wants to jump on the trampoline, you can teach him on the floor, using access to the trampoline as reinforcement. If your child wants to eat chips, you can teach him something in the kitchen by rewarding his good behavior with his favorite chips. The location where the training will take place does not matter. In fact, you should be intentional about teaching your child in any situation and at different times of the day. The most important thing is that he participates in the learning process on his own and that you have plenty of opportunities to teach him different skills throughout the day.

The type of reinforcement you use when working on a skill should depend on the child's current motivation - what he wants to receive or what he would like to do at the moment. Remember, providing reinforcement does not mean simply giving something that the child likes after he follows your instructions. Rather, it is the creation of circumstances that will increase the likelihood that the child will choose similar behavior in the future. By carefully monitoring your child's environment (step 1) and creating a pleasant play atmosphere, you will become the strongest constant reinforcer (step 2) for your child. In doing so, you will continue to use other favorite items as reinforcements, only allowing access to them when the job is well done.

Keep in mind: The items and activities that influence your child's current behavior will often not be the ones you planned to use. Reinforcement only works when it has a direct effect on increasing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the future. Don't focus on providing examples or food to reinforce your child's behavior in certain learning situations.

The choice of reinforcement should be made based on observing what your child prefers at the moment. Try not to think of reinforcement as a specific item. Think of it as free flows of attractive objects and positive experiences moving toward each other between you and your child.

To say what you mean and mean what you say, you must choose your words very carefully. If you ask your child a question, he should be able to answer it. Remember, you must respect the child's decision, even if it goes against your teaching ideas. This means that you need to think through possible answers before you ask the question. For example, you asked a child whether he would like to work with you or not, and received a negative answer. The child's answer is not incorrect. In fact, you gave him the opportunity to choose: work or not work. He chose not to work. You must understand that it was your decision to pose the question this way instead of giving clear instructions, and that this is what created the problem. You can avoid unnecessary confusion by using more precise instructions.

Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you want your child to do exactly what you ask, use direct instructions. When you say, “Sit,” “Come to me,” or “Do that,” you should always expect an appropriate response from your child. If you have a ball in your hand that your child wants to play with, and you give him the specific instruction “Sit,” you should not give him the ball until he follows the instruction. If he doesn't sit, hold the ball and other forms of reinforcement until he follows the instructions. Conversely, if you ask if the child wants to come and sit, you should respect his decision not to come and then the ball and other reinforcers should remain available to him.

Remember that the first stage requires complex reinforcement limitation. If you have a ball in your hands that your child wants to play with, and there is nothing else nearby that he would like to have, he will eventually decide to sit up on his own just to gain access to the ball.

Try to find ways to offer more reinforcement when your child performs a skill without your help, and less when you help him get the answer right. For example, in a situation where you have asked your child to sit and it takes him some time to come to you and follow the instructions with your help, you can ask him to do something else quickly before you give him the ball. However, if he immediately comes to you and sits without your help, you can pick him up, tickle him, play with him and, of course, give him a ball.

The need for a hint or repetition of instructions may indicate either that the value of communicating with you is not great enough, or that you are somehow provoking his attempt to evade the task. It is also possible that the child was never interested in such reinforcement (for example, a ball). It may happen that the reason your child ignored your words was the fact that you quickly repeated instructions. To avoid the need for excessive prompting, you should try to determine and reinforce the child's motivation (his desire to do something) before giving instructions. If you receive a negative answer, you will have to reconsider your words and actions. We will discuss this topic in Chapter 6.

Stage 4. Show your child that only by following your instructions will he be able to get what he wants. Give your child easy tasks as often as possible and encourage him to participate in them as a positive experience.

Once you have control over the items or events that reinforce behavior, you can begin to use them in the process of teaching and maintaining acceptable behavior. The Premack principle will help you follow this effectively. In our case, this principle means that the child must follow directions or behave well before you allow him to get what he wants. Premack's principle is also known as "Granny's Rule": "You must eat your dinner before you have dessert."

In order for the child to learn to follow this rule, you must instruct the child every time before you give him anything that he really wants to receive from you. Your instructions should be: “First, throw this in the trash,” or “Sit down and I’ll get it for you.” The more opportunities you use to reinforce your child's behavior with something he likes when he follows your instructions or demonstrates good behavior, the more quickly he will learn that following the rules is the best way to get what he wants.

Resist the temptation to ask your child what he wants before you have explained the requirements needed to complete the task. Even if you consider it acceptable to ask your child to do something before fulfilling his requests, try to avoid the “if... then...” pattern. This technique is a quick way to get what you need from your child, but it can lead to problems and limitations later.

It is always best to surprise your child by giving him an object or offering an activity that you think he would like to do after he has chosen acceptable behavior over undesirable behavior. Using an “if... then...” statement does not help a child make the right choice. On the contrary, it provokes him to start arguing with you. He may decide to engage with you only after he has assessed whether the reward is worth following your instructions. “If... then...” statements weaken your control over the communication process and transfer it to your child.

The last thing you want is for your child to start judging how much effort he has to put in to get the reward you promised. In practice, the difference may seem subtle, but it is extremely important. You want your child to choose acceptable behaviors because they are always in his own best interest. This applies to all people and works when the reinforcement for exhibited behavior is varied and unpredictable.

To quickly progress through the first stages of early learning control, provide your child with hundreds of opportunities throughout the day to choose acceptable behaviors based on your instructions, immediately reinforcing each correct behavior choice. Once you have control over your child's behavior reinforcement, it will be easier to give him the opportunity to follow your instructions. Since you have control over his favorite subjects and activities, your child should come to you to get what he wants. And when he comes, all you have to do is ask him to do something first. This could be as simple as asking him to return the toy he was just playing with, touching his own nose, turning off the TV, or repeating the request using more appropriate words.

Start with simple tasks. Be careful when giving directions that you don't have a clue to follow. Non-verbal means, such as motor imitation (reproduction using gestures), can accompany instructions that require a verbal response. Use prompts based on your child's skill level and desire to engage with you. If your child refuses to participate or cannot speak, you cannot help him want to do so. All you have to do is wait or give in.

Let me remind you that following the instructions should be a joy for the child. To achieve this, instructional control instructions must end with play and communication: you can tickle the child, praise, or “slap his hands.” Methods of reinforcing behavior, including praise, are described in Chapter 7.

Stage 5. Use the reinforcement method. In the early stages of mastering instructional control, use reinforcement whenever you receive a positive response to your instructions. Gradually move to an increasing variable reinforcement ratio.

Continuous reinforcement to reinforce behavior is important because your child must understand that behavior will get him what he wants. People behave predictably when it comes to rewards. In other words, we all choose those types of behavior that will ultimately lead us to the opportunity to get what we want. fastening. Even if it is just a feeling of pride for our achievements, such reward will be at the core of what we do.

Understanding that good behavioral choices lead to good rewards will only emerge if every good choice results in a positive outcome. Since most of these decisions are based on following the instructions you give your child, he will see that following instructions is a necessary condition for receiving a reward. The connection between clear instructions and the right choice of behavior leading to effective rewards will not go unnoticed by a child who knows how to get what he wants.

The child learns to understand that it is in his interests to listen to your orders and respond correctly to them, and therefore he will try to do what you want from him. Eventually he will start coming to you for opportunities to learn because he knows this is the first step to the things he loves.

Realizing the importance of being around other people is the first step to moving beyond autism. But such awareness will come only if you constantly do everything so that your child, following your instructions, is able to quickly receive a reward. This means that you should try not to leave a single instance of your child's good response without reinforcement. You can always encourage your child in some way: tickle him, spin him in the air, or just give him a big hug. By reinforcing the desired behavior each time, you are stating that in similar situations you want to see exactly that behavior again. Once your child understands this, he will also understand that the lack of reinforcement means that you do not want to see this behavior in the future.

Once you have mastered instructional control, you can slowly begin the process of decreasing the number of reinforcers for a certain number of correct responses. The response-to-reinforcer ratio is the number of acceptable responses a child needs to receive one reinforcer.

To increase the response-reinforcer ratio (i.e., create a schedule of less frequent reinforcement), you need to move from reinforcing every single response (1:1) to reinforcing every second, third, and even fourth response (2:1, 3:1, 4: 1) in situations where the child follows instructions. You may end up waiting longer. When the child shows a desire to take part in the learning process, move from a one-to-one ratio (one reinforcement for each response) to a variable ratio (Vanable Capo, VK) - two to one or three to one. This means that, on average, you will reward your child with two or three positive responses with a tangible item. From there, you can move on to reinforcing an average of every five positive responses. Finally, move to a ratio of ten to one or more.

The reason we use a variable reinforcement ratio is because scientific research has shown that using a variable (unpredictable) reinforcer ratio is more effective at inducing consistent and correct responses than using a constant and predictable schedule of reinforcer delivery.

Stage 6. Show that you know your child's priorities as well as your own.

Identify and write down every item or activity that can be used as a reinforcer for your child. Then observe what he prefers in different situations. These preferences can change all the time, so you should try to notice what he really *would like to have the most during the time you are engaged with him. Make a list of preferred reinforcers and share it with all adults who interact with your child in some way. In this list, highlight primary (food), secondary material (non-edible) and secondary social (communication and activities) reinforcers. Do your best to find as many different reinforcements as possible and complete this list. Your child should be able to work for a wide range of reinforcers. Every day you should try to find and add one or two new reinforcements.

The best way to find a new reinforcer (item or activity) for your child is to figure out what is currently working as a reinforcer and figure out what properties of those reinforcers attract your child the most. Find out what new items or activities with similar qualities will allow you to add to your child's list of reinforcers. Habits, rituals and self-stimulating behavior are good grounds for expanding the range of reinforcements. For example, a child who likes to spin might enjoy swinging on a parent-pushed swing, spinning in a desk chair, bouncing on a large exercise ball, or sitting on a blanket that you pull him around the room on. Children who like to open and close doors or line up objects can simply play with toys that allow these actions. Children who love outdoor lights can play with lanterns and flashing toys, flashlights and mirrors.

There is no one right way to find reinforcers for your child. The best approach is to constantly try new toys, objects, and activities until the desired methods of reinforcement are found.

Alternate the use of certain rewards to prevent loss of interest in any of them. It's a good idea to reserve the most engaging subjects and activities for use when working on more difficult or important skills, such as language development or toilet training. Try to use social reinforcements along with material ones. Understanding how to manage what your child wants is one of the most important parts of developing your child's ability to make independent decisions. Differential reinforcement is the process of using different amounts of reinforcers for different types and levels of behavior.

By knowing what your child prefers, you will be able to decide what to give him for a satisfactory response, which reinforcer to use as a reward for a good response, and what type of reinforcement he deserves for a great response. Using a variety of reinforcers for your child's different types of responses will help you shape the type of responses you want from him in the future.

You shouldn't forget about your priorities. What do you want to teach your child? Usually, when working with a child, you have to keep several goals in mind at once. And then perhaps a one-time display of behavior or choice of behavior will be appropriate in one case, but unacceptable in another. You will have to decide on your priorities. If your goal is to play with your child, you may respond to his behavior differently than if you plan to work on acquiring a skill. Therefore, it is important to know what goal you are pursuing at a given time and make the right choice of reinforcement based on these priorities.

Mastering educational control when working with your child is a very important task. This is what will help you switch his attention from the inner world to the world around him.

This chapter introduced you to six of the seven important steps necessary to establish and maintain instructional control (without using the procedure for extinguishing unwanted behavior). These six steps will allow you to begin shaping your child's desire to choose behavior that is acceptable to you. The next chapter examines the seventh stage of educational control - reducing the manifestation of problem behavior.

Chapter 6: How to Reduce Problem Behaviors

Chapter 5 outlined the first six stages of mastering educational control. These steps together form a series of principles that detail how to interact with your child to help him begin to make progress in learning. However, for many parents, the child’s desire to cooperate and his positive attitude towards the learning process is only half the battle. There is something else that is important to know. The seventh and final step in acquiring instructional control explains how to best respond when your child decides not to cooperate with you.

Empty threats quickly become meaningless. Your words only have meaning if they are supported by actions that correspond to the intended meaning of the words. The word “no” has no effect on a child if the child can still do what he wants, one way or another having fun. The inherent ability of each child to take part in activities (games) and following instructions will ultimately manifest itself only in one case, if the instructions have significant consequences for him. The difference in consequence must be so noticeable that the child understands that making the choice you propose is in his interests, and choosing unacceptable behavior will not bring any pleasure. Once the child understands this, he will begin to make positive choices more often, while the frequency of choosing undesirable behavior will decrease.

Gaining attention, avoidance, self-stimulation - all these are the results of behavior that the child perceives as reinforcing. If, in order to achieve these results, the child needs to break the rules or ignore the instructions, he will certainly do it. Adults tend to become more demanding when a child ignores their requests. As a result, the more demanding the adult becomes, the more resolutely the child refuses to obey. The circle is closed.

To break this twist, you need to do two things. First, give your child instructions that he will want to follow. To do this, it is necessary to comprehensively use educational control from the first to the sixth stages (see Chapter 5). Secondly, you should make sure that the child does not gain any benefit from ignoring or refusing to follow your rules or instructions. The seventh stage of the educational control system explains how to achieve this.

Stage 7. Show your child that ignoring your instructions or choosing an unacceptable behavior will not result in reinforcement.

You can become the main source of reinforcement if your child identifies you with his favorite objects and activities for 75% of the total time of interaction with him. Your complete restriction of access to reinforcers, on the one hand, and identification of yourself with the reinforcer, on the other, will allow you to keep your child's performance at a high level during the 25% of the time you devote to the educational process. Don't give your child reinforcers when he deliberately chooses not to follow direct instructions or deliberately behaves in an undesirable way.

Undesirable (unacceptable) behavior is behavior that you would not want to see repeated under similar circumstances. Behaviors such as squealing, snatching toys, pulling parents' hands, kicking, showing frustration including hitting themselves, pushing others away, and ignoring parent requests are all examples of unacceptable behavior. You must recognize when your child is acting out. behavior in an undesirable way, and consciously make sure that this behavior does not receive positive reinforcement by simply not reinforcing such behavior.

Any behavior your child currently uses has been reinforced in some way in the past. If this is not the case, then the child has no reason to use it this time.

At one time, our team worked very hard with a boy named Anthony to establish educational control over his behavior. Whenever Anthony was unhappy, he would start shouting "Ow, ow, ow!" Because Anthony's vocabulary was small, his parents asked, "When he says 'Oops,' does he feel emotional pain?" Theories have been put forward that he is scared, confused, has sensory issues, a feeling of internal discomfort, and that he simply doesn't know what exactly "Oops" means. All of these theories were possible reasons for this behavior, but a study of the causes and consequences showed that Anthony used this type of behavior as a way to get other people's attention or to avoid situations in which he did not want to be involved.

Anthony has probably heard others say, “Ouch!” when they get injured. In addition, he discovered that when he hits himself and says “Ouch!”, everyone immediately stops what they are doing and rushes to his aid. Not only did he receive attention, but he also had a great opportunity to evade demands. Over time, Anthony began to say “Oops!” when he was unhappy with his situation and wanted to change it. The more this behavior was reinforced (that is, he got what he wanted), the more he used it. He ended up shouting "Ouch!" even when he needed a pencil of a different color than the one he was given.

The best way to influence the boy's inappropriate use of the interjection "ouch" was to stop further reinforcement. Our team solved this problem by applying a consequence called "quenching". Extinction (Extinction) is the cessation of reinforcement of behavior that was reinforced in the past. Whenever you are dealing with a behavior that has a long history of reinforcement, you can use extinction techniques to avoid reinforcing the unwanted behavior in the future. With this method, any behavior will be reduced over time.

Anthony received reinforcement when he said “Ouch!” because it often resulted in attention, an opportunity to evade demands, and an opportunity to increase control over the environment. To extinguish this behavior we had to remove the reinforcers that previously followed it. Not allowing Anthony to get reinforcements when he said "Ouch!" (except when Anthony was really in pain), we reduced the value of this sound combination for him. Without reinforcement "Ouch!" began to disappear. In a very short time, Anthony abandoned the inappropriate use of “Ouch!”, which was hindering his further learning. Essentially, we supported his use of the "Ouch" sound when it was appropriate, but discouraged his use of it at inappropriate times. This example of using extinction can be applied to an unlimited number of cases of less desirable or problematic behavior.

Depending on the child and the situation, extinction may look different. There are two main extinction methods.

The first extinction method is used when your child wants to get something from you. For example, you are on the phone and your child demands your attention. If your child has gotten your attention in the past by crying, he will likely cry every time he wants you to hang up. Using extinction techniques will help reduce this behavior. Refuse to hang up the phone when your child cries. But do something different when your baby stops crying, even for a short time. Someone can tell him how to get what he wants in a more appropriate way: maybe calling your name, or touching your shoulder, or just helping him find something interesting to do while you're on the phone.

Once your child exhibits one of these competing behaviors, you can quickly hang up the phone and give him attention by reinforcing the new, more acceptable behavior. The situation when you are talking on the phone can be created many times during the day. This will allow you to achieve the desired result faster, even if you have to pretend that you are answering the phone.

Often the child behaves inappropriately even when he has your full attention. For example, your child wants something from you that he cannot get, either because his parents decided so, or because he refused to follow your instructions. The child's behavior is reflected in his reluctance to ask you properly for something or wait for you to provide him with an item at your discretion. If, in a situation where the child has captured your attention, he behaves worse than you expect, you should use the extinction technique. The way to apply cancellation in this case is to immediately clearly demonstrate that the child's choice is unacceptable to you. For example, you may cut yourself off mid-sentence and turn away from your child. If a child loses the attention of his parents at a time when he wants to get something from them, this is perceived by him as that he has taken the wrong path.

Here's what the extinction procedure looked like with a 16-year-old boy named Max, who could use single words to ask for things but preferred to go without words. Instead, he pointed at an object or pulled his mother towards the desired object, that is, he wanted to receive both the object and his mother’s help. Our goal was to teach Max to use words to ask for what he wanted.

When developing educational controls, we showed Max that he could always get what he wanted if he followed our instructions. In addition, we also had to reduce the value of trying to drag Mom to things that interested him. Using the seventh stage of educational control in this case meant not giving Max what he wants when he tries to pull his mother by the hand. Every time he tried to take his mother's hand, she had to fold her hands so that he could not grab them. She was also instructed to say the name of the item that Max wanted to receive and wait for him to repeat it. When her son tried to pull her hand, rather than repeat the name of the object, the mother had to turn away from him. As soon as he stopped trying to drag her by the hand, mom had to turn to him and repeat the name of the object.

This procedure was repeated as often as necessary. When Max repeated the name of an object correctly, or at least said a word that sounded similar, Mom had to take his hand and walk with him to give him what he asked for. If she didn't know what he wanted, she had to ask him to repeat: “Let's go...” As soon as he repeated, mom walked with Max until he showed her what he wanted to get. Then, when she could be sure that he was motivated, she said the name of the item, waiting for him to repeat it. Once Max realized that using words would be rewarded (reinforced) but trying to grab his hand would not, he started using words and no longer tried to pull Mom's hand.

This procedure also works for non-speaking children. However, instead of asking them to repeat the words “come here,” we asked these children to make the appropriate gesture for the expression “come here” and then a gesture for the object that interested them.

The technique for extinguishing unwanted behavior is relatively easy when your child uses the unacceptable behavior in order to get something.

You control what your child wants, and you decide when to satisfy your child's desire. Reminding yourself of who is in control of the situation should help you remain calm and respond appropriately to any behavior your child exhibits.

One of the simplest methods you can use when your child wants something from you and is ignoring instructions or trying to use unwanted behavior to get it is to turn away from him. Before he gets anything, he will try to get your attention and get your willing participation. By turning away from him, you are definitely saying that his behavior has caused him to lose your attention. Once he is behaving appropriately, you can turn to him and repeat the instructions. You must be prepared to repeat this procedure until the child stops choosing an unacceptable type of behavior, from your point of view.

Once you have gained enough instructional control, you can begin to evaluate how acceptable the child's behavior is after you have given the instruction. Was his answer loud enough? Was it pretty clear? Did the child try to ask without whining? Did I look you in the eyes? You should not ask these questions at the initial stages of mastering educational control, since you are still just learning and gaining experience. However, as you become more proficient in practice control, you can begin to focus on other important points such as response length, clarity, and eye contact. Such tasks correspond to the sixth stage of educational control, that is, they will depend on your current priorities in learning. For example, you will have to choose what is currently your biggest priority: cooperation without coercion or the quality of the child's response.

Even if your child follows directions, you still need to be able to reinforce the behavior in the order that you think is correct. If, after following directions, your child wants to grab the reinforcer before you can provide it, stop and ask him to demonstrate the competing behavior. Competing behavior (Competing behavior) is any behavior that cannot occur simultaneously with the behavior in question (in this case, undesirable) behavior. For example, you can ask your child to wait or place their hands on their laps (instead of grabbing the reinforcer). And then you can provide reinforcements, because that's what you want.

Sometimes your child will want something from you that you don't think he should have. If he doesn't take no for an answer and continues to ask, complain, or behave in an undesirable way, you should consider this situation as requiring an extinction procedure. You can stop complaining or inappropriate attempts to persuade you to change your mind in the same way as described above. The main difference will be that after you have turned your back on your child, you must wait until he stops trying to change your mind. As soon as he is silent, you can approach him with a proposal to play with another object or do something else. If he starts asking for the unwanted object again or behaving inappropriately, you should immediately turn away or leave. Repeat this procedure until the child accepts your answer. Once he does this, reinforce your child's positive decision with something important to him. When you first start using this procedure, you can expect only a few seconds of silence from your child before you try to engage him in another activity. However, as the child's understanding of this procedure increases, his time will be calm - #| behavior must increase before you pay attention to it again.

The second extinction method is used when you need your child to do something at your request, but he refuses or tries to evade fulfilling your request. For example, you want your child to dress properly before going to school, but he refuses to put on his shoes. Following the seventh step in this situation is more difficult because you cannot control this desire of your child, that is, use this desire as motivation or reinforcement. In this case, you are left with what we call the procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior (Ezsare Ekhtlpspop). This is a process in which the child cannot escape from a learning task or situation and is forced to obey the requirements.

When using the avoidance behavior management procedure, you cannot turn away or walk away from your child after making a demand and receiving an unacceptable response. You need to do the exact opposite. If you have asked something of your child and he has not complied, you need to keep repeating the demand until he does.

The procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior involves repeating your instructions while simultaneously blocking the child's attempt to evade the request. This is extremely difficult to do without physically forcing the child to submit. It can also lead to the destruction of those friendships that you have worked so hard to build. Additionally, using an avoidance behavior extinction procedure will prevent your child from avoiding and thus depriving him of the opportunity to make a conscious choice to stop. However, it is important to note that if you are weak and your instructions are not followed in this situation, you will essentially be reinforcing the child's unwanted behavior and, as a result, he will not follow your instructions in the future. Therefore, try to avoid situations in which you need to use the procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior.

Using all seven stages of educational control, as a rule, leads to the fact that the technique of extinguishing attempts to evade turns out to be unnecessary. However, if you ever decide to use it, try to bring the procedure to the end, that is, until the child fulfills your request. The best way to make sure your child follows your instructions properly is to help him arrive at the correct answer in a timely manner.

If you need to use a procedure for eliminating avoidance behavior, you must first analyze why the child is not following your instructions. Were your instructions clear enough? Have you reinforced this activity sufficiently in the past? Have you tried to correct a similar situation before with strong motivation and weak reinforcement? Could the child follow your instructions? Perhaps you are not using differential reinforcement appropriately?

Using differential reinforcement here means that you can begin to reinforce the child differently depending on how the task is completed. Give him less significant reinforcement if you help him complete the task, more significant reinforcement if he completes the task on his own, and the best reinforcer if he does it quickly and without prompting. This best reinforcement will encourage your child to complete a similar task in the future. the best way. It is the repetition of situations in which the best response will be associated in the child’s mind with the best reinforcement that will motivate him to continue to choose an acceptable type of behavior outside the classroom.

In most cases, you can avoid difficult and unwanted situations if you understand how to control the interaction with your child and give yourself enough time to think through your actions. You should be aware that as soon as command language is introduced into communication, harmony is disrupted, whereas interactions using narrative language are always more or less harmonious. As long as the expression of the demand is not perceived as threatening, neither party expects a catch in the communication process. It is this interaction that promotes the development of social skills.

In the ABA program, we strongly recommend that the communication between you and your child consist of 75% declarative sentences and thus contribute to the development of your child's social skills. In other words, in every minute of time spent with your child, only 15 seconds should include expressions of demand and instructions, and the remaining 45 seconds should be devoted to communication and the use of reinforcers.

Every time someone makes a demand to another person in an imperative tone, they are voluntarily giving that person control of the situation. The person to whom the request is addressed gains control of the situation because he can choose whether he wants to respond or not.

The reason the extinction process is so effective is because the child wants to receive something from you. He is used to being rewarded for a certain behavior, and now you are blocking the desired item until he chooses a different type of behavior. When a child wants something from you, you control the situation. You decide when, for how long and to what extent he can have what he wants. Conversely, trying to force a child to do something when you have no control over his motivation gives him an advantage. This means that he now decides when, for how long and to what extent you can have what you ask for.

Without a thorough understanding of ABA, most parents, teachers, and therapists often give children instructions that fail to ensure obedience because adults have no control over the child's motivation. This allows the child to have constant control over the situation when interacting with adults. Regardless of what you expect from your child, your best bet when using instructional control is to wait for him to ask you for something before you ask him for anything. If he refuses to comply with your request, then you are dealing with an extinction situation that you can control.

Here is a good example of how to transform an almost uncontrollable situation into a favorable learning one. For example, if you want your child to wear his shoes, you can ask him to obey, and then it makes sense to wait and consider whether you have done enough to get him to comply with your request in the hope of getting reinforcement. If he doesn't respond to your request, you will have to use techniques to extinguish avoidant behavior by repeating your requests or using physical force if he does not agree to obey. There is another option - to give in. Of course, this is not the best solution. Again, the best thing to do in this situation is to wait until your child asks for something he really wants to play with, or until he expresses a desire for a snack.

Because you have complete control over rewards, your child will make requests of you regularly, and once he demonstrates motivation for something that is under your control, you will have the power to use that motivation to get your child to follow your instructions. In a situation where the child is already playing with a reward, you can temporarily stop access to him and ask, for example, to put on his shoes. If your child listens and does what you ask, you can reward him with a toy, a cookie, or any other material reinforcer on your list, or come up with something new. By adding social reinforcement - praise ("well done", "thank you", "great job"), you will encourage the child to identify it with material reinforcement and strengthen the positive reinforcement of the desired behavior. Include as many social reinforcers as possible in your list and use them in the future. Yes, if the child does not respond to your request, you have an advantage because you will let him know that he will not receive the reinforcement he is interested in until he chooses the best type of behavior. The procedure for extinguishing avoidant behavior is necessary for reducing the incidence of inappropriate behavior, however, it is important to note that there are problems that come with this process. Avoidant Behavior Extinction is the process of not allowing a child to avoid a learning activity or requirement. To give an example, Mom didn't stop Barry when he tried to avoid her demands. She allowed him to leave, but made his choice unsatisfactory. In other words, avoid giving your child reinforcement in the form of attention or manipulation of you when he uses behavior that leads to avoidance of a lesson.

You should not physically stop your child if he leaves or refuses to comply with your demands. Instead, pretend that his departure doesn't make much of an impression on you. This can be achieved by saying, for example, “I see we're done playing,” or “Okay, bye,” or “Okay, I see you don't want to watch the video.” A wordless response can also be effective. Gather your study material and reinforcements and go to another room. Do not look at the child or turn away from him. Continue to manipulate objects on your own or with other children. Make sure your child doesn't have access to reinforcers until he returns to finish the job he left behind. This will encourage your child to make a conscious decision to follow your instructions and return to and participate in the learning process.

Letting your child go and waiting for him to come on his own is much more effective than trying to force him to continue an activity with you against his will. Every action has a reaction. By forcing your child to do work, you will only increase his resistance and strengthen his motivation to avoid work. If you want your learning to be as productive as possible, your child must decide for himself that it is in his best interest to learn with you. Don't insist on this decision. On the contrary, organize your child’s environment using the seven stages of educational control so that learning with you becomes the child’s most preferred pastime. Then give him the opportunity to realize this. Don't use the extinction technique unless absolutely necessary: ​​children who decide to return to the learning process will likely not leave and will likely show more diligence.

Although the technique for extinguishing unwanted behavior requires significantly less time than the techniques of the previous six steps, it should be used as rarely as possible. And any talk about the use of force is certainly unacceptable when 0 money is involved. There is no point in holding a position of power when interacting with a child. Children with autism are very intelligent and generally intuitive about behavior. This book also talked about different ways to use AEDs to change a child’s behavior in everyday life. The main thing to remember is that by handing over control of the situation to your child, you are allowing his problem behavior to become entrenched, and this will continue until you are finally no longer able to care for him or help him become a happy and independent young man.

The strategy of using extinction is often difficult to implement, yet it is one of the most useful strategies that can help a child reduce the use of inappropriate behavior and agree with the principles of instructional control. The first six steps are designed to help increase the frequency and quality of positive behaviors. Systematic application of all seven steps will greatly simplify your life and the life of your child. So, if the child follows the instructions and participates in communication with you, you, in turn, play with him and give him all his favorite toys - this is the part of educational control that allows you to spend as much time with your child as possible, filled with joy and joy. with fur. On the contrary, the effect of using the extinction technique is not immediate. The results will appear only after some time. Let me remind you that the seventh stage of developing educational control should be used when your child chooses types of behavior that you would not like to see in the future.

The types of undesirable behavior that are accompanied by reinforcement will appear more and more often. This is because something in the child's environment continually reinforces aspects of the child's problem behavior. The extinction technique reverses this process by removing access to reinforcement. If extinction is used consistently, blocking access to reinforcement makes the problem behavior irrelevant, thereby eliminating the need for punishment. But most likely, instead of problematic behavior, you will get an explosive reaction, or hysteria.

An explosive reaction is the period of time from the moment when the behavior being eradicated becomes more intense until the moment when it subsides. The explosive response, or explosive reaction, is much more powerful than the behavior you want to change. Periods of explosive reactions are often long and difficult to overcome. Be that as it may, the child needs your help to overcome this difficult stage.

Each explosive reaction requires attention and detailed elaboration, and this is the only way you can gain complete control over the situation and continue to develop a healthy relationship with your child. As soon as you ask your child to do something that he doesn't want to do (that is, refuses to cooperate), begin using a procedure for extinguishing this behavior and try to ride out the child's tantrum, no matter how severe it is. If your child puts himself in danger during a tantrum, you need to protect him. If he threatens you, you can leave the room. However, if you decide to use the extinction method, you should under no circumstances give your child the right to choose their behavior tactics. If you give your child what he wants, you will show him that he can use this behavior whenever he doesn't want to do what you ask him to do.

Our team at ABA has extensive experience working with children with autism who experience behavioral problems. Not long ago, our new consultant asked me for advice by phone. She had been working for three hours with a little boy who was determined to wait out her desire not to give him reinforcements. I asked her to describe the situation and the procedures that were used. Having determined that the process had been done correctly, I advised her to focus on reinforcing her parents. This was their first experience, so it was very important that they go through the child's explosive reaction and see the positive result at the end. I knew that if they weren't willing to wait out the tantrum and still gave the child reinforcement after three hours, they would let themselves down and continue to have three hours of tantrums every time they refused to agree to their child's demands.

I asked our counselors to remind the family that extinction is not an experiment, but a way to reduce problem behavior that is scientifically supported and widely used.

My work experience has convinced me that if I am consistent in applying the extinction technique, I will eventually get a positive result. Recharged by my unshakable confidence, our counselors and parents returned to the seventh stage of educational control. As a result, the procedure from start to finish took 5 hours 15 minutes (a new record for ABA). When this was done, the child realized that the mother, father and counselors were not going to give up just like that. He had no choice but to overcome his desires and change his behavior tactics. He was stunned when the entire team showered him with congratulations, games and sweets. The boy returned to the positive flow of life, and now it takes him no more than an hour to choose the desired type of behavior.

When using extinction techniques, it is important to be careful not to inadvertently encourage inappropriate behavior. When using extinction, many parents say “no” or try to explain to the child why he should not do this or that. However, words are not actions, and they do not always have the same meaning for a child as for adults. You can say “no” to your child, but at the same time, by addressing him, you are giving him the attention that he wants to receive! If you use the word "no" or any other word during an explosive reaction, you risk significantly increasing the occurrence of similar behavior in the future - the behavior you are trying to stop.

Remember that explosive reactions can provoke new types of behavior that the child has not used before, such as throwing himself on the floor or threatening to break something. A non-verbal child may hit or bite himself. The speaker may say that they hate you or that you are evil or crazy. This new behavior simply reflects the higher level of demands he is using to get what he wants. And if you don't show in any way that this new behavior can be successful, your child will have no reason to use it again.

No matter how intense the initial manifestations of explosive behavior are, the principle of extinction techniques is that if you can tolerate them, the problem behavior will subside. More importantly, if extinction techniques are used consistently and consistently, the unwanted behavior will disappear from your child's repertoire forever.

The explosive reaction will become less prolonged and intense when your child understands that he does not gain any benefit from exhibiting unacceptable behavior. This is why ABA/UV offers the damping technique. Overcoming difficult stages in a short time using extinction is much better than using punishment techniques, which involve deliberately using consequences that you believe will lead to a decrease in the behavior in the future. Often these consequences are unpleasant and lead to hostility towards the person using them. The extinction technique is better because it does not contain a negative connotation and is manifested only by a refusal to give the child an undeserved reward.

Feel this difference so that you can build your relationship with your child without destroying his trust or desire to be with you. Using extinction techniques to reduce the intensity of problem behavior can be a powerful tool, but if it is used inconsistently, it can have damaging consequences. When used correctly, extinction techniques can produce positive results in just a few days or weeks and significantly reduce the occurrence of problem behavior. However, if you are not adequately prepared to wait out all the manifestations of an explosive reaction, you will only increase its frequency and power.

The extinction technique is a powerful weapon for reducing unacceptable behavior, but it only helps when you have training control and use all seven steps consistently. The extinction technique is almost impossible to use without restricting access to reinforcers (without limiting reinforcers), and using it without a trusting relationship between you and the child is very tiring. If this technique is used by parents who do not mean what they say and say what they do not mean, it becomes inconsistent. If parents don't know what reinforces their child, they won't be able to offer alternatives to explosive reactions. Extinguishing without using all stages of educational control almost always turns out to be useless.

Many children with autism enjoy watching videos. If this is true for your child, teaching using videos as reinforcement is one of the best ways to begin mastering instructional control.

Start with one of your favorite video programs. Make sure you have a remote control so you can decide when and why the video is on or stopped (step 1).

Turn on the video and rock your child on your lap or rub his back while watching, so that the fact of watching with you gives him more pleasure than watching alone without you (step 2).

Pause the video and give your child a simple instruction, such as “Clap your hands” (step 4).

If the child follows the instructions, immediately play the video again (step 5).

If your child decides not to follow the instructions, immediately turn off the video or stand in front of the TV to show that you mean what you say (step 3).

If the child tries to get out of the chair, starts to cry, hits himself or you, or exhibits other inappropriate behavior, you should not play the video again (step 7).

However, once your child is quiet and following instructions with or without your help (step 4), you can turn the video back on (step-4).

5). Then start rocking and stroking his tip 2). Etc.

If your child is non-verbal, teaching him to ask to turn on the TV using sign language is a great learning control skill. If he is talking, then before turning on the TV, you can ask him to repeat simple actions after you (perform motor imitation). For example, say: “Do this” by touching your head, stomping your feet, or clapping your hands.

By using the seven stages of educational control, you will gain experience interacting with your child that you can use every day.

When used correctly, extinction techniques can quickly reduce even highly problematic behavior. The seventh stage of educational control is used to reduce the manifestations of those types of behavior that you would not want to see in the future under given circumstances. However, this technique alone will not help teach new skills and cannot be used when the child is unable to demonstrate the skill you are teaching.

Re-read the first six stages of educational control, paying attention to those places where the hint method is mentioned. Proper use of prompting is very important in ABA and will be discussed in more detail in other chapters. It is recommended to use prompts when you need to help your child follow your instructions. For example, using physical support while completing a task will help your child complete it without making mistakes. Using prompts during the learning process helps the child demonstrate the new acceptable behavior without making mistakes. However, if your child refuses to let you help him, he is demonstrating an unwillingness to give up control to you and is choosing the “non-cooperation” option. When this becomes a problem, you must use extinction techniques, otherwise you will not be able to get the child to participate voluntarily in the learning process.

The extinction procedure reduces the likelihood of problem behavior, but some children respond to your use of this technique with a tantrum (explosive reaction), which parents cannot control. And while up to the age of seven or eight, a child can easily be taught to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior using only the extinction technique, older children sometimes have enough strength to ruin things or harm themselves or others while using this procedure.

It is very difficult to avoid reinforcing a child's behavior during an extinction technique when you know that he or she might break a window, knock over furniture, or hit a sibling hard. In the case of children whose explosive reaction to the extinguishing procedure is severe, you can use some types of punishment. There is nothing unethical about using a punishment procedure.

In situations where a child puts himself or others in danger, punishment may be the only possible and ethical solution. The seventh stage of educational control does not prevent the use of punishment procedures. She states, “Show your child that by ignoring your instructions and choosing undesirable behavior, he will not be able to get reinforcement.” And although extinction is the main technique for reducing unwanted behavior, punishment as a method also meets the criteria of the seventh stage.

Using punishment involves intentionally introducing or removing something from your child's environment after a behavior has occurred, which reduces future occurrences of that behavior. If you feel that a punishment procedure is necessary, I strongly recommend seeking professional help. It is difficult to replace an experienced outsider's perspective when it comes to a comprehensive understanding of behavior. If you decide to use the seven steps of training control or any of the other procedures recommended in this book, first try to find a certified behavior analysis and behavior modification specialist who can analyze and coordinate your program.

Robert Schramm

children's

This book by Robert Schramm, a recognized expert in behavior analysis, is an excellent opportunity to learn about the unique power of ABA to help parents overcome the communication and learning difficulties of children with autism and other behavioral difficulties.

PROMOTION TO SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF AUTISM ■ RUSSIA

“This book is the first detailed professional source of knowledge about the most effective psychocorrectional method for autism. We are pleased to support this very important publication, and we believe that it will not be the last.”
Avdotya Smirnova, President of the Vykhod charity foundation

9785917430393

therapy based on applied behavior analysis methods

ABA (ArrHes1 Vepayug ApaH35) therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis

Translation from English Zukhra Izmailova-Kamar

Klegg Zgartsh UV Teast§ Too1s

Childhood autism and ABA: ABA (ApHec! Bebayur Apa1.518): therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis / Robert Schramm; lane from English 3. Izmailova-Kamar; scientific ed. S. Anisimova. - Ekaterinburg: Rama Publishing, 2013. - 208 p.

13V1CH 978-5-91743-039-3

All over the world, scientifically based methods of ABA (ApHec! Bebayug ApaHk.v), or applied behavior analysis, have been successfully used to help children with autism for more than half a century. This publication is the first in Russia that systematically talks about applied behavior analysis and allows readers to get acquainted with one of its most effective areas - the analysis of verbal behavior.

Robert Schramm, a certified ABA specialist, provides parents with methods and techniques to help correct any unwanted behavior in their child, regardless of the severity of the disorder, understand how to manage the child's learning new skills, and how to enable him to become more successful in life.

The publication is addressed to parents and interested professionals.

UDC 159.9 BBK 88.8

© Rama Publishing LLC, 2013 © Kobert Zsptatt, 2012 © M.sbae1 B. Bro\Un/8uber51osk.sot, cover photo

6

Appeal to readers 9

Chapter 1. The road to better 11

Chapter 2. What does the diagnosis of autism mean 20

Chapter 3. ABA - the language of autism 31

Chapter 4. How to recognize the goals of a child’s behavior 38

Chapter 5. How to increase manifestations of the positive

behavior 45

Chapter 6. How to reduce the manifestations of problematic

behavior 70

Chapter 7. Learning Tools 98

Chapter 8. Types of verbal behavior 108

Chapter 9. How to increase your child’s motivation 117

Chapter 10. Learning without errors 129

Chapter 11: Breathe Life into Learning 137

Chapter 12. Teaching a child functional speech 143

Chapter 13. Basic techniques for analyzing verbal

behavior 158

Chapter 14. How to understand what to teach 172

Chapter 15. How to overcome autism 176
Conclusion 196

Adapted dictionary of ABA concepts 197

List of references and other sources 203

Subject index 207

Preface to the Russian edition

How to teach children? How to teach them to dress, use a spoon and fork, and say thank you? What needs to be done to ensure that a child behaves well at a party, a store, or a kindergarten? These questions arise for all parents, and are especially acute for those raising a child with atypical development, such as autism.

This question is also of interest to psychologists, who pose it somewhat more broadly: how does a person learn in general? There is still no single answer to this question. Different schools of psychology answer it differently, based on the theoretical premises on which they are based. One of the areas of psychology within which learning theory was created is called behaviorism.

Behavioral scientists have formulated basic principles that describe the functional relationship between behavior and other factors. Knowledge of how behavior works has allowed researchers to develop tactics aimed at changing behavior. This in turn led to the emergence of a trend called Applied Behavir Analisis (ABA), or applied behavior analysis,- a scientifically based approach to the study of environmental factors that influence socially significant behavior and the creation of technologies that allow behavior change.

Behavior in this case refers to any interaction of an organism with the environment. Reading, walking, speaking, and baby babbling are all examples of behavior that can all be addressed with ABA techniques. Applied behavior analysis is currently very widely used when working with children with atypical development. It has proven effective in teaching these children a wide variety of skills: self-care, academic skills, speech, etc. In Russia, this approach is little known and almost never used. Moreover, experience shows that often both parents and professionals have prejudices regarding ABA. As a rule, this is due to two things.

The first is the opinion that the learning process is similar to training. In fact, this statement is unfair. If we remember, for example, about fives and twos at school, the smiles of parents when a child cleaned the room well, or their dissatisfaction after their children fought, it will become obvious that people almost constantly use rewards or punishments to regulate the behavior of others. Another thing is that rewards or punishments do not always work as we would like. Scientists involved in ABA, having studied the laws of behavior, have created techniques that allow you to change behavior, avoiding failures.

The second point relates to the use of punishment. This is indeed a very important question from many points of view. It must be said that a large number of teaching methods have now been developed that make it possible to do without the use of punishment. Moreover, ABA ethical principles do not permit the use of penalties until it has been proven that other methods are ineffective. It is never about physical punishment. If punishment in a particular case is considered necessary, then it is always safe and does not infringe on the dignity of the child. These and other doubts will be removed after a closer acquaintance with ABA.

Robert Schramm's book is practically the first guide to applied behavior analysis in Russian. Designed for parents, it is written in simple, easy-to-understand language to teach the basics of ABA. The book doesn't just offer techniques to teach new skills or get rid of unwanted behavior. The book teaches you to understand a child - after all, only by understanding can you help.

This book describes how therapists 1 and parents can teach children with autism using behavioral theories 2 . In this book, I deliberately simplify the definitions of complex concepts and avoid long theoretical discussions. At the same time, when explaining the reasons for using teaching techniques, I use terms such as “willingness,” “willingness,” “trying,” “awareness,” and “control.” Although some of these terms have nothing to do with "behavioral" terminology, I hope they will help make scientific text understandable to any reader.

Parents and teachers, when faced with the specific definitions that ABA professionals use to analyze behavior and create programs for children, are often confused and do not accept our science. Indeed, our parents and educators lack practical guidance that adapts scientific principles to their daily lives. Without such guidance, we as professionals are unable to effectively educate those who need our help, which in turn prevents many children who need it from receiving an education. And if we want our science to help parents become teachers of their own children, we must first of all become good teachers for parents in teaching the basics of behaviorism.

Chapter 1. The road to better things

Life is a journey that encourages us to constantly search for better ways. We are looking for good schools for our children, striving to find loyal and reliable friends, reliable ways to earn money, and generally learning to keep our hectic life under control. Once we achieve success, we become more persistent in repeating the type of behavior that will lead us to the desired result again. Conversely, we try to avoid behaviors that have proven ineffective in achieving our goals. This is the basic concept of behaviorism.

Once a child is diagnosed with autism, it is like going on a journey. This journey is essentially a search for new ways to help a child acquire the skills necessary to live a fulfilling life. True, for those who live far from big cities and do not have the opportunity to communicate with parents who have the same problems, this is a lonely journey along a deserted road in the steppe with a couple of signs on the side of the road. For those who live in the center of large cities, the road, on the contrary, is overloaded with signs and signs in all directions. In both situations, it is difficult for parents to raise their children without feelings of loss, fear and guilt. In other words, no matter how you solve your child's problems, you will always feel like you haven't done everything you could have done. This is fine. Just remember that parents cannot control the causes that lead to autism, and there is no reputable source that says otherwise.

In the late nineties, as an inclusive education specialist, 3 I worked in California with children with various types of disabilities. I spent six years studying the latest teaching methods and became a master in the field of special needs education. At the same time, I felt that all my experience and all my knowledge were not enough for me to confidently help children diagnosed with autism become more successful. I knew there was something incredibly special that was just for these kids. As time passed, I was unable to find those truly effective ways that would truly help these children become more successful. My futile attempts to become a beacon of hope that would inspire hope in my parents hurt me. I wanted to help children grow, learn and succeed in life. I tried to find better ways, and all I could think of was, “I just don’t know what else I can do.”

During my time working in California, one amazing child had a profound influence on me. Aaron was an unusually intelligent but troubled seven-year-old boy with autism. I was tasked with helping Aaron adapt to a regular first grade classroom. Like many other parents of children with autism, Aaron's parents wanted their child to receive a general secondary education. They couldn't bear to see him suffer in the auxiliary class or school. Aaron's parents believed that he needed to study in a place where the learning process would not be easy, where high demands would be placed on the boy, and where classmates would become models of behavior for their son. The parents understood that these were key conditions for the successful development of their son, despite his social skills and behavioral characteristics.

When Aaron was passionate about something he found interesting, he was sweet and smart, like any other child. The problem arose in school when he was asked to do something he didn't want to do. Under pressure from others, this little boy turned into a Tasmanian devil. He could easily destroy any program we developed if he was not interested in it. To help him, I used every trick and technique I had ever encountered, including advice from experts of every stripe I could find. I studied every behavior manual I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, new knowledge only again and again confirmed my powerlessness in this situation. Any plan designed to help the boy learn something, Aaron was capable of destroying if he did not feel the desire to follow it. Finally, I came to the same conclusions as other experts: Aaron cannot study in the general education system and must be placed in a special class.

It was a crushing blow to my self-confidence. What kind of inclusive education specialist could I call myself after I had to tell parents that their child could not study in the general education system?

To improve my skills, I began taking classes and training designed to help educate children with autism. I studied the system of communication using picture exchange (PECS-Picter Exchengе Communication System) and tried it with some success in working with my students. I studied the program “Treatment and Education of Children with Autism and Other Communication Disorders” (TEASSH: Tgeatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children) and also more or less successfully began to use it in working with my wards. I studied play therapy developed by Sidney I. Greenspan, MD, called Floor Play (www.floortime.org), and also began using it with my clients with some success. However, the occasional positive results I was able to get made me think that I was still learning how to use tools to learn how to build walls or make doors. I knew it wouldn't be enough for me or the children I wanted to help. If I really want to become a master at the craft I have chosen, I must find someone to teach me how to build a complete house. To do something for these children, I have to become a “carpenter.”

Finally, my search led me to applied behavior analysis (Applied Behavir Analisis, ABA) and then to the method of verbal behavior analysis (Verbal Behavior Analisis, VB) as a component of ABA. For many years, ABA as a scientific direction was known in the world of autism either as "behavior modification" or "The Lavaas method." However, it is more accurate to say that Dr. Lovaas and others were among the first to use ABA methods to help people diagnosed with autism.

The principles on which Dr. Lovaas based his program were developed by B. F. Skinner and published in his book “The Behavior of Organisms” (“Thieves and Opportunities”, 1938). Although Dr. Lovaas did much to introduce others to applied behavior analysis as a method of teaching children with autism, compared to today, the application of behavioral principles in the early stages of ABA development was often crude and inappropriate. Time and scientific research have brought significant changes to the way these early methods and procedures are applied. Although many behavior modification practitioners in the seventies and eighties used unacceptable procedures and left a negative imprint on everything related to the world of ABA, this scientific field has grown steadily over the past decades.

By revisiting and improving old teaching techniques and strategies, our understanding of how autism affects children's development and how we can influence autism has changed significantly. As ABA developed, the effectiveness of its use also increased. Today this scientific direction only slightly resembles the ABA of yesteryear. Training according to the general program was replaced by individual and direct, the use of discomfort-causing techniques - by positive reinforcing procedures. Instead of isolated classrooms, we now recommend more natural learning environments. However, regardless of any technical improvements, Skinner's principles have remained unchanged and are the theoretical basis of applied behavior analysis.

Parents who were accustomed to early ABA methods were often reluctant to opt for the new methods. Although the evidence for the effectiveness of new methods of teaching children socially acceptable behavior and academic skills was clear, parents preferred to deal with procedures that were resisted and unsightly. Many families who used ABA methods found them to be effective, but there were also families who felt that the results were not worth the effort.

There have been significant changes in ABA in recent decades, and today we can say with confidence that applied behavior analysis is the right choice for almost all children with autism and autism-like disorders. First of all, we are talking about the development of a method for analyzing verbal behavior as a component of ABA.

Verbal Behavior Analysis Method (Verba1 Bebayur, VV) 1 is both an ABA philosophy and a series of teaching techniques based on ABA principles for children to acquire verbal skills. In addition, the potential of ABA programs has expanded significantly thanks to specialists developing EF: Dr. Jack Michael (Tues. Taek Mybae1) and others, including Dr. James Partington and Dr. Mark Sandberg (Og. late8 Raitling ana Og. Magk 8naberg), who developed a series of new techniques

What does a diagnosis of autism mean?

Autism has been considered a mysterious phenomenon since ancient times, when it did not even have a name. The more our society studies autism, the more effective we become in defining the criteria for what is called autistic. Although more people are diagnosed with autism each year, the criteria for autism remain the same. What has really changed is the interpretation of the criteria and/or the number of people who meet them.

A child is diagnosed with autism when at least six specific behaviors can be observed in three areas: social interaction, communication and behavior (the child has repetitive and stereotyped behavior patterns and limited specific interests).

When determining the diagnosis, pay attention to the following deficits:

Lack of eye to eye contact;

11 BZM-GU ^adpozIs aps! 81an511ca1 Magsha1, 4t Eshyop) - “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” published by the Association of American Psychiatrists. The author mentions the 4th edition, released in 1994; Currently, the revised edition, V8M-1U-TK, released in 2000, is in effect).- Note scientific ed.

Even if your child exhibits the minimum of the list of specific behaviors, he will likely receive a diagnosis of autism. I also note that the listed signs of developmental delay should be noticed before the age of three and not be associated with Rett syndrome 1 .

If a child exhibits some of these behaviors but is able to speak at an early age, they will likely be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

There is currently no blood test or genetic test that can determine whether a child has autism. The diagnosis of autism is made when a child exhibits specific types of behavior. But is it possible to find out if a child has autism without using a physical test? How to determine that a child has been cured? The answers to these questions are simple: if the diagnosis of “autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) is made as a result of “ticks” in the list of presented types of behavior, then it is clear that if the child no longer exhibits a particular behavior, he is no longer considered a child with autism. Does this mean that the child is cured? Or that he is not sick? Or maybe he never had autism in the first place? These questions are often asked about children who have

symptoms of autism have decreased and they have become more adapted to life in society.

For me, these questions are not important - they are a waste of time and energy. The important thing is that we started working with a child who was diagnosed with autism and who, until that moment, could not directly communicate with others, play, or demonstrate those simple behavioral skills that have helped us all become, to one degree or another, successful and prosperous. . And when this child, after a while, does not confirm the diagnosis made by medical luminaries, and begins to possess, if not all, then most of the necessary skills, I will be convinced that this is the result that should be taken into account.

When you think of a child with autism, imagine him on the beach surrounded by a giant wall made of sand. This wall is uneven in height, has many cracks and is quite high in many places - so much so that the child cannot see the outside world beyond it. According to most adults with autism (those who can express their feelings in books or lectures on the topic), the world inside the wall is like a refuge from the confusing and unpredictable outside world. And the wall itself is a kind of barrier between the child and the rest of the world.

Now let’s try to imagine that individual sections of the wall are different skills that your child must master. To successfully interact with the world around him, he must have the skills that will allow him to rise above the top of this wall. The bottom of the wall represents skills that the child has acquired with little or no help. These, depending on how autism affects the child, include, for example, the ability to pull your hand towards something that he wants to get, or the ability to cry, throw tantrums, lose his temper, hit himself in order to achieve your attention or force you to leave him alone. A highly motivated child with sufficient development of some abilities will sometimes scale the middle section of the wall, demonstrating skills such as pointing or using one or more words. Finally, some parts of this sand wall will be so high for your child that he will not be able to climb it on his own without your help.

The essence of this metaphor is that it shows the need for synchronous work of the ABA program and the method of analysis of verbal behavior (VBA), necessary in order to help the child consistently overcome all the difficult sections of the wall and find himself in the outside world. To understand applied behavior analysis methods means to understand how to systematically and consistently use reinforcement(KetgogseteSH, 8 K) or, in other words, how to create the necessary motivation.

To overcome more difficult sections of the wall, the child must really want to do this, that is, be sufficiently motivated. You can create the proper motivation using incentive condition(Ez^aNzynpo OregaPop, EO) - words or actions that will temporarily change the value of the consequences of each act (behavior). In other words, it is a condition that makes a consequence, for a time, more or less valuable to your child than it would otherwise be.

For example, water tends to be more valuable to us on a hot, sunny day than on a cool and windy day. At the same time, the water itself does not change - your attitude towards water becomes different, which is influenced by the conditions: it has become too warm around you, or even, perhaps, there is a threat of dehydration. Motivation is an important factor in learning for children with autism, and the better you can manage your environment to create motivation, the better you can be as a teacher.

Dealing with autism is akin to a tug of war: to defeat the disease, you must hold your end of the rope, involving in this process an important ally - your child's environment. Most likely, your environment is currently a significant partner of autism - it is filled with things that distract you from your main goal. However, you can make your environment your ally. After all, only by rethinking its meaning will you be able to understand the child and properly motivate him. And then the child will be in the tug-of-war on your side, and not on the side of autism. Only by consciously managing the environment can you be sure that the child will constantly help you in your attempts to educate him. (More details on how to better understand a child’s world and make him your assistant in the learning process are written in Chapters 5 and 6.)

The goal of any good ABA/LE program is to identify the child's natural desires and use them in the learning process. To do this, a list of motivating conditions is compiled - the child’s favorite and desired activities, objects, toys and treats. By adding new, more acceptable objects and activities to those already known, we can make them more desirable for the child, and move less acceptable ones to the end of the list as least important for him.

If we recall our analogies, motivation can be compared to water. By filling the child's inner world with water so that he can rise and get as close as possible to the top of the surrounding sand wall, we will help him get over it. In other words, motivation will be the force that allows the desires and abilities that your child needs to acquire the skills you teach to emerge.

We view the verbal behavior analysis method as a tool that helps motivate the child at the initial stage of acquiring new skills, and ABA methods in general as a stimulating system that encourages the child to use these new skills again and again. Applied Behavior Analysis as a scientific field aims to study and apply ABA/CB methods to help people achieve success in the broadest sense of these words.

One of the key concepts of applied analysis is reinforcement - the most important principle of ABA, which has been used for a long time and successfully. Reinforcement is what happens after a behavior has occurred and increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. Everything we do is part of our behavior, including learning new skills. In the wall image, the behavior would be the child's attempt to leave his own world and overcome the wall, and the reinforcement would be the experience he gains when he succeeds. If the experience (reinforcement) is positive each time the child uses a particular skill, he will be motivated to use it again in the process of overcoming that sand wall. That is, reinforcing a certain behavior creates motivation in the child to try and demonstrate the skill again when the appropriate situation arises.

It is motivation that becomes the driving force that encourages the child to demonstrate the skill again and again. And reinforcement over and over again creates the conditions for internal motivation to become stronger than external motivation. The balance of motivation and reinforcement results in the child becoming increasingly willing to perform a skill to which they have been consistently practiced.

Let me note that the wall that surrounds your child is not made of solid rock - it is loose, which is both a problem and a blessing when teaching a child. The problem may be that cracks in the wall can allow the child to reach reinforcements without making the effort to use the skills you are teaching. If the cracks are left unfilled, a “motivation drain” will occur and the child will not have enough incentive to strive for success. Fortunately, the sand fills the cracks, making them invisible, and allows a motivated child to “jump” over the wall to the expected reinforcement, destroying the top of the wall along the way. The wall becomes lower and easier to overcome, and next time it will be a little easier to demonstrate the demonstrated skill.

ABA/EF programs use the principles of motivation and reinforcement to motivate your child to perform new and increasingly difficult skills, with the goal of increasing future willingness to repeat the skill and making it less difficult. Every time a child overcomes some part of the wall, it becomes easier for him to jump over it in the future. The sand, falling from above, fills the cracks in the lower part of the wall - and this is another advantage of using reinforcements: motivation does not leak, and it is easier to motivate the child to learn new skills.

Perhaps all of the above gives you the impression that we are talking only about children with autism. In fact, I described how each of us learns. From birth, we are surrounded by walls-barriers of different heights - restrictions that we must overcome through the development of more and more complex skills. This is the only way we can become full-fledged members of society. And only in this way will we be able to destroy the walls, no matter how high they turn out to be. Some will be able to do this better and faster, including because their walls turned out to be lower. For some, the wall will be so high that there will be no chance of getting over it. However, most often the walls around us are uneven: somewhere higher, and somewhere lower. A child with autism is no different from other children. He just needs to be helped to overcome the more difficult sections of the wall with the help of skills that society considers obligatory. The inability to independently overcome a wall is directly related to the insufficient level of development of skills in those areas that were listed at the beginning of the chapter: social interaction, communication and behavior (the child has repetitive and stereotypical behavior patterns and limited specific interests).

It is the absence or insufficient development of skills in these areas of life that are signs of autism.

Autism is a broad spectrum disorder that affects an increasing number of people. Autism affects a child’s ability to communicate and interact in various life, including educational, situations. If children are not educated, they will remain in the grip of autism until they completely lose contact with others. If parents and teachers are not trained, they will unwittingly motivate and reinforce the child’s increasingly problematic behavior. However, if you learn to understand your child's motivations and master the principles and techniques of ABA/EF, you can help him reduce unwanted behavior and achieve greater success in life.

Chapter 3. ABA - the language of autism

Most children and adults with autism love computers for their understandable “language.” ABA can be compared to a computer in terms of the degree of orderliness of actions and reactions. To successfully work or play on a computer, a child must select the required command. By pressing a certain button, he gets a predictable result, whether it is listening to music or simply wanting to turn on or off the computer. The key here is consistency, ease of use and lack of ambiguity. Using a computer mouse gives a child a sense of control over the situation. The computer will not start playing music unless it receives a special command, and will not tell the child when he should turn off the computer. He does not command, he responds to commands, and does this with enviable consistency.

If you want to be understood by your child, your language must be extremely clear, concise and consistent in both words and actions. Yes, the same as computer language. And if you offer your child certain behavior options with specific and understandable consequences for each option, your behavior will be understandable to your child. And if you are able to give your child clear and specific instructions on what to do and how to do it, with clear, specific and permanent consequences for his actions, the child will have a sense of order and control over the situation when interacting with you. As a result, the child will be less likely to seek control in other, less desirable ways. It should be noted that a parent who can quickly analyze a situation and give the child the instructions necessary to obtain the desired response can have a greater influence on the child's behavior than a programmed machine.

As a parent of a child with special needs, if you learn ABA/EF principles and strategies, you will become more capable of teaching. You can start by making small changes in your child's life that will help him make meaningful choices about a wider range of behaviors. However, without a clear understanding of ABA principles, your interaction with your child will not be systematic enough, which will cause misunderstanding of your requirements on the part of the child. If your behavior is confusing and inconsistent, your child will most likely prefer to spend time not with you, but in his own made-up world, finding in it the order and control that he so needs. As a result, he will plunge deeper into the world of autism.

Once you and your family have mastered the principles of ABA, your child will find that you understand and will be open to communication with you. The child will be able to feel comfortable in the circle of family, whose behavior was previously so annoying. Now he will begin to strive for communication, and the more he tries, the easier it will be for him to find himself in society. So, communication with a child based on the principles of ABA or, in other words, taking place in the language of autism, is comfortable for the child because he understands you - your language of interaction with him and your behavior. This means he won’t look for ways to avoid you. Life will become amazing and joyful.

I I have never met a child with autism who was not able to use the principles of behavior in the most unexpected and difficult situations to achieve his goals. But I know many parents who have behaved in unexpected ways, conforming to the ABA language manifested in their child's behavior.

For example, one mother of a child with autism had a bedtime ritual that lasted for half an hour every evening. The procedure was always the same and looked something like this: the mother carried the child to the bedroom on her own shoulders. He agreed to sleep in only one pajamas: blue pants and a bright orange T-shirt. Then she adjusted the blanket and sang a lullaby. Before the end of the song, the child asked his mother to bring water, and she brought a glass of water from the bathroom. It was always the same glass, filled to the brim; the child, having drunk exactly half, asked his mother to fill it again. Then she had to put the glass on the nightstand and read the last chapter of the book “The Little Engine That Could...”. The child helped his mother hold the book and turn the pages. When the last page was turned, mom had to say: “Ko-o-no-e-ts!” Then she kissed him, wished him good night, left the room, closed the door and waited, standing outside the door, for the child to call her. Then she opened the door, looked into the bedroom, and the child wished her good night. And only after that he fell asleep.

So what's wrong here? Why do parents come under such control? Many will say that they have no choice. They believed that there was no other way. Whether this example seems strange to you or not, it is a very common situation where parents, not understanding ABA language, are influenced by the child. If you are familiar with this situation firsthand, then your child definitely subjugated you. Do you allow your son or daughter to choose his own clothes, even if he wears the same T-shirt three days in a row? Does the child in your family decide whether he will sleep between his parents every night, even if he is already twelve years old? Have you really been trained so that you know exactly when and how you are allowed to feed your baby? Does your child know how to have you follow him around and pick up anything he drops on the floor? Has your son convinced you that there is only one way home from school or only one correct way to the park? Have you made sure that you can talk on the phone and work on the computer only when he is sleeping?

Each of these examples shows that the child is applying ABA principles to you using his or her innate, natural abilities. ABA is the understanding of how antecedents and consequences can influence behavior. So, if you dress your child in the “wrong” pajamas, you will face the consequences of this action. If a child screams and hits himself in the head, it means that you have just made it clear that you made the “wrong” choice. If you ignore this message and continue to put him in the “wrong” pajamas, you may end up with another consequence - your child will bang his head against the wall. Naturally, you don't want your child to suffer, so in order to protect him from himself, you can change your behavior and put him in those same old blue pajamas. Your behavior will be rewarded: the child will become calm, smiling and obedient again. Once this procedure is repeated several times, you will suddenly notice that each time you choose the “right” pajamas for your child.

Have you noticed how your child was able to change your behavior using ABA principles? If you cannot answer in the same language that he understands, you will have a good chance to develop your own ritual, reminiscent of the situation with a mother putting her son to bed. Conversely, if you understand and accept the principles of ABA, you will be able to respond to the child in the same language, and then (if, of course, you are consistent and predictable), he will understand what you are talking about. Conciseness, clarity and consistency of your instructions will allow your child to predict your actions. He will be comfortable because he will be able to control his environment. This means he won’t have to try to gain comfort and control in ways you don’t want.

Your child understands and applies ABA principles. When you respond to him in ABA, you will both become much more comfortable communicating with each other. And comfort will increase as the child feels more and more confident in the society around him. Children who grow up in calm, predictable environments that they can control are happier and more willing to connect with others. Only when the child wants to constantly communicate with you can you begin full-fledged training.

This chapter is not intended to support scientifically proven principles of ABA/HC. There are hundreds of different studies that prove the effectiveness of the ABA technique. These studies can be found in scientific journals, links to which you will find at the end of the book. The purpose of this chapter is not to prove the effectiveness of ABA principles. This is a description of my own experience as to why ABA is such a powerful tool for helping a child with autism. Do the examples above match what you already know about your child? Have you noticed how your child is using ABA principles to manipulate you and others in his environment? Have you noticed how autism controls you? If so, keep reading and I'll show you how you can use ABA/EF to turn your child's behavior to your advantage.

Robert Schramm is the first certified behavior analyst in Germany.

Received education and work experience in the USA. Master's in Special Education from the University of California. Certified specialist in the field of applied behavior analysis and verbal behavior (BCBA: Board Certified Behavior Analyst), ABA therapist (specialist in the field of applied behavior analysis).

He is a professor at the University of Oldenburg (Germany).

She has been working with children since 1991 and has been dealing with autism since 1997. Since 2004, it has been offering workshops, consultations and educational services to families of children with autism, Asperger syndrome and related problems in different countries Europe.

Robert's book, Educate Toward Recovery, was published in 2006, and Robert has since become a highly sought after international speaker, conducting ABA/VB workshops and presentations around the world.

The goal of his work and his books is “to create the best possible environment in which children with autism can grow and learn.”

Books (1)

Childhood autism and ABA

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). Therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis.

Autism is a disorder that involves abnormal behavior in a child.

But it is the child’s behavior that is the only language, a system of complex codes through which others can understand his intentions, desires, and experiences. By carefully observing a child's behavior and carefully identifying reinforcers in the environment, adults can not only learn to understand it, but also respond to it using the language of ABA (Applied Behavior Analisis), or applied behavior analysis. ABA methods will help a child with autism adapt to reality, increase self-control and acquire new skills - from everyday life to academic ones.

This book by Robert Schramm, a recognized expert in behavior analysis, is an excellent opportunity to learn about the unique power of ABA to help parents overcome the communication and learning challenges of children with autism and other behavioral difficulties.

Several books in Russian about methods of helping with autism, written in accessible language

Just a few years ago, finding books about autism was very difficult. At the same time, there were practically no books that could help parents who had recently learned about their child’s autism to find their way. Fortunately, the situation is beginning to change. These are just a few examples of books about helping children with autism in Russian. First of all, the list includes books about methods based on scientific evidence, written in accessible language and containing specific recommendations that parents can use in everyday life.

Foundation programs: Books about autism published with the support of the Exit Foundation

One of the tasks of the “Vykhod” Foundation is to promote the publication of missing professional literature on autism in Russian and distribute printed materials among specialists and parents

One of the great difficulties in solving the problems of autism in Russia is the acute shortage of books and other printed materials about autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which, on the one hand, would correspond to the latest scientific research in this area and the information in which would not be outdated, and , on the other hand, would consider methods of correction and intervention for autism, the effectiveness of which would be scientifically proven.

Question answer. What is “error-free learning” and how can it be used when working with children with autism?

One of the methods of applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is successfully used in working with children with developmental disabilities, is “learning without errors.”

Using a learning system that assumes success will allow you to teach without coercion and will prevent your child from trying to avoid learning. No matter what kind of reinforcer you use, it will be more valuable to your child if the child receives enough support and help from you to work on the skill, which ultimately leads him to success in the learning process

Foundation news: The first Russian-language manual on ABA is in demand throughout the CIS

From Bryansk to Vladivostok, in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia, parents and specialists helping children with autism received free copies of the first book about ABA in Russian from the Exit Foundation.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA), the “gold standard” for helping people with autism in many countries, is still an unknown curiosity in Russia. One reason is not only the lack of systematic training for behavior therapists, but the almost complete lack of books and other materials on modern ABA principles and methods.

Interview. Zuhra Qamar: “Through applied behavior analysis strategies, parents learn to understand the child’s language”

Conversation with the translator of the first book in Russia on applied behavior analysis (ABA)

At the beginning of 2013, with the participation of the Exit Foundation, Robert Schramm’s book “Childhood Autism and ABA” was published about the basics of behavior analysis when working with children on the autism spectrum. We bring to your attention an interview with the initiator and author of the translation of the book, Zukhra Izmailova Kamar.

Foundation news: With the support of the Foundation, the first book about applied behavior analysis (ABA) for autism was published in Russian

The first book in Russia about the most famous and effective method helping children with autism

The Exit Foundation supported the publication of the first Russian-language book on applied behavior analysis: “Childhood autism and ABA. Therapy based on methods of Applied Behavior Analysis." The book was published by RAMA Publishing (Ekaterinburg). Part of the circulation will be donated free of charge by the “Vykhod” Foundation to specialists and parents of children with autism.

Robert Schramm "Childhood autism and ABA. ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). Therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis" - review by funmanager

A book for parents. For those who have children with a diagnosis. For those who have heard about a suspected diagnosis. Or I’ve heard the opinions of several experts and they differ (some agree, some don’t). To those who refuse to accept the diagnosis, I ask you to read it, despite the word “autism” in the title. If you think your child is simply wayward and characteristic, then in this book you will find ways to make your life easier.
I will analyze the book in detail, starting with the title.
Childhood autism, also known as early childhood autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder, is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction. Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another in the form of speech, gestures, facial expressions, and postures. Autistic people have problems with the transmission of information in general, and this can be expressed in different ways - lack of speech, gestures, inconsistency of facial expressions, the presence of speech that does not perform the function of communication (repeating words like a parrot - echolalia), inability to answer questions, differently formulated. Humans are social creatures, “social animals.” From birth, a person's greatest interest is in another person. If we are watching a film and there are people in the frame, then we follow their actions; if we enter a room, then the first thing we pay attention to is the people in it. In autistic people, this allocation of a person to the first place in the list of interests is initially impaired. And this is the root of social interaction problems. Instead of their own kind, autistic people may be attracted to objects from the outside world, light and sound effects, or their own body. Children with autism have difficulty imitation, which is an important form of learning. childhood. The sphere of interests is narrowing, time needs to be taken up. And that’s when stereotypies begin—the constant repetition of the same actions. Stereotypes can be expressed in varying degrees of severity and in different shapes. Often, a mother tries to get her child interested in something, but when she is in fifth place on the list of interests, the activities she suggests are ignored or cause protest.
AVA or applied behavior analysis - an applied (that is, a list of activities, a training program) branch of behaviorism. Behaviorism is a direction in psychology that studies behavior. The translation is not entirely accurate; behavior refers to a certain individual human reaction, an action. There is a plural number of behaviors - a person’s reactions, his actions. Behaviorism is concerned only with observable and measurable responses. A smile, a look in the eyes, a spoken word - all this can be seen and counted. Happiness, success, pleasure (“after visiting a psychologist, I became happier, more successful and learned to enjoy life”) - this is not the scope of behaviorism. More precisely, there is a different way of formulating the problem. If happiness is measured in travel per year, success in money, and pleasure in orgasms, for example, then behaviorism can help.
Why ABA is good for autistic people.. Human actions do not arise on their own. For an action to occur, there needs to be a cause and the action has a consequence. I am hungry (stimulus, cause) - I eat (action, behavior) - I feel satisfied (consequence). Autistic people have impaired communication. But somehow they achieve their goal? Mothers of autistic people know what kind of food will be available and what toy their child will play with. Robert Schramm calls this "ABA language." For any action of the mother, they give out their consequences. Mom brought me into a noisy store - I fell on the floor and hit my head. Mom gave me soup - spit until I vomited. Mom gave cubes instead of a car - turn away and ignore. Autistic people are consistent, like ideal caregivers. And mothers change their behavior. Don't go to public places, feed what they eat, buy the same toys and things. Schramm gives an example in the book about a mother who had to do 12 consecutive, strictly defined actions in order for her child to go to sleep. This method is the basis of ABA. By changing consequences, we can control behavior. If the child is still small, he will probably not master a sequence of 12 actions, but he may well learn a sequence of 5-8 actions - this is enough to wash his hands and go to the toilet on his own.
What benefits does the book provide for parents? Establishing control over the situation. The book describes in detail, in 7 stages, “establishing managerial (supervising) control.” This is the very first thing to do before teaching a child skills. The purpose of this control is to shift the child’s interests from his activities to the person. Without attention to the person, learning is impossible. No teaching skills are required to establish executive control. You need to spend a lot of time with your child and know his interests. Parents are the best ones to handle this. And it is the parents who will then help other people (educators, speech pathologists, teachers, relatives) influence the child’s behavior in order to teach and reduce bad behavior.
More benefits in every sip of our newest drink The book contains the latest advances in ABA. This is a method of error-free learning and active use of motivation. Now ABA is not just about laying out cards at the table and following instructions, but also natural and spontaneous learning. These methods are easier to use at home. Schramm also writes about a new component of ABA - Verbal Behavior, verbal behavior. Well, how about a new one - back in 1938, Skinner’s book of the same name was published. In it, he identifies types of speech: understanding the word “apple” and saying “apple” are different types. Both normal children and children with various disabilities first remember and understand the names of objects, and then begin to speak some words from what they remember. Open any book on speech therapy or defectology - first we develop a passive vocabulary, and once he remembers 200 words, then he will begin to speak 2-3 words. That is, the quantity of one type of speech turns into the quality of another. ABA therapists began to see that this did not happen in autistic people. Autistic people learn and understand many words, but do not try to speak them. VB is working on how to overcome this problem. The book is small, it lists types of verbal behavior with examples of use. For normotypical people, it is not a problem to use all 9 types of speech behavior. For autistic people, some of them are difficult. The information in the book helps you understand what to work on first. And most importantly, modern ABA, as presented in the book, increasingly uses proactive teaching methods. This is a move away from “training,” as ABA was once called, to education as a method of teaching alternative behavior. Well, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is in force - no penalties are provided.
The king speaks We will separately consider the section on evoking speech in non-speaking children. In Schramm you will not find any mention of breathing exercises, articulatory gymnastics and other things. Not because it is not important, but because in the United States little work has been devoted to the topic of preparing the speech apparatus to produce sounds. In this sense, we are lucky; in Russia there are many specialists writing on this topic. After establishing guiding control, when the child looks at your mouth and not at the spinning wheels of the car, you can begin to work with domestic speech therapy aids.
This is not an advertisement There is very little praise for ABA therapy or “inspiring examples” in the book. If you need examples of using ABA, then read Catherine Maurice's Hearing Your Voice. I would like to note that Katherine wrote the book in the 80s and her book used slightly outdated methods. It is about such methods that Schramm writes:

Making the child sit until he completed a task and received a reward was a typical practice in traditional programs in the early stages of ABA development.

And in conclusion, consider the list of references. This book, published in Russia in 2017, is an abridged version of Schramm’s book “The Road to Recovery. Taking control of autism." The full version in Russian has not yet been published. The rest of the books from the reference list too. One exception is Leaf and Macacan Work in progress. The good news is that in the book “Work in Progress” all those points that are in Schramm’s book are discussed in great detail and carefully. Except for the establishment of management control. It is mentioned in Leaf and Macacan's book as something taken for granted and done. It can probably be considered a replacement for Schramm's complete book. The bad news is that between these books there is a chasm called “writing a study plan.” Autism is a wide spectrum disorder; how can we identify what a particular child needs at the moment? Robert Schramm advises: 1. Contact a certified ABA therapist to create a program. They can be found in Russia. Or 2. Take the ABLLS-R or VB-MAPP test. The first test has been adapted into Russian, but the technique itself is complex and accessible only to professionals. In Moscow, such tests are definitely done in private ABA centers.
Of the books available to parents, I know only one - Kiphard How is your child developing?. It can't be compared to serious tests, but it's better than nothing. And it is written specifically for non-professionals, so it is easy to use.

childhood autism and ABA

Transcript

1 Robert Schramm childhood autism and ABA ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis

2 Robert Schramm Childhood Autism and ABA Autism is a disorder that involves abnormal behavior in a child. But it is the child’s behavior that is the only language, a system of complex codes through which others can understand his intentions, desires, and experiences. By carefully observing a child's behavior and carefully identifying reinforcers in the environment, adults can not only learn to understand it, but also respond to it using the language of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), or applied behavior analysis. ABA methods will help a child with autism adapt to reality, increase self-control and acquire new skills - from everyday life to academic ones. This book by Robert Schramm, a recognized expert in behavior analysis, is an excellent opportunity to learn about the unique power of ABA to help parents overcome the communication and learning challenges of children with autism and other behavioral difficulties. “This book is the first detailed professional source of knowledge about the most effective psychocorrectional method for autism. We are pleased to support this very important publication, and we believe that it will not be the last.” Avdotya Smirnova, President of the charity foundation "Vykhod" ^vi Information about the books of the publishing house and consultations II pa with authoritative psychologists, teachers, pediatricians of Russia you can get on the website a P A B P N G I S I

3 UDC BBK 88.8 Sh85 Translation from English by Zuhra Izmaipova-Kamar Robert Shramm VB Teaching Tools Contents Schramm, P. Sh85 Childhood autism and ABA: ABA (Applied Behavior Analisis): therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis / Robert Schramm; lane from English 3. Izmailova-Kamar; scientific ed. S. Anisimova. Ekaterinburg: Rama Publishing, p. ISBN Throughout the world, scientifically based methods have been successfully used to help children with autism for more than half a century. ABA methods(Applied Behavior Analisis), or applied behavior analysis. This publication is the first in Russia that systematically talks about applied behavior analysis and allows readers to get acquainted with one of its most effective areas - the analysis of verbal behavior. Robert Schramm, a certified ABA practitioner, provides parents with methods and techniques to help correct any challenging child behavior regardless of the severity of the disorder, understand how to manage their child's learning new skills, and how to enable them to become more successful in life. The publication is addressed to parents and interested professionals. UDC BBK 88.8 Preface to the Russian edition 6 Address to readers 9 Chapter 1. The road to better 11 Chapter 2. What does the diagnosis of “autism” mean 20 Chapter 3. ABA language of autism 31 Chapter 4. How to recognize the goals of a child’s behavior 38 Chapter 5. How to increase Positive Behaviors 45 Chapter 6. Reducing Problem Behaviors 70 Chapter 7. Learning Tools 98 Chapter 8. Types of Verbal Behaviors 108 Chapter 9. How to Increase Your Child's Motivation 117 Chapter 10. Learning Without Mistakes 129 Chapter 11. Breathe Life into Learning 137 Chapter 12. Teaching a child functional speech 143 Chapter 13. Basic techniques for analyzing verbal behavior 158 Chapter 14. Understanding what to teach 172 Chapter 15. How to defeat autism 176 Rama Publishing LLC, 2013 Robert Schramm, 2012 Michael D. Brown/Shutterstock .com, cover photo Conclusion 196 captured dictionary of ABA concepts 197 List of references and other sources 203 subject index 207

4 Preface to the Russian edition Preface to the Russian edition How to teach children? How to teach them to dress, use a spoon and fork, and say thank you? What needs to be done to ensure that a child behaves well at a party, a store, or a kindergarten? These questions arise for all parents, and are especially acute for those raising a child with atypical development, such as autism. This question is also of interest to psychologists, who pose it somewhat more broadly: how does a person learn in general? There is still no single answer to this question. Different schools of psychology answer it differently, based on the theoretical premises on which they are based. One of the areas of psychology within which learning theory was created is called behaviorism. Behavioral scientists have formulated basic principles that describe the functional relationship between behavior and other factors. Knowledge of how behavior works has allowed researchers to develop tactics aimed at changing behavior. This in turn -6- led to the emergence of a field called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), or applied behavior analysis, a scientifically based approach to the study of environmental factors that influence socially significant behavior and the creation of technologies that allow behavior change. Behavior in this case refers to any interaction of an organism with the environment. Reading, walking, speaking, and baby babbling are all examples of behaviors that can all be addressed with ABA techniques. Applied behavior analysis is currently very widely used when working with children with atypical development. It has proven effective in teaching these children a wide variety of skills: self-care, academic skills, speech, etc. In Russia, this approach is little known and almost never used. Moreover, experience shows that often both parents and professionals have preconceptions about ABA. As a rule, this is due to two things. The first is the opinion that the learning process is similar to training. In fact, this statement is unfair. If we remember, for example, fives and twos at school, the smiles of parents when a child cleaned the room well, or their dissatisfaction after a child fight, it will become obvious that people almost constantly use rewards or punishments to regulate the behavior of others. Another thing is that rewards or punishments do not always work as we would like. ABA scientists, having studied the laws of behavior, created -7-

5 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA techniques that allow you to change behavior, avoiding failures. The second point relates to the use of punishment. This is indeed a very important question from many points of view. It must be said that a large number of teaching methods have now been developed that make it possible to do without the use of punishment. Moreover, ABA ethical principles do not permit the use of penalties until other methods have been proven to be ineffective. It is never about physical punishment. If punishment in a particular case is considered necessary, then it is always safe and does not infringe on the dignity of the child. These and other doubts will be removed after a closer acquaintance with ABA. Robert Schramm's book is practically the first guide to applied behavior analysis in Russian. Designed for parents, it is written in simple, easy-to-understand language to teach the basics of ABA. The book doesn't just offer techniques to teach new skills or get rid of unwanted behavior. The book teaches you to understand a child, because only by understanding can you help. Natalia Georgievna Manelis, Ph.D. psychol. Sciences, psychologist of the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Assistance to Children and Adolescents of the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University, editor-in-chief of the journal “Autism and Developmental Disorders” Appeal to readers This book talks about how therapists 1 and parents can teach children with autism using behavioral theories 2. In this book, I deliberately simplify the definitions of complex concepts and avoid long theoretical discussions. At the same time, when explaining the reasons for using teaching techniques, I use terms such as “willingness,” “willingness,” “trying,” “awareness,” and “control.” Although some of these terms have nothing to do with "behavioral" terminology, I hope they will help make scientific text understandable to any reader. Parents and teachers, faced with specific definitions that are used The concept of “therapist” is given in the meaning of “coach” - a specialist who teaches a child and provides assistance to parents. Sometimes the term “therapist” is used in the same sense. Note ed. (hereinafter without litter). Here and below, by the word “behavioral,” the author means the theory of behaviorism and the methods adopted within its framework (see further explanations in the text). -9-

6 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA ABA professionals who analyze behavior and create programs for children are often confused and do not accept our science. Indeed, our parents and educators lack practical guidance that adapts scientific principles to their daily lives. Without such guidance, we as professionals are unable to effectively educate those who need our help, which in turn prevents many children who need it from receiving an education. And if we want our science to help parents become teachers of their own children, we must first become good teachers of parents in teaching the basics of behaviorism. Chapter 1. The road to better Life is a journey that encourages us to constantly search for better ways. We are looking for good schools for our children, striving to find loyal and reliable friends, reliable ways to earn money, and generally learning to keep our hectic life under control. Once we achieve success, we become more persistent in repeating the type of behavior that will lead us to the desired result again. Conversely, we try to avoid behaviors that have proven ineffective in achieving our goals. This is the basic concept of behaviorism. Once a child is diagnosed with autism, it is like going on a journey. This journey is essentially a search for new ways to help a child acquire the skills necessary to live a fulfilling life. True, for those who live far from big cities and do not have the opportunity to communicate with parents who have the same problems, this is a lonely journey along a deserted road in the steppe with a couple -11-

7 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and AVA signs on the side of the road. For those who live in the center of large cities, the road, on the contrary, is overloaded with signs and signs in all directions. In both situations, it is difficult for parents to raise their children without feelings of loss, fear and guilt. In other words, no matter how you solve your child's problems, you will always feel like you haven't done everything you could have done. This is fine. Just remember that parents cannot control the causes that lead to autism, and there is no reputable source that says otherwise. In the late nineties, as an inclusive education specialist, I worked in California with children with various types of disorders. I spent six years studying the latest teaching methods and became a master in the field of special needs education. At the same time, I felt that all my experience and all my knowledge were not enough for me to confidently help children diagnosed with autism become more successful. I knew there was something incredibly special that was just for these kids. As time passed, I was unable to find those truly effective ways that would truly help these children become more successful. My futile attempts to become a saving beacon that would inspire 1 Inclusive education is an education that is accessible to everyone (in this case children), including disabled children, children with disabilities or special needs. The road to hope for the best at my parents, they wounded me. I wanted to help children grow, learn and succeed in life. I tried to find better ways, and all I could think of was, “I just don’t know what else I can do.” During my time working in California, one amazing child had a profound influence on me. Aaron was an unusually intelligent but troubled seven-year-old boy with autism. I was tasked with helping Aaron adapt to a regular first grade classroom. Like many other parents of children with autism, Aaron's parents wanted their child to receive a general secondary education. They couldn't bear to see him suffer in the auxiliary class or school. Aaron's parents believed that he needed to study in a place where the learning process would not be easy, where high demands would be placed on the boy, and where classmates would become models of behavior for their son. The parents understood that these were key conditions for the successful development of their son, despite his social skills and behavioral characteristics. When Aaron was passionate about something he found interesting, he was sweet and smart, like any other child. The problem arose in school when he was asked to do something he didn't want to do. Under pressure from others, this little boy turned into a Tasmanian devil. He could without a doubt destroy any program developed by Na Mi if he was not interested in it. To help him, I used all kinds of tricks and techniques, - 13-

8 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA The road to the best you've ever encountered, including advice from experts of every stripe you could find. I studied every behavior manual I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, new knowledge only confirmed mine again and again; powerlessness in this situation. Any plan designed to help the boy learn something, Aaron was capable of destroying if he did not feel the desire to follow it. Finally, I came to the same conclusions as other experts: Aaron cannot study in the general education system and must be placed in a special class. It was a crushing blow to my self-confidence. What kind of inclusive education specialist could I call myself after I had to tell parents that their child could not study in the general education system? To improve my skills, I began taking classes and training designed to help educate children with autism. I studied the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS-Picture Exchange Communication System) and tried it with some success with my students. I studied the program “Treatment and Education of Children with Autism and Other Communication Disorders” (TEASSH: Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children) and also more or less successfully began to use it in working with my wards. I studied play therapy developed by Sidney I. Greenspan, MD, called Floor Play, and also began using it with some success with my clients. However, the occasional positive results that I managed to get, made me think that I was still learning how to use tools to learn how to build walls or make doors. I knew that this would not be enough for me or for the children I wanted to help. If I really wanted to become a master in the business I have chosen, I must find someone to teach me how to build a complete house. In order to do something for these children, I must become a “carpenter.” Finally, my search led me to applied behavior analysis 1 (Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and then to Verbal Behavior Analysis (VB) as a component of ABA. For many years, ABA as a scientific field was known in the world of autism as either "behavior modification" or "Lovaas method" (The Lovaas method). However, it is more accurate to say that Dr. Lovaas and others were among the first to use ABA techniques to help people diagnosed with autism. The principles on which Dr. Lovaas based his program were developed by B. F. Skinner and published in his book “Behavior Applied Behavior Analysis, or abbreviated ABA, the Russian name for the ABA method. It is an applied branch of science in which the principles of behaviorism are applied to improve socially significant behavior. In the following, the abbreviation ABA will be used for this term.

9 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA The Road to Better Organisms” (“The Behavior of Organisms”, 1938). Although Dr. Lovaas has done much to introduce others to applied behavior analysis as a method of teaching children with autism, compared to today, the application of behavior principles in the early stages of ABA development was often crude and inappropriate. Time and scientific research have brought significant changes to the way these early methods and procedures are applied. Although many behavior modification practitioners in the seventies and eighties used unacceptable procedures and left a negative imprint on everything related to the world of ABA, this scientific field has grown steadily over the past decades. By revisiting and improving old teaching techniques and strategies, our understanding of how autism affects children's development and how we can influence autism has changed significantly. As ABA has evolved, so has the effectiveness of its use. Today this scientific direction is only slightly reminiscent of ABA of yesteryear. Training according to the general program was replaced by individual and direct, the use of discomfort-causing techniques with positive reinforcing procedures. Instead of isolated classrooms, we now recommend more natural learning environments. However, regardless of any technical improvements, Skinner's principles have remained unchanged and are the theoretical basis of applied behavior analysis. Parents who were accustomed to the early ABA methods were often reluctant to opt for the new methods. Although the evidence for the effectiveness of new methods of teaching children socially acceptable behavior and academic skills was clear, parents preferred to deal with procedures that were resisted and unsightly. Many families who used ABA methods found them to be effective, but there were also families who felt that the results were not worth the effort. There have been significant changes in ABA in recent decades, and today we can say with confidence that applied behavior analysis is the right choice for almost all children with autism and autism-like disorders. First of all, we are talking about the development of a method for analyzing verbal behavior as a component of ABA. Verbal Behavior (VB) 1 is both an ABA philosophy and a series of teaching techniques based on ABA principles to help children acquire language skills. In addition, the potential of ABA programs has been greatly enhanced by VB development specialists Dr. Jack Michael and others, including Dr. James Partington and Dr. Mark Sundberg, who developed a series of new techniques. Further in the text, the abbreviation VB will be used for this term. -17-

10 CHILDHOOD AUTISM AND ABA The road to better outcomes for children with language delays on foundations and setbacks. No matter where nah DI^!^ that Skinner's books “Verbal Behavior” (Dr. Skinny ya and your child, never “Verbal Behayioo”), 1958). ^life is a road, and on this road n ^ ^ ^ In a fairly short period, from the end nine. answers to all questions. I hope that hereinafter the words “child” and “children” will be used to mean “with autism.” 1 from the 2000s to the 2000s, verbal analysis can help you in your difficult work and behavior search as a method has become widely used and will become a good guide in the ongoing treatment of autism in the United States. With the benefit of ABA in general and the benefits of verbal behavior analysis in particular, there has been a significant leap in working with children. 1. One of the main reasons for this success is the involvement of parents as the main teachers of their children. For too long, parents have waited behind the scenes, watching the distance between their children and society widen, when they had thousands of opportunities every day to interact with their children, to teach them acceptable social and communication skills and ultimately to help them to achieve significant success. If your child's therapist or teacher does not use ABA principles in their work, they are likely unfamiliar with advances in the field. If he uses ABA but does not include Verbal Behavior Analysis with your child, then he is not aware of the latest research supporting it. Overcoming autism is not easy. You and other smart and caring people will experience successes,

12 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA What does an autism diagnosis mean? Even if your child exhibits the minimum of a list of specific behaviors, he or she will likely receive a diagnosis of autism. I will also note that these signs of developmental delays must be noticed before the age of three and not be associated with Rett syndrome 1. If a child exhibits some of these types of behaviors but is able to speak at an early age, he will most likely receive a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome " There is currently no blood test or genetic test that can determine whether a child has autism. The diagnosis of autism is made when a child exhibits specific types of behavior. But is it possible to find out if a child has autism without using a physical test? How to determine that a child has been cured? The answers to these questions are simple: if the diagnosis of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is made as a result of “ticking” a list of presented behaviors, then it is clear that if the child no longer exhibits a particular behavior, he no longer considered a child with autism. Does this mean that the child is cured? Or that he is not sick? Or maybe he never had autism at all? These questions are often asked about children who have 1 Psychoneurological hereditary disease, occurs almost exclusively in girls; manifestations are similar to those of autism, but the disease has a different origin and requires other methods of treatment and correction. Note scientific ed the manifestation of signs of autism has decreased and they have become more adapted to life in society. For me, these questions are not important; they are a waste of time and energy. The important thing is that we started working with a child who was diagnosed with autism and who, until that moment, could not directly communicate with others, play, or demonstrate those simple behavioral skills that have helped us all become, to one degree or another, successful and prosperous. . And when this child, after a while, does not confirm the diagnosis made by medical luminaries, and begins to possess, if not all, then most of the necessary skills, I will be convinced that this is the result that should be taken into account. When you think of a child with autism, imagine him on the beach surrounded by a giant wall made of sand. This wall is uneven in height, has many cracks and is quite high in many places so that the child cannot see the outside world beyond it. According to most adults with autism (those who can express their feelings in books or lectures on the topic), the world inside the wall is like a refuge from the confusing and unpredictable outside world. And the wall itself is a kind of barrier between the child and the rest of the world. Now let’s try to imagine that individual sections of the wall are different skills that your child must master. To successfully interact with the world around him, he must have skills that will allow him to rise -23-

13 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA above the top of this wall. The bottom of the wall represents skills that the child has acquired with little or no help. These, depending on how autism affects the child, include, for example, the ability to pull your hand towards something that he wants to get, or the ability to cry, throw tantrums, lose his temper, hit himself in order to achieve your attention or force you to leave him alone. A highly motivated child with sufficient development of some abilities will sometimes scale the middle section of the wall, demonstrating skills such as pointing or using one or more words. Finally, some parts of this sand wall will be so high for your child that he will not be able to climb it on his own without your help. The essence of this metaphor is that it shows the need for synchronized work of the ABA program and the method of analysis of verbal behavior (VB), necessary to help the child consistently overcome all the difficult sections of the wall and find himself in the outside world. Understanding the methods of applied behavior analysis means understanding how to systematically and consistently use reinforcement (Reinforcement, S R) or, in other words, how to create the necessary motivation. To overcome more difficult sections of the wall, the child must really want to do this, that is, be sufficiently motivated. You can create the proper motivation with the help of motivating words or actions that temporarily change the value of the consequences of each act (behavior). In other words, it is a condition that makes a consequence, for a time, more or less valuable to your child than it would otherwise be. For example, water tends to be more valuable to us on a hot, sunny day than on a cool and windy day. At the same time, the water itself does not change; it is your attitude towards water, which is influenced by the conditions: it has become too warm around you, or even, perhaps, there is a threat of dehydration. Motivation is an important factor in learning for children with autism, and the better you can manage your environment to create motivation, the better you can be as a teacher. Dealing with autism is akin to a tug of war: to defeat the disease, you must hold your end of the rope, involving an important ally in the process - your child's environment. Most likely, your current environment is a significant partner of autism; it is filled with things that distract you from your main goal. However, you can make your environment your ally. After all, only by rethinking its meaning will you be able to understand the child and properly motivate him. And then the child will be in the tug-of-war on your side, and not on the side of autism. Only by consciously managing the environment

14 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA What does a diagnosis of autism mean? You can be confident that your child will continually assist you in your efforts to educate him. (See Chapters 5 and 6 for more information on how to better understand your child's world and use it as a learning resource.) The goal of any good ABA/VB program is to identify the child's natural desires and use them in learning. To do this, a list of motivating conditions for the child’s favorite and desired activities, objects, toys and treats is compiled. By adding new, more acceptable objects and activities to those already known, we can make them more desirable for the child, and move less acceptable ones to the end of the list as least important for him. If we recall our analogies, motivation can be compared to water. By filling the child's inner world with water so that he can rise and get as close as possible to the top of the surrounding sand wall, we will help him get over it. In other words, motivation will be the force that allows the desires and abilities that your child needs to acquire the skills you teach to emerge. We view Verbal Behavior Analysis as a tool that helps motivate the child in the early stages of acquiring new skills, and ABA methods in general as a stimulating system that encourages the child to use these new skills again and again. Applied behavior analysis as a scientific field aims to study and apply ABA methods to help people achieve success in the broadest sense of these words. One of the key concepts of applied analysis is the reinforcement of the most important principle of ABA, which has been used for a long time and successfully. Reinforcement is what happens after a behavior has occurred and increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. Everything we do is part of our behavior, including learning new skills. In the wall image, the behavior will be the child's attempt to leave his own world and overcome the wall, and the reinforcement will be the experience he gains when he succeeds. If the experience (reinforcement) is positive each time the child uses a particular skill, he will be motivated to use it again in the process of overcoming that sand wall. That is, reinforcing a certain behavior creates motivation in the child to try and demonstrate the skill again when the appropriate situation arises. It is motivation that becomes the driving force that encourages the child to demonstrate the skill again and again. And reinforcement over and over again creates the conditions for internal motivation to become stronger than external motivation. The balance of motivation and reinforcement results in the child becoming increasingly willing to perform a skill to which they have been consistently practiced. I note that the wall that surrounds your child is not made of solid rock, it is loose, which -27-

15 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA are both a challenge and a blessing when teaching a child. The problem may be that cracks in the wall can allow the child to reach reinforcements without making the effort to use the skills you are teaching. If the cracks are left unfilled, a “motivation drain” will occur and the child will not have enough incentive to strive for success. Fortunately, the sand fills the cracks, making them invisible, and allows a motivated child to “jump” over the wall to the expected reinforcement, destroying the top of the wall along the way. The wall becomes lower and easier to overcome, and next time it will be a little easier to demonstrate the demonstrated skill. ABA/EF programs use the principles of motivation and reinforcement to motivate your child to perform new and increasingly difficult skills, with the goal of increasing future willingness to repeat the skill and making it less difficult. Every time a child overcomes some part of the wall, it becomes easier for him to jump over it in the future. Sand, falling from above, fills the cracks in the lower part of the wall and this is another advantage of using reinforcements: motivation does not leak, and it is easier to motivate the child to learn new skills. Perhaps all of the above gives you the impression that we are talking only about children with autism. In fact, I described how each of us learns. From birth, we are surrounded by walls-barriers of different heights, restrictions that we must overcome through the development of new and more complex skills. This is the only way we can become full-fledged members of society. And only in this way will we be able to destroy the walls, no matter how high they turn out to be. Some will be able to do this better and faster, including because their walls turned out to be lower. For some, the wall will be so high that there will be no chance of getting over it. However, most often the walls around us are uneven: somewhere higher, and somewhere lower. A child with autism is no different from other children. He just needs to be helped to overcome the more difficult sections of the wall with the help of skills that society considers obligatory. The inability to independently overcome a wall is directly related to the insufficient level of development of skills in those areas that were listed at the beginning of the chapter: social interaction, communication and behavior (the child has repetitive and stereotypical behavior patterns and limited specific interests). It is the absence or insufficient development of skills in these areas of life that are signs of autism. Autism is a broad spectrum disorder that affects an increasing number of people. Autism affects a child’s ability to communicate and interact in various life, including educational, situations. If children are not educated, they will remain in the grip of autism until they completely lose contact with others. If parents and teachers are not trained, they will -29-

16 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA unwittingly motivate and reinforce the child's increasingly problematic behavior. However, if you learn to understand your child's motivations and master the principles and techniques of ABA/EF, you can help him reduce unwanted behavior and achieve greater success in life. Chapter 3: ABA The Language of Autism ABA, or applied behavior analysis, programs designed individually can be considered a specific plan. The fact is that certain types of behavior correspond to certain consequences, and if your reactions to the child’s behavior (consequences) are predictable and consistent, then they are understandable to the child. Accordingly, the child begins to understand you better. Your presence begins to have a calming effect on the child, he is less likely to get upset and becomes more open to interaction. Most children and adults with autism love computers for their understandable “language.” ABA can be compared to a computer in the degree to which it organizes its actions and reactions. To successfully work or play on a computer, a child must select the required command. By pressing a certain button, he gets a predictable result, whether it is listening to music or simply wanting to turn on or off the computer. The main thing here is -31—

17 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA ABA language of autism will feel the ability to teach. You can start by making small changes in your child's life that will help him make meaningful choices about a wider range of behaviors. However, without a clear understanding of ABA principles, your interaction with your child will not be systematic enough, which will cause misunderstanding of your requirements on the part of the child. If your behavior is confusing and inconsistent, your child will most likely prefer to spend time not with you, but in his own made-up world, finding in it the order and control that he so needs. As a result, he will plunge deeper into the world of autism. Once you and your family have mastered the principles of ABA, your child will find that you understand and will be open to communicating with you. The child will be able to feel comfortable in the circle of family, whose behavior was previously so annoying. Now he will begin to strive for communication, and the more he tries, the easier it will be for him to find himself in society. So, communication with a child based on the principles of ABA or, in other words, taking place in the language of autism, is comfortable for the child because he understands you, your language of interaction with him and your behavior. This means he won’t look for ways to avoid you. Life will become amazing and joyful. I have never met a child with autism who was not able to use principles of behavior in the most unexpected and difficult situations to achieve their goals. But I know a lot -33- consistency, ease of use and lack of uncertainty. Using a computer mouse gives a child a sense of control over the situation. The computer will not start playing music unless it receives a special command, and will not tell the child when he should turn off the computer. He does not command, he responds to commands, and does this with enviable consistency. If you want to be understood by your child, your language must be extremely clear, concise and consistent in both words and actions. Yes, the same as computer language. And if you offer your child certain behavior options with specific and understandable consequences for each option, your behavior will be understandable to your child. And if you are able to give your child clear and specific instructions on what to do and how to do it, with clear, specific and permanent consequences for his actions, the child will have a sense of order and control over the situation when interacting with you. As a result, the child will be less likely to seek control in other, less desirable ways. It should be noted that a parent who can quickly analyze a situation and give the child the instructions necessary to obtain the desired response can have a greater influence on the child's behavior than a programmed machine. If you, as a parent of a child with special needs, learn the principles and strategies of ABA/HC, you

18 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA ABA autism language of parents who behaved in unexpected ways, conforming to the ABA language evident in their child's behavior. For example, one mother of a child with autism had a bedtime ritual that continued every evening for half an hour. The procedure was always the same and looked something like this: the mother carried the child to the bedroom on her own shoulders. He agreed to sleep in only one pajamas: blue pants and a bright orange T-shirt. Then she adjusted the blanket and sang a lullaby. Before the end of the song, the child asked his mother to bring water, and she brought a glass of water from the bathroom. It was always the same glass, filled to the brim; the child, having drunk exactly half, asked his mother to fill it again. Then she had to put the glass on the nightstand and read the last chapter of the book “The Little Engine That Could.” " The child helped his mother hold the book and turn the pages. When the last page was turned, mom had to say: “Ko-o-no-e-ts!” Then she kissed him, wished him good night, left the room, closed the door and waited, standing outside the door, for the child to call her. Then she opened the door, looked into the bedroom, and the child wished her good night. And only after that he fell asleep. So what's wrong here? Why do parents come under such control? Many will say that they have no choice. They believed that there was no other way. Whether this example seems strange to you or not, it is a very common situation where parents, not understanding ABA language, are influenced by the child. If you are familiar with this situation firsthand, then your child definitely subjugated you. Do you allow your son or daughter to choose his own clothes, even if he wears the same T-shirt three days in a row? Does the child in your family decide whether he will sleep between his parents every night, even if he is already twelve years old? Have you really been trained so that you know exactly when and how you are allowed to feed your baby? Does your child know how to have you follow him around and pick up anything he drops on the floor? Has your son convinced you that there is only one way home from school or only one correct way to the park? Have you made sure that you can talk on the phone and work on the computer only when he is sleeping? Each of these examples shows that the child is applying ABA principles to you using his or her innate, natural abilities. ABA is the understanding of how antecedents and consequences can influence behavior. So, if you dress your child in the “wrong” pajamas, you will face the consequences of this action. If your child is screaming and hitting himself in the head, it means you have just made it clear that you made the “wrong” choice. If you ignore this message and continue to put him in the “wrong” pajamas, you may end up with another child banging his head against the wall. Naturally, you don't want your child

19 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA suffered, and so in order to protect him from himself, you can change your behavior and put him in those same old blue pajamas. Your behavior will be rewarded: the child will become calm, smiling and obedient again. Once this procedure is repeated several times, you will suddenly notice that each time you choose the “right” pajamas for your child. Have you noticed how your child was able to change your behavior using ABA principles? If you cannot answer in the same language that he understands, you will have a good chance to develop your own ritual, reminiscent of the situation with a mother putting her son to bed. Conversely, if you understand and accept the principles of ABA, you will be able to respond to the child in the same language, and then (if, of course, you are consistent and predictable), he will understand what you are talking about. Conciseness, clarity and consistency of your instructions will allow your child to predict your actions. He will be comfortable because he will be able to control his environment. This means he won’t have to try to gain comfort and control in ways you don’t want. Your child understands and applies ABA principles. When you respond to him in ABA, you will both become much more comfortable communicating with each other. And comfort will increase as the child feels more and more confident in the society around him. Children who grow up in a calm, predictable environment that they can control are happier and more willing to ABA Autism Language communicate with others. Only when the child wants to constantly communicate with you can you begin full-fledged training. This chapter is not intended to support scientifically proven principles of ABA/VB. There are hundreds of different studies that prove the effectiveness of the ABA technique. These studies can be found in scientific journals, links to which you will find at the end of the book. The purpose of this chapter is not to prove the effectiveness of ABA principles. This is a description of my own experience as to why ABA is such a powerful tool for helping a child with autism. Do the examples above match what you already know about your child? Have you noticed how your child is using ABA principles to manipulate you and others in his environment? Have you noticed how autism controls you? If so, keep reading and I'll show you how you can use ABA/VB to turn your child's behavior to your advantage. -36-

20 How to Recognize Your Child's Behavioral Goals Chapter 4. How to Recognize Your Child's Behavioral Goals I often ask parents who are new to ABA/EF what they find most difficult about teaching their child new skills. Top on the list is problem behavior. No matter how much of an impact autism has on a child's life, there will always be a behavior that a parent, teacher, or therapist feels needs to be changed. It is important for parents to understand what positively influences their child's behavioral choices before they make any attempt at teaching. I think most of you will agree that each of the basic learning skills is a set of specific actions. If you don't know how to positively influence your child's choice of a particular activity, you will not be able to positively influence the entire learning process. To better know how to help your child avoid ineffective or problematic behavior, you need -38- to understand the goals behind each type of behavior. The only way to positively influence your child's behavior choices is to identify the purpose behind those choices. If you can't do this, you won't know how to influence behavior. Many parents say that their children often do things for no apparent reason. But after careful study, you can detect intention behind every child's action. If you don't understand what that intention is, then you don't have the necessary skills. Experts identify four possible goals of behavior: to receive something from someone (socially mediated positive behavior), to avoid something initiated by someone else, for example, an activity or communication (socially mediated negative behavior), to receive something desired (automatic positive behavior), remove something unwanted/avoid something unwanted (automatic negative behavior). The last two goals were not associated with the participation of other people. To understand what the intention (goal) is, you need to quickly answer three questions: 1. What exactly did I not like about this behavior? 2. What happened before the behavior occurred? 3. What happened immediately after the behavior occurred? The first question is designed so that you focus specifically on the behavior/action that -39-

21 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA How to recognize the goals of the child's behavior would like to change, and not on the child himself. It is difficult to notice a change in the behavior of a “bad” child, who also “creates problems”, “does not try to try”, or is “autistic”. I deliberately put quotation marks around all these general phrases that do not reflect the actual action. It is much easier to work on a specific behavior such as “runs away from mom,” “doesn’t respond to his own name,” or “throws his plate on the floor during lunch.” The second question is designed so that you can see if there is an Antecedent, that is, something that precedes the occurrence of the behavior/action that can be considered as its cause. For example, every time you put a certain sweater on a child, he bites himself. By understanding the preceding stimulus (the child is wearing a sweater), you can easily change the behavior (biting himself). In addition, by answering this question, you can easily guess the purpose of such behavior. For example, in a situation where a child throws a plate on the floor immediately after the father answers the phone, you can understand that the purpose of this behavior is to try to get the father's attention. Or if a child constantly claps his hands and refuses to respond to the sound of his name, this may indicate that the purpose of the behavior is self-stimulation. A situation where a child leaves the room as soon as his mother takes his toothbrush may lead you to believe that the behavior was used to avoid the unpleasant procedure of brushing his teeth. The third question is the most difficult, but also the most important, and therefore requires the correct answer . What is the consequence that reinforces the behavior in question? Once you determine what has changed in the child's environment since the behavior occurred, you can then identify the reinforcing factor that increases the chance of the behavior occurring in the future. Here are some examples of what you might do to change your child's problem behavior, given knowledge of the underlying goals of the behavior. Attention (first goal). If the plate thrown on the floor was used to get the father's attention, the father should not show attention the next time the plate hits the floor. However, he must pay maximum attention to the child when he behaves properly during meals. Evasion (second goal). If the plate was thrown to the floor to avoid following an instruction (eg, “Say bread”), then the goal of the behavior is avoidance. In this case, the father should not reinforce this behavior by continuing to insist on the same or similar instructions. If the child complies with the instructions, the father can reinforce obedience by reducing the demands for a certain time. Self-stimulation (third goal). Self-stimulation is behavior whose purpose is -41 -

22 CHILDHOOD AUTISM and ABA self-arousal. Self-stimulation does not depend on whether the child is alone in the room or in the company of others. This behavior is not easy to influence because it is reinforced by natural arousal and you cannot artificially stimulate it. If the reason for throwing the plate on the floor is because the child likes the sound it makes, you need to find a way to reduce the sound effect, which is an automatic (without the other person) reinforcement of the behavior. Here are some actions you can take: buy a rug or rug, replace the plate with plastic or paper. Discuss any possible options to help you reduce the sound effect that reinforces throwing the plate on the floor. Additionally, giving your child the opportunity to experiment with specific or similar sounds at appropriate times can significantly reduce the child's urge to do so at the dinner table. So, when you ask yourself these three questions and determine the purpose of your child's behavior, you will understand what you can do to make positive changes in behavior. However, the only way to know for sure that your plan is reliable is to put it into practice and record the results of your observations. Only in this way will it be possible to understand how much the manifestations of unwanted behavior have decreased over time. Don't expect your child to change their behavior right away. However, even if How to recognize the goals of a child’s behavior his behavior changes for the better, this is not yet a real positive result and does not mean that the plan will ultimately be successful. Temporary improvements in behavior are great, but don't take such changes as an indication that the unwanted behavior is a thing of the past and that you won't experience that behavior in the future. So, the only way to determine whether problem behavior has actually decreased is to make ongoing observations and record the results. After a certain period of observation, you will be able, based on objectively collected data, to conclude whether the frequency of unwanted behavior has decreased or not. This is the only way you can figure out whether your intervention is having the desired effect. Usually one to two weeks is enough to determine if the plan is working. If the behavior continues or occurs more frequently after a week or two, you should stop, rethink possible goals, and move on to a different tactic. Attention! If you observe specific unacceptable behavior that you are unable to control, or if you are dealing with aggressive behavior that puts the life and health of a child or others at risk, you should seek professional help immediately. Your best bet is to find a certified ABA practitioner (qualified

Abstract to the book "Childhood autism and ABA. ABA. Therapy based on methods of applied behavior analysis"