The timing of reinforcement is also important when building up the behaviours and skills you are trying to teach. “One tip is called the 50% rule for time between reinforcers… Think about how much time there is in between a behaviour. When you take an 18-month-old that you are trying to teach how to sit in a chair, they might sit in a chair for 10 seconds… divide that time in half… so every 5 seconds, I have to give them a reinforcer… This increased the duration that she was in her chair” (3) Take this timing into account when considering when to use reinforcements and as the skill builds, the time for reinforcement will gradually increase. It may only be seconds at a time, one day at a time. Say you are teaching a young child to brush their teeth. They only brush for about 10 seconds, so at 5 seconds, you encourage them with a “woohoo, you are doing a good job”, and then at 10 seconds, you encourage them the same way again. You do this again and again, day after day, until the skill is built into a full 2 minutes, (generally considered an appropriate time frame to brush teeth (4). Once the skill of being able to brush the teeth the full two minutes is attained with the timing of positive encouragement being withheld until the task is completed, then you can work on being able to brush the teeth properly, working with the same method of positive encouragement*.

When determining the type of positive reinforcements and/or ways to positively encourage desired behaviours and skills, it is crucial to take into consideration rewards that can be built up to or “levelled up” as the time and desired skills improve. “It is also important that the reinforcer is not something the child already has free access to. …do not give as much as the child would want given free access, as this would leave them nothing to work towards. … A visual system can work well with autistic children, where they can see their progress as well e.g. ticks on a behaviour chart” (5). Some caregivers use a points system, some use sticker charts, and still others use tokens. The point of any reinforcement is that the child must enjoy it. If the child appreciates the reward, they will happily strive to earn it as they are acquiring the anticipated skill and/or learning the desired behaviour. If the child doesn’t like the reward offered, they will not have the incentive to behave appropriately or complete the task given. Therefore, finding rewards that the child desires is extremely important. Steady positive reinforcement is essential to gradually building important life skills and appropriate behaviours. When applied correctly and continuously, lasting skills and good behaviour can be acquired. Positive reinforcements can be applied in nearly endless ways. You can use it to help with social skills, transitioning between tasks, learning to get dressed and other forms of self-care, eating a variety of foods, and many other tasks and skills.

When children learn that they can depend on certain behaviours earning desired results, they seek out other outlets to earn further desired results. Continuous affirmation can gradually build upon itself and help the child to learn many new skill sets and seek approval for completed tasks. In time, the child may begin to initiate tasks on their own to earn a desired result. This is a very monumental shift from the general behaviour of children with disabilities as they usually do not have the desire to initiate tasks on their own. Believed to be caused by their “insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns… (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route…)”. Therefore, if this ability to start a task on their own is witnessed, it should be rewarded in a manner that is very meaningful to the child which will help to reinforce the importance of the act of initiating the task themselves. Positive reinforcement can, conceivably, strengthen life skills needed to be independent; however, in some cases, full independence may not be possible depending on the severity of the disability. It may also be possible to transition a child into a regular classroom setting, if given enough encouragement of the appropriate skills needed to progress between different tasks without irritation or, at least, a less negative response. It may also help a child to begin communicating more openly and build their social skills. Each child is unique and the skills that can be attained through Positive Reinforcement are unique to each case, but one thing is certain, positive reinforcement is capable of opening pathways to learning skills that would otherwise not be attainable to children with ASD or other disabilities.

 

1 http://theautismhelper.com/teaching-tip-positive-reinforcement/

2 http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

3 https://www.occupationaltherapy.com/ask-the-experts/what-positive-reinforcement-ideas-to-2354

4 http://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/basics/brushing-and-flossing/how-long-should-you-brush-your-teeth-for-0113 *Note that the type of positive encouragement that is used for the desired result is unique to each person and you may need to use a variety of types of reinforcers or “stack” the reinforcements, as in more desirable rewards for longer periods of time.

5 http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

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