Autism/Special Needs, Strategies 
8 Comments Positive Reinforcement: A Powerful Tool
I just got the graph from the learning support teacher showing Michael’s timeouts from March. He currently gets a timeout only for yelling or screaming and for any aggressive actions (hitting, kicking or throwing things). Outside of these, he is prompted toward the desired behavior and positive behavior is reinforced through a visual token system.
This had been working quite well for a while, although lately the timeouts have been gradually increasing in frequency and it was discovered after a recent series of aggressive episodes that the reinforcement scheduled had been thinned considerably because of how well he was doing.
Oh, beware the words “well” and “fine,” I tell you – they’ll get you every time!
He attended 20 days of school from March 3rd to 31st (not sure why the 1st and 2nd aren’t on the graph) and had a total of 10 timeouts.
- 13 days with no timeouts
- 4 days with 1 timeout
- 3 days with 2 timeouts
The most days in a row with a timeout was 2; whereas the most days in a row without a timeout was 9. So what was different about those 9 days in a row?
Simple – we increased the positive reinforcement.
Yep, we upped the visual reinforcement back to its original level on March 15th and then had 9 days without a timeout. In fact, even after that, he only had three timeouts the rest of the month, and one of those was on a day when he had been on a study trip. He had done an amazingly fantastic job through the entire day to that point, but just couldn’t recover from being upset when he got out during a spelling game due to mis-hearing the word that was asked.
I have quoted this before, but it’s still so true:
The power of positive reinforcement is the most under-utilized tool we have.
~ Peter Gerhardt, Organization for Autism Research
In fact, our autism consultant has introduced another visual reinforcement schedule, which is set up like a game and based on Super Mario Bros, that specifically targets his behaviors during competitive situations. At least for now, it is motivating enough to help mitigate the negative feelings he has when he doesn’t win or isn’t the first or best one in an activity. (I’ll see if I can get a copy of it to post here; they keep the book at school.)
Have you found this to be true for your child? What motivates them even when the emotional stakes are high?
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Tags: aggression, behavioral strategies, positive reinforcement, timeouts, Visual Strategies
This is really interesting. My son is much younger than yours so I can't comment on the methods you are using, but we do find that reinforcement in other ways works fantastically well for my 2.5 year old:) Jen.
I have found POSITIVE reinforcement is the only way to go. Negative only leads to Ricki trying to “get away with it”.
Yes, at that age we didn't really know what was going on with him yet, but we basically used a lot of redirection and distraction since timeouts meant nothing to him then.
Some of the behaviors we are seeing now started in the fall with an ineffective aide who didn't know how to step in when they first appeared, and then they became habits that come out whenever he is stressed. It's so much better when you can prevent them from starting.
Glad to hear that is your experience too; that makes me feel like we are on the right track.
Congrats on topping this particular hill. “redirection and distraction since timeouts meant nothing to him then.” Just like you showed in your last response, Trish – positive reinforcement will require modification eventually, too. That is, he will eventually need other methods to spur his growth. (Don't we all?) Most mature response is to internalize the motivation, to realize the reason for the behavior and behave without external reinforcement. Mostly. I still need chocolate. Often.
[...] revisiting the behavior plan and the level of positive reinforcement being provided, the other thing the IEP team did in [...]
Oh Trish I needed this right now! I had this post in my email box for a long time before just now having a chance to check it out. Today I am basically beside myself. I just posted how frustrated I am. Behavior over here is completely out of control and I am losing it! I am jumping on this token system ASAP!
I just saw Peter Gerhardt yesterday at the CT Autism conference. He was AMAZING! He spoke for about 3 hours and I just soaked it all in. Unfortunately, all the help in the world never answers all of our questions does it? But I was thinking I need to reinforce the positive more. So here we go, a new strategy.
Thank you, thank you.
Wow, I'm so glad this was helpful! Good luck with the reinforcing – just keep tweaking it until you find what works (and that will change as he changes too).