Dealing with "bad behavior"

One thing that parents often struggle with is their child’s “bad behavior.” They are at a loss for how to get their children to listen and comply and are often looking for answers. While ABA does not deliver an instant solution to counteract those problem behaviors, it does set up a system in which children learn that how they act affects what they receive.

One of the most important components of ABA is reinforcement; this is when we give the child something they like in order to show them that when they do that behavior, they get something for it. We “pay” them for being good. The opposite of reinforcement is extinction; essentially, not paying a child for behaving that way. Behaviors occur because they are either innate responses (such as pulling your hand off something hot) or they have a history of reinforcement causing them to reoccur. Even unintentionally, their behavior has somehow been reinforced. It is critical to pay attention to what may be causing the behavior to occur and how you treat the child after they behave that way.

For example, if you are trying to get them to eat an unliked food item and they act out by throwing it or hitting and you send them to their room, they got their way! They learned that when they are presented with something aversive, all they have to do is act out again and the aversive stimulus will be removed and they can go to the room. To correct this, do not remove the demand. They will act out because that has worked in the past but if you keep the demand on them, they will start to learn that that behavior will no longer be reinforced. You are putting their behavior on extinction and then will reinforce the new 'eating their food' behavior.

Not all situations occur as smoothly as I explained in my example. That is an “ideal world”. However, the concepts are that simple and if you practice examining your own behavior in response to your child’s, you can uncover your own history of reinforcement. Changing that history if the first step to changing your child’s behavior!

New ABA Worshop

January 21st Workshop: Decreasing Problem Behavior

South Sound Behavior Therapy will be hosting another workshop to discuss how to decrease problem behavior.

Behavioral Parent Training/ABA & Autism Workshop Series
January 21st, 2011
Time and Location: TBA

For Parents, Teachers, SLPs, Other Professionals and Caregivers

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October 22nd Workshop Intro to ABA

Behavioral Parent Training/ABA & Autism Workshop Series
October 22nd 2-5PM, 2011
Lacey Community Center, Lacey WA

For Parents, Teachers, SLPs, Other Professionals and Caregivers

Jennica will be presenting on the following topics:
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Intro to ABA
(2:00-5:00PM)
Attendees will learn:
• What is ABA?
• History of ABA
• Basics principles of ABA
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Verbal Behavior

Verbal Behavior, a component of Applied Behavior Analysis, is a behavioral language approach to teaching in which a message is communicated between two people in any form (speech, signs, etc.). Verbal Behavior is based on Skinner's research in his book, "Verbal Behavior" in which he focuses on the function of language rather than the structure of it. He believed that there were four main verbal operants, or functions of speech: the mand, the tact, the echoic, and the intraverbal. A mand is a request for something, like when a child asks for food when they are hungry. A tact is a label or being able to name an object. An echoic is vocal imitation, or repeating what some one else has said. However, echoics do not represent an understanding of what the person is saying, rather simple vocal repetition. The final verbal operants are intraverbals, or the ability to talk about an object that is not present. This is shown through conversation about objects, such as asking a child, "Where do you sleep?" and they reply "a bed."

The Lovaas method also is used to teach language to children, however, there are some differences between Verbal Behavior and the Lovaas method. The first objective in the Lovaas method is to teach a child how to sit at the table and make eye contact with the therapist. Once this is mastered, they move on to more complicated tasks. Therapists focus on teaching children expressive and receptive language rather than the function as with Verbal Behavior. In Verbal Behavior, an errorless approach to teaching is used in which the answer is given to the child so they can learn the answer as opposed to the "No-no" prompting in the Lovaas method. Verbal Behavior is also based on the concept of pairing in which the therapist becomes a conditioned stimulus and the child begins to associate the therapist with positive reinforcement. This manner of teaching allows children to better generalize their language skills in order to apply their knowledge to many different environments.

South Sound Behavior Therapy

We have recently opened our doors and are accepting new clients. We strive to provide the highest quality of services with well-trained and enthusiastic therapists. South Sound Behavior Therapy was founded on a strong basis of integrity and ethics. We believe every child has a right to the least restrictive environment and we believe in empirical evidence and data taking to guide our therapy and treatment decisions.

The ABC's of ABA

Applied behavior analysis focuses on targeting behavior with real life applications in a measurable way based on the data gathered in therapy. As therapists focus on behaviors, then observe the ABC's, or the antecedents, behaviors, and the consequences. The antecedents are what happens directly before the behavior while consequences are what follows after the behavior. Together, the ABC's form what is called the contingency of reinforcement. Due to this contingency, behaviors can either increase in frequency, decrease in frequency, or stay the same depending on what the consequence of their actions was. Observing this contingency is what informs therapists on what to change in order to make therapy successful.

New Therapist at South Sound Behavior Therapy, Kaitlyn

Hello! This is Kaitlyn, a new therapist at South Sound Behavior Therapy. Jennica and I will be collaborating on new posts so stay tuned for information and upcoming events. Thanks!