I recently went to Seattle
and, while I was in beautiful State of Washington, I went to Chicken Camp. Since posting a few pictures on Facebook of
me holding a chicken, I’ve been getting tons of questions. This blog will cover the answers to three
main questions: What it is, Why I Went,
and What I Learned!
1) What is Chicken Camp? As many of you
know, I’m a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and work with children with
autism using the science of behavior, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is based on operant conditioning which is
a theory formulated by BF Skinner in the 1930s.
BF Skinner and his
colleagues studied animals (mostly rats and pigeons) and discovered the basic
principles of behavior; most importantly that positive reinforcement could
increase behavior in all animals, including humans.
Beginning in the 1960s,
Karen Pryor began using operant conditioning principles with animals and
developed a technology called Clicker Training.
With Clicker Training, a clicker, whistle, or bell is used to audibly
mark a behavior as correct and is immediately followed with a reinforcer.
In the past decade,
TAGteach (clicker training for humans) developed out of Karen Pryor’s Clicker
Training, which is an excellent technology for teaching children a variety of
skills as well as adults.
Terry Ryan, an
Internationally recognized expert in the field of animal training runs chicken
camps. Chicken camps are 2 or 4 days
long and are held either at Legacy Canine Training Center in Sequim, Washington
or on site around the world when Terry is brought in to speak to small groups
of about 20. Terry doesn’t travel with
chickens though so for the training opportunities outside of Washington, the
hosts need to work with local 4-H Clubs or farmers to supply the chickens.
Terry has worked and
continues to work closely with Karen Pryor and is also TAGteach certified. The first two-day chicken camp is basic in
nature with lecture, videos, and hands-on activities with chickens;
incidentally the chickens are raised on the premises. Many people attend chicken camp to get better
at training their dogs but, increasingly, managers and human trainers have been
attending to sharpen their people-training skills. Our 2-day chicken camp was an advanced
training since all twenty of us (who worked in pairs) were BCBAs (or had
advanced ABA knowledge) so our camp was tailored to meet our unique needs.
2) Why did I go to chicken camp? Like chickens,
many of the children I work with including my 15- year-old son with autism, do
not understand complex human language.
Since becoming certified as a Level 1 TAGteacher in 2010 and after
reading “Reaching the Animal Mind” by Karen Pryor around the same time, I have become
convinced that the key for me to become a better Behavior Analyst was to learn
more about animal training.
I don’t own any pets, so in an effort to get some
animal training under my belt, I was directed to look into Terry Ryan's chicken
camp. I found out that Terry's organization was located in Washington
State just 2 hours from Seattle. Because
so many Behavior Analysts were scheduled to go the ABAI conference in Seattle in
May 2012, I inquired with Terry about setting up an advanced ABAI 2-day chicken
camp immediately prior to ABAI.
While
Terry has previously conducted private chicken camps for groups such as the FBI
and for managers from a Fishing Boat Company, she had never hosted camp for a
room full of eager Behavior Analysts. I
didn’t know if the idea would be appealing to other BCBAs but was happy to sell
out the workshop 2 months prior to the end of May.
3) What did I learn? My chicken camp experience
was excellent! While I was initially
nervous to handle the chickens, I soon learned the skills needed and felt
successful in every way. Here are a few
specific things I learned or were reinforced during the 2-day camp:
- When teaching
people, it is important not to jam too much information in every minute. During chicken camp we took a 10-minute break
every 50 minutes. When we took our first
2 breaks (50 minutes after we got started and then another one hour later), I
was thinking that these constant breaks were excessive. By the afternoon of the first day though I
became to appreciate the frequent breaks, which led to excellent networking, a
relaxed training environment, and happy “campers.”
- Reinforce early,
not late. This is especially important
for new/difficult behaviors. When we
were first teaching our chicken to peck the red chip, for example, we were
instructed by Terry to click as soon as her beak was going toward/almost touching
the chip. I applied this in the past
week when I was working with a 3-year-old client. We were having a difficult time “pairing up”
the intensive teaching table so as soon as he started to approach/walk toward
the table, I directed the therapist to turn on the iPad video. In the past, I might have waited until he was
sitting to reinforce and we wouldn’t have been as successful.
- Don’t assume you
know what the extraneous variables are to which the chicken or child may be
responding. Since returning from chicken
camp, I feel that I am much more aware how difficult it is to evoke target
behaviors and reinforce immediately since we work in uncontrolled settings with
multiple variables operating at all times.
- If you suddenly
are not getting target behavior, the animal may need to rest, may be full, or
may need to lay an egg. As a nurse and a
behavior analyst, I am keenly aware that most of the kids we work with
sometimes have physiological issues in addition to autism, which can be a
factor.
- Short sessions
are best to keep everyone on his or her toes.
In addition to the humans taking breaks every hour, we also were careful
not to overwork the chickens. With the
chickens, we targeted a behavior for 30-60 seconds at a time, then picked up our
chicken and re-grouped. We only repeated
the short intervals for about 10 minutes then the chickens were put back in
their cages for a drink and a rest. The
chickens were not the only ones who needed a break every 30-60 seconds, since
the instructors needed time to analyze what went right/wrong and to plan for
the next interval.
- Don’t over-prompt
by physically trying to move the chicken or by “luring” or “baiting” the
chicken to do the task. For instance, to
get the chicken to go around a cone, don’t put the food out so the chicken just
moves for the food. Instead, reinforce
head or leg movements in the right direction with a click (indicating the
behavior was correct) followed by a food treat.
In general, children with autism are physically prompted and “lured” too
often. Since camp, I’m more aware that
reinforcing successful approximations is a much better way to go!
- If the chicken is
making repeated errors, the skill is too high and/or the reinforcement is too
low. If the chicken/child is stuck on a
program, he or she doesn’t have the prerequisite skills or you haven’t figured
out how to teach the skills he/she needs.
If you are not getting the target behavior, increase the reinforcement,
reduce the field size, give a better prompt, or somehow look to make the task
easier. Once the chicken/child is
successful, you can ramp up from there. The
idea that the chicken/student/child/trainee is never wrong was heavily
reinforced during our 2-day chicken camp. If they don’t “get it” you are not
“teaching/training” them correctly
Here is a 3-minute video with
some highlights of our chicken camp experience:
If
you are interested learning more about behavior analysis and directly improving
your own shaping skills with animals, please email Terry at terry@legacycanine.com or check out her web site: www.legacycanine.com for more info about chicken camp. To learn more about using ABA to teach
children with autism, read my book “The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related
Disorders” or visit my web site www.vbapproach.com.
It’s been over a year since I wrote my last blog but I’m officially re-starting writing my blogs today! During my blog-writing hiatus, I finished up a PhD in Leadership with a dissertation entitled “The Effects of Fluency-Based Autism Training on Emerging Educational Leaders.” My dissertation is now available through the UMI system and also through the resource page of my website: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com.
During my blog break, I presented in a lot in great places including Hawaii, Florida, Maine, Wisconsin, Colorado, Virginia, and Brisbane, Australia. I am also excited about a few upcoming speaking engagements including Western PA in April, Seattle at a Friday all-day ABAI workshop in May, and in Paris, France in July. Check out my web site for details on these workshops.
Every time I speak or consult with a school or family, I find myself constantly saying “I wrote a blog on that!” in response to a question from someone in the audience or when I’m reviewing programming recommendations.
Now that I’m resuming my blogs, I wanted to make sure you all are aware of the blogs I’ve written since 2009 as they all still apply. In addition to helping individual parents and teachers, I am aware that my blogs have also been used to stimulate discussion during staff training sessions and during undergraduate and graduate courses in ABA and special education.
To read any of these blogs, go to the “Blog Archive” button at the top of my web site. Here is the direct link http://verbalbehaviorapproach.com/myarchive.html to access the blogs below!
2010 Archive
2009 Archive
I attended a Keynote presentation last fall at the Autism New Jersey conference where Dennis Reid, PhD, BCBA spoke about the importance of programming for (and measuring) happiness in clients with autism.
During one of the activities, the participants spent 3 minutes writing down every choice we made that morning prior to arriving at the conference. We had the choice of whether to hit the snooze alarm, what to wear, what we wanted to eat and drink, whether we wanted to bring a jacket along, where to park, where to sit, etc.
Basically he made the point that we have many choices throughout our days and that choices lead to happiness. He also pointed out that our children and clients with autism have few choices.
As Dr. Reid suggested, I have now begun to measure and count behaviors such as smiles and laughs and I give more choices than ever before. I, of course, continue to focus heavily on pairing and manding as well as reducing problem behaviors in my effort to program for happiness. Since seeing this presentation, I feel strongly that we need to provide our clients with many choices throughout the day and should consider happiness as an important (and attainable) goal.
For more information about pairing, manding and measuring behaviors, go to http://www.vbapproach.com/ and read my book: The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders.
I recently received a question related to my last blog on the importance of looking at medical issues before treating problem behavior. The question a few weeks ago was “How do you teach children with autism and severe language impairments to indicate they are in pain and to tell you where the pain is coming from?” I remember asking a very similar question to Lori Frost (co-creator of the Picture Exchange Communication System – PECS) years ago when I attended an introductory PECS workshop. Lori’s response was to make sure you label and preferably have your child label (with speech, PECS, or sign) when he has something visible that is obviously hurting him. In other words, when your child has a skinned knee or when he gets a bee sting, make a big deal out of labeling the pain for him. This is an important step with the goal that eventually your child will be able tell you he has internal pain which you can’t see such as a head ache or belly pain.
For a non-vocal or minimally vocal child, you might try -- Boo Boo (with a Band-Aid picture card or the words) on my ______________ or my _________ hurts and have your child fill in the body part by speaking or choosing a picture of a body part from an array. Even if your child is speaking, he or she might need added visual supports to learn this concept. To teach the labeling of pain, I would also recommend you try to put a real Band-Aid on a large picture of a boy (on various body parts) and have your child fill in the blank --boo boo on the boy's ___________ or the boy’s ________ hurts. You could also use the same idea to teach this concept with a simple talking device and/ or with sign language. I have found that receptive body parts and tacting body parts are usually prerequisite skills for labeling pain so I would also recommend working on these programs when your child is not in pain.
I believe the ability to label pain is an important skill which can and should be taught. For more information including details about my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders), check out my web site: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/.
As both a Registered Nurse and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), I find myself frequently reminding people that some behaviors are caused by medical issues and cannot effectively be treated behaviorally.
Here is a little review of the four main functions of problem behavior. Two functions are Socially Mediated which means that other people have been involved in the past that have reinforced the behaviors. The other two functions are Automatic which means that no other person needs to be involved. The child or adult engages in problem behavior because the behaviors are automatically reinforcing. Here are the four main functions broken down further:
1) Socially Mediated Positive Reinforcement (Attention/Access to Tangibles). In the past when the child engaged in problem behaviors, things were ADDED such as attention and tangibles.
2) Socially Mediated Negative Reinforcement (Escape from Demands). In the past when the child engaged in problem behaviors demands were REMOVED (or delayed or made easier).
3) Automatic Positive Reinforcement (Self Stimulation). The child engages in problem behavior because in the past when they have engaged in this behavior pleasure/reinforcement has been ADDED.
4) Automatic Negative Reinforcement (Pain Attenuation). The child engages in problem behavior because in the past when they have engaged in the behavior, pain was REMOVED (or lessened).
In Chapter 2 of my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach), I cover the first three functions in pretty much detail but I don’t explain Automatic Negative Reinforcement too well except to mention that children with problem behaviors which come on suddenly or which you suspect might be medical should see a physician. In many cases, however, it is difficult for you or any physician to determine if a problem behavior is caused by a medical problem, especially in children with autism who cannot fully communicate about pain or discomfort.
I had an experience with my own son in the past few weeks since I wrote my last blog which I decided to write about to illustrate the importance of looking at medical issues when evaluating a child for the first time or when an established client experiences problem behaviors which start abruptly or increase without a clear explanation.
Lucas, who is 13 and has moderate autism, showed an increase in self injurious behavior (SIB) over the past few months. While in the past he would occasionally bite his knuckle at school, the rate and intensity of his knuckle bites went up significantly (from approximately one knuckle bite a day at school to 10 knuckle bites occurring both at home and school). This increase occurred in the past two months and at times, in addition to the knuckle bites, Lucas would sometimes hit his head and cry.
Lucas’ teacher and aid at school kept careful ABC data and the behaviors usually appeared to be related to access to tangibles and/or escape. But the demands were not higher than usual and sometimes he would engage in problem behavior without a clear antecedent. The professionals who worked with Lucas for years were all concerned that his behaviors were worse than ever. I was concerned too and noticed that sometimes at home when he engaged in problem behaviors, he cried real tears (and engaged in SIB) while on reinforcement. At these times when I asked him what was wrong, he would almost always say “eyes” but I didn’t know if he was saying eyes because he was crying or if he was truly in pain.
I finally took him to the pediatrician who agreed to do a battery of blood tests and a CAT scan of his head and sinuses. Because we knew Lucas wouldn’t tolerate a CAT scan without sedation, the doctor had to arrange a CAT scan with anesthesia. The MD and I agreed that is everything came back normal; we would chalk up Lucas’ problem behaviors to puberty and treat it behaviorally.
While the blood work and CAT scan of the head were within normal limits, Lucas’ sinus CAT scan showed “sinus disease” which has responded well to antibiotics and allergy medicine. I’m happy to report that Lucas’ problem behaviors are now back to baseline and we will work hard to implement behavior procedures to get rid of his SIB altogether.
For more information about reducing problem behaviors in children with autism, please read Chapter 2 of my book ( http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/), listen to a radio show on reducing problem behavior ( http://old.autismone.org/radio/?archive=5729) and/or read my previous blogs.
I consulted this week with a client I will call Dan. Unlike most of my other clients who are children with autism, Dan is in his twenties. He attends an adult day training program each day and volunteers with a job coach at various locations such as the hospital laundry.
Over the past three or four yeas since I’ve consulted on Dan’s case, I have learned a lot from him and his parents. I learned about adult services waiting lists, adult day training programs, and job coaches. I also feel that working with Dan has helped me improve my ability to teach others self care and vocational skills.. The most important thing that I continue to learn from Dan during each consultation is the importance teaching children functional skills. After this consultation, for example, I decided to hold an extra reading program we were using at home with my son, Lucas (who is now 13) because it was starting to cause him frustration and was not completely functional. Dan’s last consultation also made me decide to start teaching Lucas to identify numbers past 100 since Dan was sorting music into hymnals and needed to find the spot in between number 345 and 347 to place song number 346.
I believe that all of my previous blogs are applicable to adolescents and adults with autism (as well as other disabilities such as Down Syndrome). One of my blogs about the top three skills all individuals with autism need is particularly relevant: http://verbalbehaviorapproach.blogspot.com/2009/09/big-three-skills-for-individuals-with.html.
Since working with several teenagers and a few adults with autism using the verbal behavior approach, I would recommend the following, especially if the teens and adults you are working with are not conversational:
1) Read my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders) and take advantage of many free resources on my web site: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/. Also read Self Help Skills for People with Autism: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Help-Skills-People-Autism-Systematic/dp/1890627410/ref=pd_sim_b_11.
2) Purchase the VB-MAPP ( http://www.avbpress.com/vbmapp-set.html) and complete the assessment (parents will most likely need assistance from a teacher or behavior specialist to complete this assessment). With the assessment complete, you can use this information to prioritize language goals based on your son’s or daughter’s (or client’s) strengths and needs. Self help and vocational goals are very important too and should be a major focus for older children, teens, and adults.
3) Parents may need to locate an advocate to help you navigate the system and to ensure that the transition to adult services is as smooth as possible. To find an advocate, contact your local autism society or mental health association.
A new HBO film entitled "Temple Grandin," will premier on February 6th. This movie details the life of animal researcher and autism advocate, Temple Grandin. Here is a blog about the movie which includes an interview with Temple written by a friend of mine, Chantal Sicile-Kira: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chantal-sicile-kira/temple-grandin-the-hbo-mo_b_420575.html.
I have always found Temple to be incredibly inspirational. For the past few years I have been working with Jodi Goren-Rode and Keystone Pictures to support Jodi’s effort in making a documentary about Temple Grandin. Here is a 5-minute video clip Jodi put together a few years ago available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAu6_Llfh2A. This YouTube clip, which gives an overview of the documentary Jodi is producing, has been viewed over 24,000 times and gives a brief synopsis of the life and work of Temple. As I say in the clip, Temple is probably the most recognized person with autism in the world and has done many great things for the autism community.
I had the privilege of having lunch with Temple a year before I wrote my book. After I told her a little about myself (that I had a son with autism and became a BCBA to help others), she said “You should write a book!” It was an amazing experience to have lunch with Temple and she provided me with much hope and inspiration.
I also met Temple’s mother, Eustacia Cutler a few years later and, after reading my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach), Eustacia wrote the following endorsement which is available on my web site under book endorsements ( http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/book3.html) :
“Written with style, warmth and real know-how, Mary Barbera has managed to combine valuable therapeutic advice with her own eloquent story.”
Eustacia Cutler, Author
A Thorn in My Pocket: Temple Grandin's Mother Tells the Family Story
I am excited to see the HBO movie premiering Feb 6th! I’m sure as I watch the movie, I will learn much more about Temple’s life and work.
I recently conducted a full day assessment on a child I will call Dennis, a 4-year-old with a diagnosis of autism. One the concerns of Dennis' parents was their inability to get his attention by calling his name. As I conducted a VB-MAPP assessment, this was a deficiency in the Listener Responding area and was also an IEP goal not mastered for over a year.
Not responding to name when called can be one of the first hallmark signs of autism. This is considered a “red flag” on the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and a diagnostic indicator on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Since many children and adults with autism have difficulty in this area, I thought I would address it in this week’s blog.
I created and have used the following procedure to address this issue with dozens of children with autism and found it to be very successful. The key is to pair the child’s name with improving conditions (reinforcement) since any behavior that is reinforced will maintain or increase. The following is an excerpt from page 106 of my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach).
First, tell everyone in the environment to stop using, or limit the use of the child’s name throughout the day. Most importantly, do not link the child’s name to demands (e.g.: “Dennis, go get your shoes”, “Dennis come here”, etc.) . Limiting the use of the child’s name will actually help him to learn to respond when his name is called, because he won’t tune it out as part of a long list of demands.
Next gather several of Dennis’ strongest consumable or controllable reinforcers (chips and bubbles, for instance) and go behind him when he’s engaged in another activity. Call his name while standing behind him and then immediately touch his shoulder and hand him a chip or blow bubbles. Gradually fade your prompts by standing a foot or two further away and by delaying the touching of his shoulder by a second or two. By using this procedure, Dennis will learn that when he hears his name, good things happen.
For the best results, I recommend using this procedure in both home and school environments and also recommend taking data every trial (10 or 20 trials per day) so that your distance and the reinforcement can be systematically faded out as the child becomes successful with responding to his name.
For more information, read my book and/or past blogs available at: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/.
I completed a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) recently on 9-year-old boy I’ll call Sam. His mother decided to home school Sam because she was worried that the public school her son attended might call the police if his behaviors continued to escalate.
Sam was diagnosed with high-functioning autism just after the age of three. He was included in general education classes since his IQ was in the normal range. Sam spoke in full sentences and could reportedly read at grade level. Sam’s outbursts, however, were very disturbing to the teachers and other students. While at school, Sam was sent to the principal’s office on multiple occasions and was suspended once when he knocked over a desk.
While an FBA is conducted to analyze the function of problem behaviors, I believe that a big part of an FBA should be dedicated to examining the child’s language and academic skills. In Sam’s case, his language deficits were very apparent to me as I completed a VB-MAPP assessment, even though he was a puzzle to school district personnel.
Sam displayed defective mands throughout the assessment since almost all of his requests revolved around escaping work. He asked his mom “Can we be done?” and “Is it almost time for a break?” 30 times during a 20-minute work session. During the full day evaluation, Sam also only asked a few general questions starting with words such as “what,” “can” and “does.” I didn’t hear any complex mands for information with “why,” “how,” or “which” questions.
While Sam’s tacts were relatively strong, things fell apart for Sam when he was asked questions and needed to respond intraverbally. When I asked Sam to tell me some animals, foods, colors, and pieces of clothing or asked him simple “what” and “where” type questions, he was fairly accurate. However, when I asked him to tell me some things that are usually red, he looked around the room (looking for something to tact). I then asked him to close his eyes and tell me some things that are usually red and he demonstrated problem behavior. He screamed “Don’t tell me to close my eyes!” Similar problem behaviors were seen when how and why questions were asked.
The VB-MAPP assessment showed major skill deficits in manding for information and in the intraverbal repertoires. Sam’s problem behavior was primarily related to a history of escape from work involving high intraverbal demands. A few of the interventions recommended included the introduction of a token economy system, teaching Sam how to mand for information and using tact to intraverbal transfers to teach him to more effectively answer complex “wh” questions. An SRA program called Language for Thinking as well as a BCBA for six hours per month to oversee programming were also recommended and implemented.
If a student is displaying problem behaviors that are disruptive to his learning or the learning of others, the “problem behavior” box should be checked off on one of the first pages of the IEP. If this box is checked, a FBA needs to be conducted, preferably by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). A Behavior Intervention Plan should also be written and, once staff are trained on the plan (by the person who wrote it), it should be followed closely. Ongoing analysis and support for staff is also needed.
I believe that assessing the verbal and non-verbal operants as well as all academic areas should be a part of every FBA. Professionals who conduct FBA’s, as well as other professionals and parents who are working with students with significant problem behaviors need to understand the difference between mands, tacts, and intraverbals and the importance of assessing the verbal and non-verbal operants. A focus on the skill strengths and deficits (and not just on the problem behavior) will help each student with autism reach their full potential.
For more information, read my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders) and/or check my web site ( http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/) for downloadable information at no cost.
An ongoing challenge is how help parents and professionals get started with the Verbal Behavior Approach. Several months ago I published a short article entitled “Getting Started with the Verbal Behavior Approach” in Autism File magazine I think it is great for both parents and professionals who are brand new to the VB Approach and want a very brief overview. The article appears on the home page of my web site in the lower right hand corner. Here’s the direct link: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/autism_file.pdf
I do have permission to copy and distribute freely so feel free to pass it along!
In addition, there are many other free resources on my web site including Frequently Asked Questions Regarding VB and Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Potty Training. These two FAQ articles are available in both English and Spanish: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/faq.html
Go to: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/ to access information to help you (or a parent or professional you know) get started with the Verbal Behavior Approach.
The term “Intermediate Learner” is very subjective and in the ABA/VB field, this usually indicates that the manding, tacting and intraverbal areas on the ABLLS or VB-MAPP are not well developed. While the intermediate learner can mand for basic items and some actions, he or she is usually weak at manding for attention and information. Basic tacts are solid and the child may have hundreds of tacts but usually has difficulty tacting features, functions, actions, prepositions and more abstract concepts. In addition, intraverbals (answering questions with no visuals) are extremely weak. Basically an intermediate learner is usually able to talk but unable to hold a conversation.
My son is now 13 years old and has been an intermediate learner for several years. At this point many would consider Lucas to be at the cusp of an advanced learner in some areas but most of the years since we’ve implemented ABA, my son has been at the intermediate learner level. Programming for intermediate learners, therefore, has always been an issue of great importance to me.
A few people have made comments such as “Well if Mary is a BCBA and VB works, then why isn’t her son conversational or why isn’t he recovered from autism?” I write about this in Chapter 12 of my book and I suggest that if it were just about how hard you worked to help your child, Lucas (and many other children with autism) would be long recovered. But Lucas remains moderately autistic and, while his language improves, it does so slowly but surely. I equate it to climbing a very huge mountain with a lot of stuff on our backs.
I often encounter vocal children who appear to be an intermediate learners and I need to assess them very quickly without using a lot of materials and without completing a VB-MAPP or ABLLS. A few years ago I wrote down the steps I usually use to assess these intermediate learners in a few minutes with only a small amount of materials.
This mini-assessment is not all that is needed for these learners but it may help you get started in terms of knowing which children need a more thorough assessment and careful ABA/VB programming. Intermediate Learners (who do not “pass” the mini-assessment below) need a more thorough assessment such as the VB-MAPP and also need very specific programming. Ideally, these learners should also have access to on-going consultation by a BCBA familiar with intermediate learner ABA/VB programming.
Here are areas I assess:
For language I focus on assessing mostly the tacting and intraverbal repetoires. While I’m assessing these areas as well as some basic academic skills, I’m also listening for the child to spontaneously mand for items, actions, help, attention, and information.
Personal information/Intraverbals
What's your name, how old are you, what's your phone # and address (assess both knowledge and articulation of these).
Tacts of functional items such as chalkboard, stapler, paper towel, toothbrush (pictures and items).
Tacting body parts/clothing (what’s this called (nose)) and actions (what am I doing (clapping))
Tacting features (use real items)....”What's this called?”...chair. “What is this part called?”....legs/back/seat (also assess: computer...keyboard, mouse, screen, phone....cord, buttons, receiver, and car....wheels, roof, door).
Tacting prepositions....Hold a pencil over a book and ask "where's the pencil?" Do the same procedure for in front of/behind/next to/under/in/on ....the answer needs to be “over the book”...not just “over.”
Tacting pronouns....whose shirt (while touching your own shirt....his answer should be "your shirt" or "yours" ...same procedure for my (clothing or body part)....then test Who has the book (you do or I do) ....test boy/girl and he/she too if the child is successful with my/your and I do/you do.
Yes/No tacts....Is this a bed (show him a spoon)......Does this have wheels (show him a car)...Does this have wheels (show him a bed)....Is this blue (show him something that is yellow)
If the student is successful with Yes/No tacts, I then assess Yes/No intraverbals…does a cow say quack, does an airplane fly in the sky, does a boy where a dress.
Intraverbal feature/function/class and Intraverbal Webbing
Tell me a color, tell me another color, tell me something that is yellow, name two things that fly in the sky, close your eyes and tell me some things that are usually red, tell me a vehicle, tell me a hot breakfast food, tell me something with four wheels, what do you do with a sink.
Math abilities...count to 7, give me three, circle four, what is 2 + 3 (no visuals). What time is it? Check tacting money and adding amounts of money (place a quarter and dime on desk…how much money is that?)
Reading/comprehension ....If child can read, have him read a few sentences or pages from a book. While he is reading, note errors and fluency. After he is finished, ask who, what, where, when, how and why questions regarding the content.
Writing....I ask the child to write his name (looking at pencil grip, spacing, size). If the child is successful I might ask him to also write some other words or draw a picture.
During the assessment, I also record the child’s ability to mand for items present and note any ability for the child to mand for help, attention or information during the assessment. If he doesn’t spontaneously mand for information then I sabotage the situation (Hide something in the room and tell him..."I have a swedish fish somewhere in this room"....see if he says "where").....I might also hide something in a box or bag and say "I have something in this bag for you" and see if he says "what." During the assessment, I also look for barriers to learning including issues with instructional control and problem behaviors. I record all significant problem behaviors and note which operant or skill seemed to trigger the behaviors.
Once this mini-assessment is finished, you should know if the child or adult needs a more thorough VB assessment such as the VB-MAPP. You’ll also have an idea of some programs that might be useful.
For more programming advice, listen to my radio shows on programming: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/radio.html
More assessment information and programming advice can also be found in my book: The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders available at: http://www.amazon.com/Verbal-Behavior-Approach-Children-Disorders/dp/1843108526/sr=8-1/qid=1167954419/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6326506-0064953?ie=UTF8&s=books.
Many people are confused about how to use ABA to teach functional, multi-step skills such as putting on shoes, washing hands, or setting a table. Several years ago I was consulting in a classroom and we were working with a 14 year-old girl with Down Syndrome who was minimally vocal. We were focused on trying to teach her to mand for items when her teacher jumped in and asked if we could help the girl learn how to set a table since this was a goal on her IEP.
Following the teacher’s motivation, I switched gears and told her that we could use ABA to teach her student how to set a table. I went on to explain that a multi-step skill like setting the table is taught much differently than teaching a child to mand for or tact items. When the teacher pointed me toward the table setting supplies, I began asking questions such as “Should she set the table for 2 or 4 people?” and “Do you want her to carry the plates over with the silverware on top or should she carry just the plates over first?” The teacher said she didn’t know and that she just wanted her to set the table.
For chained skills, the first step is to create a task analysis. This involves writing down each step of the skill in order. If there is more than one adult working with a child on a skill, it is important that the task list be created with everyone’s input and this needs to be followed closely. For hand washing, for example, you’ll need to decide if adults are going to prompt the child to pump the soap 3, 4, or 5 times and for setting the table, it needs to be decided in advance how the child should proceed with each step. Once the task analysis is created, the key to teaching these skills is that, in most cases, adults should use gentle physical prompts from behind and NO vocal prompting.
Chapter 11 of my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach available at: http://www.amazon.com/Verbal-Behavior-Approach-ChildrenDisorders/dp/1843108526/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205440059&sr=8-1) covers the basics of teaching chained skills using hand washing as the example.
There is another book which I would also recommend reading to learn how to teach these skills called Self Help Skills for People with Autism. This book is available at: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Help-Skills-People-Autism-Systematic/dp/1890627410.
One other resource that is excellent is a self-care checklist developed by Dr. Mark Sundberg available as a supplement to the VB-MAPP. You can download this free checklist at: http://site.avbpress.com/VB-MAPP_Supplement-Self-care.pdf. This will help you assess your child’s self-help skills and assist you with prioritizing which skills should be taught first.
Once you assess your child’s self-help abilities, I recommend you start with easy-to-prompt skills such as putting on shoes or hand washing so you can practice your skills by getting behind your child. For hand washing, I suggest you stand directly behind the child with your arms around the child gently prompting his hands. As the child turns on the water and pumps the soap dispenser three times, for instance, you can feel how much physical prompting is needed and guide his hands from behind. You should also be able to feel when prompting for each step can be faded.
Avoid vocal language during the teaching of chained tasks. This is not the time to be asking the child to tact “soap” or to be questioning “what step is next?” During multi-step self-care, leisure and/or vocational tasks, you should remain silent and provide as much gentle physical guidance from behind as is needed for the child to be successful with each step of the task.
Consistent prompting and prompt fading will be most effective when the adults working with the child take data and make decisions based on the data. Don’t forget about reinforcement too since teaching these tasks can involve high demands.
If the child you are working with seems uninterested or avoidant of the task, your goal may not be to teach the whole task. Instead you may need to start with the last step of the task first followed by high reinforcement and then fade in the other steps gradually and systematically.
For more information, visit my web site: http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/
There are lots of ways to try to educate school staff on the principles of ABA/Verbal Behavior and get this type of programming in place within educational settings. Bringing in a knowledgeable speaker on the topic of ABA/VB is probably the most common way to begin. This can often "jump-start" enthusiasm for ABA/VB but will take time and money to sponsor a speaker. If you have a local autism support group or autism school with some ability to bring in a speaker, you may want to try to get that agency to sponsor or co-sponsor a workshop.
Many parents and professionals have said my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach) gave them a great overview of the concepts so for relatively little investment, some parents have purchased multiple copies of my book for their child’s teacher, SLP, OT, and paraprofessionals.
But if education professionals are not motivated to read the book or attend a workshop, you could be wasting your money. And, even if they do hear a knowledgeable speaker present on ABA/VB and/or read my book, they still will most likely have difficulty applying the concepts.
Without on-going consultation and support, it is usually very difficult for teachers to learn how to apply ABA/VB concepts to correctly program and teach children on the autism spectrum. Some schools who agree to provide an initial training on ABA/VB will also contract with the trainer or another qualified Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) to provide on-going consultative support for a particular classroom or school. This is often a very good situation with program oversight provided for the entire classroom of students and training and guidance for the staff.
If you have difficulty getting things going in your child's classroom or school, another strategy is to start small and focus on getting ABA/VB for your child only (not for the whole classroom). One way to get things started for an individual child is to try to get a BCBA with VB expertise in your child's IEP for a specified period of time each month (i.e. 4, 6, or 8 hours) for program oversight. Putting staff training (for example 6 hours before anyone new works with the child) in the IEP also can also be essential and the BCBA whose services are the IEP can provide that training.
Having the BCBA hours within one child's IEP may not change the entire classroom immediately but over time it might. Plus, if these services are in your child's IEP, the BCBA and staff training requirements will follow the student to middle school and then to high school. This may mean that you won't have to start your advocacy efforts over again as the child transitions and as staff come and go over the years. Getting BCBA services and staff training in the IEP may be difficult but since the IEP legally drives services, I believe it might be something worth pursuing.
For more information, check http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/.
I am often asked if ABA/VB is appropriate for children or adults with High Functioning Autism (HFA). Since my book is geared more towards helping adults learn how to teach early learners, many parents and professionals think that ABA and specifically the Verbal Behavior Approach is not appropriate for “higher functioning” children.
First I want to say that I really try to avoid using the terms “high functioning” and “low functioning” to describe learners with autism. I explain why I prefer not to use these terms in chapter 12 of my book but very simply it is the same reason I wouldn’t label a typical child or adult as “smart” or “stupid.” All of us are smart in some areas but not so smart in other areas. It is unfair for us to put children with autism in boxes and to try to classify kids as either high functioning or low functioning. Instead we need to assess the child’s strengths and weaknesses. An individualized ABA/VB program should capitalize on the child’s strengths while helping him or her overcome weaknesses.
I spend at least half of my consultation time with children that most people would consider to be “high functioning.” These children look pretty indistinguishable in the community and some of these kids are even able to hold decent conversations. But most if not all of the high language learners I work with still have language deficits and social skill weaknesses that are in need of serious ABA/VB programming. Many of these students also have dyslexia and other learning disabilities too and this often complicates programming. Because of these skill deficits, all of the students I work with on a regular basis need a fine balance between demands and reinforcement.
ABA is the science of changing socially significant behavior and, in my opinion, is often mistakenly overlooked for children and adults with “high-functioning autism.” Check out my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach) specifically chapters 2 and 12 for more information about using ABA/VB techniques to teach children with autism, regardless where they fall on the spectrum by visiting my web site:( http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/).
Today I’m writing my very first blog and I have to laugh because I didn’t even know what a blog was just three years ago when I started my doctoral courses! I have come a long way electronically in the past decade since my first-born son, Lucas, was diagnosed with autism one day before his third birthday. In 1999, before Lucas was diagnosed, the internet was my first source of information. I first read about hyperlexia than stumbled upon PDD and finally realized that Lucas’ symptoms were actually all hallmark signs of autism. I didn’t know how to search the internet and didn’t even have an email account back then but without getting up-to-speed electronically, I would have not learned what I know now about autism. Check my web site http://www.verbalbehaviorapproach.com/ for more information about me and my book (The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disabilities), and stay tuned for future blogs where I will give lots of advice on parenting and teaching children with autism.
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