Creating a Positive Learning Environment

1
Creating a Positive Learning Environment 

• Strategies That Support
  Students with Autism

2
Autistic Behaviors may include . . .
Laughs or giggles at inappropriate times
Yells or shrieks
Responds differently to touch
Resists changes in routine or procedures
Presents with marked over activity or passivity
Presents as puzzled or confused
Attaches to inappropriate objects
Cries or tantrums for unapparent reason
Presents little or no eye contact
3
OR may show behaviors such as . . .

• Doesnt respond to a question
• Answers rudely
• Puts hands over ears when spoken to
• Tells you to be quiet while you are teaching
• Pulls away from touch
• Leaves the room without permission
• Yells or screams with no apparent intent

4
Why Do They Do That?
Because
For students with autism a behavior is a means
of communicating NOT a means of misbehaving.
5
So, It Is Important To
Determine the REAL function of the behavior
and the REAL
message being communicated.
6
Identifying Functions
The function and purpose of the behavior can be

• to tell us that they want more of something
• pleasant Power and Control or Attention
  

• to tell us that they want to get away from
• something that they consider unpleasant
• Escape and Avoidance

• to obtain something pleasant at a sensory level
  Self-Stimulation

7
Once you establish the function of a behavior,
you need to determine how the ADULT might be
contributing to the problem.
Just how does she think I contribute to THEIR
behavior?
Do you mean that I have to change so the student
will change?
8
Do you contribute?
Are you guilty of saying any of these?
I tried that visual stuff and she still wont do
her work!
She just sits there and waits for me to tell her
what to do. I wrote it on the board"
He knows what he is doing and he is just being
manipulative.
He understands, I had him repeat my directions.
He understands, he did the work yesterday.
9
Lets see if we can change our way of thinking
Instead of saying
He knows what he is doing and he is just being
manipulative.
10
Lets see if we can change our way of thinking
Instead of saying
I know he understands, I had him repeat my
directions.
11
Lets see if we can change our way of thinking
Instead of saying
That visual stuff doesnt work. I have already
tried it and he wouldnt use it.
12
Lets see if we can change our way of thinking
Instead of saying
I cant do all that reinforcing for this one
child. What will the other children think?
13
Lets see if we can change our way of thinking
Instead of saying
He said he did it when I asked if he had broken
the rules. I will have to move his boat for
not following the rules just like everyone else
in the class.
14
To Sum it Up
There are 3 main assumptions we should all agree
upon . . .
1. There is a significant learned component in
most forms of challenging behavior and what has
been learned may be unlearned.
2. Challenging behavior almost always means
something.
3. Understanding the behavior helps us to change
it.
Challenging behavior and autism Making
Sense-making progress Philip Whitaker
15
SO,what should I do to help?

• Go to the autism team when you need help. Dont
  assume that just because you have had a student
  with autism previously that you understand how to
  work with students with autism. No two students
  with autism are the same Remember the saying,
  If you have met one student with autism, you
  have met ONE student with autism.
• 2. Dont assume the student understands. Try
  to model what you want them to do or offer
  choices when they do not engage or comply.
  Non-compliance may mean not understanding.

16
What else do I do?

• Remember that students with autism are very
  literal. Make sure you say what you mean and you
  mean what you say. Dont be offended if they
  question you when you dont do what you said you
  would. Dont use phrases such as, Would you
  like to? or Dont you think you should?
  What if their answer is, No, then what?
• Remember that too much verbal is overloading.
  When the student doesnt comply or respond, stop
  the talking and use the visual.
• Remember that students with autism have
  difficulty asking for help. Dont assume they
  are purposely choosing not to do the work.
  Rather, consider if they are not working because
  they are unsure what to do or how to tell you
  they need help.

17
Anything else?

• Use written, clear concise expectations up front.
  Do not change your requests once the student has
  completed your initial request. DONE is DONE in
  autism
• Learn about the students special interest.
  Use it to
• engage students in conversation and divert
  their attention
• from the issue at hand to defuse potential
  explosive
• situations. Defusing the situation may be
  more important
• than getting your own way. (Challenging
  behavior and autism Making Sense- making
  progress Philip Whitaker)
• If the student is beginning to get upset, dont
  try to cajole or sermonize- it is not time to
  preach the rules or expect the child to
  understand reason. Instead, back off and give
  them time to regroup. The student may need to
  move to a calm place.

18
Anything else?

• Remember that no eye contact is not a sign of
  disrespect. It also doesnt mean the student
  isnt paying attention. Many students can attend
  and not be looking at the teacher. Some may even
  be reading and still be attending. You will need
  to know your student!
• Do not invade the students personal space when
• they are anxious. Students with autism
  have heightened sensory input when they are
  anxious. The merest touch may feel like a punch
  to the student.

19
Anything else?

• Make sure your behavior management system conveys
  your clear expectations. Best practice is for
  students to gain not lose rewards. It they dont
  follow the rules then they simply dont earn.
  Restitution is seen as a good negative
  consequence.
• Use the reinforcement system consistently. Give
  the reinforcer each and every time. Even over
  reinforce at the onset. Reinforce approximations
  to the desired behavior. Dont wait to reinforce
  until the student performs the task perfectly.
  Consider using the FIRST ____, THEN _____
  format.

20
Behavior Management and Reinforcement
Students with autism need strong reinforcement to
change their behavior. Reinforcement is equally
as important to get them to comply to your
request when they perceive the task too difficult
or repetitive.
IN OTHER WORDS, They have to decide if it is
worth doing X to get Y.
Just because an adult tells them to do something
or threatens to drop their boat isnt going to
alter the behavior if there isnt a strong
reinforcer.
21
Behavior Management and Reinforcement
Lets review behavior management principles

• Behaviors are strengthened or diminished by
  consequences.
• There are generally two types of consequences
• reinforcement consequences which INCREASE the
  occurrence of a behavior
• punishment consequences which DECREASE the
  occurrence of a behavior

22
Two Kinds of Reinforcement
Reinforcement
Generally, when adults think of consequences for
children's behavior, we think of unpleasant
things like spanking or restricting privileges.
Research demonstrates, however, that
reinforcement, or pleasant consequences, may
actually be a more powerful motivator for
children.
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT PART
IIICONSEQUENCES OF CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR -
REINFORCEMENT Kelly B. Cartwright, Ph.D.
23
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Punishment
Remove desired object or impose a disliked
experience
Give learner desired object or activity
Remove or end a disliked experience
ACTION
Increase desired behavior
Increase desired behavior
Decrease unwanted behavior
PURPOSE
A Treasure Chest of Behavioral Strategies for
Individual with Autism Beth Fouse and Maria
Wheller
24
Using ReinforcementCorrectly
Are you sure you are using reinforcement to shape
or increase a desired behavior?
One of the most common errors in behavior
plan development is the confusion between reward
and reinforcement.
Use of Behavior Management Strategies California
Department of Education
25
Reinforcementvs.Reward
Reinforcement occurs when a consequence to a
behavior results in that behavior increasing or
maintaining its frequency. Thus, the behavior is
reinforced it is made stronger and more
resistant to elimination because the individual
desires the reinforcer and associates the
behavior with desirable outcomes.
A reward, on the other hand, is given by an
observer to someone for having met some
criterion established by the observer.
Frequently, the giver assumes the recipient
will like the outcome. The reward may actually
be hated by the receiver (e.g., You did that
sheet of problems so beautifully that you get to
do another one as a reward). In other words, a
reward is what you think will work while a
reinforcer is what is proven to work.
Use of Behavior Management Strategies California
Department of Education
26
Other Keys to Reinforcement

• Reinforcers are only as powerful as the degree of
  desirability they hold for the student. It isnt
  what is reinforcing for us or what is convenient
  for us to give. Make sure the reinforcer is
  something the child want.
• Reinforcement can be nothing more than the
  opportunity for closure getting to finish a
  desired activity such as putting a puzzle
  together.
• Make sure the student does not satiate on the
  reinforcer. There should be a variety of
  reinforcers available.

27
Avoid These Pitfalls When Using
Reinforcement
Dont forget to teach the behavior you are trying
to reinforce, you will need to provide
instruction and reinforce even close
approximations of the goal behavior. Be sure to
tell the student what they CAN DO to earn a
reinforcer NOT what they cant do.
Make sure you are reinforcing what you truly want
to reinforce. For example, make sure that the
bulk of the attention paid to children is for
desired behaviors rather than undesired
behaviors.
28
Watch Out for These TOO!
Dont wait too long to give the reinforcer. The
reinforcer should follow immediately after the
desired behavior. The behavior has to be
well-established before delayed gratification can
work.
Dont expect too much or too many repetitions
before you reinforce. Frequency problems can
sabotage a program as assuredly as variability,
immediacy, and power problems can. Use of
Behavior Management Strategies
California Department of
Education
29
Daniels Tantrum
Daniel stands in the classroom.The world floats
around him like colored balloons.He holds on
tight to the strings,keeping them
together.Around him words pass by,sparkling in
the air,then fading like shooting stars.He only
glimpses some of thembefore they are lost below
the horizon.From somewhere in the room his name
passes by.
From the poem collection, Wind Dancer
30
Daniels Tantrum
The woman with the red hair is making words
again.The words leave her mouth and shatter in
mid air,only the fragments reach him.The jumble
of bits and piecesfrighten and confuse him.He
is losing the connections.Panic begins to rise
in him.filling his stomach with a million
wriggling worms.He has let go of the strings and
the balloons are drifting away.
31
Daniels Tantrum
By now there are hands on him,pushing and
pulling.The pressure of their touch is
unbearable.He begins to struggle,arms and legs
flail.The world is spinning by.A thousand
broken fragments.It is a long time before the
balloons return to himand he can hold on to
their strings again.
32
Daniels Tantrum
Later his teacher washes away frustration with
coffee."You can't control that boy!I only asked
him to sit down."