It’s not uncommon in therapy when we teach new skills to kids with autism that we encounter problem behaviors such as: escape, aggression and attention seeking. A student may throw items to escape, hit or scream to gain attention. Escape, attention and aggression are behaviors that can be a response to the tasks that the child are asked to perform, whether they are too difficult or too easy, and maybe not motivating enough.
And while these behaviors are perfectly common and even to be expected, they tend to take away valuable time from therapy sessions. One way to combat these behaviors before they start is to use preferences.
We use three methods to reinforce client preferences:
- Offering Choices. Letting a child choose activities during therapy will make the session more meaningful, while incorporating preferred stimuli. Choice making refers to presenting options to the student in a menu fashion, allowing the child to select what they would like to work on or for.
- Incorporating Preferred Stimuli. Changing a problematic task to something that the child is interested in. For example, if a child has a difficult time imitating sounds but enjoys animals, including animal sounds may help the child stay on task and focused.
- Finding Meaningful Tasks. This involves changing a problematic tasks to something the child values. For example, if a child has a difficult time following directions, but enjoys helping others, then giving a direction in which they can help others may be helpful.
These types of changes may not always be easy to implement, especially in cases where it is difficult to determine a child’s preference. However, with a little determination and persistence, these tactics may be helpful in teaching new skills and keeping a child on task.