This is a must read: Very Grand Emotions: How Autistics and Neurotypicals Experience Emotions Differently, by Terra Vance. Terra Vance’s writing is impeccable and the post is very interesting, informative, and full of “Greater Good” values. It speaks so much to the journey I go through with the wonderful people I work with. It reminded …
Tokens are items that can be accumulated and exchanged for reinforcers called backup reinforcers. A program in which one can earn tokens following specific behaviors and can cash in the tokens for backup reinforcers is called a token system. For example, a teacher might implement a token system in which a child can earn one …
Long way but not there yet. I cannot remember the last time I talked to someone, familiar or new, who had not heard the word autism, spectrum, or known someone on it or closely related to that someone. We are not there yet, though, when it comes to how to help. Call it treatment, educational approach, therapy, …
A very brief post recommending teaching specific versus generalized mands can be found here: http://goo.gl/UIiI4H along with references to a few studied that support this opinion. We need all the research we can have on teaching mands due to the extreme importance to people with autism and language impairments. And we need practitioners to truly understand what constitutes a …
We practice and we practice and we practice. But it is not an easy thing to do when the time comes and all the excitement culminates. The costume (if we got there), the group of kids, the different doors and doorbells, the sequence, and all the candy to come, make it extra challenging to perform on …
It is a slippery slope if the child is not assessed (and diagnosed) properly; behaviors have different functions and even in children with ADHD fidgeting can have other functions rather than, or in addition to, increasing alertness. So let’s pay attention to the research and use the results, while ensuring that we do not take …
