In my last two blog posts I talked about how to successfully use and implement positive reinforcement. This blog I wanted to focus on what a reinforcer is and its importance.

A basic understanding of a reinforcer is anything that strengthens. When a reinforcer is added to anything that makes it stronger. In ABA when we add a reinforcer to anything it increases its chances of reoccurrence. This means it will happen again and when you are teaching meaningful skills that will hopefully improve the quality of life of the person that you are working with. You want them to happen again. In ABA we focus on adding positive reinforcement to socially significant skills.

That’s not all…positive reinforcement is also just part of life. Its not just used int eh application of ABA ,..we all have powerful reinforcers that we use on ourselves or each other all the time. Anytime you treat yourself to a nice cup of coco after a long day, anytime you give you kid a dollar for taking out the rubbish., anytime you treat you hubby to a curry at the end of a long week you are also treating them and yourself to a dose of positive reinforcement 🙂

On my last blog I wrote about the basics of positive reinforcement! We learned that positive reinforcement is anything that we can add to a behaviour to increase the probability that that behaviour will happen again in the future. We also talked about the individuality of positive reinforcement ..everyone has different reinforcers and they can change based on the day or even the time of the day!

Now Id like to talk about how we give positive reinforcement. In the beginning we want to give the reinforcement straight away, as soon as they learner engages in the behaviour that we are teaching. For example : if the target behaviour is a dressing skills such as unzipping his coat and the identified reinforcer is a balloon, we would give the child the balloon as soon as he unzips ……his hands may still be touching the zip ..the important part is that he is reinforced. In time we will increase the time between the delivery of the reinforcer and the behaviour that we are teaching. Usually once the child gains fluency in the skills it a good indicator that we can increase the time between the behaviour and the delivery of reinforcement 🙂

I’m sure you have all heard abut this thing called “positive reinforcement”. It is used all the time in popular tv shows, parenting classes, newspaper articles. Its one of those concepts we hear about all the time without really giving it much thought!

However, positive reinforcement is the most important principle of any ABA program. When interacting with our learners our focus is to provide constant and consistent positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement is anything that we can add to a behaviour to increase the probility that that behaviour will happen again in the future.

Reinforcers are individual and specific to the learner. One person’s reinforcement can be aversive to somebody else! Example of reinforcers can be cause and effect toys, music, a fun YouTube video, cars and trains, books, even social engagement activities such as social games can be reinforcing and sometime sit can be relaxing on the couch!

During our time with a learner our focus is to add positive reinforcers to the behaviours that we are teaching.

That makes reinforcement the most important part of every therapy session and the most important tool in your ABA toolbox😊

Tips Tricks and Tables : A Handy Resource Guide to Setting up your Home Program

Starting a home  program is an extremely exciting time. It’s also a very hectic time as families are juggling assessments, getting their heads around new lingo like positive reinforcement and function of behaviour and also wondering what the heck do they need!

Yes, home programs can take a team effort to set up but being prepared is half the battle and often families have resources that they need already at home.

Here are my top ten resources that you will need to set up a home program . Please remember that the materials required for the program will be individual to every child and will differ based on goals, age of child and style of program. However, this list can give you some good ideas and set you in the right direction.

1. A comfy spot on the floor – Especially for our little kiddos we spend a lot of time on the floor playing , looking at books, setting up a cool train track…so having a nice spot to play is perfect…some beanbags and a nice rug can make it nice and comfy for play and also for your consultants’ knees 😉
2. Table and Chair – Having a workspace for printing or a creative space for arts and crafts is essential for a home program.
3. Storage  – A good storage system is another great resource. It can be used to sort program materials into categories for example crafts, fine motor, reinforcers , books. It is  also helpful to keep our precious resources safe (and stored securely)  from the sometimes sticky always curious little hands that may explore after session!
4. Puzzles – jigsaw puzzles, peg puzzles, floor puzzles – puzzles are great for fine motor, for teaching scanning and matching to sample and even for teaching communication – hey let’s talk about this puzzle picture!
5. Fine Motor activities – early learner toys are so clever, and often have so many fine motor opportunities built in…you can also make your own fine motor materials – threading using pieces of cut up toilet paper , shape sorters using coins, pasta pieces and playing cards are also wonderful resources!
6. Constructive toys – Mr. Potato head, Legos, Duplo, playdough sets – little kiddos love to build and we love to build with them and at the same time use natural opportunities to teach about body parts, teach to request for more pieces and take turns building together.
7. Books , books , books – Repeat after me ….you can never have enough books! Books can be used to teach joint attention, build a vocabulary , to respond to WH questions and teach about emotions!
8. Toys to develop play – Building (ahem excuse the pun ) on constructive toys and fine motor , some theme plays toys are also great. Think doctors kit, food set, cash register, garage, and doll house.
9. Reinforcers – the most important part of an ABA program is making sure that your kiddo LOVES it and is happy! Reinforcers are utilised to reinforce skills and encourage more of them to happen in the future.
10. Admin – ABA program means data and data means a safe place to store all those data sheets. Binders, space dividers, notebooks, sticky notes, laminating sheets, laminator , a printer and plenty of ink are all helpful to keep the program running smoothly!

These seem like a lot of items but take a look you already may have them at home. Sorting through your toys and books can produce a wide variety of materials you might not have even known you had! If you are purchasing materials,   budget friendly and good quality resources can be found at Ikea, Amazon, and check out your local thrift store – you might need to give them a clean but they normally have a variety of great toys!