Hi All,
happened to attend a session couple of weeks back……
I am not sure who organized this session, i got a whats app message from one of the groups that such a session is happening at free of cost, parents
are welcome to attend. The session was scheduled on 29th Aug 2019 (Thursday), from 10 am to 12:30 pm luckily i took leave from work on that day due
to a personal work late in the afternoon, had the morning free, hence went for it.
Session Name = Differential Reinforcement
Presented by = Mrs.Kamalathara Srikanth BCBA, USA
Venue = MGR Janaki College, RA Puram (Subramanya Hall)
Timings = 10 am to 12:30 pm
Was there at MGR Janaki College in Raja AnnamalaiPuram well before 10 am, had a tough time with the security guys as they were not aware about any such session being held on that day and also i was a guy trying to enter an women’s college !! Later they checked with few people and came to know about the session. This session was specifically meant for the students of the college who are pursuing Spl Ed, OT, SLP, Psycology etc, but it is open for parents as well. It took time for all the students to assemble and also for the speaker to arrive, Mrs.Kamalathara is based in USA, she makes short term visits to India and whenever she does visit Chennai, it seems she gives a session. Looked like she arrived from the airport directly to the session, could see her along with the luggage’s.
2-3 girls from college choir sang the Prayer song as an invocation (Kadavul Vazhthu) … song about Lord Ganesha which began Varanatha Nayaka Valampuri Vinayaga which set a nice mood. Welcome address was given by Dr.Nalini, Assistant Professor, Special Education and Research.
Mrs.Kamalathara Srikanth began her speech, she expressed her disappointment on the internet speed to begin with, which i agree as well, it was DAMN SLOW ! Also she suggested the Psychology students to study on Behavioural analysis and do BCBA. The world requires a lot of BCBA’s. She works as a District Behaviour specialist for kids from pre-school to Grade 6. She co-ordinates few classrooms that has students with Multiple disabilities and Autism. One of the teacher is Shenbagavalli (Shen), who
handles the pre-school program. (Like this session, Shenbagavalli also gave a session in the same college on ABA few weeks earlier, which i was not aware of ).
WHAT IS A BEHAVIOUR ?
Anything a dead man cannot do is a behaviour. Also she suggests that it is not advisable to work on thoughts as one cannot measure them. You can only work on behaviours that can be observed and measured. You need to know if the behaviour needs to be reduced or increased. Take one Target behaviour at a time. Do not focus on more than one or two target behaviours at the maximum. The behaviour which you want to increase should be something that the child needs to have. The behaviour you need to decrease is harmful (hitting), socially inappropriate, destructive (breaking television), etc ….
For example, we want the person to follow Traffic Rules. so we want to increase the behaviours that makes him to follow the traffic rules and at the same time, at the same time we have to decrease the behaviours that makes him not to follow the traffic rules. Hence reduce and increase goes hand in hand.
BASIC ASSESSMENT METHODS
1) VB-MAPP Analysis/Assessment
The foremost step that has to be done with the kid is VB-MAPP Analysis/Assessment. VB-MAPP stands for “Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program”. VB-MAPP helps in identifying the skill deficits of the children. She then spoke about criterion and norm referenced Testing / Assessment:
- Criterion Referenced Testing means, You against You. It is a comparison between how are you now and how are you 6 months later.
- Norm Referenced Testing means, You against every one your age. Assessing a child who is 4 year old with other 4 year old’s.
So VB-MAPP is Criterion and Norm referenced Testing to find out the skill deficits.
2) ABLLS Assessment
The second important assessment is ABLLS which stands for “Assessment of Basic Language and Learning skills“. It is a mother of all assessment.
3) EFL Assessment
The third one which is for low functioning adults is called EFL stands for Essentials for Living designed by Patrick McGreevy. He identified 8 items under each of the below categories:
1) Must have skills 2) Should have skills 3) Could have skills and 4) Can have skills.
If you do not possess “Must Have” skills, you cannot live in this world independently at all, like your ADL activities.
4) Behaviour Measurement
There are two ways to the measurement i.e. Frequency and Duration. Frequency refers to how often does the behaviour occur and Duration refers to the length each time that behaviour occur.
For example, you have a kid that is screaming what measurement you would use, Frequency or Duration? It depends, it the kid is screaming in bits like pauses a lot during the scream (like Aaaa Aaa Aaa Aaa), you can use Frequency for the measurement as there is a start and end to the scream. If the kid screams like Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you have to use Duration for measurement, as there is no end to it, it will be a long one.
5) PEAK ABA
It is a new one in the market, which she is not familiar with but keen to learn it sooner. It is a precise assessment which tells what the kid has and does not have. PEAK stands for “Promoting Emergence of Advanced Knowledge.”
6) ABC Data Collection
ABC stands for,
- Antecedent – The events, action, or circumstances that occur before a behavior.
- Behavior – The behavior.
- Consequences – The action or response that follows the behavior.
Every one should spend a week in preparation of ABC data collection sheet for the child. If you do not have a week’s worth of data, you will not have data points to plan or find trend. You need to have at-least 3 to 5 data points to say what you are doing with the child is right or wrong.
Based on all the above assessments, we design a program for a child, listing the skills deficits and how to work on them.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
You need to have an Operational Definition for every Target Behaviour. She asked for a behaviour example from students, for which one of the student replied Stubborn, and when probed she explained the scenario which made the kid stubborn, like the kid went to the birthday party took the hat and said its mine, when taken away the hat from him he went sulking.
The above narration from the student is rephrased by Kamalathara as “Child not willing to change in a social environment such as a birthday party, not being able to give up the hat. Demonstrated by the Head down ” which is the operational definition of stubborn for that kid. Operational definition has to be very clear, so that another person can also measure the same. Everyone’s definition of stubborn is different, hence it needs to
be defined.
REINFORCEMENT
Any Reinforcement increases the behaviour. Any Punishment decreases the behaviour. Reinforcer always stops the behaviour or reduces the behaviour.
SIX PRIMARY REINFORCEMENT RULES
1) Reinforcing (Is the Reinforcer actually reinforcing)
2) Pairing
3) Switch it up (Have you switched the Reinforcer often)
4) Contingent and Immediate
5) Fading (Have you faded the prompt and reinforcer)
6) Consistency
TYPES OF REINFORCEMENTS
There are two kinds of Reinforcements: Positive and Negative.
1) Positive Reinforcement
She asked the participants, what is the reward they will give her in order to continue her lecture …. some said bouquet, flowers, applause, lunch, books, water (as she has been talking for long time), answering her questions.
When you work with the kid you should not assume that the reward which you are going to give would be liked by the child. You should know what the child likes and dislikes forehand. You should pair with the child first, in order to find our what they like and don’t like. Alternatively, you can provide a checklist to the parents to write down what the kid likes and dislikes are. You cannot reward a person with ice cream who does not like ice cream, he is not going to perform the task you wanted him to do.
You have to do the Preference assessment to find out what the child likes and hates. You can do the MSWO which stands for “Multiple Stimulus Preference Assessment” to identify an reinforcer. If the parents gave you 6 reinforcements that the kid likes, you test it to see which reinforcements is the most preferred i.e. the Reinforcer that has the maximum value point is the one that works the best. Don’t assume the kid likes blindly, everything is based on data and mathematical calculation. Your reinforcer should result in increase of the behaviour.
2) Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement occurs when something already present is removed (taken away) as a result of a person’s behaviour, creating a favorable outcome for that person. For example, there is alarm that goes off and the child starts to scream, you turn off the alarm and the child stops screaming. Likewise the child does not like the book, he is head banging, you take away the book he stops the head banging.
PUNISHMENT VS REINFORCEMENT
Every parent of India hits their kids, did it really helped us. She shared her personal experience where the punishment given by her parents did not work for her. The physical punishment teaches a child that i can hit others too, to get things done. Second one is you have not tried a reinforcer to really say whether it is working or not, before opting for punishment.
There is a hierarchy, you use punishment only for behaviour such as extreme self injury . She suggested watching a video called ” Boy named Henry ” where a mentally retarded young man gets transformed going through a lot of behaviour modification procedures.
Even in case where the child is hurting others, you should try extensive reinforcement before opting for punishment. Punishment influences children that they can hit others. Since my mom slapped me, i stopped doing this, so may be if i slapped my friend he will stop doing that. It is very common for kids who cannot speak or defend themselves will opt for hitting or pinch or pull hair etc …
DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT
Definition of Differential Reinforcement is ” Differential Reinforcement is the implementation of reinforcing only the appropriate response (or the behaviour you wish to increase) and applying extinction to all other responses. Extinction is the discontinuing of a reinforcement of a previously reinforced behaviour. ”
Extinction means it is a complete extinction. It is not like some time he does it and some time he does not. She took another example from audience, Hand Flapping …. This behaviour needs to be reduced .. why ? .. It is interfering with the learning or activity that is being attempted for the child, hence we want the behaviour to be reduced.
She took a target behaviour from the audience, i.e. Laughing without reason , differential reinforcement would be given when the child is not laughing. Laughing is the Target Behaviour, Differential reinforcement of the behaviour is, when the child is not laughing you reinforce.
Your Reinforcer can be whatever the child likes.
Fixed Ratio 1 means, every time you see the kid not laughing you give him a little piece of gems, assuming the child likes gems.
No laughing = He gets the Gem i.e. he does 1 activity without laughing you give him 1 Gems, slowly he does two activities without laughing , you give him 1 gem for two activities….that would be called as Fixed Ratio 2. Another example, when the child jumps continuously …lets day a child jumps for 10 secs continuously, and then he stops, that will be the moment you would give the reinforcer. You are working on a fixed duration interval.
- DRO – Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviour
She explained with an example where kid is performing hand flapping during the therapy, every time the child does hand flapping, the therapist goes to a different activity that the child likes. He is reinforcing by maintaining the behaviour, because the behaviour is not extinguished. This is called as DRO.
- DRA – Differential Reinforcement of Alternate Behaviour
Taking the same example given above, when the child continuous to flap his hand even after give him this favorite activity, it means that the child is actually asking for a break. When he does hand flapping you show him a break card and if he says yes, you give him a break from that activity for 30 secs to a minute. After the break you give the same activity, if he does hand flapping again, you say that does he needs break again, give him a break of 30 secs to 1 min. Now the child knows, that whenever he needs a break, instead of hand flapping for break, he can show the Break card.
- DRI – Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviour
What incompatible means here is things that don’t agree with each other. For example she took a behaviour of stealing, made the operational definition as, taking other people things away without their knowledge. Differential reinforcement is to ask permission in the place of stealing. Every time he is asking for permission he will get a reinforcer. You cannot sit and stand at the same time, similarly you cannot sing and eat at the same time these are incompatible behaviours.
If you want to reduce a crying behaviour, here you reinforce every time the child is laughing which is DRI. DRO would be every time the child is not laughing or not crying what ever is the behaviour you really wanted to correct. DRA would be in the place of crying i want a break or i want to go out etc.
STIMULUS TRANSFER
With foods we would prefer or insist on having a particular item as part of the meal. She loves vathal/appalam, she can consume any meal if that element is present. Her mother would give the food with vathal/ appalam but it will be sprayed on top of the food. After few months, the quantum of appalam and vathal which her mom provided began to reduce, which she did not even realize. The obsession faded away gradually.
CONDITIONED AND UNCONDITIONED BEHAVIOURS
Pavlovian theory is “Unconditional stimulus creates an unconditioned response, reinforced becomes a conditioned stimulus gives a conditioned response.” Pavlov noticed that his dogs began to salivate in the presence of the technician who normally fed them, rather than simply salivating in the presence of food.
For example, we all recollect the feel of hunger and tongues salivating, the moment the lunch bell goes off in the school, not because we are hungry, it is a conditioned response for a conditioned stimulus. But the very first day when you walked in to the school, and the lunch bell rang nothing happend to you, whereas when you are truly hungry you will say that you are hungry and you need to eat. But the bell linking with the food, gave you the salivating response.
How do you wing that off ..?
Lets say that lunch time changes from 12 pm to 12:30 pm, slowly after a month or so, you are not salivating, your stomach is not hungry till 12:30 when the bell goes off. A conditioned stimulus can always be unconditioned, you can always take if off , you can take the whole stimulus out of the system. This has to be tried in conjunction with Operant conditioning.
Another example is, Kids that are very young cannot handle dead time, they want to be occupied all the time. when a kid is bored he is pinching himself. To stop that behaviour, you give him an activity whenever he begins pinching, so you condition him that he will get an activity whenever he pinches. Instead try giving him an activity before he pinches himself or give him a card that says lets play. Now if he pinches during the activity, it means that he does not want that activity, so you stop the activity or you give him the break card.
DEFINITION OF ABA
Mrs. kamalathara srikants very simple definition, “We do, what we do, because of what we get”
SHAPING
Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behaviour. For example, lets take the behaviour of making the child to eat food with Spoon. To being with, we shall give the plate of food and the spoon, ask the child to eat. Child takes the food and spills all over, then we will shape it by taking the hand little bit with the prompt like have a half a spoon and then 3/4 th of the spoon and the finally the full spoon with very minimal prompting. That would be shaping the behaviour of eating the food with full spoon of rice with very minimal prompt.
TASK ANALYSIS
Before teaching an activity or habit to a child, first check with the parent as to how the same is done by them at their household. For Example, not all Dads puts buckle first following by zipping up, some does in the reverse order. Similarly about tooth brushing, find the sequence followed at home, rise the brush before placing the paste or afterwards , wash your face after brushing the teeth or not etc .. This home work is called Task Analysis.
CHAINING
Chaining involves one response leading to the occurrence of another response. Most behaviours occur in chains. A basic example of chaining is saying the letters of the alphabet. The letter A acts as a stimulus to produce the next response, saying the letter B, and so on.
There are two types of chaining: Forward and Backward.
1.) Forward chaining
Forward chaining as the name suggests, start from the known facts and move forward by applying inference rules to extract more data, and it continues until it reaches to the goal. For example, you would ask your child to get the pant and put his legs in it, then you pull up and perform the buckle and zip part.
2.) Backward chaining
Backward chaining starts from the goal, move backward by using inference rules to determine the facts that satisfy the goal. Backward chaining is always recommended for dressing up, the last part would be taught first. For example, you would make the child put the legs in, pull up the pants and ask the child to buckle alone. Similarly,
In case of Puzzles, you complete almost setting up all the pieces and ask the kid to finish it by putting the last piece. In case of buttoning the shirt, do all the buttons except the last one, which the kid needs to complete. In case of zipping the pant, do it half way up and let the child to complete it. In case of writing name, write all the letters except one letter, leave it as dotted and make the child complete it by tracing the dots , slowly progress it to two letters, three letters so on, until you make him write the full name.
You can do forward or backward for tooth brushing or hand washing .. but for dressing it is always backward.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- If the child does not like it but you still give it to him, that is a type 1 punishment.
- Any time you want to correct a behaviour, if the child is really throwing a temper tantrum your behaviour modification is working. The behaviour worsens, it means the behaviour modification is working. The behaviour almost always worsens before it gets corrected. You have to teach this to the parent.
- She gave a scenario, a child is crying and another child hitting his head is about to take a pencil to hit his head, what is the first behaviour i need to correct .. the crying or hitting ? Hitting, because it is harming himself, it is self injurious in nature. Crying is disruptive but not hurtful.
- You have to give 67 exposures of the same food that the child is refusing on his plate. Without 67 exposures, the child is not going to touch. He will waste till such time, let the child touch the food, desensitize to the appearance of the food.
- There is something called Mind wandering, we all do it as we are going through the day. We go in to our own world and relive our moments/ memories, when these children have the label of autism and they do this mind wandering, they also verbalize it. They have this self talk. She tried discrimination training for self talking child.
- She suggested to watch a video called Fat city video taken in 1970s
Sahana (i think) thanked the host .. Radhika Radhakrishnan, head of the department of psychology felicitated the speaker with a momento and provided the vote of thanks. From the vote of thanks i came to know it was Dr.Ranjith, principal and chief audiologist for MERF was the one, who organized this program.
National Anthem was sung at the last by the college Choir …
My personal feedback of the session,
1) The Internet connection was almost non-existant, it could not even play a youtube videos for 4 seconds. Mrs.Kamalathara was disappointed. I wondered, why is that one one used their mobile phones as an hotspot connection so that there is a better connection made available for the session.
2) Since it was a college function, the participation from students were very less. Even though the hall was full, the participation was very low. Also observed the GAP in the current syllabus these upcoming professionals study in India and what is being actually practiced in the USA or across the globe. As for most of the questions by Kamalathara went unanswered.
3) As a parent, the terminologies of ABA, templates, questionnaires, tests mentioned are not relevant as they are too academical, nevertheless, it is good to know them. It is important to know the essence of them, as they contain the homework which every parent has to do on their child before meeting a therapist.
Regards,
Saranya and Karthik
karthiksaranyaparents@gmail.com
Autism Spectrum Disorder - Personal Experiences (Chennai Family) 