Health Information Online

One of the most common misunderstandings, when it comes to concepts associated with ABA, is the idea of negative reinforcement. This may not be surprising considering the widespread notoriety of positive reinforcement and the natural assumption that they are opposites. Many individuals I have met, who are doing their best to navigate the sometimes complex world of ABA, have insisted that they are actually practicing negative reinforcement when confronted with behavioral challenges. Typically, the conversation includes something to the effect of, “I just couldn’t get him to stop doing that, so I used negative reinforcement and sent him to bed without dessert.” While removing a reinforcer can be a powerful way to effect behavioral change, this is not an example of negative reinforcement.

Negative Reinforcement is defined as removing an aversive stimulus in response to a behavior which then leads to an increase in the likelihood that the behavior will occur again. Let’s break that down – first you need to be removing an aversive or undesirable situation. In the example above, the individual is sent to bed early, which is most likely removing a positive stimulus, i.e. staying up and having dessert. Therefore, that consequence is actually punishing a behavior. This is not necessarily bad or wrong, since the situation and the individual’s history should determine the best course of action to take. The second part of the definition, “…leads to an increase in the likelihood…” involves whatever behavior you want to see more of. Remember that any discussion of reinforcement involves the goal of increasing a behavior not diminishing one (which would be a punisher). Again, in the example above, the statement, “I just couldn’t get him to stop…” infers that he is seeking to reduce a particular behavior, not increase one.

So then, what is negative reinforcement? One of the most common examples of this is the practice of having an individual stand up at the dinner table if they, for instance, don’t eat all of their vegetables. When they do, they can sit back down or be excused. Here, you are seeking to increase a behavior, i.e. eating vegetables, by removing the aversive stimulus of standing up. Notice how the parent created the undesirable situation and is subsequently allowing the individuall to remove it by completing the task. This is important because it allows the desired behavior of eating the vegetables, to be completed as opposed to punishment which often removes the individual from the situation. Ideally, the individual will quickly realize that life is better when they are eating their vegetables and will able to sit down. This is good but the way to gauge if this is an effective technique is to see if they eat their vegetables tomorrow as well. After all, the goal is to increase the behavior, not produce it each time through the use of negative reinforcement.

Communicating with children that have Asperger syndrome is not something that comes easily to most people. In fact, success requires understanding the underlying condition and how it affects the behavior of a child. By studying the underlying factors, and then putting this knowledge into play, you can have a better sense of how to relate to a child that has Asperger syndrome. Also, you will be more prepared for handling the social awkwardness and periodic tantrums.

Ultimately, success at building relationships with these children depends on showing them acceptance and tolerating any behavior that is not typical. By doing so, you will increase your rapport with the child and develop trust that will help the relationship past any difficult stages. Trust is the cornerstone of any relationship, and is especially important for developing positive interactions with children. Much of the psychological literature on Asperger syndrome or similar disorders is focused on developing such trust.

Also, you will need to understand the particular behaviors that make children with Asperger syndrome stand out from the crowd. Doing so will help you deal with such behaviors in your daily interactions. For example, because Asperger syndrome is on the autism spectrum, most children with the condition are easily over stimulated by their environment. Loud noises, crowds, and other chaotic stimuli can cause huge amounts of stress for the child. By watching for such factors and helping the child avoid such stress, you can help avoid emotional outbursts from the child.

Additionally, you should try your best to avoid changes in established routines. If you have plans with the child, stick to those plans instead of changing them at the last minute. Children with Asperger syndrome have a hard time adjusting to such changes. Changes to decorations in the home can also cause stress reactions. The child will feel much more comfortable in environments that are familiar.

A great way to strengthen your relationship with the child is to get in the habit of talking about their special interests. You will quickly realize the importance of this because the child will likely talk about these interests constantly. Asperger syndrome allows children to focus with much greater intensity than most people. Because of this, children with the condition develop very deep knowledge within their areas of interest. They are particularly good at categorizing things and analyzing systems. Therefore, many are collectors; bugs, baseball cards, trains, or anything else that is collectible will often be a key area of interest. Be sure to pay attention to these key interest areas as you are building your relationship.

Last of all, make sure that you deal with any emotional disturbances with patience and understanding. This is necessary because children with Asperger syndrome cannot always deal with negative emotions or stress in a positive way. Not paying attention to this essential factor could result in arguments and the destruction of trust that you have worked so hard to build. Avoid the urge to argue, and instead allow the child to calm down before talking about the issue.

Hopefully these tips for relating to children with Asperger syndrome will help you to build strong bonds and appreciate that the condition can be a gift as well as a challenge. Remember, the key to meeting your goals is to be understanding and patient. Also, do not forget to ask others for emotional encouragement if challenges arise.

There are people which convince themselves that if they cannot deal with something surely there must be highly trained specialists who can. These people believe that the specialist can take up where they leave off and fix what nobody can fix. With that theory in mind, they commit the child with Autism and go off to live their ‘normal’ lives.

One of the theories that so called experts have is that children with Autism can not assimilate or respond, basically they just mimic. This is very much like saying children with Autism are broken and can not be fixed.

Have you ever heard the saying, we learn by doing? Even average children, it is being discovered cannot learn unless they are first taught to mimic their parents. It seems all it is, is a different structured brain to do the job.

Another situation to look at is the person that lives a rather dull life, no crime, no arrests, and no tickets. Intelligence seems to be average on above, they marry, have children, and then one day in a normal length of life, they die. This person ends up on the autopsy table and it is discovered this person does not have a brain like everyone else, but instead has a lattice work brain.

Not noodle like or jelly like but like zigzags of tissue forming structure. ‘Potato chip brains’ is the term sometimes used by doctors. I wonder how much prejudice these people would have to endure if it were known beforehand. Again, it seems all it really is, is a different structured brain to do the same job.

No institution can give absolute one on one care and engagement the way a family can. Mainstreaming gives exposure, interaction, societal norms and function. The need for communication is met by family and school.

In school as well as the military it is found out what a person has an aptitude for doing. That is where you start. Children with Autism do not like change but we can many times figure out what they have an aptitude for.

This is particularly true when you take into account that an obsession may be that same ‘aptitude’ that typical people show and look for. At this point what causes the problem whether chromosomes, genes, RNA, DNA is not known. What is more important is dealing with Autism itself.

Malegra – online mexican pharmacy.
Consider a student who is first learning the alphabet. This is commonly done by pairing syllables to written letters and helping the student independently identify and associate these concepts with each other. As a teacher or a parent, how would you start this process? Would you lay out all the letters in the alphabet and ask them to find an F? Of course you wouldn’t! Most teachers would begin by isolating a single letter and just teaching to that concept, and then eventually move the student on. This is an example of reducing the amount of distractors. A distractor is anything which does not have to do with the current teaching element being addressed. Distractions are part of everyday life and are often part of the teaching process – but initially, many students will benefit from the removal of these distractors to allow them to be successful, gain confidence and be reinforced. Reducing the amount of distractors is the first step, but what if a student is still not successful?

If a student makes a mistake this implies a few things; he may not comprehend the material, he might not yet be independently able to complete the task and/or there could be behavioral challenges which are inhibiting his response. The ‘and/or’ in the previous sentence is important because students with autism and other learning challenges often have a complicated combination of challenges which may be affecting his/her responses. Let’s consider behavioral challenges. A student may respond incorrectly because; she could be prompt-dependent, i.e. doesn’t respond independently, she may be seeking attention since she has received more attention in the past for incorrect responses, she may be frustrated, distracted, hungry, excited, tired, bored or simply testing the teacher. Since there a lot of ‘may’s’ and ‘could be’s’ in a discussion on why a learner is not being successful – errorless teaching procedures reduce the chance that the previous myriad of possible variables will negatively effect the student’s response. By minimizing the chance that the student will respond incorrectly (at first) the teacher is building a foundation of correct responses for the student to draw from. This also allows the teacher to initially reinforce the student for these prompted responses which will help him associate learning with fun and enjoyable situations.

Students can be prompted by changing their environment, i.e. in the above example of distractor reduction, or by physically helping the student to respond correctly. Physically prompting, in respect to errorless teaching, would be accomplished by completing the desired response with the student by having them respond correctly. For example, when teaching to colors, a teacher could request, “Please point to red”. The student would be assisted by physically helping him point to the red item in an appropriate amount of time. The teacher would then reinforce that prompted response. Without this level of reinforcement, a student will be less likely to respond independently in the future when he/she is not being prompted. This form of prompting works well with certain activities but other skills like language and verbalization cannot be physically prompted in this manner. Here, repetition and the modeling of correct responses are more effective. Physically prompting a student is, of course, not sustainable in the long term because the goal of most skills is for a learner to independently complete an activity. At what point, though, does a teacher know when to stop or begin to stop prompting a student in this manner? After using errorless teaching procedures for an appropriate period of time, teachers can analyze the amount of progress being made by removing the prompt and making the exact same demand. Based on the student’s response without being helped, the teacher can then determine whether more teaching trials are required or the prompts can be faded. The process and extent to which these prompts are faded is completely dependent on the student and his un-prompted responses. Reinforcing future attempts and/or independent responses is extremely important in the student’s long-term success and ability to sustain and generalize these skills.

Learning a new language can sometimes be challenging. One way to help learn some of the names of everyday objects is to label the items in your room or house with the word in the other language. This is a form of errorless teaching since it (initially) eliminates the chance for incorrect responses. Not surprisingly, these items will not be labeled in such a manner when speaking with an individual using this other language; so these labels or prompts will have to eventually be removed. Prompts such as these can be difficult to fade if they become embedded in the learning process. Removing then as soon as possible, or systematically fading them over a relatively short period of time, will reduce your dependency on them and allow you to more independently recall the names. One way to begin to fade a prompt such as this is to cover a letter or part of the word with tape. When you are comfortable here you would cover more and more of the word until it is completely unreadable. These and other forms of errorless teaching procedures can be very helpful to all learners – but they are especially beneficial for students on the autism spectrum. The key points with all errorless teaching methods are; the subsequent fading of these prompts, providing adequate reinforcement and the goal of independence.

AUTISM

Autism starts before a child turns to three years. It is a disorder in the brain development which weakens the social interaction and communication. Autism causes restricted and repetitive behavior. Autism is a hereditary disorder even though the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear which genes are responsible. Autism is associated with agents which cause birth defects in rare cases. Other possible causes of autism are childhood vaccines which are controversial and the vaccine hypotheses lack convincing scientific evidence. According to the experts out of 1000 children 3-6 children will have autism. Male are four times more to have autism than females.

Symptoms

The occurrence of autism is not known and it affects many parts of the brain. In the first two years of the child’s life, parents usually notice the signs of autism. Autism is characterized by three distinctive behaviors. The autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and non verbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. There is a reduced sensitivity of pain, but are more sensitive to sound, touch or other sensory stimulation. These reactions may contribute to the behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged. There is no cure for autism but treatment can help. The early behavioral and cognitive interference can help them to develop self-care, social and communication. An infant with autism may be non responsive to people or focus intently on one item by excluding others for a long period of time. With this disorder few children live independently after reaching adulthood and some of them become successful. Some people believe that autism is a condition than a disorder.

Autism children have speech problems, they might not look in to the eyes when talk to them. Before they can pay attention they may have to line up their pencils, these children will say the same sentence again and again. To tell that they are happy they flap their arms or they might hurt themselves if they are not. Some people never learn to talk. They lack empathy. The autistic children cannot interpret the thoughts and feelings of others and also cannot understand the tone of voice and facial expressions. The autistic people have different symptoms and because this it is known as spectrum disorder. The milder version of this disorder is Asperger syndrome. The disorder lasts throughout a person’s life time. Autism shares numerous signs with Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. Asperger’s syndrome does not have any delay in the language development. Autistic children are at a higher risk for some co-existing conditions such as fragile X syndrome which causes mental retardation, tuberous sclerosis in which the tumors grow on the brain, epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, disabilities in learning and attention deficit disorder. By the time autistic children reach adulthood about 20 to 30% of children develop epilepsy for the reasons unknown. Also schizophrenic people may show some autistic-like behavior but the symptoms do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. The Schizophrenic people also have hallucinations and delusions which are not found in autism.

Diagnose

Based on the IQ autism is sometimes divided in to the low, medium and high functioning autism. The child affected by autism will show less attention to social stimuli, smile and look at others less often and very rarely respond to their own name. The severity and symptoms of autism may go unrecognized mainly in mildly affected children or when it is covered by more weakening handicaps. Doctors depend on a group of behaviors for diagnosing autism. These behaviors are:

(1) Unable to make friends with peers
(2) Unable to initiate or to continue a conversation with others.
(3) Absence of imaginative and social play.
(4) Unusual, typecast, repetitive use of language.
(5) Preoccupation with certain subjects or objects.
(6) Rigid devotion to certain routines or rituals.

With help of a questionnaire or any other screening instrument doctors assemble information about the child’s development and behavior. Some screening depends on the parent observations and some others on a combination of parent and doctor observations. If there is an indication or possibility of autism, the doctors will ask for more comprehensive evaluation. As autism is a complex disorder a combined evaluation is needed with a multidisciplinary team including psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist and other expert in diagnosing the children with ASDs. Girls with autism may be suffering from Rett syndrome, a sex-linked genetic disorder described by social withdrawal, deteriorated language skills and hand wringing.

Treatment

Autism cannot be cured. But according to the experts the earlier intervention can make them to cope up with the day-to-day life. Structured and skill oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Counseling for parents and siblings of autistic children can help the families to cope with the challenges of living with an autistic child. To handle symptoms of anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder doctors often prescribe anti depressant medications. To treat severe behavioral problems anti-psychotic medicines are used. With one or more of the anticonvulsant drugs seizures can be treated. To reduce impulsivity and hyperactivity stimulant drugs are some times used effectively.

Many parents cannot even contemplate the idea of traveling and enjoying a family vacation with a child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While not all kids with ASD exhibit the same behaviours, most are only comfortable within the confines of a very structured, predictable environment. Changes in routine and environment are likely to produce anxiety and meltdowns, so many parents either forgo family vacations altogether or leave their child with a qualified caregiver while the rest of the family vacations.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Now, I am not an expert in the field – I am just a parent who has been there, done that and learned a lot along the way. With a good deal of preparation (because don’t kid yourself – this will require work!), our family has been able to enjoy several vacations together.

By now, you are probably (through sheer necessity) an expert on anticipating your child’s needs and preparing to meet challenges in advance. The first step is to research every aspect of your itinerary such as airlines (or other forms of transit like trains, buses or cars), hotels and attractions. When booking flights, for example, always let the airline know that you will be traveling with a special needs individual and require pre-boarding. This is not enough however; as soon as you arrive at the gate, introduce your child to the gate attendant and remind them that you require assistance.

I recently learned this lesson the hard way – when a gate change was announced giving us a mere 10 minutes to get to a new gate about ½ a mile away. Because I had neglected the above step, we ended up frantically racing through the airport with our carry-ons and the inevitable melt-down ensued. Had I informed the gate attendant when we arrived, they would have been able to arrange for transportation for us to the new gate. Sorry Sea-Tac – I understand why we are not particularly welcome back…

I also research every aspect of the accommodation. My son likes to swim and use the hot-tub. Does it have a pool? What hours are the pool and fitness centre open to children? Does it have a small fridge (kids with ASD are notoriously rigid in their diets and will only eat certain things – it pays to ensure that you have their comfort foods readily available). Once we were invited to a luxurious fishing lodge with a group of families with special needs kids – I called ahead to see if there were televisions in the room. Good thing I did – because there were no TV’s or even clocks or radios in the lodge. So we packed his portable DVD player and a few favourite DVDs, because at the end of a tough day holding it together my son needs the downtime to relax away from everyone.

This brings up another important point. Recognize that wherever you go, your child will need a private space to take a break, to stim, to retreat from the social world. Plan this in advance. I have gone so far as watching the 360 degree views of the hotel rooms when booking to anticipate exactly where we can create a quiet space for my son to retreat. When he was smaller, behind the curtains of the room’s bay windows with a few pillows and a book were all he needed for sanctuary.

Once your itinerary is established, create a book for your child that lays it out both in pictures and words. We are fortunate enough to have a computer program called Boardmaker and a laminator which have proven to be indispensable for this – check with your local Autism society for access to them if you don’t have your own. We literally lay out each day of the vacation for him pictorially, including creating avatars for family/friends we may be joining, all activities and an accompanying story that not only reassures him that he will have fun, but also that because this is a vacation it is time to relax and not worry about changes in the itinerary. Introduce the idea that factors such as weather may mean we need to change the plans and that this is ok. We then include all the step-by-step strategies he is familiar with to help himself relax. We introduce the book to him several weeks in advance of leaving and go through it together usually twice a day, practising the self-calming techniques together.

Whether it’s a car-trip, or by train or plane, ensure that your child with ASD has a backpack of essentials – favourite stim toys, DVD player or tape player with headphones, books, favourite snacks. While this is common sense for travelling with any child, it is particularly important that kids with ASD as they require the ability to block out their surroundings should they become overwhelmed. For older kids – it pays to check their bags or suitcase to see exactly what they have packed. Until we were detained by security, I had no idea that my son had a tucked a metal clock in the shape of a dachshund in his luggage. In the scanner, it pretty much looked like a handgun…

If you are planning on visiting any attractions, theme parks, aquariums etc, it pays in advance to have your child’s physician write a brief note advising that you child has a disability and cannot wait in lines due to anxiety. March straight to Customer Service when entering the park/attraction and present the note – most have special passes that allow your child and anyone accompanying him/her to by-pass the line ups, or use special entrances. Sometimes they will give you a discount as well. Keep extra copies of the Dr’s note in your luggage – they are indispensable!

Do not over-book your days. Be mindful of the fact that your child with ASD is easily overwhelmed. If need be, one parent can always take a break with him/her while other family members head out to (or continue enjoying) an attraction. There’s always next time – no need to sabotage the peace you have worked so hard to create.

Most of all – HAVE FUN! If you approach the vacation with dread, your child with ASD will undoubtedly feed off your anxiety. Rest assured that you have now planned for as many contingencies as possible and can approach your adventures together with a positive attitude. You have the tools to manage any situation. You will discover what a joy it is to create special memories for your entire family – including your child with autism.

Autism is a very misunderstood condition that affects a surprisingly large amount of the UKs population. Until you have firsthand experience of dealing with somebody that you know to be on the Autistic Spectrum, dependent where on the spectrum they are you may be forgiven for not even knowing they are autistic. You are more likely to believe that they are just being rude.

The more you come to know about Autism you will realise that this just isn’t the case. Autistic people are just like the rest of us they just do things differently just as different cultures live by different rules. People with ASDs generally only have a single focus of attention and are UN able to multitask.

As an example if somebody with Autism is watching a particular program on the television that they really like you could be screaming and shouting their name and they could seemingly not hear you because they are so focused on the program they are watching. ASD people are excellent at what they are doing at that point in time and will not change that focus until they want to.
Valtrex mexican pharmacy
Apart from this there are many other areas of an ASD that may present themselves such as sensory over load. A lot of ASD people cannot cope with their surroundings if it’s too busy as there are simply just too many things for their minds to process. Most of us wouldn’t notice all of these things going on around us but to somebody with an ASD this sort of environment can be very distressing.

This article isn’t intended to give you an overview of Autism and all its traits its more to offer some advice on a particular area that may affect some people with an ASD. Somebody suffering from a sensory issue, in particular aversion to noise, in the past would have probably relied on putting their hands over their ears, not going anywhere where they would come into contact with strange noises or even walked around with a pair of ear phones on.

Today there are at least two popular alternatives that can be offered. The first can help in two ways and is an iPod. iPods are very popular today and if the person wanted to go UN noticed as suffering from this particular trait and iPod would offer a good alternative and they can also pipe some music through it that they like. This solution works well on the move but in some situations just isn’t possible like in school classrooms for instance.

The way around this is the ever popular ear defenders. These devices can be custom moulded to fit snugly in your ear. They come in a whole host of different colours and can be worn as much as you like. Ear Defenders literally block out all the excessive noise allowing you to hear what is being said so your hearing is very focussed rather than all over the place. As an option if the person suffering with an ASD will wear them is probably the most suitable. Autism isn’t a condition to be feared it’s a condition that needs to be understood in greater detail.

A person with autism may among other things: avoid eye contact, prefer to be alone, may not speak at all or be severely language delayed and may be unable to initiate or engage in a conversation. Because of this many people mistakenly think these children/adults prefer to be alone and play by themselves.

There are many studies that show that this is NOT the case. They do want to relate to others, but simply cannot handle the anxiety of trying to build and maintain relationships that they do not have the skills to hang on to.

In order to teach them these skills we need to first make a connection with them. They need to be foremost, interested and a willing participant; anything less and a positive outcome could be negligible if at all. So how do we break this barrier?

A growing number of therapists’ and organizations’ have been breaking the barrier and making a connection using two methods. Animals and technology, although they are on opposite ends of a spectrum, both have proven to be highly effective in helping therapists make a connection and build a meaningful relationship with their client/child. In many instances allowing the client/child to flourish and meet or even surpass their goals.

Animals have been used in the therapy environment as motivators, ice breakers and over all to enhance therapeutic outcomes. Animals are non-judgmental, give affection unconditionally, and provide opportunities for physical and emotional therapy.

One organization in particular has had extraordinary success with a potbellied pig whose name is “Buttercup”. When the therapist was asked, why a pig? She didn’t hesitate in responding

“Unlike a dog, there are no preconceived notions about a pig, no barking, no jumping and no licking. Oh yes, and his prickly hair makes petting him a pleasure, almost addicting. Not to mention his uniqueness factor which most of the time leaves such an impression; many clients ask for Buttercup whenever they get a chance. This wouldn’t be such a big deal in a normal circumstance, but coming from a child who has never spoken a full sentence, it’s a cause for excitement.”

Technology is also growing in popularity. With the advent of devices such as the ipad and the itouch from Apple and software like Proloque2-Go teaching skills and communicating has taken a turn for the better. No longer are the lanky, heavy output devices traditionally used (many of which ended up being used for door stops) needed in order for a child with autism to communicate effectively. Whether you are using voice output, building vocabulary, correcting articulation or strengthening muscle coordination these devices make is easier, more fun and reinforcing. Students/clients will sit quietly and wait in line for a chance to use the magical device for just a few minutes.

In both of these methods the child/client is interested in engagement, the therapists uses this opportunity develop a meaningful relationship with the student/child. Once the barrier has been eliminated and a solid relationship established, the ability to learn life skills has been maximized.

Several years ago we started having people tell us that they thought our third son was hard to understand. It seemed like different people who interacted with him at different times would mention that his speech was really difficult to understand. I hadn’t really noticed it, but it was because we lived with him and were around him every day.

With the different comments I started paying closer attention. Then we started noticing that he wouldn’t eat with us and that he didn’t really want to be around people. He was showing some anger and that he didn’t want to listen to us. We started working with several different specialists to see what we could do to help him.

I had one person ask me if I had him checked for autism. Then I had a few other people tell me that they didn’t think he was autistic. It was difficult to weed through so many different things, but eventually we were able to get him the help that he needed and he ended up growing out of some of the characteristics.

At the time I talked to several of my friends that did have autistic children. It was very interesting to learn so much about autism and all of the different things out there to help with children that are autistic. Many of my friends strongly recommended that if he was autistic that one of the best things we could do to help him is to get him into a preschool that dealt with that so that he would get help early on.