Positive Reinforcement

Since communication is such a significant problem in the treatment of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, therapists use positive reinforcement to help their students understand which behaviors to exhibit. Positive reinforcement is simply rewards. There are a few key components to successfully use rewards as motivators in the treatment of autistic disorder.

The positive reinforcement needs to be meaningful to the student. The therapist may love chocolate but if the student is indifferent to the treat it does little or no good. The child has to be motivated enough to want to complete a task in order to get his reward. Using powerful motivators in the treatment of autism helps to keep the child focused on the task and it helps to shape desired behavior.

The student needs to make a concrete connection between his actions and the positive reinforcement so it is crucial that the reward is given immediately following the desired behavior. The child needs to make a connection between his behavior and the consequence.

During the initial stages of ABA and discrete trial positive reinforcement needs to be used consistently and frequently. The reward should be concrete as well so many therapists use treats. The child’s favorite candy is commonly used because it can be delivered immediately and it is tangible.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is not exactly the opposite of positive reinforcement as one would expect. This strategy in the treatment of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders uses undesired objects or activities as a shaping tool for behavior. Basically, the objectionable object is removed or the child no longer has to engage in the undesirable activity.

For example, a therapist is working with an autistic child with the specific goal of teaching him to sign “all done.” This student hates coloring. The approach of using negative reinforcement would use coloring as a tool for learning. The child is introduced to the task that he dislikes and the therapist prompts him to sign “all done” and once the child does the task is quickly taken away.

In this example the target is not the activity of coloring. The target is the communication sign “all done.” The task of coloring is used as negative reinforcement in order to motivate the child to indicate that he no longer wants to participate in the activity.

Treatment Methods for Autism

Autism cannot be cured but it can be treated in a way that brings about significant improvement. The treatment methods for autistic children are varied and are usually tailored for each specific child based on the signs that they display. The treatment methods include applied behavioral analysis, sensory integration, social skills groups, the Denver model, floor time, social stories, integrated play, picture exchange communications systems, individual speech and language therapy and the Son-Rise program. Each of these methods has had varying degrees of success in mitigating the signs of autism. Each patient will respond differently to the treatment methods so there may be some experimentation involved in finding the treatment method that is most effective.

Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a treatment for autism that has deep roots within the discipline of Behaviorist Psychology. The techniques used within this theory use specific behavioral principals that are designed to shape the student's behavior.

The fundamental idea behind ABA is the concept of breaking down tasks into small steps, slowly introducing each step and rewarding the student as each step is mastered. The behaviorist approach to the treatment of autism has yielded very good results but it is crucial that the autism therapy is structured and consistent. The child will benefit from knowing what to expect.

The student typically masters some steps in the task quite easily while others may take months or even years to master. The ABA approach is an effective treatment for autism because the child builds on what he has learned as he is introduced to each successive step.

Order and repetition have proved to be very helpful in the treatment of autism. Encouraging desired behavior through rewards (or positive reinforcement) has proved to motivate students with autistic disorder.

Using Sensory Integration to Treat Autism

Another treatment method for autism includes sensory integration (SI). This method assists children who have difficulty with sensory integration are likely to either over or under react to stimuli that affects the senses such as sounds, sights, smells, tastes or feeling. SI methods work to desensitize the child to the stimuli that they have difficulty processing. For example children who have difficulty with touch may be treated by exposure to objects of a variety of textures so they will be less reactive to objects that have these textures. Exposing the patient to a variety of sounds and decibel levels can be beneficial for a child who has difficulty processing sounds. These types of treatments should take place under the supervision of a specialist who has carefully evaluated the patient prior to beginning treatment.

Using Floor Time to Treat Autism

Floor time is an autism treatment method that was designed by child psychologist Stanley Greenspan. This is an educational treatment method that is often used during a child's play time and in conjunction with other treatment methods such as applied behavioral analysis. According to Greenspan's theory there are six stages of development that are necessary for more advanced learning. This treatment involves systematically increases interaction between the child and an adult. This method is aimed at helping the patient to meet their developmental milestones by helping them to overcome problems such as over or under reacting to senses, difficulty processing information and difficulty coordinating their body's movements. Another aspect of this treatment method is encouraging interaction between child and adult. The parents or educators attempt to engage the child in interaction by following the child's lead and helping them to build upon their actions.

Discrete Trial

One of the most popular components in applied behavioral analysis is discrete trial. This treatment for autism uses cause-and-effect learning as well as scaffolding. Tasks are broken down into their most fundamental elements. The child is introduced to each element from easiest to complex throughout a progression of drills.

The program uses a lot of repetition. The student has two independent chances to make a correct response. If he is unable to give the desired response, the therapist prompts him and repeats the command. The student learns that there is a definite routine that has an identifiable beginning, middle and end through the discrete trial drills.

Discrete trial also uses consistent rewards for each and every desired response that the autistic individual provides. Positive reinforcement is very important in the process. It helps the student understand when he has given a correct response. This treatment for autism focuses on the positive and negates undesired behavior.

Since discrete trial keeps the child focused on a small amount of information during each drill, it is ideal for autism therapy. The student can pay attention to the specific command. He develops an understanding that he is supposed to give a response and he learns that there are consequences for that response.

Using Applied Behavioral Analysis to Treat Autism

One method of treating autism is the applied behavioral analysis (ABA) method. This method uses positive reinforcement, repetition and prompting to teach language, play and social skills. Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is the most common teaching style incorporated into the ABA method. This teaching style involves breaking behaviors down into subcategories and teaching each subcategory through repetition, positive reinforcement and prompts that are gradually removed from the program as the child progresses. During this teaching, each subcategory is taught intensely and exclusively until the behavior is learned to help to ensure success for the child.

PECS

Individuals who have a diagnosis within the autism spectrum of disorders typically have great difficulty with communication. They have trouble processing language and they have trouble using language to express wants and needs. On the other hand, autistic individuals are very visual. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an intricate teaching tool that uses pictures to help individual with autism or other communicative disorders communicate.

The pictures used in PECS are commonly printed and laminated on two-inch by two-inch cards. This teaching tool is very helpful as a means of communication. The process of using PECS is a little complex. There are six deliberate steps that this treatment for autism uses in order to help the child understand the concept behind the pictures.

The six phases of PECS are systematic. As with many of the treatments for autism, this approach uses small steps to reach a specific goal and each phase must be presented in order to maximize the benefits of the program. As the child masters one phase he is introduced to the next successive step.

Using pictures to facilitate communication has yielded great success in the treatment for autism and related pervasive developmental disorders. The ability to communicate effectively is one of the major obstacles that individuals with autism face.

Using Social Stories to Treat Autism

Social stories can be used to treat autism. This autism treatment method was designed by Carol Gray. The social stories method is intended to teach autistic children social skills that they may be lacking. The stories used in this method are written in the first person and the present tense, contain descriptive sentences, perspective sentences and directive sentences, can incorporate pictures or music and are written to address a child's specific fear. The descriptive sentences describe the situation, the perspective sentences offer insight into the feelings of those in the story and the directive sentences are aimed at eliciting a response from the patient.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is not exactly the opposite of positive reinforcement as one would expect. This strategy in the treatment of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders uses undesired objects or activities as a shaping tool for behavior. Basically, the objectionable object is removed or the child no longer has to engage in the undesirable activity.

For example, a therapist is working with an autistic child with the specific goal of teaching him to sign “all done.” This student hates coloring. The approach of using negative reinforcement would use coloring as a tool for learning. The child is introduced to the task that he dislikes and the therapist prompts him to sign “all done” and once the child does the task is quickly taken away.

In this example the target is not the activity of coloring. The target is the communication sign “all done.” The task of coloring is used as negative reinforcement in order to motivate the child to indicate that he no longer wants to participate in the activity.