1. Promoting Positive Behaviors
Stacy A. Layer, MA, BCBA
Behavior Analyst, Manager
Stacy.Layer@ ch.com
m
and
Julie Sevilla
Aquatics Coordinator
Julie.Sevilla@ ch.com
m

2. Miami Children’s Hospital
 Dan Marino Outpatient Center
◦ 2900 S. Com erce Pkwy, Weston, FL
m
33331

3. Miami Children’s Hospital
 Dan Marino Outpatient Center
◦ 20,000 gallon, heated, covered pool

4. Needs Assessment
 Find out what goal(s) the fam or caregiver hopes
ily
to accom plish through swim lessons.
 Determine the child’s diagnosis, physical and
cognitive lim itations, com unication abilities, and
m
levels/types of problem behaviors.
 Learn about any m edical considerations and allergies
the child m have.
ay
 Determine the child’s preferred gam toys, es,
activities, and form of praise and reward system .
 Determine the child’s preferred m ethod of
teaching to facilitate learning (prom pts, instructions,
visual supports).

5. Strategies
 Be prepared!
◦ Minim transition tim between activities
ize e
◦ Keep children engaged at ALL tim es
 Establish rules and review at start of EVERY activity and
frequently throughout activities
 Transitions: Provide verbal warnings prior to changes in
activities
 Dem onstrate the new skill
 Keep the fun in fundam entals
 Always end on a good note
◦ Stop activities while interest is high
 Provide pro-active choices
 Follow a consistent schedule
 Carefully select demands and follow through always

6. Strategy: Create Rules
 Be brief and clear
 Avoid rules that start with “no” or
“don’t”
◦ The child what to do and give rules that are
incompatible with undesirable behavior
◦ Example: “Keep your hands and feet to
yourself” versus “No hitting, kicking or pushing”
 Praise or reinforce rule following m often
ore
than you call attention to rule breaking
 Post rules using both written words and
pictures or symbols

9. Promoting Instruction Following
 Use a participant’s nam prior to a specific instruction
e
or com ent
m
 When giving directional instructions, label landmarks
◦ Tell the participant to “swim to the ladder” instead
of “swim over there”
 Use the least num of words possible in your
ber
instructions
◦ Say, “swim to the wall” instead of, “now we are going
to swim over to the wall nice and fast”
 Give one set of directions at a time
 Check for understanding by asking participants questions
such as,
◦ “Where will you stop?”
◦ “How many laps will you do?”

11. Strategies
 Only the m aterials relevant to the target
skill should be within the child’s reach
 Minim ize potentially aversive aspects of the
lesson and transitions
◦ Warnings
◦ Non-directive prompting
◦ Choices
◦ Errorless Teaching

12. Prompting Strategies
 Errorless: If there is no or little likelihood
that the child can perform the skill
 Three-step prom pting: If there is som ore
a high likelihood that the child can perform
the skill

13. Easier said than done…
 If all else fails, here are som behavioral
e
tips!

14. Hum Behavior
an
 Behavior is
◦ a function of both genetic and physiological
factors as well as each child’s history of
personal experiences (Cooper, Heron, & Heward,
2007).
◦ Anything a person says or does that can be
observed by m than one person
ore
◦ Does not include internal events, such as thoughts
or feelings
◦ DOES include behavioral bi-products of internal
events
 Respond to behaviors, not perceived emotions

15. Behavioral Function
 Topography is what the behavior looks like
 Function is why the behavior occurs
 Topography ≠ Function
 Focusing on function will help you respond
effectively

16. Behavioral Function
Behavior Not Behavior
Being sad, scared, or
Crying
upset
Smiling Being happy
Kicking Mad or angry
Sensory or self-
Hand Flapping
stimming
Compliance Ignoring, defiant
Heart Palpitations
Anxious
w/Sweating

17. Functions of Behavior
 Socially Mediated
◦ Access to Attention
◦ Escape from Dem ands/Aversive Situation
◦ Access to Tangible Item s
 Non-socially Mediated
◦ Automatic/Sensory Input

18. Exam Behavior
ple
 Tantrum
◦ Crying
◦ Yelling
◦ Flopping to floor
◦ Hitting
◦ Kicking
◦ Throwing objects

19. Attention Maintained Tantrum
 Attention includes:
◦ Eye contact
◦ Any vocal response
 Reprimands, praise, comforting, shhing
◦ Physical contact
 Hugs, pat on the back
◦ Non-verbal reactions
 Gasping, laughing, thum up
bs
◦ Facial Expressions
 Smiling, frowning

20. Attention Maintained Tantrum
 Indicators:
◦ Child looks at you or caregiver prior to engaging
in the behavior
◦ Behavior begins when caregivers are engaged in
conversation and not focused on the child
◦ Behavior stops tem porarily when attention is
provided

21. Attention Maintained Tantrum
 Proactive Strategies:
◦ Provide children with som form of attention
e
every couple of minutes
◦ Ignore any behaviors you do not want to see
repeated

22. Attention Maintained Tantrum
 Reactive Strategies:
◦ Ignore the behavior, not the child
◦ Continue activity without disruption
◦ Do not m eye contact
ake
◦ Wait to provide attention until a desirable
behavior occurs

23. Escape Maintained Tantrum
 Escape includes:
◦ Delaying compliance or aversive event
 Repeating instructions multiple times
 Providing “1 more minute”
 Waiting until child is calm – this m never
ay
happen!
◦ Avoiding compliance or aversive event completely

24. Escape Maintained Tantrum
 Indicators
◦ Behavior begins im ediately following a dem
m and
or onset of aversive event
◦ Behavior decreases tem porarily when a break
(escape or avoidance) is provided

25. Escape Maintained Tantrum
 Proactive Strategies:
◦ Provide clear instructions
 Use m al num of words during interactions
inim ber
◦ Disguise instructions with games
 “My turn…Your turn…”
 “Stick out your tongue like a frog catching a
fly for dinner”
◦ Avoid asking too many questions
 Questions resem dem
ble ands

26. Escape Maintained Tantrum
 Reactive Strategies:
◦ 3-step prompting
 Give directive instructions
 Tell, Show, Help or Vocal, Model, Physical
◦ Do not stop or delay demand or aversive event

27. Tangibles Maintained Tantrum
 Tangible Item include:
s
◦ Toys
◦ Food/Candy
◦ Clothes
◦ Security blankets/pillows/dolls
◦ All objects

28. Tangibles Maintained Tantrum
 Indicators:
◦ Child requests an item and is denied prior to
engaging in the behavior
◦ Behavior begins when caregivers remove
objects from child’s possession
◦ Behavior stops temporarily when item are
s
returned

29. Tangibles Maintained Tantrum
 Proactive Strategies:
◦ Provide choices prior to undesirable behaviors
(NOT after)
◦ Arrange environm so that dangerous/enticing
ent
item are out of reach
s
 Have child friendly item readily available
s

30. Tangibles Maintained Tantrum
 Reactive Strategies:
◦ Block access to item until an appropriate
s
request is made
◦ Once item is rem oved, continue activity without
disruption

31. Autom atic/Sensory Maintained
Tantrum
 Automatic/Sensory input includes:
◦ Auditory stimulation from screaming
◦ Tactile input from hitting
◦ Visual stimulation from watching thrown objects

32. Autom atic/Sensory Maintained
Tantrum
 Indicators:
◦ Behaviors occur regardless of socially mediated
consequences

33. Autom atic/Sensory Maintained
Tantrum
 How to Respond:
◦ Provide the sensory input proactively to prevent
problem behavior
◦ Provide alternative, appropriate means of gaining
sensory input
◦ Block inappropriate sensory input to prevent
future occurrences

34. Healthy Consequences
 Avoid saying, “No,” or “Don’t do
that”
◦ Tell the child what he should be doing instead
 Use positive, descriptive com ents to the
m
exclusion of negative phrases, criticism or
s,
em threats
pty
 Rem ain calm

35. Functional Reinforcers
 Discover why the problem behavior occurs
 Use the specific behavioral function as a
reinforcer instead of arbitrary rewards
◦ Exam A child cries and throws tantrum
ple: s
every tim he is at a table-top activity because
e
he would rather be up walking around and
looking out the window. How could you reinforce
sitting quietly?

36. NOT Healthy Consequences