Posted by Brought to you by PSN
Highlights in this interview:
- Learn more about breaking down tasks for learning
- Understand that incentive based learning modules work for some
- Think; Is it a behavior or an avoidance technique?
PSN: If you can just tell me about like. Do you want to tell me maybe a little bit about the child that you’ve worked before.
Interviewee: What worked with him?
PSN: What you found worked with them and what you found not to work with them.
Interviewee: Ok. My final work with him, he was very food tripped. What we did start a program where and devised it by giving food. So we give a command, he follow it. With one or no he got himself, cheese. If he didn’t, he didn’t earn his reward so he didn’t get for that time and that’s how we track him too. We mark him down. We went to 10-seconds, like we work for 10 seconds, get rest. We set 5-minute air balls. Work for 10-seconds, get the rest and then break. Crank it up to 20 seconds then the rest for break. So we kind of give them to work for certain amount of time, and the rest of the time breaks. I’m not sure where they are now with that because we started when I left.
PSN: How long did it take him to double those working?
Interviewee: I started doing it in the morning then after lunch we get to 20 or if I felt he could do more. If I found he could do more we keep it up. If we have to go back, we go back. But every morning we started with 10 and we move up. And then we’ll have like three times.
PSN: Ok, so like within the day he was able to move on.
Interviewee: Oh yeah.
PSN: And this was, he was non-verbal.
Interviewee: Yeah, non-verbal.
PSN: Ok.
Interviewee: He had echophrasia, so he will repeat things and sounds and stuff the he heard. But very rarely will he ask for wants and needs. Like he will say he wants a break or if he has to go to the bathroom. Found out in a hard way that usually means he just wants to get out of work.
PSN: Was he able to articulate a full sentence like, “I want a break”, or he would just say, “Break”.
Interviewee: Break.
PSN: So when it came down to a behavior what did you do? Like what worked in the behavior situation and what didn’t work in the behavior situation?
Interviewee: What did work was, well, he would go from 0 to 60 like there was no in between. Once behavior happen it is get away. So [unclear – 03:18] If that didn’t work we had to seclude, put him in seclusion. And if that didn’t work, we’ll just have to monitor where he was at in relation to the other children because he would go out and hit. Like we kind of restricted his movements. Usually just sitting and bounce on the ball, we found that was really relaxing, staring in a mirror [unclear – 03:57] But bouncing usually would work. If he was all wind up. Do you understand?
PSN: And so to get him like in seclusion we’re you guys putting him in a hold to get him into seclusion or just?
Interviewee: Usually, I would have a hold, I’ll grab, I’ll have a hold in his arm like I would just be like this. Not put pressure just kind of stay in between him and the other kids. I don’t think, well, we actually never had put him in a hold per se. We did have to restrict his movements and just put my hands right here and right here, the one behind him to pin his, back and forth, where you could like.
PSN: To restrict his mobility.
Interviewee: Yeah. But we never had a hold.
PSN: And then you said, he went to bite. Did you guys implement like the kelf?
Interviewee: He bit himself.
PSN: He bit himself.
Interviewee: Yeah, he was not a, he did not bite other people. He just bit himself. He was more of a self harmer. I mean, he did hit. But naturally he hits his… that’s why he did to our direction. If he bit there was always in a rhythmic pattern, here, here, here.
PSN: Like sequential in that order? What would get him to that point?
Interviewee: Not getting what he wants.
PSN: Not getting what he wants.
Interviewee: Or trying to get out on something.
PSN: Did you ever feel that was also brought on by like lack of being able to communicate what he wanted?
Interviewee: Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes it was an avoidance technique when he went overtime. He had I believed ABA training before. I mean that was evident on some of his behaviors. But like as also, I mean, like you would think that, “Ok, he is going off.’ Let him have his [unclear – 06:18] If the child is going off especially in his case I believed parents kind of just let him go because we have two more. So it’s just kind of a, “Hey, this worked out for me to get out of doing something I didn’t want to do.” So it was like I would say more behavior, reinforcement that behavior.
PSN: So left up to his own devices. How long would one of his behaviors last if you didn’t intervene?
Interviewee: I think the longest was 1 hour but he was at home after that because he was screaming, crying, self hitting. So it was more of a safety issue for him and us because we. I mean, like he got me right here during that time and I was like, “No, you can’t go in there without being opening up.”
PSN: Did you guys ever communicate with mom and dad what they would do at home? So on the day he got set at home do you know what they did at home to?
Interviewee: They just left him alone.
PSN: Left him alone. Like in seclusion in his room.
Interviewee: In his room. It’s really interesting when because his another sibling, and that person join her class this past fall. We were warned that he goes after this person. We don’t know if they were just looking up but we’ve observed that if this person is not intervening him or proactively going like trying to set them off, they ignored each other.
PSN: But that’s interesting there were still some element of sibling rivalry.
Interviewee: A little bit. More of a comfort factor like when this person would get highly agitated like nervous type of thing but this person will seek out brother. Brother did not like that.
PSN: That’s interesting.
Interviewee: And when he come down to school, it was more, get his iPad. You know, hyper fixated on like most autistic children on certain thing this particular time. Moms I believed was [unclear – 09:10] theme song. So we would do that trying to simulcast that on Apple TV with everybody in the District, so it was accessible.
PSN: So cognitively even though he’s non verbal cognitively he will still delayed.
Interviewee: yeah
PSN: So if you sat him down in front of a computer or something did he was able to like type out what he was thinking at all?
Interviewee: Actually, yeah, he could get himself on YouTube without hitting how to function stuff. Developmentally slow, yes. If he knew he wanted something or if he knew how to do it he would do it. He knew color, shapes, letters, numbers; part of the ABA intensive training. I believe from the center he was at. But ask him or anything new took a long time.
PSN: Long time for him to grasp.
Interviewee: Uhuhm.
PSN: I’m sure a lot of it was going over and over again.
Interviewee: Oh yeah. I spent one full month on name recognition.
PSN: Like?
Interviewee: His name recognition; because if you point his name he would just give the letters.
PSN: I see. He wouldn’t put them together to form that name.
Interviewee: Two letters, words were easier. But you would have to say it and he would repeat it. By the end of the semester, the past semester last year and you would see it and stuff. If you repeat, and if you read, he’ll repeat it. So if I give him a sentence I read the sentence done, he would repeat it. If I didn’t repeat, if I didnt say anything he would just either say the letters or say something else. Because his class was non-verbal but he can understand words and will say. I guess the thing is that he can’t form a thought on his own.
PSN: But he can repeat.
Interviewee: He can repeat.
PSN: That’s interesting. Thank you!
Interviewee: You’re welcome.