The ABA & OT Podcast #15: How to Teach Spitting for Toothbrushing, Rinsing and Other Oral Care Skills

Spitting is a complex ADL that can be a real challenge to teach to kids in the spectrum. Especially when kids are nonverbal or have conditions like pica, ABAs and OTs have to use prompts as imitation and language are simply ineffective.  

They discuss the case of Andre and how strategies like TAG teaching and tools like straws were effective in teaching mouth manipulation. They also discuss the many advantages of video modeling as a standardized way of teaching, as well as the best way social stories can be applied in toothbrushing.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:33 Shoutout to OTs who want to include data collection in their practice

03:50 Spitting as an ADL: Challenges for ABAs and OTs

08:23 Evidence-based strategies: What works and what doesn't

13:09 Case study: Teaching Andre to spit  

26:46 How to effectively use video modeling, straws, and social stories 

GLOSSARY

Hyporesponsive (low proprioceptive awareness) - Not having as much awareness (like your mouth because you cannot see it) resulting in difficulty in imitation skills 

RESOURCES

Join our The ABA and OT Podcast Facebook Group to get access to the following resources:

Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397478901376425

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Aditi's Website

Dr. Kimberly Berens' Website

"How to Brush Your Teeth with Snappy Croc" Book by Jane Clarke

QUOTES

08:06 "Spitting is really important for so many things and it's also sort of a manipulation of the mouth that is important for other skills like speech, etc if you have a child that needs that type of oral motor movement."

23:28 "We have a range of whistles, about 12 different whistles with different intensities and we just ordered a lot of different ones and then we rated them. That is a way of measuring and breaking it down when you're getting increased force in order to make a sound out of a whistle."

25:37 "The great thing about using a clicker is... that when you tag the response, it's immediate and it's the same every time, so it identifies that that's the exact approximation of the skill that you're looking for."

32:44 "Why it is that child might be more proficient in one learning channel like seeing something and saying it or hearing it and doing it, as opposed to other learning channels, is not necessarily that they're better in that channel, they've just had more practice and more reinforcement in that particular area."

38:32 "Maybe where social stories can in is where we're teaching sort of consequences of not brushing teeth well or perhaps the effects of sugar without toothbrushing. So trying to do some education around oral hygiene as opposed to actually how to brush your teeth."