The ABA & OT Podcast #8: How to Collaborate When Challenging Behavior Is Getting in the Way - Shining the Light on Problem Behavior

Aggressive behavior in children can be a real challenge for therapists and family members. This episode examines the case of Sam, an extremely aggressive child, and the OT and ABA behavior strategies that worked and didn't work for him.

Mandy explains how she began her collaboration with an OT to work out a behavior plan for Sam and the steps they took to produce improvements. Mandy and Aditi explore the points of collaboration between the two professionals and how their interaction can be used as a learning tool for others as well.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:48 Shoutout to the Ask for Evidence campaign

03:37 Case study: Sam's aggressive behavior 

14:28 Strategies with Sam: Where to begin

21:01 Strategies that needed fading out

25:45 Early teaching goals

29:58 Starting the OT and ABA collaboration

GLOSSARY

Light switch on and off protocol - A procedure of extinction on behaviors maintained by automatic reinforcement. This is commonly referred to as “sensory extinction.”

Red card, green card protocol - A procedure using two stimuli (red and green colored cards), conditioned via discrimination training, to reduce motor and vocal stereotypy in a youngster with autism.

Escape extinction - A procedure of extinction on behaviors maintained by negative reinforcement.

Variable ratio of reinforcement - In operant conditioning, a variable-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a steady, high rate of responding.

Signal - Directing eyes for instructional control 

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) - A training package that utilizes instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback in order to teach a new skill. Typically training is implemented not for some fixed time, but rather to some predetermined criterion.

The Big 6+6 - In the Precision Teaching world, there is a set of 12 discreet fine motor movements which are the components of more complex skills. Being able to accurately and quickly complete these movements can lead to the successful performance of more advanced and functional tasks like dressing, eating, bathing, playing with toys, and writing.

RESOURCES

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

Facebook group link 

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Ask for Evidence campaign website 

Sense about Science website 

The Effects of the Big 6 + 6 Skills Training on Daily Living Skills for an Adolescent With Intellectual Disability 

QUOTES

12:23 "We taught him, over time, how to use Minecraft and how to build things and that allowed us to engage with him. He just developed this amazing interaction and all of a sudden we had an ability to instruct him and compete with that aggression."

15:20 "Those items were always directed at a person, so straight away that tells you that it's not self-stimulatory behavior. His mother accounted to me, he'd never throw things when left to his own in his room."

19:03 "Once we had him waiting for about 20 to 30 seconds, we knew we would have the ability to 20 or 30 seconds of work. So we started to introduce some very very simple skills."

28:05 "Improving his eye ticks made the most dramatic improvement in his aggression because he wasn't being corrected so he wasn't getting negative attention from having to repeat tasks."

38:10 "We did a combination of her fine motor strengthening goals, we used her core strengthening goals, then we brought in the Big 6 as well."