Consider factors such as: Continue to collect ABC data until you start to see a pattern emerge. Begin by collecting ABC data to help you identify some frequent antecedents. Offer a choice between stalls. After analyzing the ABC data, you might discover that there are some elements in the environment that either evokes challenging behavior or otherwise continues to support it. Understanding Your Child with Autism is operated by Accessible ABA, Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. ABA offers many strategies that can be used to alter antecedent conditions. Noncontingent reinforcement is the delivery of a specified reinforcer at a high enough frequency to alleviate motivation to engage in challenging behavior to access the reinforcer. It’s well documented that many individuals with autism process visual information better than auditory information. Together with her sister Dianna Kelly, she has founded the nonprofit organization Accessible ABA, Inc. whose mission is to make ABA strategies and techniques available to all children who need them. Noncontingent reinforcement as treatment for severe problem behavior: Some procedural variations. Are transitions a common trigger? So when should you use visuals? On the other hand, if as a consequence you had said, “Ok you don’t have to clean up,” your daughter’s tantrum behavior would be strengthened. As the saying suggests, what we can control are the conditions surrounding the behavior, the antecedents and the consequences. Accessible ABA content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of the links in this post, we may earn a small referral fee. The sales person, who works on commission, greets you at the door with a welcoming smile. Think about what the most common triggers or factors that contribute to other antecedents and consider if there is a way to modify the environment to address this. Response Effort A ntecedent control is about adjusting the environment that the behavior occurs in, so that it is less likely that the behavior will occur. You are letting him have a say in areas of your choosing. Modify the environment when the antecedents can be impacted by changes in the environment such as: Below are some research articles to provide you with more information. The antecedent is whatever happened right before the behavior (i.e. You need an intervention that requires minimal training. This is when a teacher/caregiver provides individualized reinforcement at frequent intervals to decrease the child’s “need” to act out in order to receive reinforcement. These strategies involve reducing the future occurrence of problem behavior by eliminating the antecedent event, modifying the content or by changing how the content is presented. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free within the state. For example, an ABA therapist might ask a young child to give a high-five, to name some colors, to put away their shoes, and then sneak in something the child has a history of not complying with, such as, “OK now let’s clean up our toys!” In ABA this process is called behavioral momentum. Presenting information visually reduces confusion. Need her to use the bathroom? Sales person: You want something that will last several years without being outdated, right? In fact, antecedent interventions can actually prevent problem behavior from occurring. Today, as a result of much research into this area, ABA fully embraces the use of antecedent interventions. Shared control is another intervention that is useful when the antecedent is some form of a demand or transition. Many students with disabilities become anxious when they do not know what to expect. Shared control can be a powerful tool for a variety of purposes. Antecedent interventions are designed to alter the environment before a behavior occurs. Read our post Using the ABCs to Make Informed Decisions to learn more about collecting and using ABC data. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. By manipulating the environment that surrounds us, we can make it easier to quit bad habits. Scheduling. The National Autism Center's National Standards Project (2011) provides an extensive list of these interventions. In response, your daughter throws herself to the ground and starts crying. When is the behavior most likely to occur? Offering choices allows the client to have some decision-making abilities without eliminating demands entirely. Hagopian, L. P., Fisher, W. W., & Legacy, S. M. (1994). In CHI (Vol. While the reading may provide some insight, use caution when attempting to utilize recommendations. Momentum. bubbles), you can provide access to the activity on a rich schedule. Antecedent control procedures: are used to evoke desired behaviors + are used to prevent undesirable behaviors Bill wants to increase the amount of water that he drinks each day, so he keeps a filled water bottle on his desk at work. Have you heard the expression, “you can’t change what someone else does, you can only change your reaction to what they do?” People are not puppets, so we can’t change behavior directly. One way to make a task less aversive is to ask the child to complete some “high probability” tasks first. What kinds of Antecedent Interventions are available? Using visual schedules presents a clear representation of expectations. A lot of the information currently available that addresses sensory needs of children is from the field of Occupational Therapy which doesn’t adhere to the same empirical standards as Applied Behavior Analysis. When making environmental modifications you will also want to have a plan for teaching your client to accept a variety of conditions in the environment. If these tools are useful for you, why would you assume that a child with autism has outgrown the need for them? Please know that we only recommend products that we use ourselves and/or believe will add value to our readers. As he has mastered this Listener Responding (LR) program and enjoys clapping his hands, he responds by clapping his hands and you say, “great clapping!” You then ask him to jump, then spin and finally tell him to line up. Your client is sitting at the table playing with some toys when the teacher announces that it’s time to line up. When using behavioral momentum, you precede a difficult task (low probability or low P behavior) with several easy tasks (high probability or high P behaviors). Take a look at the common antecedents. For example, you can ask your child which task he wants to do first, math homework, or taking out the trash. Consider all of the visual cues and schedules you use yourself: your calendar or planner, lists, reminders on your phone, or even placing something next to the door. Now we will dive a little deeper into using the first part of the 3 term contingency – Antecedent interventions. Our post Using Visual Schedules to Teach On-Task Behavior to Children with Autism explains more. As the saying suggests, what we can control are the conditions surrounding the behavior, the antecedents and the consequences. Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR). Does challenging behavior occur during unstructured time? Teach him to create his own schedule or to change the schedule as he completes tasks. Offer him a choice of chairs to sit in. Amelia Dalphonse is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).