Assignment #4

AJ’s mother tried the intervention plan, however it did not work well with AJ. AJ’s mother rewarded AJ with a treat for not being aggressive towards his sister, however when AJ asked for more treat, his mother told him, “if you do not hit your sister then mommy will give you a treat soon.” AJ started to have a tantrum because he wanted the treat “now” and could not wait another 20 min. this was too difficult for AJ’s mother to handle since she is taking care of two kids therefore AJ’s mother and SW needed to modify their intervention plan.

They decided that AJ’s mother will praise her son when he plays nicely with his sister. In addition if AJ is aggressive, AJ’s mother will tell him, “we do not x,” and will warn him that if he displays behavior x again he will go into time out.

AJ’s mother just started this new intervention plan. AJ’s sister was playing in her exersaucer and AJ ran over to play with her. AJ’S mother watched him play with his sister and said, “You’re playing so nicely with baby, look how happy baby is.” AJ had a smile from ear to ear and felt proud; also baby was smiling and happy too. However at some point AJ hit baby, AJ’s mother grabbed his hand and warned him that he will go o time out if he does that again.  

Assignment #3

            My intervention is based on the behavioral theory. Skinner (1953) believed that behaviorists are interested in describing behavior as opposed to explaining it. The most important aspect is to observe which environmental factors increase, decrease, or occur the same amount of times for a specific behavior. Behaviorists do not discard physiological influences, developmental stages or heredity, but their main focus is on the “present environmental conditions maintaining behavior and on establishing and verifying functional relationships between such conditions and behaviors.” (Alberto and Troutman, p. 15, 2006)  A behavior must be observable and quantifiable; we must be able to see it and measure the behavior in quantitative terms such as How much? How long ? or How often? (Alberto and Troutman)         

            The behavioral approach believes that human behavior is learned whether it is adaptive or maladaptive. Learning occurs from consequences of behavior. There are several basic principles which uncover the basis of the behaviorists’ approach to human behavior. One principle is positive reinforcement.  Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior is followed by a consequence that increases the amount of times a behavior  occurs. Another principle is negative reinforcement which is when an environmental condition is taken away which causes the rate of the behavior’s occurrence to increase. Punishment is a third principle which is when “the rate of occurrence of the preceding behavior decreases”. (Alberto and Troutman, p. 12, 2006)Therefore the behaviorists believe that a punishment is used only when it decreases the preceding behavior and not necessarily when an unpleasant consequence occurs (Alberto and Troutman).

            These principles are the underlying skills for my intervention with AJ. AJ’s parents will be using reinforcement to decrease the number of aggressive acts which include; hitting, scratching, grabbing and aggressive hugging. A specific technique will be used called Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors. This concept is to use a reinforcing stimulus when the behavior does not occur for a specific amount of time (Alberto and Troutman). AJ’s parents are implementing this technique between the hours of 3-5 by giving AJ a treat and sticker on his chart if he does not exhibit an aggressive behavior every 20 minutes. The sticker is accompanied by a treat because AJ responds to treats but the stickers are needed to reinforce the idea that AJ did not exhibit an aggressive behavior.

             If AJ does exhibit an aggressive behavior, he does not get a treat for that 20 minute interval. AJ will be put in time out for two minutes for hitting or scratching but for grabbing or aggressive hugging, he will be told that “we don’t do that” and will be warned that if he does it again he will go to time out. In addition AJ’s parents will implement positive reinforcement when AJ displays a positive behavior by telling him what a good boy he is for doing x.

             After and before the hours of 3-5 AJ’s parents will use positive reinforcement when AJ exhibits a good behavior as well as a negative reinforcement when he exhibits an aggressive behavior whether it will be time out or a warning that he will go to time out if he does behavior x again.  AJ’s parents will record how many times AJ exhibits an aggressive behavior to eventually evaluate or modify the intervention.

Journal Articles which support my intervention:

Horner and Strain Et al. (2002) write,“Behavioral interventions for young children were first reported in the 1960s (Baer, Peterson, & Sherman, 1967; Baer & Sherman, 1964; Bijou & Baer, 1961, 1968; Bostow & Baily, 1969) and gained increasing recognition with publication of texts by Browning and Stover (1971) and Thompson and Grabowski (1972), and clinical reports in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (1968 to present). The central contributions of this approach to reducing problem behaviors have been documentation of behavioral mechanisms that describe

the relationship between environmental events and occurrence of specific behaviors and the development of specific strategies for measuring behavior change across time.”

References

Alberto P.A., & Troutman, A.C (2006). Applied behavioral analysis for teachers. New Jersey:

            Prentice Hall. (7^th Edition)

Horner, R., Carr, E., Strain, P., Todd, A., & Reed, H (2002). Problem behavior

           

            interventions for young children with autism: A research synthesis. Journal of

           

            Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 423–446.

Assignment #2

My client is a rambunctious 2 year old boy named AJ. AJ’s initial evaluation from the Early Intervention program at 18 ½ months showed that he had poor social skills. He did not follow commands; he was all over the place and not focused. He was very self-directed; would play with toys or go to things that he was interested in and ignore everything around him. He would throw tantrums for 30-40 min. His social skills were inappropriate; he would bite, scratch, and hit other children. In addition he did not speak much. He whined, babbled or made other noises to communicate. He was unable to express himself. At the time AJ’s parents attributed AJ’s behavior to a lack of verbal communication and the need for stimulation.  

AJ has improved tremendously since the onset of this program. He is able to communicate verbally. He is also able to focus and follow instructions as well as sit and play with toys. His social skills have improved and he now plays with other kids, but occasionally he pushes, grabs, hits and scratches other kids.

          AJ’s parents are still very concerned with their son’s behavior. AJ’s mother recently had a baby. Due to AJ’s behavior his parents are very concerned to leave the baby in a swing or on a mat with AJ around. There have been several instances where AJ scratched or tried to scratch the baby. Recently an incident occurred were their son scratched his cousin’s face causing him to need stitches. This made AJ’s parents realize that they need more help with his behavior at home. They feel as if they have no control over his behavior.

At home AJ’s mother felt that by constantly putting AJ in "time out" for his behavior, she was being to harsh. Therefore she was very inconsistent with "time out" and has been trying to keep the two children as far apart as possible. If her son did attempt to scratch his sister, she would tell him "no scratching" and  move him away from the situation. However this is not stopping her son from trying to scratch and hit his sister. In addition, since his mother can not leave the baby in a swing or on a mat, she is constantly holding the baby which is making AJ jealous.

 Also, their son’s behavior is making it very stressful at home. Sometimes his parents argue about the right way to deal with AJ’s behavior. His mother gets upset when her husband puts their son in  "time out" all the time, and her husband gets upset when his wife just takes AJ away from the situation. AJ’s behavior is becoming too difficult for his parents to manage alone. They want help to figure out the proper way to modify their son’s inappropriate behavior.

I am now assigned to help AJ’s parents design a behavior modification program that is tailored for their son. AJ’s parents and I decided to focus on specific aggressive behaviors which include; hitting, grabbing, pushing and scratching. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention; I told AJ’s parents to count the number of times AJ acts out one of these aggressive behaviors between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM for three days. I also asked them to write this information down in a journal as well as what went on during this time period. In addition I asked them to assess his mood during that time by using an anchoring scale from 1-10. One meaning he was in a very cranky mood and 10 meaning he was in a very pleasant mood. The next time I meet with AJ’s parents we will come up with an appropriate intervention plan.

Assignment #1

My client AJ currently receives services from an Early Intervention Agency. It offers services to meet the needs of those eligible. This program is state funded and therefore it is free for all of its clients. Those eligible are children who are infants and toddlers that are evaluated and found to have a developmental delay or physical and or mental condition.

           A multidisciplinary evaluation s conducted to assess the level of functioning in several areas such as physical development, communication development, social/ emotional development and adaptive development. In addition the parents discuss the child’s medical history as well as any concerns. AJ’s initial assessment showed that he needed therapy in several areas; speech, special instruction and occupational therapy.

         When a child is eligible an Individualized Family Service Plan is made. This is a written plan created by the parents, service coordinator, evaluator and Early Intervention Official. After discussing AJ’s assessment, he was given speech therapy once a week, special instruction twice a week and occupational therapy once a week. Each session is 30 minutes long. Every six months the IFSP is reviewed to evaluate progress towards achieving its goals.

         EI services also include PT, social work, family counseling, psychological services, nutritional services etc. These services are provided either at home or in school. AJ currently receives speech therapy at home but the rest of his therapies are at school. AJ’s parents interact with the therapists to see how their son is doing as well as seeking advice to help reach AJ’s goals at home.

**information about the agency is from Challenge Early Intervention Center's transition pamphlet

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