Volume 1, Issue 2 ASSOCIATION FOR BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS - INDIA
[Affiliated to the Association of Behavior Analysis International, U. S. A]
March/ April 2010
ABA - India Newsletter
Special points of
interest:
!" Visual schedules Use of Visual Schedules for Students with Autism—A Case Study
!" Social skills
!" Behavior specific Individuals with autism fre- indicated that Sara was depend- pleting each step in the se-
praise quently have difficulties process- ent on verbal and physical quence. Prompts and density of
!" Communications ing verbal directions, and re- prompts from the teacher during reinforcement were faded as
checklist spond better to information the hand washing routine. Sub- Sara became independent with
presented in a visual form. There sequently, we video taped the the visual schedule.
is some evidence that individuals hand washing routine to gather After two weeks of intervention
with autism are able to process baseline data. The baseline data Sara started to initiate the hand-
two- or three-dimensional visual indicated that Sara was unsuc- washing procedure upon hearing
supports more easily than tran- cessful in washing hands inde- the instruction to wash hands.
sient input, such as auditory pendently. With consistent structure and
stimuli (Quill, 1995a). Hodgdon We created a task analysis of practice, Sara was able to com-
(1995) described visual supports hand washing routine, breaking plete the hand washing routine
as tools used to compensate for it into discrete steps presented independently by March 2010.
difficulties in attention, auditory visually. See figure 2a and 2b on It is worth noting that the visual
Inside this issue: processing, sequencing, and page 4 for visuals used to teach schedule was never removed and
organization. In this case study Sara. We carefully thought can be used as a reference when-
we examined the systematic use through the location, format and ever necessary. Sara’s success
Use of visual schedules 1 of visual supports within an use of the schedule before imple- demonstrates that the systematic
applied setting for Sara, an 11- mentation. To support Sara’s use of visual schedules and rein-
year old female student with visual learning, we pasted the forcement can be an extremely
Reporting back from 2 autism. Sara communicated pictures into a horizontal table
LEARN 2010 powerful intervention for many
using a Vantage voice output and supported it with a move- learners with autism.
device. She attended a social able arrow pointing to one pic-
Teaching social skills 2 communication classroom for ture at a time. The horizontal
students with autism that uses Aleksandra Hollingshead M.Ed.
presentation of the visual sched-
principles of structured teaching Middletown City Schools, Ohio,
ule reinforced Sara’s ability to
Using behavior specific 3 (i.e. visual supports, structured U. S. A.
learn and process work from left
praise work systems) and applied be- to right. Laminating the entire
havior analysis (more informa- schedule ensured durability and
Communications 3 tion at www.behavior.org/autism when the schedule was ready, it
checklist
and www.teacch.com). was systematically introduced to
Sara in the bathroom.
Early days of ABA 5 We focused on Sara’s ability to
complete a hand-washing task in The team used prompts that
the school bathroom, as inde- included one verbal direction
Call for Papers—First pendent hand-washing was one paired with a gesture and one
South East Asian ABA 6 of Sara’s goals. Observation data verbal praise statement for com-
conference
ABA - India Newsletter
Page 2
Reporting back from LEARN 2010
Learn 2010—acronym for Listen, Special Education and provided Padmanabhan highlighted
Enrich, Awaken, Realize, Nur- suggestions on how educators and some key implications for prac-
ture—an International Seminar parents can counter these com- tice in both mainstream and
on Inclusive Practices for Stu- monly-held notions about teach- special schools.
dents with Special Needs was ing and learning. He also pre- In an interview with The
held in Chennai on March 5 and sented Six common teaching Hindu’s newspaper reporter,
6, 2010. The event was organized mistakes and what to do instead. Drs. Heward and Dardig high-
by Sankalp—The Open School Strategies informed by the princi- lighted that Applied Behavior
and Learning Center. ples of ABA such as use of re- Analysis has empirical evidence
The two-day event was inaugu- sponse cards, choral responding, as an effective science in improv-
rated by former President of In- immediate error correction, and ing outcomes for children with
dia, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. teacher praise were presented autism and developmental dis-
Drs. William L. Heward and Jill with several examples. Dr. Dardig abilities. The full article can be
Dardig along with Mrs. Mythili presented 25 strategies to improve retrieved from http://
Chari and Mrs. Rajul Padmanab- parent-teacher communication beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/
“ABA offers han were invited to present vari- and work together for the benefit Chennai/article221384.ece.
ous topics related to the educa- of the child. More information on Sankalp is
practitioners a tion and inclusion of students With the advent of Sarva Siksha available at http://
with special needs in mainstream Abhigyan (Education for All) and www.sankalpnet.org.
collection of schools. the more recently passed educa- Shobana Musti-Rao, Ph.D.
Dr. Heward, also the former tion bill in 2008, “The Right of
ABA-IN Editor
teaching strategies president of ABA International, Children to Free and Compul-
discussed ten faulty notions in sory Education,” Mrs. Chari and
and tactics with
Teaching Social Skills to Students with Autism
empirical evidence
The cornerstone of any meaning- When the child with ASD initi- of making eye contact, extending
ful relationship is an individual’s ates a social interaction, a handshake gesture and grasping
of effectiveness.” ability to initiate and maintain planned facilitator can observe if the partner’s hand for the full
social relationships with others. the social skill is expressed cor- handshake to be completed.
William L. However, children with Autism rectly. The critical role of the Thus, initially the student re-
Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chal- facilitator is to reinforce each ceives reinforcement for making
Heward lenged by impairments in social and every attempt the child eye contact, subsequently for
interaction, usually experience makes to initiate or reciprocate, making eye contact and extend-
social relationship difficulties thus increasing the chances of ing his hand outwards gesturing
March 2010
and may not develop the neces- future occurrence of the behav- a handshake, and eventually for
sary social skills. It is a misas- ior. The second role of the facili- the total behavior of making eye
sumption that children with tator is to mediate and correct contact, extending a gesture of
ASD avoid social interactions instances of inappropriate initia- handshake and finally giving a
(Bellini, 2006), rather they are tion or reciprocation. The total full handshake. Once a social
inept at interpreting subtle nu- behavior of a given social skill, skill has been shaped and the
ances of social context, thus re- for example, a handshake or student is able to perform all
sulting in premature termination greeting need not occur for rein- steps in the skill sequence, other
of social interaction attempts. forcement to be provided. In- social skills should be taught
Given this, it is critical that ex- stead, the behavior of the child until the student has a wide rep-
plicit social skills instruction be with ASD needs to be shaped in ertoire of social skills that allows
provided to children with ASD small successive steps for every him or her to make and main-
so that they have opportunities correct step. tain meaningful relationships.
to engage in social interactions Let’s take the example of a hand- Rajkumar Singh Brij
and maintain lifelong meaning- shake; in discrete parts it consists
ful relationships. NIE, Singapore
Volume 1, Issue 2
Page 3
Using Behavior Specific Praise with Students
Research in the behavioral sci- Use of behavior specific praise Recognize unexpected positive stu-
ences is most useful when it statements serves two main func- dent outcomes. When a student
generates practices that can be tions. First, use of praise allows who has a history of handing in
easily and accurately imple- teachers to gain a student’s atten- late assignments completes an
mented by teachers or trainers tion and recognize his/her desir- assignment on time, a teacher
and have substantive impact on able behaviors with the use of can praise the student’s accom-
the behavior of students. One positive praise statements. Sec- plishment (e.g., “Bala, you
such practice is teacher use of ond, teachers can replace repri- handed in your essay on time,
behavior- specific praise state- mands with positive verbal com- very good!”). Furthermore, teach-
ments. A behavior-specific praise ments thus increasing positive ers can verbally recognize student
statement is a statement that interactions with students. progress in the form of comple-
provides praise but also specifies Here are some ways in which tion of small steps during a diffi-
the behavior for which the praise teachers can begin and increase cult task (i.e., praise for each step
is provided. Behavior-specific the use of behavior specific praise in long division math problem).
praise can be provided to individ- statements in their classroom: Praise even the smallest of the stu-
ual students ("Deepa, thanks for
Look for opportunities and praise at dent’s positive behavior. Teachers
bringing all your materials to
any given moment. For example, in can praise even the smallest con- Behavior specific
class."), to groups of students
a “talkative” classroom a teacher tribution towards larger group
("Group Four is working hard
may praise the entire class when goals or class projects. praise identifies a
and staying in their seats"), or to
the students are quiet and at- continued
the whole classroom (" I like the
tending to instruction (e.g., particular behavior
way everyone has their eyes on
“Class, I really like the way you
me and is ready to learn").
are all quiet right now.”) or accomplishment
of the student and is
Communication Checklist for Children—Birth to Age Five
delivered contingent
The following checklist is a use- " Make several different sounds " Repeat words they hear
ful guide for parents to track " Try to get your attention by " Seem to talk in sentences but
upon that behavior
looking at your face and/or not using real words
communication development in
making sounds? or accomplishment.
their young children. This check- " Make sounds and smile in " Understand simple com-
list is public information shared response to your facial expres- mands and questions
by the Toronto Speech and Lan- sions and sounds?
By 18 months:
guage Services (TPSLS). It pro- " Point, look at you
By 9 months:
vides general indicators for moni- " Reach out to be picked up " Use “no”
toring speech and language devel- " Respond to his/her name
" Say ten or more words
opment in young children. " Babbling (baba, gaga)
" Turn when they hear a voice " Ask and answer simple ques-
" Enjoy being played with tions (what’s this)
By 3 months:
Does the child: " Understand “no” " Take turns
" Startle to a sudden sound? " Use two word combinations
" Make sounds (ooh, ah) By 12 months:
" Understand simple gestures " Enjoy listening to short stories
" Look at you with interest
when you interact with her/ and directions
him " Play social games like “peek a Speech and language develop-
" Smile in response to you? boo” ment in young children may vary
" Let adults know their likes and across age and other develop-
By 6 months: dislikes mental milestones.
" Turn to where a sound is com- " Understand simple phrases
ing (e.g., come here) continued
Newsletter Title
Page 4
Continued - Using Behavior Specific Praise with Students
For example, a teacher could say, performing to the best of his increase the effectiveness of their
“Seema, you did a good job cut- ability.” time with the students.
ting out the shapes to help com- Behavior specific positive state-
plete the science project assigned ment or praise is a simple prac- Todd Haydon, LISW, Ph.D.
to your group.” A related exam- tice that is easy to implement for University of Cincinnati
ple of correct use of praise of a teachers in their classroom and
“small” contribution is depicted other educational settings. The
in the legend of Ramayana where use of behavior-specific praise
Lord Rama blessed the squirrel statements is a practice that is
for its’ involvement in building easy to use and has a large impact
the bridge to reach Lanka. When on the nature of teacher-student
Lord Rama noticed the squirrel interactions and the general tone
carrying pebbles he lovingly ran of the classroom. The tips pre-
three fingers down the back of sented here, among others, can
the squirrel and stated: “Blessed help teachers create more posi-
is this little squirrel because he is tive learning environments and
“Education is
Continued—Communication Checklist for Children—Birth to Age Five
what survives Any concerns about speech and checklist, please go to http://
language development in your www.tpsls.on.ca and click on
when what has child/children, should be di-
rected to a family doctor or
Preschool Speech and Language
services (PSLS) to view it in Eng-
Speech and Language Patholo- lish. Translations will also be
been learned has gist. Please do not use this check- soon available on this site.
list for the purpose of diagnosis Sheela Rajaram
been forgotten.” and treatment without consult-
ing with your family doctor.
B. F. Skinner Further, if you are interested in
accessing or viewing the full
Continued—Use of Visual Schedules for Students with Autism
References: Figure 2a. Figure 2b.
Hodgdon, L.Q. (1995). Solving
social-behavioral problems through
the use of visually supported commu-
nication, QuirkRoberts Publish-
ing.
Quill, K.A. (1995), Teaching chil-
dren with autism: Strategies to en-
hance communication and socializa-
tion (p. 1-32). New York: Delmar.
Volume 1, Issue 1
Page 5
Early Days of ABA
My memories of early pioneers in and overwhelming. He showed were being used interchangeably.
ABA begin in 1973 when I was a us graphs and charts and used Biofeedback was then part of
fulltime intern at Joseph Wolpe’s the technique of “moving aver- behavior therapy. Aversion ther-
Behavior Therapy (BT) unit at age” and “envelope predictions.” apy was being used. Even Lovaas
the Temple University Medical He would try to fit an envelope was using shockers rather than
School and Eastern Pennsylvania on the charted data and make time- out procedures. Later on,
Psychiatric Institute in Philadel- predictions regarding the range Prof. Wolpe informed us of a law
phia. In his BT Unit, Prof. of future trends of the data. His which had come into force. The
Wolpe used to invite the era’s graphs were not of the usual type law permitted the use of electric
luminaries to deliver guest lec- but logarithmic ones, which shockers only if the behavior to
tures and conduct workshops. I could record one to thousands of be inhibited was more injurious
had the privilege of attending behavioral frequencies or event and painful than the electric
presentation by Mary Cover intervals on a single chart. shock.
Jones, Neal Miller, Ogden Lind- Later on, in no small part in- Here I must point out some facts
sley, and Tedd Ayllon. spired by him, I too bought about ABA - ABA indeed is a
Ogden Lindsley and Tedd Ayllon counters and a kitchen timer very powerful research design
were specifically relevant to ABA, from a company advertised in the with better intra-subject validity
and I quickly realized that ABA Journal of Applied Behavior than the inter-subject validity. By
was almost a religion to Lindsley Analysis. Several years down the contrast, the typical, much
“Behaviorism is
and Ayllon. Lindsley was behav- line my students and I used the touted “double blind” research
ior therapy blue-blood – he was a same counter and timer to record design is really very weak in intra- not the science of
former student and a close associ- and self-control our own behav- subject validity but stronger in
ate of the legendary behaviorist iors. The results were published inter-subject validity. In this con- human behavior;
B. F. Skinner, and with him in the Journal of Behavioral text it will be interesting to note
invented the term Behavior Ther- Engineering (Singh, Kaushika, & that early luminaries like Ogden
apy. Dave, 1978). We continued our Lindsley didn’t bother about it is the philosophy
Physically, Lindsley was very clinical research using the ABA ABA as a research design. His
energetic and his presentations research design and published task was always the down-to-earth of that science”
were explosive showcases of his them. securing of functional control of
the target behavior by the “try
intellect. He was also quite the My memory of Tedd Ayllon may B. F. Skinner
eccentric – he came to a work- not be as vibrant as those of and retry” method. Even the
shop with a kitchen timer and Lindsley, but they are just as legendary B. F. Skinner himself
several counters strapped to his vivid. Ayllon was from South didn’t use ABA. But he laid the (1974)
arms, and many more dangling America and his mother-tongue foundation of functional analysis
from his trouser belt. He said he was Spanish. He started off a of behavior by his work on rats
used them to record the fre- workshop with a three-minute and pigeons and reported the
quency of various events includ- tutelage on how to pronounce same in the Cumulative Record.
ing his own thoughts and behav- his name correctly. He then went Skinner was against statistic and
iors that he had targeted to mod- on to present charts of his hal- multi-group research designs. He
ify. His most striking frequency lowed ABA technique applied to famously said that the multi-
counter was handmade, fash- psychotics in the ward. The group research using statistic is
ioned from three threads with charts were evidence of how the really an attempt to hide the
beads worn around his arm. target behavior changed in the failure to achieve experimental or
Each bead on the bottom thread “B” condition. These charts were functional control over behavior.
counted numbers one to nine, later quoted/referred in many Ratan Singh, Ph. D.
the middle one 10 to 999 and books to come. It was his early Certified Behavior Therapist
the beads on the top thread foundation work in ABA. Consultant
counted in hundreds. Lindsley In those days of the early nine- Nutritional &
kept the audience riveted to his teen seventees, the terms Behav- Clinical Psychology
presentation with his excitement ior Therapy, Behavior Modifica- Jaipur Hospital
and raw enthusiasm. His love for tion, Applied Behavior Analysis,
what he did was both obvious Functional Analysis of Behavior
ABA India
Association of Behavior Analysis—India (ABA-India) is a National
non-profit, non-government organization. It is an affiliated chapter of
ABA International. It is working towards the development of the
science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in India.
ASSOCIATION FOR
BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS - INDIA ABA India aims to bring together professionals practicing principles
of ABA in changing behaviors related to various fields like child de-
House No. 1867 Sector 45,
Gurgaon—122003
velopment, special needs, organizational behavior management, men-
India. tal health reforms, skills training, and global issues.
E-mail: info@aba-india.org
ABA India strongly encourages organizations and parent groups to
ensure that any ABA training for parents and professionals is con-
ducted by those who have studied ABA at a recognized university.
Applied Behavior Analysis is a science and correct understanding of
its principles is vital for its application and overall success of treat-
ment. Just the way you need to have studied medicine to teach medi-
We are on the Web! cal students, or have done engineering at university to teach it. Study
www.aba-india.org of ABA is necessary to be able to teach the science of ABA.
Announcements Call for Papers:
First South-East Asian ABA Conference
" First South-East Asian ABA Con- Topic: Applications of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism,
ference, on Applications of Applied
Behavior Disorders and Education
Behavior Analysis in Autism, Behav-
ABA India invites national and international professionals to pre-
ior Disorders, & Education, to take
sent empirical, theoretical, and philosophical papers on the applica-
place in Bengaluru, India on De-
tion of the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in the fields of
cember 11-12, 2010.
Autism, Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health, Behavioral
" The 36th Annual Convention for Disorders, adolescents, typically developing children, and Organiza-
the Association of Behavior tional Behavior Management (OBM).
Analysis International is being Deadline for Abstract Submission
held in San Antonio, TX from
April 20, 2010
May 28—June 1, 2010. Visit
http://abainternational.org or Submission Guidelines:
more information. !" One person can submit one paper and a maximum of two
posters as the first author.
" Send in your articles for the !" The abstract should outline the primary objectives and scope
June/ July newsletter addressed of paper and should not exceed 200 words. Please use Times
to The Newsletter Committee, New Roman font, size 12, single-spaced in Word Document
ABA India at articles@aba- (.doc) format.
india.org
!" Submit papers online at http://www.aba.india.org. Click on
Events > Conference > Call for papers.