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A Verbal Behavior Approach to Teaching Language to Children with Autism Presented By: Katie Cole, MS, BCBA and Cassondra

A Verbal Behavior Approach to Teaching Language to Children with Autism Presented By: Katie Cole, MS, BCBA and Cassondra M. Gayman, MS, BCBA. Mariposa School background Who we are What we do How we do it. In the next 90 minutes we hope to:. Provide an overview of ABA

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A Verbal Behavior Approach to Teaching Language to Children with Autism Presented By: Katie Cole, MS, BCBA and Cassondra

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  1. A Verbal Behavior Approach to Teaching Language to Children with Autism Presented By: Katie Cole, MS, BCBA and Cassondra M. Gayman, MS, BCBA

  2. Mariposa School background • Who we are • What we do • How we do it

  3. In the next 90 minutes we hope to: • Provide an overview of ABA • Discuss basic behavioral principles and procedures • Overview of Verbal Behavior • Discuss the main verbal operants • Common components of a VB program • The importance of the mand • Teaching procedures • NET • Intensive Teaching • Q & A

  4. What is Applied Behavior Analysis? • The modern form of the philosophy of behaviorism • Skinner laid the foundation for modern behaviorism in 1938 • ABA is the science from which procedures derived from principles of behavior are systematically applied to improve socially significant behaviors. Cooper, Heron, Heward (1987). • Principles applied to improve socially significant behaviors • Analysis of behavior used to identify variables (causes) for behavior

  5. What is Behavior? • Anything a living organism says or does • Getting an A on a test is an Outcome • Effective studying is a Behavior • Dead man test • Skinner distinguished between operant and reflexive behavior. • Operant = voluntary (affected by reinforcement) • Reflex behavior = involuntary (salivating, knee jerk) • Skinner later (1957) defined language as behavior in his book Verbal Behavior

  6. Who Benefits from ABA? • Troubled teens, typical children, parents, business people, person’s with developmental disabilities, and you and me. • 1965 Lovaas, Schaeffer, & Simmons decreased self-injury in children with Autism. • 1987 Lovaas study to demonstrate efficacy of ABA as treatment with children with Autism.

  7. Why Do We Do What We Do? • All behavior has a function • Identifying the function tells us • the conditions in which the behavior may occur • a possibly effective treatment method / how to respond to the behavior

  8. What are the Functions of Behavior? • Escape/Avoidance – escaping or avoiding a demand situation • Often occur during work type situations • Attention – a behavior to gain the attention of others • This can be positive or negative attention • Access – a behavior to gain access to an object or situation • Food, toys, warmth • Automatic – a behavior that “feels good • Self-Stimulatory or Stereotypy.

  9. How to Determine Function? • Three Levels of Assessment • Functional Assessment • Informal/indirect • Record reviews • Interviews • Checklists • Descriptive • Descriptive • Data collection in natural settings • Frequency Measures • ABC data • Scatterplots • Experimental (Functional Analysis) • Probes in natural setting • Analogues • Should only be conducted with the supervision of BCBA

  10. What next? • Treatment should be based on function • Identify behavior targeted for change • Prevention (Antecedent) strategies should also be put into place • Replacement behaviors should always be taught • Treatment plan based on behavior principles

  11. Interventions Based on Function

  12. Principles and Procedures: • When we talk about increasing behavior, we’re talking about the procedure called REINFORCEMENT • When we talk about decreasing behavior, we’re talking about the procedure called PUNISHMENT • Reinforcement:Increase as Punishment:Decrease

  13. Principles and Procedures: • Reinforcement (increase the response): • A consequence follows a behavior and increases the future frequency of that behavior under similar circumstances

  14. Principles and Procedures: • Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement • Both INCREASE behavior! • Positive Reinforcement • Giving something a person finds desirable after the behavior occurs • Negative Reinforcement • Removing something that the individual finds aversive.

  15. Principles and Procedures: • Positive Reinforcement Example: • Situation - A child sees a candy bar in the grocery store and wants it. • Child screams “I want candy” and throws a tantrum. Adult hands him the candy. (Reinforcement of inappropriate behavior) • Child signs or says ‘candy’. Adult hands him the candy. (Reinforcement of appropriate behavior) • Discussion: In both examples,the child has learned that his behavior gets him what he wants, so he is likely to repeat this behavior next time.

  16. Principles and Procedures: • Negative Reinforcement Example: • Situation: The radio is playing loudly in the room. • The child comes into the room and begins screaming. Somebody rushes over to turn down the radio. • (Reinforcement of inappropriate behavior) • The child comes in and covers his ears saying “Too loud”. Somebody rushes over to turn down the radio. • (Reinforcement of appropriate behavior) • Discussion: In both examples,the child has learned that his behavior gets him what he wants, so he is likely to repeat this behavior next time.

  17. Principles and Procedures: • Punishment (decrease the response): • A consequence follows a behavior and decreases the future frequency of that behavior under similar circumstances

  18. Principles and Procedures: • Positive vs. Negative Punishment • Both DECREASE behavior! • Positive Punishment • Applying something the individual finds aversive • Negative Punishment • Taking away something the individual finds pleasurable right after the behavior has occurred.

  19. Principles and Procedures: • Situation: Teenager misses his curfew. • Positive Punishment Example: • Parent states that he has to rake the yard this weekend. (Application of something aversive) • Negative Punishment Example: • Parent states that he cannot attend a planned event. (Removal of a reinforcing or desired activity)

  20. Principles and Procedures: • Problems with punishment: • May elicit aggression or other emotional side effects • May result in escape or avoidance behaviors • May be negatively reinforcing for the person using punishment --- misuse/overuse of punishment • Because of these problems… • Punishment as LAST RESORT

  21. Principles and Procedures: • Extinction: • Removing or withholding the consequence (reinforcement) that maintains behavior. Discontinuing reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior . • Results in a DECREASE in frequency of the behavior. • Examples: • Soda machine • Candy Isle

  22. Principles and Procedures: • Differential Reinforcement: • 2 separate forms of behavior • One is reinforced (increased) • One is extinguished (decreased) • Examples: • Request for candy

  23. Principles and Procedures: • Shaping: • A process through which we gradually modify existing behavior into what we want it to be. Successive approximation toward terminal behavior. Uses differential reinforcement. • Examples • Swing sign example • Banana vocal example

  24. Principles and Procedures: • Prompting: • Assistance provided to promote correct responding. • Full physical, partial physical, model… • Full echoic, phonemic… • Fading: • Systematic removal of the prompt

  25. Principles and Procedures: • All of the above mentioned principles and procedures have a solid and extensive foundation of empirical research. There have been over 1500 published studies within the past 60 years establishing these principles of behavior.

  26. Verbal Behavior • Language is learned behavior, acquired and maintained by the same principles of behavior responsible for non-language behavior (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007). • In 1957, Skinner published Verbal Behavior. • Verbal behavior is defined by function rather than form

  27. Verbal Behavior • Function vs. Form • Formal properties of language: • Topography = Form. Form of language can be measured by phonemes, morphemes, lexicon, syntax, grammar, and semantics. • Also can be classified as nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives… • Functional properties of language: • Involve the causes of the response. • We need to look at BOTH!

  28. Skinner’s Classification of Language • Skinner’s classification of language different from linguists, who classify words as parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective etc…) • “This is an apple.” = APPLE classified as noun. • What does that tell us?

  29. Behavioral Classification of Language • Mand (Requesting): Asking for reinforcers you want. • Requires a Motivating Operation (MO) & specifies its own reinforcer. • Only operant that benefits the speaker • Tact (Labeling): Naming or identifying objects, actions, events etc… • Does not specify it’s own reinforcer & benefits the listener • Echoic (Vocal Imitation): Repeating what someone said • Does not specify it’s own reinforcer & benefits the listener • Intraverbal: Answering questions or having conversations where your words are controlled by other words. • Does not specify it’s own reinforcer & benefits the listener

  30. Apple as a Mand • You’re hungry and want something to eat • You have an MO (Motivation) to ask for food • You say “APPLE” and get the apple to eat • The reinforcer is getting the apple • The speaker benefits from this operant

  31. APPLE AS A TACT • Someone shows you a pictures of an apple and asks you what it is. You say “APPLE” you have given a Tact for the apple. • LABEL, NAME • The source of reinforcement is praise or approval, not the apple

  32. Apple as an Echoic • In an echoic, the person “Echoes” the same sounds that were heard • Someone says “APPLE” and you repeat “APPLE” • The reinforcement for doing so may be praise or approval

  33. Apple as an Intraverbal • Someone says “What is the fruit that’s red and grows on trees”. You say “Apple” • The item is not present • The answer does not specify the reinforcer

  34. Apple as Receptive • Three pictures are presented in front of you someone asks you to “Touch the picture of the apple.” • The reinforcer is praise

  35. Why Do We Say What We Say? • All language has a function • The same word (apple) has many meanings • Many children with Autism do not generalize a word across operants. • Just because a child can label an apple doesn’t mean they can mand for an apple.

  36. We Must Teach All The “Meanings” of a Word Mand Tact Echoic Apple Intraverbal Receptive RFFC Textual

  37. Receptive Versus Expressive • Many other philosophies classify language as either expressive or receptive. • Problems arise when we talk about all the functions of expressive language

  38. “VB vs ABA?” • “What is the difference between VB and ABA?” • VB IS ABA!! • Verbal behavior involves the same behavioral principles that make up the analysis of nonverbal behavior. No new principles are required. The principles implemented in a VB program are the same ones that have the solid and extensive empirical research foundation discussed earlier.

  39. Verbal Behavior • When people ask the question, “What’s the difference between “VB and ABA?” what they likely mean is, “What is the difference between a ‘traditional ABA’ program and an ABA program using VB methodology?”

  40. ABA and Autism Treatment • Ivar Lovaas (1987) • Significant advancements in the field of ABA, specifically related to teaching children with autism. • Research suggesting ABA is an effective treatment for autism • This “method” uses principles of reinforcement, shaping, chaining, prompting/fading, extinction… to teach vocal language as well as a variety of other behaviors, including imitation, matching-to-sample, and following commands behaviors. The main method in which these behaviors are taught is through Discrete Trial Training (DTT)

  41. Discrete Trial Training (DTT) • Breaking a skill into smaller components • Teaching one sub-skill at a time until mastery • SD ----Response----Consequence • Providing prompting and prompt fading as necessary • Use of reinforcement procedures

  42. What about VB? • Does VB use DTT to teach skills? • YES! • A solid VB program will also use reinforcement, shaping, chaining, prompting/fading, extinction… to teach a variety of vocal and nonvocal behaviors to children with autism.

  43. Verbal Behavior • What does a VB program have that a “traditional ABA” program tends not to have? • A functional analysis of language!

  44. Verbal Behavior • A VB program is based on a functional analysis of language, rather than a structural one. • Traditional linguistics receptive/expressive distinction, which focuses on form rather than function, dominates assessment and intervention programs for kids with autism.

  45. Verbal Behavior • Recall 3 of the operants discussed earlier. The mand, tact, and intraverbal would all be classified as “expressive language”. This structural classification system will mask important distinctions. • Different sources of antecedent control • Failure to emerge across operants without training.

  46. Other differences… • Other differences between a “traditional ABA” program and a VB program: • Pairing • Balance of NET and DTT • Data Methods – cold probe • Mix and Vary across operants • Errorless teaching • Error correction • Transfer Procedures • Focus on the mand

  47. Importance of the Mand • Specifies what speaker is motivated by • Allows us to establishing rapport with the learner • Essential in teaching other skills • First operant learned by typical children

  48. Importance of the Mand • Key to replacing problem behaviors • Only operant that benefits the speaker • Essential for advanced social interactions • Doesn’t necessary emerge by training the other verbal operants

  49. Teaching Manding in the Natural Environment

  50. Elements of a Good VB Program

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