Upset because... You can help me by....

A few times in the past I have posted about the success of using a "Upset because/You can help me by" set up on a communication device, book or in a separate binder.

(Link to the first post and the second.)

The "Upset because/You can help me by" framework was something the SLP and I created at my old job to assist a student and have since used with many, many students. The general principal is that when a student with communication challenges becomes upset (angry, sad, irritated, frustrated or any other version of upset) a staff member cues the individual to use the framework to identify the feeling, the cause of the feeling ("I don't know why" and "I am a teenager!" are both acceptable) and how a staff member can assist in easing the situation.

Upset Because And Help By Binder

View more documents from teechkidz.

This booklet is also available on Adapted Learning.

Currently this framework is being used in my classroom, yet again, with a student to ease in periodic distress. This morning myself and the other adults in the room were quite convinced of the power of this method when an AAC user, whom was just introduced to a page set using this method, was able to go from vocalizing in distress to communicating "sadness" because of a "schedule change" and requesting "explaination". Once the staff member responsible for the confusion (that would be me, oops) apologized and promised to make sure to communicate better next time the student pressed, "Sweet!"

The power of simple communication never fails to blow my mind.

All behavior is communication.

Lessons From ESY

This summer I worked for a public school ESY (extended school year) program. After seven summers as an administrator of a rather large summer camp/ESY for learners with moderate to severe multiple disabilities teaching a small class of middle school students with more moderate intellectual disabilities and some emotional disabilities was a change and it was great fun. In many ways it was a refresher course for me on positive behavior supports and higher level reading and mathematics instruction while still focusing on AAC and life skills.

Our summer was very, very successful! Here are some of the things that made it so:

• Clear and positively stated expectations - one of the first things we did as a class was write out our expectations for our room which included: we keep our hands to ourselves, we listen to each other, we leave our gum at home, we keep our cell phones in our bags and turned off, we are safe at all times
  
• A clear, consistent schedule with embedded routines - the students were given the schedule in pictures and words the first minute they arrived, there were plenty of extra copies if needed and it was posted, any changes were announced early and often
• Grandma's rule (after you eat your vegetable's you get dessert)- work was always alternated with fun, students knew that individual folders (the hardest part of the day) was followed by free time
  
• Plenty of choices - students were allowed to pick which work they did from a set of options, which work they did first, where they sat, who they worked with and so one; if work looked too challenging they were told to pick any 6 problem to complete, etc.
• Naturally evolving behavioral contracts - the students arrived with behavior intervention plans, but behavioral contracts (we called them "deals") evolved. Soon they learned to negotiate "deals", my feigning disinterest in their offers worked well because they would up the ante, offering not only the "be safe", but to "do all their work" and "to help their friends do all their work" until I would (pretend to) begrudgingly agree. The hottest things earned in these deals were the Beanie Babies currently being given away with Happy Meals (I ate a lot of those Apple Dippers this summer) and one dollar bags of "Army Guys" from the Dollar Tree.
  
• Plenty of physical activity - we started every morning with a workout and free time was often spent on the exercise bikes having "pedaling contests", students were encouraged to ask to "walk it off" when they were frustrated, which often meant doing some aspect of school work while walking laps within the building (seven times around is a mile!)
• Direct instruction of coping skills - if the staff and I noticed a coping skills issue the next days whole group lesson would be about that coping skills, we worked on differentiating positive vs. negative thoughts, "thought stopping", identifying anger before it turns to rage and loss of control, etc. If at all possible these lessons were turned into physical activities, but not role plays (these kiddos were not role play kind of kids), examples of physical activities would include Positive Thought/Negative Thought Red Light/Green Light, Thought Stopping Bombardment, etc.
• Student lead differentiation of instruction - the students were acutely aware of their strengths and needs, and each others strengths and needs, they knew each other much better than I would have been able to get to know them in the course of a single summer session; therefore asking them to decide what was "fair" in terms of what to expect each student to do on a certain assignment worked out well for the most part. I did have the occasional issue (i.e. one student who pretended to not be able to read so he could do picture based work instead of text based work) but the other students could be counted on to differentiate for their peers.
• Interdependent positive reinforcement - the students (and staff, and me) earned stars working toward a total of 300 stars to be able to have a big party the last day of summer school. The more stars the more elaborate the party. Students knew that each person need to earn 3 stars a day for a basic party (with ice cream sundaes). If someone didn't earn 3 stars a day (or was absent) then others needed to earn extra. Peer pressure was on my side! We ended up with about 390 something stars.

The party was awesome!

Icon Talk Fold Up

This Positive Behavior Support came up on the QIAT Listserv the other day. It is from the Icon Talk website. Called a "Fold Up" it has visual cues, first/next, tokens, and more all in one support. Check it out.

Possibility

Today one of my students, who has been in my class for about ten weeks, starting using an AMDI Tech/Speak, not only that but the student started using it well, very well. This kiddo is a shining example that the right classroom, with the right supports and the right behavioral intervention can lead to unbelievable possibility.

The student has never had a consistent communicative intervention, various low and moderate technology interventions have been tried and abandoned. Prestigious communication clinics contradict themselves twice a year on what to do next. The last recommendation was for a key chain based picture card system, yet this student needs the least possible movement in technology she uses. She needs for it to stay still no matter how often attempts are made to move it or throw it. The ability to move something is so distracting for the student that a pull off Velcro symbol system, a communication book system or a key chain system would be a set up for failure. This student loves movement from cars to bikes to a gait trainer. This student loves to be in movement by walking, throwing, grabbing, and just wiggling. Appropriate positive behavior supports, use of teaching technique like seductive removal and movement could be a reward and not a distraction. In short, we make it so things don't move, so that when she moves if is a positive thing, not a negative thing.

Thus we started with a static display communication board mounted permanently on the tray of the wheelchair and the table. Minimal teaching, with use of the prompt hierarchy and plenty of positive reinforcement lead to success. Then I decided to spend several hours restoring an old, abandoned Tech/Speak that has a tendency to play messages even if no one was touching it. The Tech/Speak was long out of warranty and required hours of re-soldering wires and careful cleaning of the inside and outside of the device. Thankfully it worked and the device was restored to full usefulness. Overlays were created based on the student's static display boards (the Tech/Speak in the picture is from a link to Monroe Public Schools, not my classroom) and previous successful icon training. The Tech/Speak was mounted to the wheelchair tray to make it unmoveable (using straps and my all-time favorite assistive technology hardward store clamps).

Finally, today, the student was able to access the Tech/Speak effectively, essentially the first time it was presented. Greetings, comments, responses, refusals, inquires - all no problem for this student with the "new" Tech/Speak.

That's what happens when a TEAM of people, from teacher to paraprofessional to SLP see the possibility in students instead of the problems.

Token Boards

Many of us use token boards with our students to increase all sorts of behaviors from time on task to safety to AAC use and toilet training. Here are two token boards that support those last two items, AAC use and toilet training. The first board (front and back above) allows a student to choose from six rewards that the student shows a preference for and then gives praise and a "two thumbs up" symbol for each appropriate AAC activations. After ten symbols are collected the student receives the reward. The second board (below) is for a student who has low vision and uses 3.5" white on black pictograms. The student is working on toilet training and chooses from five rewards, for each day the student is dry all day praise and a "star" are earned. Four stars earns the choosen rewards.

The design of the boards is based on the standard "____ is working for ____." The rewards are decided using either a preference assessment or data on prefered activities/items. The physical boards are designed using language and symbols the student understands. The student is allowed to chose their reward each time the board starts again and most importantly each earned token is paired with lots of social praise. As the student's skill increases awarding of tokens becomes intermittent or more tokens are required before the reward is earned, until finally the token board is faded out entirely.

Here are some resources for token boards online:

• free token boards downloads from ABA resources
• instructions to make a token board
• more instructions to make a token board
• token board guide
  
• JoeSchedule Program to create token boards ($)
  

Reinforcers

This fantastic reinforcer list was posted to the QIAT list serv today. Just in time for the new school year and keeping in mind all the ways we can set up positive behavior supports for our students.

Here are some other lists of reinforcers:

• Mini Reinforcement Assessment
• Natural Reinforcer List (Mostly interactions to have with young children)
  
• About.com (aimed at general ed)
  

How to conduct a forced choice reinforcement assessment.

I'm upset because... You can help me by...

Upset Because And Help By Binder

View SlideShare presentation (tags: aac feelings emotions autism)

As has been posted here before the team in our classroom at school has an extremely effective technique we used to address many negative behaviors. It is based on the idea that all behavior is communication. We teach our students to state how they feel, why, and what staff or peers can do to help them. Most of the students use high tech AAC for this, but this summer this lower tech AAC binder was created for one student and then changed in small ways and duplicated for other students. I will post to the Yahoo Boardmaker Group if anyone want to be able to change it in Boarmaker or download from Slideshare as a PDF to use as is.

Hello Tewksbury Teachers and Staff

Today was the fourth and final Positive Behavior Supports class for 25 teachers and paraprofessionals in Tewksbury, MA. Here are some links that may be useful to those visiting from the class and the rest of us in special education:

• Association of Positive Behavior Supports
• The Center for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
  
• Behavior Doctor

Sources for Forms:

• Polyxo
• Multimodal Functional Behavioral Assessment Forms
• Functional Analysis Interview
• Center for Evidence Based Practice
  

Here are the two Power Point Presentations I used in teaching the class:

| View | Upload your own

| View | Upload your own

Behavior Supports

• ABA Resources
• Adaptive Behavior and Learning Online Book
• An Overview of Positive Behavior Support
• Association for Positive Behavior Support
• Behavior Doctor
• CECP Funcational Behavior Assessment
• Motivation Assessment Scale
• Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
• School Wide PBS Implementation Survey

Traffic Violations (in a Power Chair)

What do you do when your high school aged power chair users drive unsafely? I give traffic tickets.

I started doing this last year after multiple problems with several students who knew how to drive safely, but did not. They were jacking up their speed, driving on the left in packed hallways, not wearing their distance vision glasses, not following staff instructions to stop or watch out, and, on occasion, crashing for fun. Thus I instituted traffic tickets. The kids knew what they were, of course. All could indicate many people they knew who had been stopped by the police for speeding and other violations. That included their teacher, who explained, in detail, how scary it is to be stopped and how you can end up losing you license.

Parents were brought on board and all agreed that the students needed to learn the importance of safe driving and the consequences of violating roles. The students were told in no uncertain terms that three tickets mean you lose your power chair for the day. Several students received one or two tickets, but it took months for a third ticket to be issued. That student has never received another ticket.

Normally I am a positive behavior support all the way kind of person and I don't want you to think my students don't have the supports to drive properly. They have had tons of direct instruction, they have visual and other types of cues and reminders as to the rules and how to best follow them, they are given all sorts of positive reinforcement for doing well. However, in this safety related situation I do use a more draconian last resport.

(I am reminded as I write this of Dr. Laura Riffel's workshop when she asked the participants to imagine a work where one day a month the police stopped excellent drivers and gave out cash. "Here's two hundred and fifty dollars, thank you so much for using your turn signal back there!")

You can get the Boardmaker file of my traffic ticket at the TLWMSN group.

Website of the Day: Behavior Doctor

During the APBS Conference I went to two workshops presented by Dr. Laura Riffel from the The Behavior Doctor website. The first was the Marriage of Love and Logic and Positive Behavior Supports and you can download the powerpoint and the book from that workshop.

The second was a full day training on Writing Positive Behavior Support Plans from Functional Behavior Assessments. Both were excellent. (Let it be known that I can't even go to the movies with out bringing knitting or some kind of distraction because my attention span is so short and I made it through the entire seven hour workshop without my mind wandering or pulling out my knitting bag.)

All the the handouts from all of the sessions Dr. Riffel presented are available on her website, which is well worth exploring.

Much of the full day training on Saturday prepared us to conduct FBAs including using her free FBA tool. I am already using it to collect some baseline data in my classroom. If you decide to check it out please download the instructions first. It is easy to use and my instructional assistant got really into setting it up and entering data (making my life much easier).

4th Annual International Association of Positive Behavior Supports Conference

Sorry for the post paucity, but I have been at the 4th Annual International Association of Positive Behavior Support Conference, since Wednesday afternoon. It has been a great conference so far with one more day to go. You can expect a lot of positive behavior support links and information over the next few weeks as I begin to process the loads of information I learned.

For those of you who are not familiar with Positive Behavior Supports or who (wrongly) assume it is behavior analysis without punishment procedures here are the basic bullets of what PBS is:

• PBS provides context for ABA (Application of Behavior Analysis)
  
• PBS values the dignity and human rights of those with disabilities while using scientific methodology to increase positive behaviors while decreasing problem behaviors
• PBS focuses on the environment of the individual, working to create a setting for positive behavior and eliminate situations which may produce problem behaviors
• PBS uses functional assessment to determine the purpose of targeted behaviors, implements comprehensive interventions that are positive, proactive, educative and functional while focusing on lifestyle enhancement to improve the individuals quality of life

"The overriding goal of PBS is to enhance quality of life for individuals and others within social settings in home, school, and community settings." -APBS website