Tuesday, April 2, 2013

An Exercise in Stimming

I was just thinking about Autism Awareness Day/Month/Lifetime, my AD/HD, and what we have decidedly called typical. I think this may be an interesting exercise in not only understanding the potential functions of stimming (stereotypys) but also why they're not so atypical.

1) Sit down and define stimming
2) Remain seated and operationally define any stimming behavior that comes to mind (don't get too specific -- don't need to know "close fingers into a fist, extend arm to 180 degrees, lift arm upwards at 3 MPH, and pull arm down from the shoulder with 40 Newtons of force = fist pump)
3) Make a list of potential stimming behaviors you engage in
4) Take a frequency count of how many times in a day you engage in stimming behavior

Also, keep in mind stimming as it relates to automatic functions (feels awesome AND follows something really cool I did that others recognize and mediate socially), is maladaptive (e.g., I sometimes hum when ice pellets come barreling down onto my face during a Chicago winter, knowing full well this humming won't remove the aversive stimuli), and is also adaptive (forget about getting up and walking around after sitting for a long period of time. How often do you belt out the chorus of a song "out of the blue?").

Again, track all of this. Does this stuff really matter? How badly is it impacting your life? Are you a stim-o-holic!? If so, you don't need help. You need acceptance. But you can't provide acceptance if you are at the same time judgmental.

#GotStim?MeToo
Posted by at No comments:

Fostering Self-Advocacy



     Self-advocacy is the ability for an individual to make their needs and strengths known so that they can not only be accommodated, but be successful in getting supports across environments. Many times, children with needs are left out of the decision making process as it relates not only to their education, but to their lives in general. This, however, does not need to be the case. If we educate our children to be successful, empowered self-advocates, we can create resilient and successful adults.

     Self-advocacy begins with self-determination. Self-determination is the idea that, as a person, one can identify and achieve their goals. This is not something that can be taught in one sitting, or even multiple sittings. It develops over time as more choice and control over one’s life is afforded to them. Additionally, when speaking of choice, it is meant real, not forced, choice. It is not selecting from 2, adult provided options, it is of all of the things potentially available to you, which one do you really want? Involving students in their IEPs, 504, and transition planning can be a key to helping empower students to be self-determined. 

     In line with developing self-determination comes a set of prerequisite skills. We need to teach how to identify and set goals, and the necessary problem solving skills to attain that goal. We can’t just assume that we provide choice and the learner will automatically be able to identify the best choices that will lead to larger goals. Again, this development happens over time with mentoring and oversight. 

     Another key concept to fostering self-advocacy is in developing self-awareness. Self-awareness is the ability to identify and express strengths, needs, and preference. Teaching all children about various disabilities, different accommodations available, and how people with different skills still have many strengths can help breed self-aware and genuinely empathetic individuals.

     Self-advocacy also requires a certain amount of leadership prowess. Empowering all students to be aware that they can all assume leadership roles in their lives, homes, and schools is a very important consideration. When you always have those one or two strong leaders taking the reins, other students may feel less self-worth, that they don’t have a loud enough voice, or resentment.  The level of competitiveness (especially in today’s classrooms) is high. It is not uncommon for competition to be present, whether welcomed or not, in many of the day-to-day roles children may assume. Taking time to plan for all children to take charge and be leaders from time to time can go a long way towards developing self-advocacy. Additionally, having children learn to share leadership roles can help with relationship building.

One great tool for fostering leadership and self-advocacy is called I-PLAN. The acronym stands for:
1)      Inventory your strengths, areas to improve, goals, needed accommodations and choices for learning
2)      Provide your inventory information
3)      Listen and respond
4)      Ask questions
5)      Name your goals (Van Reusen & Bos, 1994).

     This is a great strategy for promoting participation (and leadership) in the various meetings and decision making processes that impact a child’s educational and day-to-day activities.
It probably goes without saying that self-esteem is going to be a key factor to developing self-advocacy. Even as adults, if our self-esteem is low, we are less likely to express our needs and wants that can help facilitate meeting our goals. This also ties into whether or not a child feels effective. If a child doesn’t think they have self-worth, and that they would be ineffective in expressing what they need, then the potential for them expressing it in an active and meaningful way is diminished. Providing small opportunities for success, and recognizing those successes, is the first step in promoting self-esteem. Of course we want self-esteem to develop naturally over time, but providing contrived situations at the start can help this natural development occur faster. Lastly, helping children identify WHY they are successful is going to promote their positive self-worth and positive attributions to their successes and identify what needs to be done differently next time if they are unsuccessful. 

     One last key strategy is providing appropriate, positive role models. Modeling is how all individuals learn a host of skills and abilities. For a very watered-down example, we aren’t born opening doors. We see someone do it, we try it, it works, and we keep opening doors thereafter. Providing positive mentors and role models who can take the time to help teach, demonstrate, and promote self-advocacy can go a long way in promoting the natural development of successful, empowered self-advocates. 

     As we’ve seen, self-advocacy is not only a key consideration for all people, but is made up of many other skill sets. Fostering these skills, ideas about self-worth and attribution, and allowing children to make choices that lead them to success is not going to happen overnight; however, the sooner we start teaching and promoting self-advocacy, the better quality of life we can ensure.

Reference
Van Reusen, A.K., Bos, C.S. (1994). Facilitating student participation in individualized education programs through motivation strategy instruction. Exceptional Children, 60, 466-475.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, February 11, 2013

Reinforcement & Punishment for (not of) Parents

Of the many considerations that behavior analysts keep in mind, one important consideration is a schedule of reinforcement and punishment. While, generally, these concepts can seem overwhelming, we are going to break them down into manageable parts. A few notes to begin before we get into all of this is that we reinforce behavior, NOT people. And we do not know if something is reinforcing or punishing until we see an increase or decrease in the behavior.
Vocabulary:
Antecedent – what happens before the behavior
Behavior – anything observable that an individual does
Consequence – what follows the behavior
Reinforcement – process of increasing the rate of response (usually frequency and/or intensity)
Punishment – process of decreasing the rate of response (usually frequency and/or intensity)
Positive – The introduction of a stimulus
Negative – The removal of a stimulus
Here is a nice little visual to help keep the basic principles straight.  You can also download the visual by itself here.
Reinforcement Increase in the probability of a behavior occurring again under similar conditions
Punishment Decrease in the probability of a behavior occurring again under similar conditions
Positive                                    + Introduction of a stimulus
Negative                                   – Removal of a stimulus
Let’s take a look at an example of positive reinforcement. When James asks for a toy, you give him a toy. If that toy has a reinforcing property, he will ask for the toy again when he wants it. If that toy does not have a reinforcing quality, he will not ask for it again. To break it down, James wanting a toy is the antecedent.  James requesting a toy is his behavior (he moves his mouth, produces sounds that are a request for something), you giving him a toy is the consequence. Now, we cannot know for sure if we have reinforced his behavior, because we need to wait and see, if I take the toy, will he ask for it again. If so, we can safely say that we have positively (introducing the toy) reinforced (increased the probability of him requesting the toy again) his behavior.
Let’s take a look at another example. James is sitting at his desk and he throws his materials on the ground, he then is not required to complete the task. When you present the materials again, he again pushes them off the desk and is again not required to complete the task. Any thoughts on this? If you’re thinking negative reinforcement, you’ve got it! The antecedent is the presentation of a demand (to complete his work). The behavior is him pushing the materials off the desk, and the consequence is getting out of the task. When he does it again, we know that the consequence of getting out of the task is negatively (removal of the materials) reinforcing (increase in James pushing materials). Therefore, in the future, when James does not want to complete a task, he may throw the materials – he has learned that engaging in this behavior in the past has resulted in him not being required to finish.
Now, for some punishment! To keep it basic, you and I are having a conversation, and I want it to end, and I rudely turn away from you, and you stop talking. My behavior might punish (cause a decrease) in you wanting to speak to me again. So, our antecedent is a conversation I am not too thrilled with, my behavior is turning away, and the consequence is I get out of the conversation. By my behavior of turning away rudely, I have decreased the probability of you engaging in conversation with me again. Therefore, I have positively punished our conversing.
Negative punishment is a little easier to follow. If I remove James’ toys because he is throwing them, I am hoping that he will not throw them again in the future. Therefore, while the antecedent for throwing may be unclear, I am still taking his behavior of throwing and giving it a consequence, removal of the toys. If, in the future, he does not throw his toys again under similar conditions, I have negatively (removed) punished (decreased throwing) his throwing behavior.
In summary, understanding how behavior is reinforced or punished is going to tell us a great deal about how they may behave in the future under similar conditions. Behavior analysts look at what occurs before a behavior (the antecedent), but more emphasis is placed on what happens after a behavior (the consequence) as science has proven that schedules of reinforcement and punishment has a predictive value on future behavior.
We know that this can all be a little confusing, so take some time to think through some other examples as they come up.
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, February 9, 2013

#TeamInclusion first hangout video!

Myself, Nicole Eredics (@Inclusive_Class), Time Villegas ( @Think_Inclusive -- thanks for organizing!), Lisa Friedman (@JewishSpecialEd), Alex Hunt (@SmartInclusion), and AZ Chapman discuss inclusion at the first #TeamInclusion Hangout on +Google.

Running time ~1 hr.

More to come!

 
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, January 27, 2013

A conversation about sensory needs with the venerable Autistic self-advocate, Karla Fischer

Please note, this is copy and pasted from Facebook. Hence the formatting.
 ME:
If I could teach you a way to deal with noise that didn't require ear plugs, and a way to navigate Dick's Sports that didn't take you hours, would you still find me contemptible?
Like ·
  • Karla's ASD Page why do you think you are "contemptible" to me?
  • Joshua A. Hyfler In all honesty, because I am a professional in the field of ABA, and I read and respect your posts but also have a differing view point. In the same breath, I think that stim is generally OK, but not everywhere all the time. Basically, I am conflicted ...See More
  • Karla's ASD Page First I want to set the "record" on you personally.

    1. You are here reading and you are conflicted. Means you are smart, objective and honest.
    2. You did not go into your job because you wanted to fail. ALL people want to do well in their jobs a    ...See More
  • Karla's ASD Page If that is clear please answer me this.... do you know WHY an autistic person is stimming? (have you absorbed this concept) If the answer is that you think that you do know then please define the "line" that you use to stop it.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler The line where I stop it is if it A: interferes with learning; B: Can't be transferred to more meaningful experiences; C: Causes harm -- e.g., throwing an arm out of socket, sucking fingers until they bleed, atypical sexual arousal.
  • Karla's ASD Page Stimming is essential for me to learn. I pace, flap, rock, shake my legs, play with play dough, pipe cleaners or doodle in class. Always have and always will. Without those things I can think of nothing but how painful it is for me to have to sit and try to hear/process what is going on.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler What about interference with learning? -- I recognize B as being a subjective stretch.
  • Karla's ASD Page Do you know why I need to do this?
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I actually do similar things. I can't sit in a class without having paced around my apartment reciting important taking points over and over again.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I sit at my desk for ~10m. at work before I go walk around outside.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I bounce, skip, dance, sing, make asinine comments to my colleagues, and close my eyes for a period of time, but, if I could find a more efficient way at staying on task, I wouldn't oppose it.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I was diagnosd with AD/HD at 3 yrs.
  • Karla's ASD Page the reason people with weakness in frontal cortex (including ADHD people) do this sort of stimming is because their nervous systems are disregulated.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler But don't you also think it may be because we don't have the "tools" to get us where we need to be? If I spin on Wall Street, I'm fired. Granted, it's unfair and societies constraints, but that doesn't change the reality...
  • Karla's ASD Page When a person's nervous system is dysregulated they must be supported first. In the case of Autism, it is most always a combination of being out of context and also having sensory processing issues on top of the normal EF issues that a person with ADHD experiences.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I'm lucky to have mild EF issues, and I understand context, but I tend to think that sensory stuff is a result of learning histories -- mylenation and pruning of the brain, expanding neurons and lengthening synapses.. etc.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I have these conversations all the time with colleagues -- when does behavior mod. stop being effective at dealing with sensory needs? I don't want my personality traits programmed out of me, so why should I assume anything for others with different experiences?
  • Joshua A. Hyfler However, research is really weak on the neurology...
  • Karla's ASD Page Stimming is about slowing down how fast I am burning through tokens. You can STOP the stimming but you will most likely cause either burnout or meltdown in a much shorter time than if you allowed it. Net is that you should always allow it when it is ...See More
  • Joshua A. Hyfler My question becomes this. If I can teach a 3 year old a faster, more efficient way of meeting their sensory needs (like what I do, skipping, humming, or stomping), to replace more grandiose displays of stereotypy, shouldn't I?
  • Karla's ASD Page So for everything that you "teach" me there is a cost and as the teacher you had best really know that cost. You asked me a question above and it is now time to answer...

    If you could give me some magic sauce that would make my sensory processing (th    ...See More
  • Karla's ASD Page What is a grandiose display of sterotyping exactly?
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I would never want to "deprogram" an individual with an ASD. The adage "I'm not broken, don't try to fix me" has resonance... always. A grandiose of stereotypy, to me personally, is engaging in uninterrupted vocal scripts about Dora following viewing ones self in a reflective surface, waving ones arms towards the ground after watching Mickey Mouse in an attempt to watch more Mickey Mouse, or spinning.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler Karla.It's so late, but I don't want to end here. This is a debate I have with ABA colleagues frequently. I want to better understand the perspective of an Autistic AND be able to reconcile that with applied practice. I hope we can continue, and thank you so much for your time.
  • Joshua A. Hyfler Not debate, discussion!
  • Karla's ASD Page I would stop non of those personally but I am not in the moment to say for sure. In fact I would likely join in on the stimming (especially the waving of the arms and the spinning) to affirm that the child is accepted and to help them to push through ...See More
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I always make the point that I can never wholly relate with a client -- that they'll need to get their needs met -- but I can provide them with alternatives (e.g. teach them that our clinic is a safe place to spin, but they shouldn't do it in the knife aisle. It's to dangerous).
  • Joshua A. Hyfler What are the least dangerous of therapies? No confrontation intended...
  • Karla's ASD Page Any therapy done by a competent teacher.

    Seriously... Research doesn't prove ANY of them to be good over another (including ABA). But what research does tell us (and is also repeated over and again) is that the teacher matters more than the th    ...See More
  • Joshua A. Hyfler I think all service providers have some work ahead of them. So long as we respect the individual's perspectives, preferences, and priorities, we should at least be doing no harm.
  • Karla's ASD Page 'zactly..... See how it works? Easy peasy.... But we are a LONG WAY off from getting it right the majority of the time. It is easy to say that you are taking perspective but because ASD material written about us by NT professionals is so wrong it is really hard to actually do it. You have a big advantage in your own wiring....
  • Karla's ASD Page btw: I disagree that sensory issues can be "cured" and also have other comments but let's save it for another day. Need to wind down here.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)