One of the many important benchmarks for earning accreditation as a Behavioral Health Center of Excellence® (BHCOE) is a commitment to continuous improvement.
Our team, here at The Behavior Exchange, is proud to have earned the highest accreditation possible in part because of the on-going learning and training opportunities we provide our awesome team members that help ensure our ABA therapy services are always the highest quality and bring about the best possible outcomes for children with autism and their families.
We recently offered training sessions designed by our BCBAs (Board Certified Behavior Analysts) to our RBTs (Registered Behavior Technicians). The training focused on the intricacies of four different reinforcement schedules that can be used in ABA therapy.
Reinforcement schedules define when and how often a child is rewarded during ABA therapy to help them learn new skills and behaviors. Understanding reinforcement schedules can offer insights about your child’s learning and behavior management techniques used in various environments, like at home and in school. They’re vital in shaping desired behaviors, and ultimately, your child’s success.
Knowing how crucial parents are to their children’s success with ABA therapy, we’d like to share some of the basics about reinforcement schedules, with the hope you can try them at home with your child. Be sure to coordinate with your ABA therapist, so your child is being rewarded in a consistent manner.
Here’s a look at the four reinforcement schedules used by the experts at our hives (aka centers):
- Fixed/Continuous Schedules: These schedules involve reinforcing a behavior on a specific interval or time increment. For example, consistently rewarding a child for completing a task every time it’s accomplished falls under this category.
- Variable/Discontinuous Schedules: In this case, reinforcement occurs based on an average of occurrences or time increments. It introduces an element of unpredictability, making it effective in maintaining behaviors over the long-term.
- Interval Schedules: With this, reinforcement is provided based on a time schedule. This could mean rewarding a behavior after a set period has elapsed, regardless of the number of times the behavior occurred within that time frame.
- Ratio Schedules: Here, reinforcement is based on the occurrence of a behavior. For instance, a child may receive reinforcement after completing a certain number of tasks.
To add another layer of complexity, these schedules can be combined. For instance, a Fixed Interval Schedule provides reinforcement at specific time intervals. Here are a few examples:
- Rewarding a child for sitting nicely in Circle Time every minute
- Rewarding yourself for exercising every 30 minutes
- Giving your child a sticker for completing homework every hour
Check out this video to get a better idea of what Fixed Interval Schedules look like in practice. If you only remember one thing, it’s that any schedule that is fixed is incredibly effective for helping children learn new skills.
We hope you find this information valuable in understanding reinforcement techniques and their application in supporting your child’s development. If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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