Applied Behavior Analysis

This blogpost is about how I learned to ride my bike in just a couple of days --using applied behavior analysis (ABA).  Before we left my house, my dad took the training wheels off and made the seat low enough for me to put my feet on the ground.  Then me, my mom and my home BCBA went down the street to practice.  At first, I felt nervous and I said, "I am unteachable".  But, my home BCBA reminded me that B.F.Skinner said that "No one is unteachable".  So, I decided to try.

I got on the bike and practiced stopping.  We use TAG for this.  The first TAG point was "grab handles, put feet down".  I practiced this a couple of times.  Next, I practiced kicking off, but I was still pretty wobbly.  After 1/2 hour, we stopped practicing for the day. I was feeling much more encouraged.  

The next day, I was at my grandmother's and my cousins were riding their bikes.  So, I decided to get on a bike and have an adult help me.  Pushing off was still difficult, but then my mom modeled for me how to do it.  After 45 minutes of practicing, I pushed off successfully --fast and on my own! Finally!  I learned how to better balance with some encouragement from my aunt.

I learned to ride a bike thanks to my family, my home BCBA and these ABA methods: Shaping (sitting on the bike, pushing off and stopping, pushing off and pedaling), reinforcement (family cheered me on, self-reinforcement/satisfaction --being proud that I now have "freedom on the road"), modeling (thanks to my mom and my home BCBA who got on and showed me how to ride), and repeated practice.  

ABA is a great way to break down a skill into lots of small, teachable steps.

--Behaviorbrain, 8/31/12

Roblox is an online building game for kids www.roblox.com.  In Roblox you get game places you can use.  In these game places you can build houses and towns.  The thing I like about Roblox is that the more I play, the more game places I can choose from (positive reinforcement).  In order to play, you must follow these rules...no swearing, no dating, no personal information and no account trading.  When you sign up you must agree to the Roblox rules, which is like a behavioral contract.  If you break the rules, the consequence will be a warning or getting banned for a day or even life.  This happened to me before.  I got two warnings and got banned for one day.  The warnings were not effective, but getting banned for one day was an effective punishment.  I do not swear online anymore.  I like being able to play so I can get more Robux that I can "spend" to get more gear.

- Behaviorbrain, May 23, 2012

MassABA was a great conference! I went to MassABA on March 23 for the entire day.  In the morning, I heard Dr. Julie Vargas speak about her life with her father, B.F. Skinner.  After her talk, I introduced myself and got a picture with Dr. Vargas and Behaviorbabe.  Then, I went to a talk about ARICA/Autism Insurance.  It was exciting because I am interested in insurance that covers treatments for autism.  At lunch, I met Dr. Missy Olive, who is a BCBA.  I also sat with Debbie Swenson, who was my teacher until 2nd grade. (Debbie is getting her BCBA.)  After lunch, Behaviorbabe and I prepared for my afternoon presenation.  There was a small crowd of 30-35 people who came to hear me talk.  There was also a parent who was presenting at the conference; her name's Julie.  Julie was friendly --she let me present first.  Overall, my presentation went well and I had a great time at the conference!

-- Behaviorbrain

My Brain

My Brain

Awesome, Not ordinary, Funny.

My brain is in my head and it looks gooey and mushy.

I can read because of my brain.

I couldn’t talk without a brain.

My brain helps me play fun games with friends.

My brain helps me move my muscles.

My brain is as strong as my heart.

My Brain

Gooey, Warm, Smart.

My brain is covered by my skin and my bones.

My brain helps me see anything in the world I want to see.

I could not think with out a brain and I wouldn’t learn anything cool.

My brain helps me talk with family and friends about the 2012 election.

My brain has a brain stem located between the thalamus and the spinal cord.

My brain is as good as my inner organs could ever want to be.

My Brain

Convenient, Nice, Awesome.

My brain is under my forehead.

I can smile because of my brain.

I wouldn’t be able to read without my brain.

I could learn new things from teachers with my brain.

The brain is the control center of my body.

My brain is as awesome as Albert Einstein.

- Behaviorbrain, March 2012

When I get angry or silly sometimes I swear.  This could happen at home (in my room) or at school.  When I swear, my teacher sends me to the Principal.  It can be hard to calm down.  At home, when I swear, my parents get angry.  When everyone's angry, nothing gets accomplished.  Swearing is a behavior I really want to work on because I like to see my parents be happy.  I also want to work on it because I am trying to be more mature.

I am going to reduce my swearing by using an ABC analysis (antecedent-behavior-consequence).  I also plan to use a shaping procedure; where I will use words that have a simliar topography to the swears I use, but are considered appropriate.  For example, instead of saying C-R-A-P, I can say C-R-U-D.

Sometimes when I'm angry I say inappropriate things in my head. These covert behaviors sometimes make things worse.  I can change my covert words to be more positive, like "I can do this".  I am going to do my best to change this behavior.

- Behaviorbrain

When you are sad or overly-excited, you should try to let go and move on instead of just getting angry and doing something like throwing things.  But, it's not easy to just let go.  It is a behavior that you have to shape.  Shaping is when you reinforce successive approximations of your ultimate goal.  One way to let go and move on is to talk to yourself.  Say, "You need to move on".  Another way to cope would be to use a strategy, like taking deep breaths.  When you let go and move on, people around you are happy.  When people are happy and proud of you, that can positively reinforce your behavior.

- Behaviorbrain

Dec 23, 2011

Vacations can be a tough time because things can get crazy around the holidays.  On vacation, it can be hard to behave because routines change.  It is really important to consider the antecedents and consequences around a behavior.  Antecedents are stimuli that come before a behavior.  Consequences are stimuli that come after a behavior.  For example, a child climbs on a table to get a snack and they fall.  The observable and measurable behavior is climbing on the table.  The antecedent might be seeing food on the shelf.  The natural consequence is falling from the table.  The consequence the child had wanted was to get a snack and not get hurt.  This shows us that some consequences are planned and some are not.  If someone you know has challenging behaviors, you should find out what the antecedents are and what the consequences are.  Then, you can make a behavior plan.  The plan should tell us what to do when they behave and when they misbehave.

Don't forget to give lots of positive reinforcement!

- Behaviorbrain

Dec 16, 2011

Do you know what SAFMEDS are? SAFMEDS stands for Say All Fast one Minute Each Day Shuffled.  SAFMEDS are flashcards.  On one side is the term, on the other side is the definition.  I used SAFMEDS to learn ABA terms.  With SAFMEDS, I learned these words quickly.  Some words I learned were: discriminative stimulus, determinism, and parsimony.  Have you ever tried using SAFMEDS before? I recommend them.

- Behaviorbrain