When we look at behavior modification we typically see aba therapist working on changing a behavior that is inappropriate. It could be hand flapping or crying out in the middle of the room.  It could be anything. But what you’ll notice is more often than not we aren’t taking away their behavior completely.  We are simply modifying it and making it more appropriate. 

The same is true with a special interest.  When we see a special interest that is inappropriate it’s important to handle the problem carefully.  It can be harmful in a lot of ways to take the special interest completely away.  Most people with autism are black and white thinkers.  This means that we either get something or we don’t.  If you take away the special interest which is typically something that we really get and understand then you’ve left us with nothing.  For example, say there are ten levels of understanding a subject.  Level 1 is understanding the least about it and level 10 is understanding the most. 

The average person will probably have a few level twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eights, and nines, and maybe one ten.  Someone on the spectrum will probably have several zeros or several tens.  There’s no in betweens for us.  We are either fully engaged and interested or we aren’t at all.

This is exactly why we never want to take a special interest away completely.  Before we try and do anything with the special interest it’s important to examine the situation.  Evaluation is a critical stage.  I’d want to know why the child has this special interest? Where did it come from? How is he using it?  Is it a part of his make believe world?  What is he trying to cope with? 

We need to answer these questions because we need to know how to best modify the interest.  If a child’s getting some crucial needs met by engaging in the special interest then we need to first make sure we really need to replace the interest.  Is it something that’s harmful to them or others?  Is it something that is inappropriate to talk about?  We have to answer these questions before we can go any further. 

If you try and take a behavior or interest away from a child with autism then it’s important to make sure that you replace it.  If you don’t replace it then the child will replace it themselves.  There’s a good chance that you may or may not like what they choose to replace it with. We need to provide some healthy choices as opposed to letting them find a replacement on their own. 

The special interest is hard to let go of.  For me it’s like losing a best friend.  This is a concept that I find hard for others to understand.  When others look at the trombone for example all they see is a trombone.  They see the thing.  When I look at it I see a friend, a person, and a companion. 

Because of the many years of social isolation and rejection I face in school and in employment the trombone was the only friend I could count on. It was always there for me when I picked it up and wanted to go play a few notes and talk through music.  It never said that I had to pay it to hangout with it and it never said no.  It was always there.

It’s important to remember that you aren’t just taking something away from the child when changing or modifying their interests or behaviors but in most cases you are literally take someone away from them.  So remember to be cautious and careful with the child as you do this.  Remember that for them they are losing a best friend and something that’s been with them through all of the pain, frustration, and rejection. 

By modifying the interest there is nothing being taken away from the child. You are just changing a few things about the interest.  They are still able to engage in their special interest and interact with their best friend.  We are just introducing a new way for them to interact and relate to their special interest. 

Behavioral modification is my best friend. Without it I don’t know where I’d be.  Most people I talk to think of behavioral modification as something that can only be used on a child who is lashing out and hitting people or causing damage to others or property.  Behavioral modification can be used in all areas.  It can be used for the more severe behavioral problems but can also be used to teach and help a child practice good social skills.  Behavioral modification is useful in modifying special interest and helping a child navigate their make believe world. 

So the special interest plays a great role in the development of the make believe world.  The special interest is something the child is going to excel in and will likely think about a lot as it provides a feeling of accomplishment.  It is something the child relates to and understands completely.  It’s black and white, there are no gray areas.  I have used the special interest to create a lot of amazing situations in my mind in which I was living in a very happy world.  There were many times when the make believe world I was living in was a better place than the real world. 

I began to slip away to the make believe world on a more frequent basis. As soon as I knew it was safe and happier there I wanted to be there all the time.  However, being there all the time wasn’t the best thing for me.  As we will discuss later in the book, being in the make believe world too often can be a sign of major problems.   It can become harmful if you spend too much time in your imagination. If your child is spending so much time in his or her imagination that they never seem to know what’s going on at school or what the conversation is at the dinner table then we need to help them learn the appropriate times for escaping into their make believe world.

Related Articles: http://healthmad.com/mental-health/autism-driven-anxiety/

                           http://healthmad.com/mental-health/behavior-analysis-self-reinforcement/

For more information on autism: http://www.travisbreedingautism.com/

Florida’s process is composed of fifteen-hundred hours of supervised experience, two semesters course work, an internship, additional testing and a Masters Degree. Behavior Analysis started more than 20 years ago in Florida, I was fortunate enough to study/ research with one of the first people to have a full-time behavior analysis practice Dr. Jose Martinez-Diaz at the Florida Institute of Technology. Behavior Analysis is a practice paying attention to details almost obsessively. In Applied Behavior Analysis, we will ultimately get out of it what we put into it.

ABA is based on data, it’s the practice of reducing behaviors to numbers which allows us to manage and manipulate these behaviors. If staff are not taking good, accurate data then behavior analysis will fail every time. The data tells the behavior analyst where to go, like a road map of sorts. There is always going to be a learning curve associated with ABA. When staff become more consistent with applying ABA techniques and the individual served gets resistance (response blocking) displaying the problem behavior in getting what it is that he/she wants (function of the behavior) and is redirected to display a socially appropriate behavior to get what he/she wants in a more timely manner (extremely important) than the individual gets with the problem behavior – you see improvement. I can tell, without a doubt, if the staff are applying techniques consistently. In terms of the interview they want to see the data sheets to make certain that you didn’t contrive the service experience up for review.

Selling the idea and teaching the value of ABA is really the first step in the process of training staff in ABA. I like to say that emotion equals opportunity, staff need to be excited about the process, the ability to make their job easier, so they will go along with the process more easily. Once the staff see that the people in charge see value in ABA they start to apply the techniques more consistently, once we get over the learning curve they see that it will make their job easier and their sold. Staff motivation goes way up and they are left with a sense of empowerment through achievement. I over hear staff talking when they get to this point, and you hear a lot of, “I (ownership) taught x-y individual this or that new way (new behavior) to get (function) attention or food item, etc (reinforcer).” This is a time that I will begin reinforcing the staff in front of the house manager, residential director, QMRP’s, etc. as doing a great job (owning the results) and modified x-y individuals behavior. I’d like to see the direct care staff get more training so the boards can bill medicaid for a higher wage for services. Once these direct care positions are easier to fill, staff turn will be reduced, and a more stable environment will be available for the individuals served.

Modeling and over exaggeration are the key components of successful training. I strongly encourage, then demand over exaggeration when doing role plays and modeling the appropriate techniques for staff in working with an individual. I should look back at the staff at the conclusion and if they are not looking at me shocked then I know I didn’t over exaggerate enough. Remember, we are communicating with people (individuals) that have problems communicating, so we are always modeling and setting the bar high in terms of over exaggerating our displays of communication. Staff and the individuals alike learn much more observing while I am modeling than they do when I am sitting over their shoulder telling them what to do. When modeling you avoid all chance of rebellion or competition by the staff and with modeling no one feels like they are being talked down to or controlled. In ABA everyone is part of a team with one organizer of information that determines the direction, myself. As a provider I am always reinforcing the staff.

Staff are dramatically reinforced by a sense of accomplishment and by being recognized in front of their peers, bosses as competent. Remember, you’re dealing with staff that may of almost never made a single significant accomplishment thus far. Once we have behavior change down to close to “0” negative displays, its time to start phasing myself out but continue to reinforce the staff for doing a good job, always. If I fail to continue to reinforce the staff I will surely be called back because of some intense, new, horrific behavior that the individual just started displaying, usually about 3 weeks or so after I stop verbally praising the staff. The report is that because I haven’t been conducting visits with the individual he has began to display theses new behaviors. It’s safe to say that I have successfully established myself as a reinforcer for the staff and the individual alike. The idea here is that you should conduct two behavior plans simultaneously, one with the staff and one with the individual. Both behavior plans intertwine with one another and determine the success of the clinician.

When I apply ABA techniques consistently I see significant improvement in eight weeks or less. When I teach staff and they apply theses techniques on a more consistent bases I see significant behavior change over a period of sixteen weeks. Staff take longer to make behaviors change due to their lack of consistence during implementation and their willingness to give in to a behavior out of convenience. Reinforceing a negative behavior random numbers is known as “intermittent reinforcement”. Intermittent reinforcement is the most powerful type of reinforcement, this is better referred to as random reinforcement. If you reinforce someones behavior once out of every several attempts, randomly, that is the most powerful a predictor for future patterns. This is why when staff give in to a behavior randomly it is so damaging when trying to shape an individuals behavior patterns. But, if I block a negative display every time and redirect every time to a more appropriate behavior and give the individual what he desires in a more timely manner every time than why wouldn’t the individual want to make the appropriate choice. How many times do you have to go down the wrong road before you choose the right one consistently?