Many of us as children played with sticks and homemade toy boats in streams or rivulets at the beach. How did we get those tippy little boats to sail downstream? We placed them in the middle of the stream where the water was deepest and flowed most strongly. Now, think about our kids with autism. We use positive reinforcement to increase functional skills, but how much reinforcement? I learned the answer from my son: a river of reinforcement.
Create a river that flows
Positive reinforcement is best when it is like a stream that can propel a twig or toy boat. The twig follows the stream just fine when the flow is deep and strong, but what happens when the stream dries up? There is no forward movement. The toy boat gets stuck and keels over. If we want the boat to move, the water has to be deep and flowing.
A strong flow supports learning
Let’s say a young girl is learning to pick up blocks and place them on a mat (with the eventual goal of stacking blocks and following block patterns). The tag point is Block On Mat. As soon as she places the block on the mat you would tag and treat. As she picks up speed with this skill, you can tag, tag, tag quickly for each block as it hits the mat. You can tag her literally almost every few seconds. Think of what she is experiencing: a flow of success and reinforcement that is supporting her every action. The flow gives her confidence, success, affirmation, and some very nice treats. She won’t falter, she’ll keep sailing along.
Change the flow
Want her to learn something else? Change the flow. She’s mastered the skill of placing blocks on the mat, so now you want her to learn to place a block on a square. You set out a new mat with a few big squares on it, and establish a new tag point: Block On Square. Now you tag and treat every time she places a block on a square, and you ignore blocks that are not placed on a square. Give her the same powerful flow of reinforcement for correct responses, and she will learn the new skill.
Let your child drift down a river of reinforcement
Just as a smoothly flowing river supports boats and allows them to move, so a strong flow of reinforcement can support a child with autism who needs to learn functional skills. Keep the reinforcement flowing, tag accurately and often, and watch your child move along. That is smooth sailing!
TAGteach Principles and Tag Points: A Quick Review
Let’s take a moment to review TAGteach and tag points. TAGteach Basic Principles explains, “Clarity and simplicity are key aspects of TAGteach. A tag point is defined so that the Instructor can easily judge whether the tag point is achieved and can mark it with a tag. Tag Point Criteria: A tag point must satisfy the following criteria … : What you want (phrase in the positive). One thing (the word “and” will never appear in a tag point). Observable/Measurable (you must be able to judge the completion clearly). Five words or less. Ignore Errors and Try Again.” See also the TAGteach International Glossary of TAGteach Terms and Phrases.
Learn More About Martha and TAGteach
With TAGteach, it is easy to reinforce behaviors precisely and quickly. The immediate, accurate feedback and positive reinforcement result in the child performing the correct action more often, and for longer periods of time. With immediate feedback and learning tasks broken down into small steps, children (and adults) can learn many new skills with TAGteach — at their own pace.
Learn More About TAGteach
For more information visit the TAGteach website
For research on TAGteach, please see the TAGteach Reference List
Join the free TAGteach For Learning and Behavior Facebook group here
See Martha’s book about TAGteach for Autism or feel free to ask me a question (with no obligation).
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