The Injury
TAGteach is a great tool for dealing with those “pop-up” challenges that erupt when we least expect them.
A few days ago my teenage son (non-verbal, severe autism) stumbled in the evening when going up the stairs. The next morning he was unable to put weight on his left foot, so he hopped bravely around the house on his right foot.
We made an appointment for him right away and pulled out some old crutches for him to use.
First Problem — Crutches
Although my son has seen people use crutches, he has never used them himself. So, I had the task of immediately, on the spot, teaching him to use crutches.
Luckily, he understood right away to place them under his arms, grip the handles, and lean on them. The part that was confusing for him was swinging them forward.
Immediately, I had my tag point: Swing crutches forward. (What you want, One thing, Observable, Five words or less). I showed him how, and after a few tags he was able to swing them forward quite well.
We hobbled off to the doctor and, after an exam and x-rays, walked out, not with crutches but with a removable padded walking cast. (Luckily, nothing was broken, only sore.)
Next Problem — Cast
Since it had been painful to put weight on his left foot, my son was hesitant to take steps with this odd contraption on his foot.
Good luck intervened. As we were leaving the waiting room, another patient entered who was wearing the same walking cast on his foot. With great kindness, this gentleman showed Douglas his cast and how he could walk on it. Heartened, Douglas tried a few steps. In the meantime, I was ready with my next tag point: Step on Left Foot.
As soon as he took a step with his left foot, tag! We walked and tagged our way out of the building and through the parking lot. Success!
From then on, all I needed to do was tag a few more times, and he was secure in stepping with the cast on his left foot. A few days later, his foot was fine.
TAGteach to the rescue — again
Tag points used were:
- Swing Crutches Forward
- Step On Left Foot
It was the perfect tool to teach an emergency skill, on the spot.
What is TAGteach?
TAGteach stands for Teaching with Acoustical Guidance. TAGteach is a teaching and communication method based on the scientific principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
TAGteach enables extremely precise positive reinforcement of behavior by using an acoustical signal to “mark” the behavior – at the precise moment the child performs the behavior! The acoustical signal is a short, sharp sound made by a handheld device (the “tagger”). When the child performs the correct action, the parent/instructor immediately presses the button on the tagger and hands over a treat (candy, treat, token, praise, social recognition, or money) as a reinforcer.
With TAGteach, it is easy to reinforce behaviors precisely, quickly, and intensively. 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.
For more information visit the TAGteach website.
Join the free TAGteach Yahoo Group.
TAGteach taggers are available here.
See Martha’s book about TAGteach for Autism or feel free to ask me a question (with no obligation).
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