Jada

Case example: Jada is an elementary school student. She experiences Level 3 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Level 3 is the severity level of Autism which is characterized by “requiring very substantial support.” Jada has also been diagnosed with a severe Intellectual Disability (ID). Jada has just transferred to a private school for individuals with global needs. She loves all kinds of play and messy activities, such as finger paint and water play. She also enjoys swinging on the playground, eating popcorn, and watching Disney movies. She loves to be read to, and laughs when staff make dramatic gestures while reading picture books. Jada does not use any vocal speech. She makes noises sometimes, such as humming. Jada engages in motor stimming, including upper body tensing and flapping her arms. Jada engages in severe challenging behavior, including self injury (hand to head and head to surface) and aggression (including hitting and biting). Jada has a mom, dad, and older brother living together in one home. Jada’s family has advocated for her to attend a private program, and they are excited for her to get high quality services. Jada’s new behavior analyst is Dr. Brown-Davis, who is a BCBA-D employed by the private program.

Example of Item G-7: Jada has limited experience with pushing buttons. She initially doesn’t have the skills required to isolate a finger (or two) and forcefully depress a button. Under Dr Brown-Davis’ supervision, Jada’s staff teach her to do this by initially reinforcing touching the button in isolation (i.e. without touching the area around the button). Once she consistently does this, they stop reinforcing touching the button and only provide reinforcement for touching it and exerting pressure. Over time, Jada’s programming teaches her that isolating the button and forcefully pressing it is the way to contact reinforcement.

.

Donovan

Case example: Donovan is a high school student. He has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). He attends a public school and has been placed in a support program for students with social/emotional/behavioral needs. Donovan enjoys playing video games and drawing in his sketchbook. He would like to be a welder when he is an adult. Academic achievement and attendance have been challenges for Donovan historically, and he is currently not on track to graduate with his peers due to missed work and failing grades in several classes. Donovan’s team has identified challenges including frequent non-attendance to school, walking the halls during class times, non-attendance at expected guidance appointments, and non-completion of classwork. Donovan lives with his mother and older brother. Donovan’s mother is concerned about her son’s school challenges and expresses frustration about his “lack of commitment” to his education. She wants Donovan to understand how important it is to graduate from high school. Donovan’s behavior analyst is Ms. Bailey, who has just started contracting with Donovan’s school district through the agency she works for.

Example of Item G-7: Ms. Bailey is focused on encouraging Donovan to ask for breaks (negative reinforcement) when he gets overwhelmed with work instead of pushing over his desk and walking out of the room. She also wants him to appropriately ask for access to his sketchbook. Ms. Bailey’s goal is for Donovan to eventually say “I need to take a break from work and sketch” (terminal behavior). However, she starts by providing a break from work and access to his sketchbook anytime Donovan puts his head down instead of pushing over furniture and leaving the room. She then moves onto providing a break from work and access to his sketchbook whenever Donovan says “I’m done”. Finally Ms. Bailey allows a break from work and access to his tablet after Donovan says “I need to take a break from work and sketch”. This is an example of shaping across topographies, because reinforcement is contingent on changing topographies (forms) of the functional communication response.