Parent Portal 
20 Aug Back-to-School Tips for Children with Autism: Positive Reinforcement in the Classroom
The beginning of the new school year brings so much “new” to your child in the classroom. New teacher, new classmates/friends, new routine, new subjects or things they’re learning, etc. All that new can potentially spark some unwanted behaviors to happen in the classroom. This can look like children calling out in class instead of raising their hand, not putting materials or toys away when done, or not following the directions to the activity. Children with autism may engage in more challenging behaviors such as not wanting to complete an activity, yelling or crying if they have to share something with a classmate and they don’t want to, etc. Whether your child has autism or not, or if you’re a teacher, your goal should be to focus and teach what behaviors you WANT to see, not what behaviors you don’t want to see.
How do you do that, by using Positive Reinforcement!
Positive reinforcement is when a stimuli/something is delivered immediately following the behavior you want to continue to see occur in the future (Cooper et al., 2007). This strategy is something you most likely already use in home or in the classroom but is a great tool to increase the chances of the child to emit the correct behavior in the future if they are getting that reinforcement. Some examples include:
Behavior: When a child raises their hand in class to speak
Positive Reinforcement: The teacher calls on that child, and then they get to speak/answer the question/respond
Reinforcer: Engaging/speaking in class, being heard
By calling on the child when their hand is raised, you are providing positive reinforcement, because the child wants to engage, they are more likely to continue to raise their hand in the future to talk in class during a discussion
Behavior: When the student took turns with peers and shared a toy well in the classroom during free play
Positive Reinforcement: The teacher approached the child and said “You did such a great job taking turns and sharing, high five! Awesome job!”
Reinforcer: Attention/praise
If that child likes verbal praise and a positive interaction/attention from the teacher, they are more likely to share and take turns in the future to get that attention and praise again.
Behavior: Your class of students walked in a line and quietly in the hallway coming back from lunch,
Positive Reinforcement: Once back in the classroom from that transition, each student gets to pick a sticker out
Reinforcer: Sticker
By providing an item that the individual really wants or enjoys, such as a super cool sticker, this will increase the likelihood that the students will walk quietly and in a line in the future to get access to another awesome sticker.
Once you have identified and set expectations for the behaviors you want and you’ve determined what will be motivating to your student (reinforcer), you are ready to implement this strategy. When beginning to implement positive reinforcement in the classroom, be sure that you are providing the reinforcement consistently. For example, if the behavior you are wanting to see is after lunch a student puts their lunch box away and sits down without any redirections, and that student loves fist bumps or high fives, each day that they put that lunch box away after lunch and sit down without redirections, you need to consistently provide that high five. Consistency is what motivates the student to continue that behavior each day to get that high five.
If you are a teacher and some of your goals this school year are to increase student motivation and engagement, increase student skills and knowledge, increase positive social interactions and friendships, and have your students ready and excited to come to class and learn, Positive Reinforcement is your answer!
Kind Behavioral Health offers specialized ABA programs for young learners.
Our programs for children aged 1-7 aim to build skills they will need to succeed in all areas of their life. By learning to effectively communicate their wants and needs, engage in social and play activities they find enjoyable, and adapt to everyday tasks, adverse behaviors may be prevented, while children experience meaningful participation with their families, their communities, and in their schools.
The Classroom Readiness Program (CRP), specifically, is a daily, clinic-based program that takes place daily in a classroom-like setting and aims to teach children the skills they will need to access learning opportunities in their community Kindergarten placement.
RESOURCES:
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Chapter 11- Positive Reinforcement. In Applied Behavior Analysis (Second, pp. 256–289). essay, Pearson.
Bakar, N. A., & Zainal, M. S. (2020). PDF – Global Conferences Series: The Effects of Using Positive Reinforcement Techniques to Reduce Disruptive Behavior of Pupil with ADHD. Global Conferences Series. https://series.gci.or.id/assets/papers/icsar-2020-2020-302.pdf
More information on how to implement this in the classroom can be found here: https://insightstobehavior.com/blog/how-to-implement-positive-reinforcement-in-the-classroom/
