What is Reinforcement? What is Reinforcement? The process of encouraging or establishing a belief or pattern of behavior, especially by encouragement or reward. Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement Positive reinforcement refers to the act of introducing certain stimuli after a particular behavior is exhibited. Negative reinforcement refers to the act of removing certain stimuli after a [...]
What is Functional Communication? Functional Communication can be referred to the utmost fundamental communication skills and is used to express one’s basic desires and needs. For typical children, functional communication starts to come about in their first year of life. Normally it starts with gestures and then grows to words and then sentences. [...]
Tips for Making Your Kiddo More Self-Sufficient Have high, yet realistic expectations – One should make sure to challenge your child to do only things you know they are currently capable of doing. If your child has fine motor delays it would be unreasonable to instruct them to tie their shoes without any prior [...]
Age-Appropriate Skills for Children with Autism Understanding which skills and behaviors are age-appropriate for autistic children is very important. It helps family members understand which games and toys the kids will enjoy playing with and understanding that, can be significant treatment tool to further physical and mental development. The following information covering age [...]
5 Autism ABA Tips for Adjusting for the Upcoming Season Since a person with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) thrives on being in a familiar environment with routine and structure, it can make breaks from their accustomed daily/weekly schedules. With the holiday break coming up, we thought it’d be a good time to [...]
Sensory-seeking vs. Attention-seeking Behaviors How do you tell if your child is engaging in sensory seeking or attention seeking behaviors? Sensory processing the way that our brain observes, analyzes, and responds to sensory input from and through all of our senses. A child can be either over responsive or under responsive to the sensations that their body is [...]
ABA Tips for Improving Child Communication According to Ellyn Lucas Arwood, EdD, a professor who specializes in language and special education at the University of Portland located in Oregon, children with autism think in terms of what ideas look like. Therefore, when communicating with children with autism, the more visual one can make the [...]
ABA Tips for Better School-Home Communication School-home communication is very important for all children. Having a child with special needs can make the connection more challenging since the child may have a harder time communicating with their parents about what happened that day at school. That is why it is helpful to have a [...]
Happy Back To School from First Leap - Enjoy These Back to School Autism Tips & Crafts! First Leap wishes you a smooth Back to School transition for you and your loved ones! Check out these Back To School autism tips and learn a thing or two on how to facilitate this hectic change for everyone involved! Back To School Autism [...]
Functions of Behavior Decades of research demonstrates that behaviors are learned and maintained through interactions with the physical and social environment. Typically, behaviors are elicited in order to gain or avoid something. Below are the sources of reinforcement for most behaviors, also known as the functions of behaviors. Functions of Behavior #1: Attention At [...]
