Around Town Round Up: Immediate Reinforcement Options

Generally speaking, typically developing children will respond to many different types of reinforcers. However, one of the hallmarks of autism is that autistic individuals are often not motivated by customary rewards. Additionally, their interests may be narrow. This can pose challenges in the classroom because all individuals require motivation to obtain new skills. A child who is motivated to work with you is far more likely to acquire more skills and at a faster rate, than if they are not motivated to work with you. 

In addition to considering the type of reinforcement, it is essential that teams consider the schedule of reinforcement. For many emerging learners, reinforcement needs to be delivered immediately to clearly communicate to the student that they have demonstrated the target skill. For example, a child sits down at their desk and is immediately given a goldfish cracker and verbal praise such as "good sitting". 

In today's Around Town Round Up we will provide a variety of reinforcers that can easily be used for immediate reinforcement. 

Edible Reinforcement

Edible reinforcement is one of the most popular, yet controversial, reinforcers. 

Rylie Jarrett
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Rebecca Leak
Northwood Elementary, Northmont

Pros: 

• often one of the strongest reinforcers
• can easily be controlled 
• easy to reinforce immediately
• can meet student sensory needs for oral or proprioceptive input
• typically very portable

Little Miss Kim's Class

Cons:

• if an autistic child has limited food preferences, it is not appropriate to limit their access to this food so that you can use it as a reinforcer
• immediate reinforcement with edibles can lead to satiation or fullness
• difficult to implement for individuals with restricted diets or medical concerns 
• some students may take medication that can interfere with their ability to regulate their appetite
• foods that are used as rewards are typically high in sugar, fat and salt with little nutritional value and can play a role in establishing children's preference for unhealthy foods

If you choose to use edible reinforcement, we recommend: 

• getting parent permission
• using only the amount necessary to be effective (i.e. cutting a fruit snack in half, breaking a pretzel stick into pieces, using mini-M&Ms or Starbursts)
• looking for a variety of edible reinforcement options to include healthy foods
• pairing edible reinforcement with social reinforcement so that eventually it's use can be faded
• developing a plan for fading reinforcement to replace it with social reinforcement, other tangible items, or implementing a token system. 
• reconsidering use of edible reinforcement if other types of reinforcement are equally motivating

Below are some ideas for reinforcers that are not edible but can still be easily used for immediate reinforcement either because they have a definite ending point (i.e. a single high five) or the adult is in complete control of the duration (i.e. staff member blows bubbles once).

Immediate Social Reinforcers

• high fives or high tens
• fist bumps
• cheers
• clapping
• tickles
• hugs
• silly faces
• thumbs up
• smiling

Immediate Tangible or Activity Reinforcers

• stickers
• stamps

Shanon Vance
Valley Forge Elementary, Huber Heights

• pieces of a bigger reinforcer (i.e. puzzle pieces, Legos, markers, magnetic letters)

Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

• wind up toy 
• playing a brief video or song clip

Sheyanne Olson
East Elementary, Eaton

• peek-a-boo
• balloon (blow up and let go)
• take picture with phone or tablet
• cause & effect toy

Brittany Wendling
Valley Elementary, Beavercreek

Immediate Sensory Reinforcers

• squeezes
• bubbles
• bounce on trampoline

Denise Campbell
Mad River ECC, Mad River

• bounce on therapy ball

Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

• rainstick
• touchlight

Heather Balkcom
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

Sometimes it is more difficult to make an activity an immediate reinforcer because it doesn't have a definite ending point. In these instances, we recommend having a pre-determined system for limiting the length of engagement with that activity so that the student gets many opportunities to engage with it in short increments. This could include setting a timer for 30-60 seconds or using a visual countdown to communicate when they have to give the item back. 

Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Genevieve Harvey
West Carrollton ECC, West Carrollton

This can be used for activities such as: 

Tangible or Activity Reinforcers

• Jack in the Box

Maddy Boyd
Park Layne Elementary, Tecumseh

• toy car or train
• stim with string or ribbon
• look at preferred pictures, magazine, or book

Jody Chick
Yellow Springs High School, Yellow Springs

• pin impression toy
• toy instruments
• kinetic sand

Jenna Fitch
Demmitt Elementary, Vandalia

Sensory Reinforcers

• fiberoptic wand
• fan
• fidget

Betsy Seger
Miami East Junior High & High School, Miami East

• handheld or vibrating massager

Pam Ellender
Mad River Middle School, Mad River

• playdoh or putty

Lindsey Woods
Fairborn Primary, Fairborn

• slinky
• bubble wrap
• snow globe or glitter ball
• flashlight
• spinning objects
• scented items
• sensory bottles

Mandy Whitfield
Learning Center-West, MCESC

Regardless of the type of reinforcement used, keep the following tips in mind:

Reinforcement Needs to be Planned and Systematic

• Reinforcers should not be used to bribe a child when they have already refused to do something or to entice them to stop engaging in a challenging behavior.
• Some teachers may worry about using reinforcement due to the possibility of the student depending on the reinforcer to engage in the appropriate behavior or the need to provide high rates of reinforcement. This can be avoided by proactively planning for when and how reinforcement will be faded or "thinned".

Reinforcement Needs to be Specific

• There is no one reinforcer that works for everyone, therefore use a reinforcement inventory or reinforcement sampling to develop a reinforcement menu specific to that student. 

Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Debi Gnau
Mad River ECEC, Mad River

• Additionally, when presenting a student with their reinforcement menu, be sure that all of the options are available at that given time. If there is not enough time for the specific reinforcement or it is unavailable, it should be removed from the menu prior to presenting it to the student. 

Additional Sources

• Reinforcement Fact Sheet- Florida Atlantic University
• Reinforcement in the Classroom- Indiana Resource Center for Autism
• I do NOT want to use edibles as Rineforcers!!- Partington Behavior Analysts
• Responsible Use of Edible Reinforcement- MaineHealth
• Edibles: A Dilemma- Graham Behavior Services
• Behavior Change- UMass Applied Behavior Analysis Psych581 Module 2