I am a huge fan of positive reinforcement. While, I am also a huge fan of discipline, I believe that it has to be done in a positive way that reinforces their self worth and teaches them to take responsibility for their own actions. That is what I strive for with my children.
With Adam, I received a lot of flack from some people because they think that dealing with a child, any child, regardless of having autism or not you need to let them develop their own motivational factors to want to do well and strive to do well. I agree that should be a goal but with my son, I have found that positive reinforcement works well with him, especially if I want him to focus on doing better with certain behaviors.
You may hear some people say that using positive reinforcement can be detrimental because it can cause children to depend on it as opposed to learning internal motivation. However, it is all in how you implement positive reinforcement as far as whether or not you are increasing internal motivation. There are several different ways to use positive reinforcement. At the basic level, you can consider the use of natural reinforcement, social reinforcement, token reinforcement, and tangible reinforcement. All of these entail delivering a specific consequence following a desired behavior that increases the likelihood that the behavior will continue or increase in the future.
Natural reinforcement occurs when a natural consequence for a certain behavior increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again in the future. Examples of natural reinforcement may be when the child points to a ball, the child gets the ball; when a child names the animal on a puzzle piece, the child gets to put the puzzle piece in; when the child says hello to a peer, the peer smiles and says hello. These would all be considered examples of natural reinforcement as long as these consequences resulted in an increase of the desired behavior. Social reinforcement entails consequences for behavior such as smiles, high fives, tickles, praise, etc. It is important to note that many social reinforcers are quite natural. When someone does something that you like you would naturally smile and make a positive comment. Token reinforcement can include the child receiving points, tickets, stickers, stars, pennies, etc. that can later be exchanged for a tangible item or a preferred activity. Tangible reinforcement includes giving the child a desired food, drink, toy, or activity after engaging in the desired behavior.
To increase internal motivation, these four types of reinforcement should be used on a continuum where natural and social reinforcement are to be used before token or tangible reinforcement. Token and tangible reinforcement should be reserved when children do not respond to natural and social reinforcement. When you do need to resort to the use of token and tangible reinforcement, try to switch to using natural and social reinforcement as quickly as possible. This is because we do not want to encourage escape motivated behavior. Meaning, we don’t want to encourage children to do something just to get something else or to get away from the task or interaction itself. Of course, if we must use token or tangible reinforcement because it is the only way to get the child to respond, we must start there temporarily.
A program that I use with my children that works well is a point system. For every action that they do they receive either a point or get points taken away. When those points are accumulated at the end of the week those points entitle them to certain activities or benefits. For me it is a good way of teaching them the power of earning their rewards for good behavior and the consequences of losing them when they do not follow through with unacceptable behavior or chores. It teaches them to own their work and to work well. And so far it works well with us. I have a set of chores that they do daily and then weekly chores and they alternate. They also get points for completing Activities for Daily Living for example if they make up their own bed without me asking them to do so, of it they take their plates to the sink without being told to do so, brush their teeth in the morning, comb their hair etc.....this reinforces taking responsibility for self and it has worked wonders!
Each child is going to be different. What works for one may or may not work for another and no matter what program or direction of discipline you decide to take you know what is best for your own child and I hope that the information that I provide may be of some use to you.
