Grand Emotions

This is a must read: Very Grand Emotions: How Autistics and Neurotypicals Experience Emotions Differently, by Terra Vance. Terra Vance’s writing is impeccable and the post is very interesting, informative, and full of “Greater Good” values. It speaks so much to the journey I go through with the wonderful people I work with. It reminded …

Token System or Economy

Tokens are items that can be accumulated and exchanged for reinforcers called backup reinforcers. A program in which one can earn tokens following specific behaviors and can cash in the tokens for backup reinforcers is called a token system. For example, a teacher might implement a token system in which a child can earn one …

Mand Training

A very brief post recommending teaching specific versus generalized mands can be found here: http://goo.gl/UIiI4H along with  references to a few studied that support this opinion. We need all the research we can have on teaching mands due to the extreme importance to people with autism and language impairments. And we need practitioners to truly understand what constitutes a …

Trick or Treat Postcards

We practice and we practice and we practice. But it is not an easy thing to do when the time comes and all the excitement culminates. The costume (if we got there), the group of kids, the different doors and doorbells, the sequence, and all the candy to come, make it extra challenging to perform on …