Re: Behavioral Incentive Plan...A Shared Success!

[Guest guest]

Gee Dana, that is soooo great!! Thanks for sharing this.

Guess my sons are too old (19 and about 23) but I'm sure many parents

will print this out.

>

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his rages.

[Guest guest]

Hi Dana,

This is a great idea! I'm so glas you are having success with this!!

Hugs

judy

[Guest guest]

That sounds bigger than a SMALL success to me! Sounds like a great idea!

Beth

********************

So he sat quietly for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened his eyes,

and said, " It was FUN! "

[Guest guest]

That sounds bigger than a SMALL success to me! Sounds like a great idea!

Beth

********************

So he sat quietly for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened his eyes,

and said, " It was FUN! "

[Guest guest]

Well done, Dana! Multiply the number of our group

members by the hundreds we'd each pay to get this plan

in a formal therapy setting, and your post may

literally be worth a million bucks.

--- Dana wrote:

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my

> job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little

> kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS

> (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his

> rages.

>

> There are two facets:

>

> First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and

> he brainstormed

> things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the

> Wii, computer,

> pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late,

> ice cream,

> getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a

> video, field trips to

> the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new

> comic book, etc. In

> other words, these are things that motivate him, not

> me constantly

> nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling

> this part.

>

> I created a schedule that separates the day into one

> hour blocks

> (3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every

> hour he follows the

> rules we created in the contract:

>

> " No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can

> say he's angry and

> needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just

> not become

> aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he

> can use when he IS

> angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read

> a book, throw a

> ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of

> appropriate expressions

> of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I

> need a break... " ).

>

> Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it

> by starting that

> he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3

> the second, until

> after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time

> blocks, so he'll

> earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

>

> He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can

> I get my check

> now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or

> whatever.

>

> The second part of the plan is actively teaching him

> self-calming

> strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a

> calming exercise

> (yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is

> to teach him

> self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw

> upon when he feels

> he's starting to lose it.

>

> So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which

> usually ends with me

> hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying

> kid) and he got in

> the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give

> me a minute before

> I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. "

> So he sat quietly

> for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened

> his eyes, and said,

> " It was FUN! "

>

> Small success! I will keep changing the incentives

> to keep it fresh,

> but after seeing the recent posts about how

> maddening some our kids'

> behaviors are, thought I'd share.

>

> Happy Tuesday everyone!

>

> Dana

>

>

>

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Looking for last minute shopping deals?

Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

[Guest guest]

Well done, Dana! Multiply the number of our group

members by the hundreds we'd each pay to get this plan

in a formal therapy setting, and your post may

literally be worth a million bucks.

--- Dana wrote:

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my

> job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little

> kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS

> (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his

> rages.

>

> There are two facets:

>

> First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and

> he brainstormed

> things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the

> Wii, computer,

> pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late,

> ice cream,

> getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a

> video, field trips to

> the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new

> comic book, etc. In

> other words, these are things that motivate him, not

> me constantly

> nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling

> this part.

>

> I created a schedule that separates the day into one

> hour blocks

> (3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every

> hour he follows the

> rules we created in the contract:

>

> " No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can

> say he's angry and

> needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just

> not become

> aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he

> can use when he IS

> angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read

> a book, throw a

> ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of

> appropriate expressions

> of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I

> need a break... " ).

>

> Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it

> by starting that

> he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3

> the second, until

> after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time

> blocks, so he'll

> earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

>

> He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can

> I get my check

> now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or

> whatever.

>

> The second part of the plan is actively teaching him

> self-calming

> strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a

> calming exercise

> (yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is

> to teach him

> self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw

> upon when he feels

> he's starting to lose it.

>

> So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which

> usually ends with me

> hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying

> kid) and he got in

> the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give

> me a minute before

> I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. "

> So he sat quietly

> for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened

> his eyes, and said,

> " It was FUN! "

>

> Small success! I will keep changing the incentives

> to keep it fresh,

> but after seeing the recent posts about how

> maddening some our kids'

> behaviors are, thought I'd share.

>

> Happy Tuesday everyone!

>

> Dana

>

>

>

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Looking for last minute shopping deals?

Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

[Guest guest]

Yes, Dana.

I love how you have it broken into the hour segments. I printed this email to

save and use with my daughter. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with life at

the moment, but when things slow down I am going to try this, too.

Thanks for sharing!

in TN

momof3 wrote:

Well done, Dana! Multiply the number of our group

members by the hundreds we'd each pay to get this plan

in a formal therapy setting, and your post may

literally be worth a million bucks.

--- Dana wrote:

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my

> job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little

> kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS

> (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his

> rages.

>

> There are two facets:

>

> First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and

> he brainstormed

> things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the

> Wii, computer,

> pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late,

> ice cream,

> getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a

> video, field trips to

> the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new

> comic book, etc. In

> other words, these are things that motivate him, not

> me constantly

> nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling

> this part.

>

> I created a schedule that separates the day into one

> hour blocks

> (3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every

> hour he follows the

> rules we created in the contract:

>

> " No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can

> say he's angry and

> needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just

> not become

> aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he

> can use when he IS

> angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read

> a book, throw a

> ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of

> appropriate expressions

> of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I

> need a break... " ).

>

> Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it

> by starting that

> he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3

> the second, until

> after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time

> blocks, so he'll

> earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

>

> He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can

> I get my check

> now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or

> whatever.

>

> The second part of the plan is actively teaching him

> self-calming

> strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a

> calming exercise

> (yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is

> to teach him

> self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw

> upon when he feels

> he's starting to lose it.

>

> So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which

> usually ends with me

> hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying

> kid) and he got in

> the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give

> me a minute before

> I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. "

> So he sat quietly

> for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened

> his eyes, and said,

> " It was FUN! "

>

> Small success! I will keep changing the incentives

> to keep it fresh,

> but after seeing the recent posts about how

> maddening some our kids'

> behaviors are, thought I'd share.

>

> Happy Tuesday everyone!

>

> Dana

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________________

Looking for last minute shopping deals?

Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

---------------------------------

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

[Guest guest]

Yes, Dana.

I love how you have it broken into the hour segments. I printed this email to

save and use with my daughter. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with life at

the moment, but when things slow down I am going to try this, too.

Thanks for sharing!

in TN

momof3 wrote:

Well done, Dana! Multiply the number of our group

members by the hundreds we'd each pay to get this plan

in a formal therapy setting, and your post may

literally be worth a million bucks.

--- Dana wrote:

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my

> job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little

> kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS

> (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his

> rages.

>

> There are two facets:

>

> First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and

> he brainstormed

> things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the

> Wii, computer,

> pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late,

> ice cream,

> getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a

> video, field trips to

> the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new

> comic book, etc. In

> other words, these are things that motivate him, not

> me constantly

> nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling

> this part.

>

> I created a schedule that separates the day into one

> hour blocks

> (3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every

> hour he follows the

> rules we created in the contract:

>

> " No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can

> say he's angry and

> needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just

> not become

> aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he

> can use when he IS

> angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read

> a book, throw a

> ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of

> appropriate expressions

> of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I

> need a break... " ).

>

> Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it

> by starting that

> he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3

> the second, until

> after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time

> blocks, so he'll

> earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

>

> He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can

> I get my check

> now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or

> whatever.

>

> The second part of the plan is actively teaching him

> self-calming

> strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a

> calming exercise

> (yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is

> to teach him

> self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw

> upon when he feels

> he's starting to lose it.

>

> So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which

> usually ends with me

> hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying

> kid) and he got in

> the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give

> me a minute before

> I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. "

> So he sat quietly

> for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened

> his eyes, and said,

> " It was FUN! "

>

> Small success! I will keep changing the incentives

> to keep it fresh,

> but after seeing the recent posts about how

> maddening some our kids'

> behaviors are, thought I'd share.

>

> Happy Tuesday everyone!

>

> Dana

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________________

Looking for last minute shopping deals?

Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

---------------------------------

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

[Guest guest]

Dana,

That's tremendous! What a wonderful idea, and flexible enough to work with

so many different kids.

Is there any way you can post the text of the contract? How old is ds?

Best.

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Dana

Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 3:22 AM

To:

Subject: Behavioral Incentive Plan...A Shared Success!

Hi All,

Thought I'd share a current success story. In my job as an autism

specialist, I create behavioral plans for little kids and after

discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS (OCD and mood

disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his rages.

There are two facets:

First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and he brainstormed

things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the Wii, computer,

pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late, ice cream,

getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a video, field trips to

the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new comic book, etc. In

other words, these are things that motivate him, not me constantly

nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling this part.

I created a schedule that separates the day into one hour blocks

(3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every hour he follows the

rules we created in the contract:

" No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can say he's angry and

needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just not become

aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he can use when he IS

angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read a book, throw a

ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of appropriate expressions

of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I need a break... " ).

Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it by starting that

he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3 the second, until

after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time blocks, so he'll

earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can I get my check

now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or whatever.

The second part of the plan is actively teaching him self-calming

strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a calming exercise

(yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is to teach him

self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw upon when he feels

he's starting to lose it.

So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which usually ends with me

hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying kid) and he got in

the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give me a minute before

I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. " So he sat quietly

for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened his eyes, and said,

" It was FUN! "

Small success! I will keep changing the incentives to keep it fresh,

but after seeing the recent posts about how maddening some our kids'

behaviors are, thought I'd share.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Dana

[Guest guest]

Great ideas, Dana!

BJ

>

> Hi All,

>

> Thought I'd share a current success story. In my job as an autism

> specialist, I create behavioral plans for little kids and after

> discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS (OCD and mood

> disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his rages.

>

> There are two facets:

>

> First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and he brainstormed

> things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the Wii, computer,

> pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late, ice cream,

> getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a video, field trips to

> the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new comic book, etc. In

> other words, these are things that motivate him, not me constantly

> nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling this part.

>

> I created a schedule that separates the day into one hour blocks

> (3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every hour he follows the

> rules we created in the contract:

>

> " No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can say he's angry and

> needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just not become

> aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he can use when he IS

> angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read a book, throw a

> ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of appropriate expressions

> of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I need a break... " ).

>

> Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it by starting that

> he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3 the second, until

> after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time blocks, so he'll

> earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

>

> He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can I get my check

> now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or whatever.

>

> The second part of the plan is actively teaching him self-calming

> strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a calming exercise

> (yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is to teach him

> self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw upon when he feels

> he's starting to lose it.

>

> So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which usually ends with me

> hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying kid) and he got in

> the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give me a minute before

> I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. " So he sat quietly

> for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened his eyes, and said,

> " It was FUN! "

>

> Small success! I will keep changing the incentives to keep it fresh,

> but after seeing the recent posts about how maddening some our kids'

> behaviors are, thought I'd share.

>

> Happy Tuesday everyone!

>

> Dana

>

[Guest guest]

really great, and I hope it will be a success!

Dana wrote: Hi All,

Thought I'd share a current success story. In my job as an autism

specialist, I create behavioral plans for little kids and after

discussing it with his psychiatrist, made one for DS (OCD and mood

disorder), hoping to stop (or at least curb) his rages.

There are two facets:

First, I wrote a " behavioral contract " with him and he brainstormed

things he wanted to earn (he came up with using the Wii, computer,

pizza for dinner, a chore-free day, staying up late, ice cream,

getting to skip a day of school(!), choosing a video, field trips to

the library, Science Museum, etc., TV time, new comic book, etc. In

other words, these are things that motivate him, not me constantly

nagging or saying " Good job! " . He's controlling this part.

I created a schedule that separates the day into one hour blocks

(3:30-4:30, etc.), and he earns a check for every hour he follows the

rules we created in the contract:

" No cursing, throwing, yelling or insults. " He can say he's angry and

needs a break, though. He can complain, etc., just not become

aggressive. Also, there's a list of strategies he can use when he IS

angry (deep breathing, yoga DVD, walk the dog, read a book, throw a

ball, call his Grandma to chat) and models of appropriate expressions

of anger ( " I'm so angry; I need help; I feel mad; I need a break... " ).

Since I want him to succeed in the plan, I rigged it by starting that

he only needs to be polite 2 blocks the first day, 3 the second, until

after the first week, it's 80% of the measured time blocks, so he'll

earn his star for the day and get his " prize. "

He's so excited! He checks the clock and says, " Can I get my check

now? " and is so proud when he earns video time or whatever.

The second part of the plan is actively teaching him self-calming

strategies: he HAS to spend 10 minutes daily doing a calming exercise

(yoga DVD, meditate, deep breathing). The idea is to teach him

self-calming techniques that he can begin to draw upon when he feels

he's starting to lose it.

So yesterday, he had a basketball game (which usually ends with me

hearing an earful of profanity about some annoying kid) and he got in

the car, I asked about the game, and he said, " Give me a minute before

I answer; I want to do some deep breathing first. " So he sat quietly

for a moment doing his breathing exercises, opened his eyes, and said,

" It was FUN! "

Small success! I will keep changing the incentives to keep it fresh,

but after seeing the recent posts about how maddening some our kids'

behaviors are, thought I'd share.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Dana

---------------------------------

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

[Guest guest]

DS is 9, and the contract works like this:

I made up a simple schedule chart (with visuals of stuff like playing,

eating, reading, all the stuff he does) with 3 columns:

1. Time (7-8, etc.)

2. Activity (before school, homework, reading, snack, etc.) with

accompanying visual.

3. Little space for checkmark.

On the bottom are the rules: " No hitting... " and " I need to earn ___

checks today. I know I can do it! My mom is proud of me when I try

and I'm proud of me, too! " (I know; it sounds SO simplistic)

AND what I think is integral is the list of reminders of what he can

do BEFORE he has a hissy fit (take 10 minutes to breathe in my room,

call Grandma, say " I'm MAD! " , etc.).

I showed it to him and asked him what he wanted to " earn " when he got

all his checks. And remember, you WANT the kid to succeed, so

manipulate the amount of checks they need to get initially (or even

the time frame into 15 minute blocks) so they DO succeed.

The " contract " part is having him come up with incentives and agreeing

to work for them. But to make it work more, things that used to be

freebies like TV, videogames and DVD rentals now HAVE to be earned.

No checks, no TV. He can play or read instead. It's fairly motivating.

What's interesting is after analyzing the data, I know (even though I

already knew before) that he ALWAYS loses it at 7:45 every morning

(before the bus comes), so I was able to pinpoint that as a " witching "

time and now he polishes furniture at 7:45 every morning (he likes

polishing furniture; give him a rag and 's Oil Soap and he's happy).

Please let me know if anyone wants help writing one; I'd be happy to

do one for you in Word!

Dana