Re: Chips as reinforcers for ABA

[Guest guest]

I think one way to find out whether the problem is resulting from something

happening at school would be to not send him for a week.

If his behavior changes back for the positive, then you could safely guess that

he is either learning bad behaviors at school or something that is happening

at school (sneaking non SCD food or maybe being bored) is causing the bad

behavior.

If he was doing so well with the diet that it seemed many of his autistic traits

went away, could he perhaps do well in some other type of school setting

now?

Jody

mom to -6 and -9

SCD 31 months

[Guest guest]

You read my mind. That's exactly what I was thinking! If things don't

get better this next week, we'll call in sick for a week. I have

another school in mind.

Liz

> I think one way to find out whether the problem is resulting from

something

> happening at school would be to not send him for a week.

> If his behavior changes back for the positive, then you could safely

guess that

> he is either learning bad behaviors at school or something that is

happening

> at school (sneaking non SCD food or maybe being bored) is causing

the bad

> behavior.

>

> If he was doing so well with the diet that it seemed many of his

autistic traits

> went away, could he perhaps do well in some other type of school

setting

> now?

>

>

> Jody

> mom to -6 and -9

> SCD 31 months

[Guest guest]

We had the same thing happen. K is a bit older though. My K had put up a

mental block for quite a while in ABA. At first she was with them with the

naughty reinforcers. Maybe you should try to make your own crispy curly

carrots. I had to experiment with other crispy foods at this time to replace

that reinforcer. It took a week or so to get back on the ball at school but,

she did although her mental block still discouraged her working. We had to

switch to the floortime approach with her. Now, she's leading us like WE

were the one's that were blind all this time to what she had the ability to

do. The worst thing you can do is give in and let him have the chips. They

are probably what is making him regress. Jenn & Kali 95% SCD 4 months

Chips as reinforcers for ABA

> We are three weeks into the diet, and have seen such a positive

> reaction in our 33 month old AS son that the symptoms of autism had

> almost gone away! As a type 1 diabetic I am also following the diet,

> so I know he feels better and that he is getting enough food. The

> problem is he attends a school for kids with spectrum disorders where

> they use ABA (Lovaas) therapy and where he grew accustomed to getting

> potato chips as a reinforcer. The teachers are not thrilled about the

> diet and complain that he is unhappy since we took the chips away

> (duh!) and seems to have regressed. This is the opposite of what we

> see at home, where he is a dream.

>

> However, this week he seems to have regressed into autistic behaviours

> and I suspect he is picking up bits of chip from the floor. Is it

> possible that these (5? 10? 20?)little pieces of chip, ingested

> everyday could bring back the old Harry of three weeks ago? Or are

> these steps back par for the course?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> For information on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, please read the book

_Breaking the Vicious Cycle_ by Elaine Gottschall and read the following

websites:

> http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

> and

> http://www.pecanbread.com

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have been turning this over in my mind and have come to the same

conclusion that floor time may well be the answer. ABA has been great

for us up till now, but it's a lot like training a dog, and when you

remove the dog biscuits, where's the incentive?

thanks for replying to my message,

Liz

> We had the same thing happen. K is a bit older though. My K had put up a

> mental block for quite a while in ABA. At first she was with them

with the

> naughty reinforcers. Maybe you should try to make your own crispy curly

> carrots. I had to experiment with other crispy foods at this time to

replace

> that reinforcer. It took a week or so to get back on the ball at

school but,

> she did although her mental block still discouraged her working. We

had to

> switch to the floortime approach with her. Now, she's leading us like WE

> were the one's that were blind all this time to what she had the

ability to

> do. The worst thing you can do is give in and let him have the

chips. They

> are probably what is making him regress. Jenn & Kali 95% SCD 4 months

> Chips as reinforcers for ABA

>

>

> > We are three weeks into the diet, and have seen such a positive

> > reaction in our 33 month old AS son that the symptoms of autism had

> > almost gone away! As a type 1 diabetic I am also following the diet,

> > so I know he feels better and that he is getting enough food. The

> > problem is he attends a school for kids with spectrum disorders where

> > they use ABA (Lovaas) therapy and where he grew accustomed to getting

> > potato chips as a reinforcer. The teachers are not thrilled about the

> > diet and complain that he is unhappy since we took the chips away

> > (duh!) and seems to have regressed. This is the opposite of what we

> > see at home, where he is a dream.

> >

> > However, this week he seems to have regressed into autistic behaviours

> > and I suspect he is picking up bits of chip from the floor. Is it

> > possible that these (5? 10? 20?)little pieces of chip, ingested

> > everyday could bring back the old Harry of three weeks ago? Or are

> > these steps back par for the course?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > For information on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, please read the

book

> _Breaking the Vicious Cycle_ by Elaine Gottschall and read the

following

> websites:

> > http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

> > and

> > http://www.pecanbread.com

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi, Liz.

Our son, Dakota, went through similar issues. He navigates his world

through his tastebuds--he licks windows, floors, hands, faces, etc. He

would lick the table in the lunchroom trying to get crumbs from other kids'

lunches, sneak swipes of their mashed potatoes, etc. Some of it was more to

get a reaction from everyone and trying to interact rather than the

desperate quest for illegals--which also definitely occurred.

Anyway--for group ABA activities and general classroom snack times, we sent

tons of homemade chips. By having Dakota have snacks that he loved, the

staff became more accepting and understanding of the diet. There are

recipes on www.pecanbread.com/recipes.htm . Zucchini, yellow squash, beets,

carrots, all other squashes, pumpkin, etc. can be made into chips.

Flavor/season to taste--salty, onion, garlic, sweet, or whatever--pumpkin

and the orange squashes are very good as " apple " cinnamon crisps for those

who can't eat dried fruit yet, and they are good as " honey mustard " flavor

(olive oil, a little honey, and ground mustard seed whirled in the blender,

marinate squash, sprinkle with salt, bake). Crackers and other crunchy food

recipes can be found at www.scdrecipes.com . Dakota loves all of the Sue's

cracker recipes (goat/sheep cheese substitute nicely or cheese can be

omitted altogether), and the graham crackers are a huge hit--but anything

crunchy made a huge difference for us AND the school. Dehydrators are a

life saver--they make everything crunchy without the fear of

over-baking/burning things up (which I did A LOT!).

Finally, our speech therapist and OT were profoundly helpful--they scheduled

a brief IEP meeting and explained (so I wouldn't have to) the situation.

Fortunately (?), our school had a child with pica tendencies, and they

implemented the same protocols that they used for pica--constant monitoring

(a staff member sitting beside Dakota whenever food was present), recording

any suspected illegal ingestion via licking, etc., and there was either a

Swiffer or a Dust-Vac kept in the rooms that Dakota was in and where food

consumed. I am a huge advocate of getting SCD protocols into IEPs in order

to give the parents/guardians recourse if noncompliance becomes an issue.

Also, most people are more compliant if things are in writing and signed.

But the meeting at least gave us a chance to explain the diet and to try to

figure out approaches to help the staff implement the diet in ways that were

easier for them.

BTW, we were video-taping a lot when we first implemented GF/CF, and it was

amazing/scary to see how much Dakota was sneaking, his look of delight when

he got away with a huge steal (once a whole pringles snack pack can and a

bag of cheetos), and how he was able to sneak food under his shirt as a

stash for later in the day. The staff truly did not know this, and they

were doing adequate monitoring, but snack time/food reward time is so often

a break for everyone (including the teachers), and guards are let down.

This just shows that early on (and for some kids never) that food times are

when the most monitoring may be needed.

whole family SCD 2 years

Mom to Dakota (8--NF, BWS, CDD, and seizures)

and (5--happy, healthy, supportive little brother)

[Guest guest]

www.scdrecipe.com

this is the right url for the link to additional recipes.

and www.pecanbread.com/recipes.html

Re: Chips as reinforcers for ABA

> Hi, Liz.

>

> Our son, Dakota, went through similar issues. He navigates his world

> through his tastebuds--he licks windows, floors, hands, faces, etc. He

> would lick the table in the lunchroom trying to get crumbs from other

kids'

> lunches, sneak swipes of their mashed potatoes, etc. Some of it was more

to

> get a reaction from everyone and trying to interact rather than the

> desperate quest for illegals--which also definitely occurred.

>

> Anyway--for group ABA activities and general classroom snack times, we

sent

> tons of homemade chips. By having Dakota have snacks that he loved, the

> staff became more accepting and understanding of the diet. There are

> recipes on www.pecanbread.com/recipes.htm . Zucchini, yellow squash,

beets,

> carrots, all other squashes, pumpkin, etc. can be made into chips.

> Flavor/season to taste--salty, onion, garlic, sweet, or whatever--pumpkin

> and the orange squashes are very good as " apple " cinnamon crisps for those

> who can't eat dried fruit yet, and they are good as " honey mustard " flavor

> (olive oil, a little honey, and ground mustard seed whirled in the

blender,

> marinate squash, sprinkle with salt, bake). Crackers and other crunchy

food

> recipes can be found at www.scdrecipes.com . Dakota loves all of the

Sue's

> cracker recipes (goat/sheep cheese substitute nicely or cheese can be

> omitted altogether), and the graham crackers are a huge hit--but anything

> crunchy made a huge difference for us AND the school. Dehydrators are a

> life saver--they make everything crunchy without the fear of

> over-baking/burning things up (which I did A LOT!).

>

> Finally, our speech therapist and OT were profoundly helpful--they

scheduled

> a brief IEP meeting and explained (so I wouldn't have to) the situation.

> Fortunately (?), our school had a child with pica tendencies, and they

> implemented the same protocols that they used for pica--constant

monitoring

> (a staff member sitting beside Dakota whenever food was present),

recording

> any suspected illegal ingestion via licking, etc., and there was either a

> Swiffer or a Dust-Vac kept in the rooms that Dakota was in and where food

> consumed. I am a huge advocate of getting SCD protocols into IEPs in

order

> to give the parents/guardians recourse if noncompliance becomes an issue.

> Also, most people are more compliant if things are in writing and signed.

> But the meeting at least gave us a chance to explain the diet and to try

to

> figure out approaches to help the staff implement the diet in ways that

were

> easier for them.

>

> BTW, we were video-taping a lot when we first implemented GF/CF, and it

was

> amazing/scary to see how much Dakota was sneaking, his look of delight

when

> he got away with a huge steal (once a whole pringles snack pack can and a

> bag of cheetos), and how he was able to sneak food under his shirt as a

> stash for later in the day. The staff truly did not know this, and they

> were doing adequate monitoring, but snack time/food reward time is so

often

> a break for everyone (including the teachers), and guards are let down.

> This just shows that early on (and for some kids never) that food times

are

> when the most monitoring may be needed.

>

>

> whole family SCD 2 years

> Mom to Dakota (8--NF, BWS, CDD, and seizures)

> and (5--happy, healthy, supportive little brother)

>

>

>

>

> For information on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, please read the book

_Breaking the Vicious Cycle_ by Elaine Gottschall and read the following

websites:

> http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

> and

> http://www.pecanbread.com

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Marilyn,

Thanks for your response. We have tried different enzymes on several

occassions without success and increased seizure activity. But, which do you

use? They did wonders for others in our family, esp. my husband whose

stomach perforated twenty years ago.

You raised a very interesting point for us, though. Dakota has two

plexiform tumors, and the days that there is more swelling (resulting in

legs and part of his face and head going numb) he licks so much

more--especially when his facial plexiform swells and every time it

increases in size! I have never made the correlation before to the

numbness/tingling--also, he licks and chews way more on seizure days--is

this true for your daughter?

My hat is off to you--I am always in awe of veteran moms handling autism and

epilepsy with grace for so long. :-)

whole family SCD 2 years

Mom to Dakota (8--NF, BWS, CDD, and seizures)

and (5--happy, healthy, supportive little brother)

[Guest guest]

> Hi, Marilyn,

>

> Thanks for your response. We have tried different enzymes on several

> occassions without success and increased seizure activity. But, which do you

> use? They did wonders for others in our family, esp. my husband whose

> stomach perforated twenty years ago.

>

Could you give a non food reward for ABA? ( Small toy, gold stars or stickers

etc.?)

Carol F.

SCD 5 years, celiac

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Carol.

We use non food items primary for his rewards. Dakota is mostly

homeschooled, but he is in the school for speech, PT, OT, and work with a

reading specialist. It is the times that he is in the room for some group

oral motor therapy where they have to use food (swallowing, tongue control,

texture, etc. ) that has caused us the most problems this past year.

However, most of this has been resolved with a good IEP team that

understands.

Thanks for all your posts. They are helpful.