New to this and could use some help with what to use for reinforcers for ABA

August 13, 2007

Hello to All,

I am so gad that this group exists!

We are about to start SCD with our 5-year-old ASD son, who has been

GFCF for 2 years and SF for one year. He initially had great

improvements in his stool when we removed these foods and then with the

addition of digestive enzymes, but it always goes back to being slop

with chunks of undigested food.

We are hoping to erradiacate what we believe to be the source of these

problems and heal his little gut by starting this diet! We are

fortunate in that he loves all meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables

already (although not cooked; that will be what we need to work on!)

Yesterday, we refrained from giving him snacks/cereals containing corn,

rice, or potatoes and anything with sugar. He had a watery stool for

the first time in months and ended up being awake from 1:00 AM to 6:30

AM laughing and jumping, etc. He is usually a TERRIFIC sleeper. I

think we have die-off already, and we have not even officially started

this thing! I am planning to continue to avoid these foods until we

have everything in place to start the " official " intro diet. (which I

want to do ASAP because he starts back to school in 3 weeks and I hope

for him to be over the REALLY ugly stuff by that time).

Anyway, he has 18 hours of ABA(verbal behavior)/week and is talking

more than ever but is only currently motivated by FOOD. Is there

anything I could use for reinforcers at the beginning stages of this or

at least something that MIGHT NOT BE AS BAD as something else?

He would work for blueberries or pieces of raw apple or raisins, but I

know he should not have these right now. He might work for Gerber dried

apples (for babies) that melt in your mouth. Could they possibly be

acceptable?

Any advice would be appreciated. NOTHING motivates him but food: no

toys, objects, movies...nothing.

Thank you for your time and support.

M.S., Mom to Nick age 5 ASD

August 13, 2007

Welcome, M.S.!

So glad you are already seeing results as you gear up. Dried fruits

and fruits with seeds and skin would not be good things to start out

with. If you cannot start with the intro diet and then move on

adding one food at a time, peeling, deseeding, and cooking all fruits

(except banana and avocado) and vegetables well (this brings the best

results), then of the food items you mentioned the peeled raw apple

slices would be the most digestible.

Coule you use banana circles and slices of avocado. These are not

Intro Diet foods, but can be introduced soon after.

I searched old posts for ABA ideas. None of the food ones I found

are suitable for the SCD Intro Diet, but a couple would be suitable

soon after. The intro diet lasts about 2 days.

Here are the ideas I found.

from Audrey:

" ice cream " in the Healing Tummies cookbook

from Jzin:

as snacks:

what about homemade juiced raw carrots

put in fancy cups with straws

or pureed veggies such as butternut squash

drink thru a straw calling it " juice " or some fancy name

that banana/egg pancake may be yummy

may package some homemade food in Mcs/commercial

containers?

sorry I don't have many suggestions

my son uses the weirdest things as " snacks " or ABA reinforcers:

lamb riblets, spoonfuls of halved avocado

cup o broth, meats chopped small, boiled peas in a paper rolled cone,

banana peeled, chicken drummettes (small drumsticks) etc

from Antoinette:

as for reinforcer

ideas......how a bout stickers (unlickable ones since they are not

SCD safe) holding one another, hugging, laughing together and loving

one another! Learning how to live again and enjoy one another's

company at family outings! IT works as a great reinforcer!

from Debbie (This has become a very popular send-to-school snack.):

My son wouldn't eat the sneaky veggie pancakes, but I found a good

way to get him to eat the squash and egg. I take a large cooked

acorn squash and put the squash and two eggs in the blender with a

tablespoon of honey and a dash of cinnamon (these could be

optional). I blend it until it is smooth. I put a tsp. of this into

a mini muffin pan. I just bought 2 " 24 " muffin pans for cheap at

Target and I already had one, so I make more than one batch and

freeze some to last us through the week. One batch usually makes

about 60 little " squash buttons " as we call them at our house. I

bake them at 300 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. I usually look

for them to be browning a little and pulling away from the sides of

the pan. You could probably fill the cups a little fuller, but then

they are softer and mushier in the middle. The way I do it they come

out like flat little buttons, and they aren't too eggy or soft which

he would not eat. He eats them cold or I toast them in my toaster

oven. These are great finger food snacks I send to school with him

also. They could be made with butternut squash too. I am planning

on trying to make little spinach ones also, I'm not sure if he will

eat them since they will be green, but I'm going to try. We haven't

started with the nutbutters or nut flours, so I am trying to find

ways to give him the bread type things in other ways. Hope this

might be an option for you.

I hope you get more ideas from other list members.

mom to -12

SCD 4/23/004

August 13, 2007

Ripe(raw) banana is a very common first food after the intro diet is over.

Perhaps he would take pieces of that as a reward? The Gerber dried apple snacks

are not allowed. We call it illegal if it is not an allowed SCD food. Yes, I

do believe you're already seeing die off simply from the removal of those

grains. New to this and could use some help with what to use

for reinforcers for ABA