Key Points
Positive reinforcement is an evidence-based intervention for children with autism.
Positive reinforcement is based on the association of a positive result with the desired behavior.
Consistency and immediacy are essential to associate positive results with the desired behavior.
When implementing positive reinforcement, people-centered intentions are central.
Positive reinforcement is a technique that we use intuitively on a daily basis. Usually, we don’t think about it too much or label it as a behavioral strategy. The encouragement of our loved ones (and ourselves) sometimes lifts us up when we are making progress towards our goals or choosing actions that we value, and the positive reinforcement affirms our efforts to celebrate our small and big victories and cultivate our self-esteem and our experiences of social acceptance. Positive reinforcement strengthens our beliefs related to our abilities.
A positive reinforcement is a team lunch celebrating the completion of a work project, a smile of gratitude for a loved one’s kind gesture or an expression of admiration. According to behaviorists, positive reinforcement affects the contingencies of our environment that shape our behavior, adding weight to the experience of positive results.
Positive reinforcement is considered a strategy in itself, but it is also at the heart of evidence-based interventions for children with autism (Wong et al., 2015). Well-known strategies related to reinforcement include differential reinforcement (“learners are improved for desirable behavior and inappropriate behavior is ignored”), discrete trial training (“individual pedagogical approaches used to teach skills in a planned, controlled and systematic way”), or basic response training (“naturalistic approaches based on the principles of applied behavioral analysis (ABA)”). “Intervention” is included… The EPR is based on the initiatives and interests of the learners”) (Wong et al., 2015). Positive reinforcement has proven to be an effective strategy for teaching social skills, joint attention and academic skills., 2011).
Positive reinforcement is based on the association of a positive result with the desired behavior. Rewards can be carried out in several ways, such as using checklists, graphs, tokens or reward objects or activities that follow the desired behavior. Consistency and immediacy are essential to create a link between a positive result and a desired action.
When implementing positive reinforcement, people-centered intentions are central. Advocates warn us against cases of misused behavioral interventions within the autistic community.For example, forcing people to adhere to a neural-type code of conduct (by eliminating weight loss behaviors or imposing eye contact); or behavioral interventions that do not sufficiently take into account people’s emotional experiences or internal mental state. Fortunately, self-determination is increasingly at the heart of laws that protect the rights of people with special needs, and person-centered goal planning is a central element of support design, regardless of the context (Australian Government, 2005).
Positive reinforcement in action
To clarify where to focus positive reinforcement, I personally keep a brief data diary on the difficult behaviors that occur for my toddlers, and research shows that smart goals (concrete, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) are particularly useful to increase the likelihood of achieving results (Locke and Latham, 2002). Once my children and I have defined the goals we want to work on, the visual checklist gathers data on our progress towards the ones I préfère.La visual checklist allows my grandchildren to feel included in the process of monitoring behavior and coordinating goals.
Apply positive reinforcement to your own journey towards your goals or use it as part of your parenting repertoire to support your child’s goals.