Sasha explains how adults unintentionally reinforce problem behaviors through how they set expectations, deliver consequences, and react. Write down three ways you've accidentally reinforced a behavior, like laughing at a tantrum or giving a break after a negative act, then share with your team to build self-awareness.
Instagram and Facebook. So I am sharing number 5 of my 10 quick wins. I'm behind my schedule. I was supposed to be on number 6 today. I was supposed to do one earlier this week and I forgot. Actually, no, I kind of felt kind of sick, but I feel better now. So number 5 is a good one. Number 5 of my 10 quick wins for behavior change is: are you part of the problem? And let me tell you, my name is Sasha and I'm a problem behavior causer. And so are you. We are part of our kids' environment. We are part of their— the way expectations are laid out. We are part of how they receive reinforcement and consequences. How we react and respond to behavior, how we set up expectations impacts behavior. So we might be proba— part of the problem. And sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow because Raise your hand if you're like me. I really don't like being wrong. Like, I don't. And so it almost feels like you're wrong if you're part of the problem, but you're not wrong if you're part of the problem. You're wrong if you don't think you're part of the problem. You want to identify or acknowledge your role in the increase or the consistency or the fact that a problem behavior is still here. What role do you play? How do you respond when a problem behavior happens? How are you laying expectations? How are you warning of changes? How are you clarifying that reinforcement is coming? All of that is in your control. The quote that I say over and over again in my full-day behavior sessions is, "The only behavior you have complete control of is your own." And it sounds so cheesy, but it's true. Behavior change, like your student's behavior change, really starts with you. So you are in control of how you respond, how you react, how you set up expectations. And it's really the step before that to figure out where you need to change the way your behaviors are set. Because at some point you may be unintentionally, right? No one is going and waking up on a Monday morning, getting a venti coffee and be like, you know what, I'm gonna stir some stuff up today. I'm gonna cause some problem behaviors. No, no one is doing that. But you might unintentionally be causing problem behaviors, be causing increases in problem behaviors. So this is something— this is a big one you want to talk about with your team because it might not be you. It could be someone on your team. It could be someone in your family if you're a parent. So you want to get everyone on the same page with, hey, we're part of our kids' environment and what we do impacts their behavior. So let's look at what our behaviors are doing that are impacting how our kids' behaviors are going on. So my action step here was to write down 3 ways you have unintentionally reinforced a problem behavior. If you're a parent, you could quickly do this with your own kid. I mean, like, every time, you know, we laugh at our toddler when they say a bad word— like, I mean, come on, every parent has been there, right? They say something bad or naughty and we laugh. I mean, the other day, you guys, this is so bad, my 2-year-old, almost 2-year-old, was throwing the most hilarious tantrum and I took a picture of it. Like, what a— what parent does that? But it was so funny, like, and I'm reinforcing it, right? So whether it's intentional or unintentional, this is like the first step in the process is to think about where, where your role lies and where you have caused a problem behavior. So this might be a really great activity to do with your team if you're a teacher. Sit down with your paras, talk about how we are part of our kids' environment, how we lay expectations, how we request for things, how we give demands, how we respond, how we react, how we reinforce. All of that is going to cause changes in our kids' behavior. And to identify like, hey, let's each name 3 ways right now that we've unintentionally caused an increase in a problem behavior. By, you know, if you've actually, you know, if you've reprimanded too much or if you gave a break after a negative behavior. Oh man, now that negative behavior keeps happening. So it's nice to kind of make that the culture of your team that, hey, we're all gonna identify something that we've done because we've all done this, right? And we're gonna continue to do this, but what we want to do now is to identify that so we can change it. This can make such a difference in your whole approach to behavior change, in your whole approach to behavior change, in your classroom management plans or individual behavior plans. So I'd really highly recommend this. Oh my gosh, Jen just said her principal shared this handout with the entire school. I love that so much. That's kind of what I envisioned on this. So my 10 Quick Wins are coming from my new free handout. It's 3 pages, super simple, 10 quick wins for behavior change, all ABA-based strategies but explained in super user-friendly, easy-to-understand language. And a lot of these— I mean, really all these— can be used in any setting: in gen ed, in special ed, in gym class, in the cafeteria. And this is a nice, like, non-offensive way to start to get your school on the same page when it comes to looking at behavior. These are mostly proactive, antecedent-based interventions that look at preventing problem behavior before they happen. And this is a nice way to kind of get your team on the same page with that and start talking about strategies in a way that's easy to understand. So if you want to check out the rest of the 9 strategies— I just shared one today— Head over to theautismhelper.com/10wins, it's one zero wins, to download this for free. And also, could you check back to the last few Facebook Lives I've done? I've done little quick ones on the first four, no, the first five, and I'll be popping in here tomorrow to do number six, which is a fun one, non-traditional reinforcers. I know you guys are gonna have a lot of good input on that one. So I'll see you tomorrow to chat about that one.
