Reinforcements in Therapy
Video Summary
Dr. Fein describes the importance of understanding patterns of reward and reinforcement when working with a child with ASD. Rewarding appropriate behaviors, while reducing the reward of some inappropraite behaviors, such as stereotypies, is a central principle of Applied Behavior Analysis, an empirically supported treatment for ASD.
"Reinforcement is important for all of us, but especially with children on the spectrum, because you're competing with things that are very reinforcing to them, like repetitive self stimulatory behavior."
— Deborah Fein PhD