Autism is a multiplex neurobehavioral condition that causes an impairment in social interactions as well as developmental communication and language put together with rigid behavioral repetition (Bultas, Johnson, Burkett and Reinhold, 2016). It is a spectrum disorder due to the variety of symptoms hence the name Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Reinforcement is the process a particular behavior is strengthened by an immediate repercussion that relies on it and follows its happening (Bultas et al., 2016). Negative reinforcement comes about when an entity that was once present is taken away as a result of a specific behavior. The behavior that resulted to the removal will tend to increase since it created an outcome that is favorable. Many at times in negative reinforcement, the stimulus is usually an establishing operation (EO) for evasiveness. Using rain as an example to understand what negative reinforcement means, one tends to remove an umbrella or a covering material to avoid getting rained on. In such a case, the rain now is the (EO), meaning that it is a stimulus that an individual avoids. The process of avoiding the rain is the reinforce since it makes your tendency or behavior of removing the covering material more likely. Positive reinforcement is a condition that is brought about as a result of adding something to behavior after engaging in that behavior (Bultas et al., 2016). It is therefore difficult for it to occur. An example may include when a child asks for some soda and fails to get the drink, even after engaging in the behavior of asking for it. Positive reinforcement here does not occur since he does not get the soda

Motivating operations are those factors that alter and change the properties of reinforcement of a stimulus. It is a condition that has a value adjusting effect as well as the behavior-altering impact. They tend to make a stimulus more or less wanted in a particular setting (Bultas et al., 2016)An example may include feeling thirsty after eating. The thirst motivates an individual to drink water. The food taken is the reinforcer while the establishing operation is the salt in the food that brings about thirst.

The use of various assessment methods can identify potential reinforcers. They include direct observation assessments, indirect assessments and preference assessments among others. These assessments help to identify the stimuli to use. Examples of potential reinforcers may consist of tangibles like toys, edibles like food, sensory like tickles, etc (Bultas et al., 2016)

Schedules of reinforcement refer to the set of guidelines that an instructor uses to deliver the reinforcers. These schedules are applied with the aim of teaching and maintaining skills (Bultas et al., 2016) Examples of schedule of reinforcements include continuous reinforcement (CRF) , Intermittent schedule continuous reinforcement and EXT.

References

Bultas, M. W., Johnson, N. L., Burkett, K., & Reinhold, J. (2016). Translating research to practice for children with autism spectrum disorder: Part 2: Behavior management in home and health care settings. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 30(1), 27-37.

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