By Jenna Garvey, M. There is a fundamental step for teaching any child new skills while preventing problematic behavior. It is establishing what is called instructional control. In its simplest form, instructional control means the child listens to you because you have established a good working relationship with him. When done right, he readily approaches you, willing and eager to learn, and excited to take part in learning opportunities.
Because he knows that if he cooperates with you, he will be able to get things he wants. The idea of instructional control is well established in the field of applied behavior analysis. It is particularly important when working with a child with autism because: 1 the child may engage in problematic behavior, and 2 quality instruction is vital to addressing deficits in language and academics.
Show your child you are in control of the items and activities he wants to access. This is essential. You hold the key to fun! Establish yourself as fun! Let the child come to you on his terms, because he wants to take part in a fun interaction with you.
Follow through. Your actions should be predictable. This also means if you ask a child to do something, you may have to prompt him to complete an action. Show your child that following your directions will benefit him.
Start with easy-to-follow directions. In the beginning, provide reinforcement for every positive response. Eventually, though, reduce the amount of reinforcement. Use it carefully for harder tasks. When starting out, give lots of reinforcement to establish rapport. Demonstrate that engaging in undesirable behaviors will not result in reinforcement. The goal is to provide the child with access to things he cares about when he engages in appropriate behavior.
