The notes are by the parents, Megan and Jim Sumlin (pseudonyms), who feel strongly that this information should be freely available to all who might benefit from it. They ask only that these drills belong in the public domain, and are not to be claimed or copywritten by any person who is or will in the future be seeking monetary gain for wide distribution of same. Feel free to re-distribute this document, but please include this entire preface.
These notes are just one part of a comprehensive program guided by a behavior analyst; there were other parts of the total program, not included here, that were necessary to the child's development and eventual recovery. They are specific to one individual child. Use them as a resource to help you plan your child or student's curriculum. What works for one child will not work for all. While much of the material here addresses problems common to many or most children with an autism spectrum disorder, you will want to select carefully based on individual needs, learning style, and personality.
A few notes on terminology:
- SD stands for "discriminative stimulus," the instruction given to the child.
- R is the child's (expected) response.
- NNP ('no-no-prompt') is one specific technique for presenting the "SD," then prompting (providing the "R") if the child responds incorrectly.
- T.O. is "time out," a (brief) removal of all reinforcement (the child must sit and do nothing). This is meant to reduce certain unwanted behaviors but it has no moral or emotional overtones; it is not a punishment for "being bad."
- Reinforcement is a reward for a correct response, which may be anything the child loves: a bit of chocolate, a piggy-back ride, an enthusiastic "You're so great!"
Proper reinforcement is the key to learning. Much more common in these notes is DRO, which stands for "differential reinforcement of other behavior." In addition to reinforcement for "getting the right answer," the child was frequently praised for unprompted appropriate behaviors (in place of undesirable, 'stereotypical' behaviors). For example, when playing with dolls, the therapist may say, "I'm glad you're not banging the characters together," or as the notes say in many places, "DRO'd flexibility"--unprompted spontenaity. Remembering to "catch 'em being good" takes a lot of practice, but it is essential to the development of a truly natural repertoire of age-appropriate skills.
[ Animal pretend | Appropriate play | Listen to a conversation I | Listen to a conversation II | Listen to a conversation III | Listen to a story I | Listen to a story II | Listen to a story III | Parallel play | Play with narration | Pretend | Therapist and parent notes ]
See also: Sumlin Program Notes and Sumlin Social Stories and a personal statement on overcoming autism
This excerpt is from http://members.tripod.com/~RSaffran.
