Tammi Reynolds Expert Guru

Tammi Reynolds is a freelance writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After completing her BA in English from Allegheny College, Tammi began filling a number of different positions ranging from restaurant manager to high school teacher. During her career in the restaurant business, she had the unique opportunity to work with an autistic adult. This individual inspired Tammi to enter the field of working with children diagnosed within the autism spectrum of disorders. Her work with this population has been one of the most profound sources of inspiration not only in her writing but in nearly every other aspect of her life. Her first book about autism, "Working With Special Needs Children" was released in March, 2007. Her work can be found on Mental Help.net.

Testimonial

Philosophy

Use this form to post feedback to this guru.

Channel Experience

 Food/Drink
 Home/Garden
 Internet/Web
 Hobbies/Pets
 Kids/Games
 Green/Living
 Health/Wellness
 Exercise/Fitness
 Family/Safety
 Style/Fashion
 Travel/Cities
 Careers/Jobs
 Money/Investing
 Wheels/Auto
 Holiday/Observances
 Relationship/Love
 Education/Training

Career Experience

 Web Writer

Project Experience

 Articles
 Book
 Brochures

Industry Experience

 Hospitality
 Educational
 Fashion
 Money
 Non Profit
 Publishing

Most writers at LifeTips—or Gurus we call them—are available for writing assignments, special projects, or interviews with the press. Please describe exactly what you’re looking for, and an Agent will get back to you within hours.

Name: Phone: Email: Project Description:
	If you have difficulty identifying the words, click the button.

Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a treatment for autism that has deep roots within the discipline of Behaviorist Psychology. The techniques used within this theory use specific behavioral principals that are designed to shape the student’s behavior.

The fundamental idea behind ABA is the concept of breaking down tasks into small steps, slowly introducing each step and rewarding the student as each step is mastered. The behaviorist approach to the treatment of autism has yielded very good results but it is crucial that the autism therapy is structured and consistent. The child will benefit from knowing what to expect.

The student typically masters some steps in the task quite easily while others may take months or even years to master. The ABA approach is an effective treatment for autism because the child builds on what he has learned as he is introduced to each successive step.

Order and repetition have proved to be very helpful in the treatment of autism. Encouraging desired behavior through rewards (or positive reinforcement) has proved to motivate students with autistic disorder.

Signs of Autism

The symptoms of autism fall within three main categories: social interaction, communication and behavior. Parents of children with autistic disorder often notice that the children do not respond to their names. They do not gesture and they do not point to objects. Most of the children within the autism spectrum of disorders also engaged in repetitive movements like hand flapping or spinning.

Common signs of autism in the social interaction realm include:
• Lack of eye contact
• Does not notice other people
• Does not respond to his name
• Lacks empathy
• Unrealistic fears
• Difficulty making transitions
• Unable to take another person’s perspective

Common signs of autism in the communication realm include:
• Does not point to objects
• Does not use gestures
• Uses few words or no words at all
• Does not respond to other people’s words and gestures
• Unable to process nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language

Common signs of autism in the behavioral realm include:
• Repetitive stereotyped movements (hand-flapping, spinning, rocking…)
• Obsessive need for order and routine
• Has tantrums
• Unusual reactions to pain, either unresponsive or over reacting
• Perseverates on words, phrases and activities
• Preoccupation with certain activities

Discrete Trial

One of the most popular components in applied behavioral analysis is discrete trial. This treatment for autism uses cause-and-effect learning as well as scaffolding. Tasks are broken down into their most fundamental elements. The child is introduced to each element from easiest to complex throughout a progression of drills.

The program uses a lot of repetition. The student has two independent chances to make a correct response. If he is unable to give the desired response, the therapist prompts him and repeats the command. The student learns that there is a definite routine that has an identifiable beginning, middle and end through the discrete trial drills.

Discrete trial also uses consistent rewards for each and every desired response that the autistic individual provides. Positive reinforcement is very important in the process. It helps the student understand when he has given a correct response. This treatment for autism focuses on the positive and negates undesired behavior.

Since discrete trial keeps the child focused on a small amount of information during each drill, it is ideal for autism therapy. The student can pay attention to the specific command. He develops an understanding that he is supposed to give a response and he learns that there are consequences for that response.

Early Signs of Autism

Many children who have autistic disorder are not diagnosed until they are at least 18 months in age. Some are diagnosed as late as three years of age. The signs of autism are usually difficult to detect during infancy. Following are early signs of autism that may be prevalent before the age of 24 months.

Common symptoms of autistic disorder include:
• Does not smile by the age of six months
• Does not respond to his name
• Does not cry
• Does not babble or use gestures by 12 months
• Does not point to objects by 12 months
• Does not use words by 16 months
• Does not use two-word phrases by 24 months
• Regresses after mastering skills/loses previously mastered skills
• Delays in milestones like crawling and walking

Positive Reinforcement

Since communication is such a significant problem in the treatment of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, therapists use positive reinforcement to help their students understand which behaviors to exhibit. Positive reinforcement is simply rewards. There are a few key components to successfully use rewards as motivators in the treatment of autistic disorder.

The positive reinforcement needs to be meaningful to the student. The therapist may love chocolate but if the student is indifferent to the treat it does little or no good. The child has to be motivated enough to want to complete a task in order to get his reward. Using powerful motivators in the treatment of autism helps to keep the child focused on the task and it helps to shape desired behavior.

The student needs to make a concrete connection between his actions and the positive reinforcement so it is crucial that the reward is given immediately following the desired behavior. The child needs to make a connection between his behavior and the consequence.

During the initial stages of ABA and discrete trial positive reinforcement needs to be used consistently and frequently. The reward should be concrete as well so many therapists use treats. The child’s favorite candy is commonly used because it can be delivered immediately and it is tangible.

Defining Autism

Defining autism is a difficult task. The condition is a neurological disorder that has significant ramifications on the individual’s ability to interact socially and communicate with other people. Autism is the most recognizable of the five pervasive developmental disorders.

In order for an individual to be diagnosed with autism, he has to meet certain criteria defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). The individual must display a combination of symptoms from three categories outlined in the DSM IV; social interaction, communication and behavior.

Classic traits of autistic disorder include impaired social interaction, lack of eye contact and lack of empathy. Many individuals who have autism never develop language and when they do, it is often restricted. Stereotyped, repetitive movements and preoccupation with certain activities or objects are also indicative to the autism spectrum of disorders.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is not exactly the opposite of positive reinforcement as one would expect. This strategy in the treatment of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders uses undesired objects or activities as a shaping tool for behavior. Basically, the objectionable object is removed or the child no longer has to engage in the undesirable activity.

For example, a therapist is working with an autistic child with the specific goal of teaching him to sign “all done.� This student hates coloring. The approach of using negative reinforcement would use coloring as a tool for learning. The child is introduced to the task that he dislikes and the therapist prompts him to sign “all done� and once the child does the task is quickly taken away.

In this example the target is not the activity of coloring. The target is the communication sign “all done.� The task of coloring is used as negative reinforcement in order to motivate the child to indicate that he no longer wants to participate in the activity.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) are categorized by social and communication deficits as well as behavioral traits. Many people refer to this group as the autism spectrum of disorders. However, a person who has autism has a PDD. A person can have a pervasive developmental disorder and not have autism.

The commonly recognized symptoms of pervasive developmental disorders include social interaction deficits. Individuals who fall within a diagnosis of PDD often have great difficulty interacting with others. They avoid contact with other people and they seem to lack empathy for others.

This spectrum of disorders includes deficits in the acquisition of language skills. The individuals who have PDD often have great difficulty using and understanding words, body language, facial expressions and gestures.

Common behavior traits of individuals who have pervasive developmental disorders include repetitive movements like rocking, hand-flapping and spinning. Many of these individuals are rigid when it comes to everyday activities and they seem obsessed with routine and order.

Pervasive developmental disorders include five different types that vary in symptoms and severity.

PECS

Individuals who have a diagnosis within the autism spectrum of disorders typically have great difficulty with communication. They have trouble processing language and they have trouble using language to express wants and needs. On the other hand, autistic individuals are very visual. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an intricate teaching tool that uses pictures to help individual with autism or other communicative disorders communicate.

The pictures used in PECS are commonly printed and laminated on two-inch by two-inch cards. This teaching tool is very helpful as a means of communication. The process of using PECS is a little complex. There are six deliberate steps that this treatment for autism uses in order to help the child understand the concept behind the pictures.

The six phases of PECS are systematic. As with many of the treatments for autism, this approach uses small steps to reach a specific goal and each phase must be presented in order to maximize the benefits of the program. As the child masters one phase he is introduced to the next successive step.

Using pictures to facilitate communication has yielded great success in the treatment for autism and related pervasive developmental disorders. The ability to communicate effectively is one of the major obstacles that individuals with autism face.

The Five Pervasive Developmental Disorders

There are five pervasive developmental disorders. Each disorder is considered a spectrum disorder so the severity of the symptoms ranges from mild to severe. Each of the pervasive developmental disorders is defined by the DSM IV.

PDD-NOS is pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. This diagnosis covers all cases that involve individuals who show some symptoms of PDD but who fail to fall into one specific category. The diagnosis of PDD-NOS also involves unusual cases as well.

Autism is the most recognized of the pervasive developmental disorders and it involves a combination of social, communication and behavioral problems that interfere with the individual’s ability to navigate through everyday situations. Autistic disorder ranges in severity from very mild to profound.

Asperger’s syndrome is unique among the pervasive developmental disorders because these individuals do not show deficits in language acquisition. The social impairments are apparent in Asperger’s disorder and these individuals exhibit stereotyped, repetitive movements as well as a need for order.

Rett’s disorder is commonly found in females. Males who have the disorder do not survive long past birth. Individuals who have Rhett’s disorder develop normally until the ages between five and 24 months of age. The child loses skills including hand coordination and language skills and continues to regress from there.

Childhood disintegrative disorder appears between two and 10 years of age. The child suddenly loses social, communication and motor skills with little or no warning. Childhood disintegrative disorder is the rarest of the five PDDs.