Autism Jargon: DRA

Shannon gives you a definition for DRA (Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior) that you can understand!

[elizabethhita-ledezma]

I am a teacher studying to become a BCBA. You help explain what Cooper, Heron, and Heward write so clearly. Thank you for all your wonderful videos :)

[meganrodriguez]

I am trying to get my RBT certification and you're channel is such a helpful study tool! Thank you for posting!

[AutismJourney_BeKind]

Hi Autism Live! I love all your videos! I was wondering if there is an Autism Jargon for DRL- differential reinforcement of low rates. Thank you so much for all that you do ❤️😀

[marissamontalbo]

I absolutely love watching your videos :) so much real personality! Learning so much thanks for breaking it down!

[ambermusic]

This is so helpful for a lot of our teachers! Appreciate you!!

[elaha]

I love your sense of humour, it's so nice and yet so true what your saying 😄👌 I appreciate your work, it's very helpful! When I talk to my kid, telling him what he wasn't suppose to do etc. he would at certain point laugh, me of course getting more angry, but I'm sure that that's how I have sounded to him just like you have mentioned😅...

[johannashear]

Thank you thank you thank you. Also studying for RBT exam (with no lecture component, basically teaching myself off of quizlet definitions....). I have to laugh when you say that individually you understand all of these words but together WHAAATT!!
This is me. Your videos have helped me a lot. Thank you again

[deborarodriguez]

SUCH A SIMPLE HELPFUL EXPLENATION THANKS

[alexmcglade]

Sometimes a child's response can be because they are in pain or really uncomfortable. To some Autistic children with hypersensitivities what could be really painful to them may not be painful to others. Non Autistic carers may not understand the child's perception of something. A jumper that doesn't bother anyone else or may just feel slightly itchy may feel to the child, like they are wearing a jumper made from needles. If it feels so uncomfortable that it's painful to them can you really expect them to ask calmly and politely if they can take it off because it is actually hurting them? They're going to scream and rip it off and who can blame them ?. If they are in pain they will probably be struggling to make sense out of anything, so they are hardly going to be able to give 'the appropriate response ' to stop what they find unpleasant . Before using any kind of reinforcement on an Autistic child is it not best to try to understand how stimuli is affecting them from their sensory perception? If you don't you could well be trying to extinguish behaviours that are a natural response to the child's pain when you don't feel pain in the same way and coming from the same situation.

[aixarodriguez]

If you have a client who spends all day crying for his favorite toyand bitting his mother, will you recommend DRA or DRO to change the Behavior??

[shealynn]

Thank you thank you thank you sooo much 👌🏻

[sercejez]

What is the difference between ABA and DRA?

[vcampos]

I believe you forgot to cover how Extinction (for the problem behavior) is also required (as defined by Cooper, Heron, and Heward), in order for reinforcement to be effective.

[Neilgs]

Sorry with respect to any child, it is NOT the "paycheck he gets for the behavior" (and you the clinician understanding what purpose/function the behavior is serving) but rather if you had a wee bit more of a biopsychosocial view, you would look NOT on the surface (i.e. "What is the child getting") but rather what does the child feel? Anxious and overwhelmed? Is his/her polyvagal system (autonomic functioning, sympathetic/parasympathetic) in a state of Fight or Flight? etc. So then it becomes a matter of going to that child's level and understanding, how, shall we say, a bit more empathically. to make affect-gestural and/or verbal reciprocity more available for that child. From an Functional-Emotional Developmental evidenced based treatment perspective this involves going to the child's level and attempting to calm/soothe and make co-regulated regulated social-emotional engagement more comfortable for that child.

Thus, instead of an ALL or Nothing or some combination thereof of an amygdala reaction, we help cultivate more executive functioning (affect gestural reciprocity and verbal communication) by honoring, respecting, attributing purpose and meaning to the child's "behaviors" by engaging him. This involves as adults utilizing our own "mirror neuron system" (Theory of Mind), which among other things involves deepening reciprocal attachment and attunement in order to help cultivate for that child feelings of internal safety and calm which, in turn, help create an authentic foundation for back and forth reciprocal engagement, ideation and social pragmatic language. The latter is in contrast to the horrendous superficial understanding of "motivating operations" and implementing various antecedent interventions to effect positive behavioral outcomes, which in reality is not addressing ANYTHING beneath the surface nor cultivating true integrated functional emotional development nor the foundation of healthy autonomy.