by David
(Huntsville, AL)
Hello. My name is David and I am an ABA therapist/Clinic Administrator for an ABA clinic. We have a very verbal, high functioning 4 year old boy that has been with us for about 2 months. His main behavioral issues include: upon task demand, falling to the floor, replying with power struggle responses, "No, I don't know that one"!, etc.. We have tried many reward systems, token economy, time out, blocking him in his chair, etc.. It appears that he is having a genuinely hard time learning that he must do his tasks along with having free time and receiving tangible or social reinforcement. Usually he will fall to the floor and whimper, and then is taken to timeout where he has to comply with at least 3 simple expressive SD's. This can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 and a half hours. Do you have any advice on a new technique that could be used for his behavior? He is a VERY intelligent 4 year old, which as I'm sure you know, can make things even harder. :)