Motivation is Key!

Very often, we ask the question, "How to we encourage learning?"

Thus for this post, I shall discuss with you the key to encouragement of learning - Motivation.

The Rationale Behind Motivation .

We all are motivated in one way or another to fulfill our duties in life. We work for a salary. We complete our assignment on time to score a good grade. We go back to school for higher learning to achieve better career opportunities. We work through the hours, waiting for time to knock off. Everyday we are motivated by different kinds of reinforcements to keep us working or fulfilling our duties no matter who we are.

The token system is one of the most common form of reward structures that is being used by professionals and parents. Actually, everyone uses it in one way or another. The token system may exist in our daily life in more abstract forms. For example, we work to earn money and the salary we accumulate can then be spent on things we like or want.

Why the token system?
1) Children need to know what they are working for. Many children with autism who have no understanding of time will need more concrete information on when and how they will be able to get what they want.

2) The token system also facilitates the learning of rules. Following rules is another abstract concept. It cannot be seen, felt or touched. It is a concept that many people fail or refuse to follow if there exists no consequences. There has to be motivation in order for rules to be followed. For example to win a game and feel good about yourself or to win a prize, you will have to follow the rules of the game you are playing. So to feel happy getting what he has requested for, the child needs to follow the rules by earning all the tokens first.

3) Teaches delaying of gratification. Very often we are faced with children who simply can't wait. It is not that they can't, but because they refuse to. Impatience is a reaction to a situation in which you cannot get what you want when you want it. And patience is not an innate virtue we are all born with. Instead, patience is a behaviour we learn, practice and maintain throughout our lifespan. Teaching your child to be patient is key if you want your child to do well in all aspects of his or her life. In an upcoming post, I am going to discuss how a reward structure can facilitate teaching patience.

4) Encourages your child to think. In a previous post, we talk about how making choices encourages your child to think. If you have missed that post or need to refresh your memory, click here. Also It encourages flexible thinking.  As the child get familiarized with the token system and how it functions, the adults can tweak the system around to help the child accommodate different forms of reward structures. We will be talking more about reward structures in the upcoming post.

So be sure to visit this blog real soon as I will be discussing the various form of token systems and reward structures that you could use to help motivate your child.

Till then, if you have any queries or comment, please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.
Also, please do visit my website to find out the services I provide.

Deepest regards,
Daven

How Experience is a Splendid Thing!

How do we let a child know what a dog looks like? Well, by showing him a dog and by telling him that what he is looking at is a dog! However, children with autism may have difficulty accommodating the fact that dogs look differently or that there are many different kinds of dogs.  Showing the child pictures of different dogs may aid in accommodation of the idea that there are more kinds than that one dog he had been exposed to. Thus this brings us back to the importance of categorization- when teaching a child to categorize the different kinds of dogs (for example, big dogs vs small dogs or dogs of different breeds) facilitates the gathering and locking in mentally of information regarding dogs. 

As discussed in the previous post about choice making, information is crucial in the process of choosing. Not just children with autism or other special needs but all children and all adults – everyone – have to rely on their past experiences to retrieve what they know and like about something in order to choose what they prefer. 

Of course, it may be so much easier to make a choice when presenting the items in front of the child. However, the purpose of not presenting the items - if you remember from the previous post – is to encourage thinking. Furthermore, at times it is difficult to present the selection available or allowed within sight due to several reasons such as it is impractical to bring out the items from the pantry and playroom and line them up in front of a child whenever a choice has to be made. Furthermore we want to teach the child to initiate thinking and communication. Yes, a child may get tempted to try a piece of tasty looking candy or she may get excited over a cause and effect toy being demonstrated in front of her. But the real world is a place that, most of the time, demands people to rely on their past experiences to initiate choice making.  

Also, a child’s ability to make use of more complex language in making choices depends on their degree of exposure to various experiences. Think the difference between “I want biscuit” versus “I want to eat chocolate biscuit” or “I want ball” versus “I want to play basketball”.  Thus this leads us to the following formula – 

Experience →Thinking → Choice (motivation) → Language (Communication)

Simply put, positive experiences motivates a child to think on how to get the preferred item or activity that he wants and language is the common tool used to achieve that goal. In other words, experiences that are meaningful play a huge role in eliciting communication from a child whether he is verbal or nonverbal (understanding the fact that nonverbal children always have other options of communication available to them). 

There are so many reasons why we must conscientiously, purposefully and constantly expose our children to various new experiences. The above examples are just a few. It is time we as adults take more responsibilty and action in engaging our children with activities and information we often take for granted as we were growing up neurotypically. We must also not forget that taking time out to enagage our children with activities that create positive experiences helps in the cultivation of positive relationships between the adults and the children. Surely positive relationship is another key to increased positive behaviour towards learning!

If you like what you have read today, please help spread the words around. And please do bookmark this blog and come visit regularly for teaching and autism based content. Also, do not hesitate to email me with any feedbacks or questions. I will also be adding more contents to my website. However for now, you may still want to visit it to find out more about the services that I provide.

Till the next post, I wish you and your children all the best. :)

Encourage Thinking Through Making Choices

This post, I have decided to look at how making choices in our daily lives facilitates thinking and how allowing children to make informed choices about what they enjoy or desire might encourage thinking. 

However, first we have to understand why we think. We think because the result or outcome is meaningful to us. As we get older, the opportunities for us to think increase. We no longer and should not rely on our parents to think for us. To be independent, we have to initiate thinking.

So, how do we encourage thinking? We could do so through everyday events and activities. For example, during art and craft, instead of listing out the things that you want the child to draw, read out a scenerio for the child to think of what could be drawn. For example, instead of saying to the child, "Draw a sun, a boy and a dog", we could say, "It is a sunny day. A boy is bringing his dog out for a walk in the park".  Instead of telling the child what colours to give to the pictures, ask the child to choose what he or she wants the colours to be. It doesn't matter if the sun is green or the trees are black. It is about being encouraged to taking the initiative to make a choice on his or her own.

Thus, making choices is a great avenue to encourage thinking. Life is all about choices -what to eat, what movies to watch, what activities to engage in, when to take a shower, ETC - and this is also why life is all about thinking as well. Simply put, to make a choice, we have to think. Our days are made up of many minor events linked together to make meaning. We wake up, brush our teeth, go to work, get off work, meet our friends, go home, take a shower, brush our teeth then go to bed - all little events linked up together to make a day meaningful. This is why choices are so important because they motivate us to think so as to move our daily life forward.
Making choices does not just involve choosing the things that are available within sight, they are also things that are not within reach at the moment or more abstract concept such as activities not carried out yet but could be if we choose to do them. Encourage or teach your child to make a choice by not offering what are available within sight -

Adult: What do you want to do now? (If child is having difficulty knowing what options are available, suggest, "Do you want to play, eat, read, drink...?)

Child: I want to eat.

Adult: What do you want to eat?

Child: Hmm...

Adult: Come on, think. What do you want to eat? (Offer options verbally if child is really having difficulty).

Child: Potato chips!

Adult: Good! What flavour? We have ....

Child: Barbeque!

Of course, the child must have tasted barbeque flavoured chips before to make an informed choice. It is no use getting a kid to choose the flavour of chips when he or she does not know what flavour means. This brings us to the importance of exposing our children to new experiences. To make choices that we really want, we have to have the information. Without information, we are just making choices for the sake of making them. That will impede thinking. Information allows us to think and then to make choices. With no information, there is no thinking and with no thinking, there is not choice making and even if there is, the choice has no meaning to the child and thus, the event has no meaning to him or her.

And how do we encourage a non verbal child or a verbal child who lacks the capacity to communicate effectively with speech to make a choice from a selection that is not presented before him or her? A communication book with pictures or word cards of what he or she likes and know about may be helpful in allowing him or her to express his or her wants. As above, the child has to be exposed to as much information as possible to make a meaningful choice.

Thus, essentially this post's discussion will bring us to the next topic of discussion - exposing your child to various experiences and information. If you have any prior questions or feedbacks regarding this next topic you need help in addressing to on the blog, please do not hesitate to contact me at davensim@triumphantkids.com. Also, please do visit my wesite www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services that I provide.