Natural Environment Teaching

1. Natural Environment Teaching Presented by Sheri Kennedy, M.A., M.A. Program Supervisor for IECP

2. What does Natural Environment Teaching Mean? It is unstructured and uses a learner’s motivation and activities and not a teacher selected set of materials as a basis for the lesson. Natural environment teaching leads to an individual being able to learn skills in one environment and generalize them to other environments

3. Natural Environment Teaching • Student initiates choice of activities (motivation is naturally strong). • Tasks and activities vary frequently. • Reinforcement is direct and specific to the activity.

4. The Difference between NET and Intensive Teaching Natural Environment Teaching: Intensive Teaching (i.e., DTT) • Talking about reinforcing activities • Use of reinforcing items and materials that are of interest to learner to teach skills. 1. Responding to earn an unrelated reinforcer. 2. Often occurs at a table. 3. Often use flash cards.

5. What do we need to know about Natural Environment Teaching???

6. We begin by looking at these steps: Pairing and building rapport with the student you support. Reinforcement: Artificial or Natural? Accommodate or modify? Fading the level of prompting within the classroom setting.

7. Pairing • We implement pairing every time we begin to work with a student. We build rapport! • Pairing is important because it teaches the student to associate his/her therapist, in home therapy area and therapy materials with good things. • Pairing is essential for teaching new skills because of the changes in environment that can occur at any given moment during therapy.  • A therapist/ABA provider identifies things in the child’s environment that already serve as reinforcers to the child.  Then the provider lets the child gain access to those reinforcers only through the provider.  Over time, this procedure “pairs” the provider with reinforcing things and the provider him/herself becomes a conditioned reinforcer.  • It is important for the student/child to want to be around his/her therapist in order to learn from them.

8. How do I Pair? Follow the students interests, if the student starts to lose interest in the reinforcer, find another. Talk to the student, do not expect him/her to talk back. Know when to step in and when to give space.

9. Artificial vs. Natural Artificial Reinforcement Natural Reinforcement • The student does not see the demand is related to the task in which must be performed in order to obtain what he/she really wants. • Artificial reinforcers are necessary when the natural reinforcer is initially not perceived as motivating to the learner. • Atemporary, initial inducement to get the learner to perform the desired behavior. • Example:Reading a book when I hate the book but my parents will pay me five dollars for reading it. • The student perceives the demand as logically related to the task that he/she has to perform to obtain it. • The strengthening of the behavior does not rely on the accessibility of getting an external or artificial reinforcement. • Example:reading a book because it is a good book

10. Implementing only an Artificial Reinforcement: • If an artificial reinforcer is used without a natural reinforcer as a back-up, the change in behavior will almost certainly be merely temporary, and there is a good chance that the artificial reinforcement will backfire by reducing the targeted behavior in the long run.

11. Combining Artificial and Natural Reinforcers: Present reinforcers in such a way as to make them as much as possible to the logical and natural consequences of the behavior for which they are given. If the natural reinforcer cannot be given immediately, provide an artificial reinforcer that connects with the natrualreinforcer that is given in the distant future (i.e., end of the day or week). Examples: How would you combine an artificial and a natural reinforcement? Teacher gives tickets for a raffle at the end of the week. Homework passes are given if student receives a specific grade or percentage on a test.

12. TIPS for Modifications, Adaptations, and Accommodations • To include student MEANINGFULLY in instruction. • To all student to actively participate. • Match instruction to students learning style. • Systematic • To use peer and social supports. • Incorporate Idiosyncratic interests. • To be able to measure outcomes.

13. Modifications and Adaptations • Modifications and Adaptations will change the academic standard. • Modifications and Adaptations do not necessarily change the academic focus. • Modifications and Adaptations should generally reflect acquisition of IEP goals and objectives. • They should allow for participation in and activity at the students instructional level.

14. What about Accommodations? • Accommodations DO NOT change the academic standard. • Accommodations allow students to access curriculum and demonstrate understanding or acquisition of skills. • Accommodations reflect acquisition of grade level standards. • Accommodations allow students to participate in learning/instructions – they level the playing field.

15. How will YOU know whether to Modify or Accommodate?? • Look at the IEP. Does the Accommodations Page allow for modifications or accommodations? VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. • Do the goals and objectives call for accommodations or modifications? • What if class work requires a combination of both modifications and accommodations?

16. Curriculum Ladder Accommodation/Modification • AS IS…Can the student do the same as peers? Spelling • If not…THEN…Can the student do the same activity but with adapted expectations? Fewer words • If not..THEN.. Can the student do the same activity with adapted expectations and materials. Matching pictures/words

17. IF NOT….THEN……. • Can the student do a similar activity with modified expectations? Different words • Can the student do a similar activity but with modified material? Computer program. • Can the student do a parallel or different activity? Other writing activity. • Can the student do a different activity in a different part of the room? Learning Basket.

18. Prompting within the natural environment Why prompt? Although incorrect prompting can create dependency, when implemented correctly and faded appropriately it can be apowerful and effective tool. Prompting is needed for all students at one time or another because it is one of the only strategies to help students respond correctly when ‘typical’ strategies have not worked.

19. Defining Prompting What is prompting? • Something we add to help a student respond correctly • Assistance given by a teacher to promote a correct response • Prompts may speed up learning • Prompts may reduce error • It is something we do not always want to provide for the learner to be successful

20. Guidelines for Effective Prompting • Use prompts in conjunction with reinforcement • All prompts need to be faded over time • To avoid “Prompt Dependency” • After a student masters a skill, discontinue using the prompt • Continue providing reinforcement when the student exhibits the desired response/behavior

21. Prompt Fading Fading prompts: Allows students to change from responding to instructional prompts to responding to natural cues in the environment. Any time a prompt is added, a plan must be developed at the same time to reduce and eliminate the prompt. Systematically fade prompts ASAP to avoid prompt dependency and to allow responses to occur independently!

22. Prompt Hierarchies • Prompts should be arranged into hierarchies of intrusiveness • Typically, the goal is to decrease intrusiveness while the learner remains successful • Start at level where he/she is consistently successful

23. Prompt Hierarchy Most intrusive to least intrusive: • Full physical • Partial physical • Verbal prompt • Visual prompt • Modeling • Natural teacher prompt/cue

24. What is the ultimate goal? • The fading process is complete when the student consistently responds correctly • The goal is no assistance from the adult

25. The Success of Natural Environment Teaching! • Establish a connection • Implement proper supports • Follow the behavior plan • Collaboration and Consistency

26. Scenario #1 • The student you support attends high school and is enrolled in a Special Day Class. The student is in the 10th grade and is diagnosed with autism. He uses a visual schedule and an intermittent reinforcement system. The system includes; earning money (i.e., penny, nickel, dime, or quarter depending on the demand) randomly throughout the school day. The student can use the money he earns to buy a preferred item at the store or off the internet (i.e., EBay or Amazon). • The classroom reinforcement includes earning tokens or poker chips for demonstrating on task behavior, following directions, and using appropriate expressive language skills when feeling frustrated and/or overwhelmed. The tokens are totaled up at the end of the week. The number of tokens earned equals the number of minutes of free choice time (i.e., computer, ipad, preferred books, puzzle, ect.)

27. What to do???? • What is the Artificial reinforcement? • What is the Natural reinforcement? • How do you combine both reinforcements? • How do you communicate the students needs, how to adjust or adapt the Artificial and Natural reinforcement? • Who can help????

28. Scenario #2 • The student you support is fully included in a 4th grade general education classroom. He is diagnosed with ADHD, has difficulties with attention, sitting still, waiting to be called on, becomes frustrated with academics that appear too difficult and too long. The student has a good sense of humor, enjoys attention from his peers, likes positive praise, enjoys drawing, likes to read comic books, and likes skateboarding. • The teacher asks the class to take out their math text books and turn to page 68. The teacher asks two students to pass out graph paper and begins a new lesson on regrouping with decimals. • The teacher begins whole group instruction by writing out 4-5 examples on the board. The teacher asks and answers questions from the class and walks through each problem on the board. The class is asked to follow along and complete the first 5 problems as a group.

29. Scenario #2 continued…. • The student you support takes out his math book, opens and flips through the pages. When he sees the graph paper, he closes the book, pushes it off the desk/table, and falls off the chair to the floor. • Developmental/Foundational Deficits: • Visual processing/executive functioning skills • Following multi-step instructions • Classroom Reinforcement: • Teacher passes out tickets randomly to students who are on task, following directions, whole class will earn a ticket if all students are focused, quiet and complete the classwork that was assigned. The students are asked to write their name on the back of each ticket. The class has a weekly raffle at the end of each week. The teacher picks two tickets, the names on the back will be called out and each student will earn a prize from the classroom treasure chest.

30. What do you do??? • What kind of reinforcement will you use? • Why? • How often? • Do you combine Artificial and Natural Reinforcement? • If yes, explain. • What level of prompting do you provide? Who is involved?