Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors: Steps - National ...

National Professional Development Center onAutism Spectrum DisordersModule: Differential Reinforcement of Other BehaviorsTopography(what the interferingbehavior looks like)Odd/bizarre or differentSlightly odd but notenough to cause stigmaWithin what would beexpected for a similaraged studentSeverity/intensityPrettysevere(potentiallydangerous)Somewhatsevere(causesproblems butis notdangerous)Not at allsevere(annoying,inconvenientordistracting)FrequencyofinterferingbehaviorFrequentOccasionalRarelyImpact onenvironmentSignificant(disruptsenvironmentbut notseverely)Tolerable(environmentis impactedto a tolerableamount)Minimally(minimalimpact onenvironment)ProceduretoconsiderDRI orDRLDRO orDRADRO,DRA, orDRHStep 5. Creating an Intervention PlanWhen creating a DR intervention plan, teachers/practitioners need to address severalfeatures.1. Teachers/practitioners define other procedures that will be incorporated (e.g.,extinction, functional communication training) with the differential reinforcementprocedure. For example, a teacher/practitioner who decides to use DR for bitingmay also need to use functional communication training to teach the learner howto make requests.2. Teachers/practitioners administer a reinforcer assessment to identify learnerpreferredobjects and activities that can be used as rewards for demonstratingthe replacement behavior. The goal is to motivate the learner with tangiblerewards for demonstrating a more positive, acceptable behavior that serves thesame function as the problem behavior. The reinforcer assessment can be asinformal as displaying a variety of objects or pictures of objects/activities relatedto the learner’s interest and observing what the learner consistently chooses. InDifferential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors: Steps for Implementation Page 6 of 10National Professional Development Center on ASD10/2010