Mealtime can look different depending on who is there, where you are, and what you are having. A familiar meal, near and dear to me, is sharing Chicago- Style Deep Dish pizza with students, friends, co-workers, clients, and family members.  Although I am no chef, I have found “slicing up” my day and spending time in the kitchen, has been a time that I look forward to, and a place where I continue to learn and practice new skills.

“We need to get out of the pantry: pita bread, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni slices.”

It is often that we hear something similar to, “Mommm! I am hungry”, in a groggy voice. This alerts us that our children are on the verge of transitioning into their hangry personality. We know if we do not intervene quickly, we could be a witness to complete chaos. Immediately we run to the cabinet and see what we can make.  Mealtime can be a difficult time of day if we do not plan or prep for them. But, why are we doing all the work? Why not involved our kids?

Bringing the kids into the mealtime process works on a range of skills such as: matching to sample items that we are needing for a recipe and identifying numbers and/or measurements within a recipe. These skills can be done for early learners using the aid of a picture schedule (e.g., pictures of each item) to young adults who are working on reading and completing the task (e.g., reading “turn on the oven to 400 degrees” and then turning on the oven).

“The pizza is in the oven. Let’s set the table.”

Once we have prepared the food, we are at a crossroads while it continues to cook. Do we let the kids go back to their other activities, or we have them continue to help prep for mealtime?  Keeping the kids in the kitchen will have them practicing waiting for the meal to be cooked. While they are in the kitchen with you, they can also work on finding items such as forks, plates, and cups, to help set up. The more involved we keep them with this process the more likely they will be able to replicate it in the future.

“Pizza is served. Pass the parmesan cheese!”

If we establish a norm, that mealtime is a time where we come together, we can start inadvertently teaching conversational skills. We can prompt them to answer “why questions”, answer personal information questions, and work on other target skills they are learning (e.g., using a fork, cutting with a knife, etc.). We can celebrate and/or praise our kids for the permanent product they have helped create. We can learn about their interests, likes, and dislikes and even share jokes such as, “Have you heard the joke about the pizza? I can’t tell it … it’s too cheesy!”

Mealtime works on a variety of academic and social skills. Mealtime is shared across different settings and with different expectations depending on the context. Being involved in the process of picking the toppings, or helping us turn on the oven, will help our kids continue to grow in their independence and daily living skills.

References:

https://behaviorplace.com/tips/promoting-independence-mealtimes

https://www.vbmappapp.com/

https://www.essentialforliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/EFL-ScopeandSequence.pdf

Keywords related to blog: life skills, intraverbal, generalization, tolerance, visual schedule

It’s not always an easy feat to talk in front of a group of people – whether it’s 5 or 50 or a crowd of hundreds.  For some people, just the idea of speaking in front of a group is enough to provoke anxiety.  For others, that microphone or podium are as much a part of their professional routine as typing emails and taking a phone call.

Regardless of how you feel about addressing a group, oral communication skills are often paramount to succeeding and moving forward in your career.  The U.S. Department of Labor showed that communication skills, including oral expression, are strongly correlated with wages (Burrus, Jackson, Xi, & Steinberg, 2013).  One survey of employers showed oral communication skills as one of the highest-ranked skills of importance for recent college graduates (Chronicle of Higher Education and Marketplace, 2013).  As with most things, practice improves performance, and public speaking is certainly one area worth improving upon.
 

Even people who are comfortable at the podium are prone to throwing in the dreaded filled pauses.  Repeatedly filling pauses with unnecessary sounds and phrases, such as “um”, “uh”, or “like”.  Why do we do this when we are speaking? Speakers often emit these speech disfluencies as an announcement that there will be a delay in speaking.  The announcement could indicate that the speaker is searching for a word, deciding what to say next, or simply that they want to keep the attention of the audience (Clark and Fox Tree, 2002).

Despite its purpose, it’s considered to be one of the most annoying habits in the vocal delivery.  We’ve all sat through that awkward presentation where the presenter repeated a rhetorical “make sense?” or “you know what I mean?” every 10 seconds.  Who among us did not want to shout, “Yes, it makes sense!!  Stop asking us!”.  It’s irksome and causes the speaker to be a less effective presenter.  Let’s stop doing this and learn to become more fluent speakers.  Here’s how.

Awareness Training

Behavior analysts have examined a range of techniques to eliminate the filled pauses from participants’ speech.  Recent research has narrowed down the intervention steps to one component that has proven to be effective (Montes et al., 2019; Spieler & Miltenberger, 2017).   This component, called awareness training, is the process of identifying the filled pause responses and then becoming aware of when you are engaging in those behaviors and in which situations they typically occur.

Step 1:  Identify the sound or phrase that you want to stop using.

The most important thing to do first is to identify which filled pause responses you want to reduce.  You probably already know what they are.  Do you say “um” at the end of every sentence?  Are you using “valley speak” – interjecting “likes” at the beginning of every point?  If you’re not sure, ask a friend, colleague, or classmate to pay attention to you when you speak in a group.  Ask them if they notice you using filled pauses.  Once you’ve clearly identified the filled pauses that you want to stop using, you need to know the frequency of their occurrence.

Step 2:  Determine how often filled pauses are occurring during your presentation.

The easiest way to do this is to video record a presentation that you deliver before an audience or group.  Review the video recording and count the number of filled pause responses that occur and notice the context in which they are most likely to occur.  Do they occur when you are wrapping up one topic and moving onto the next?  When you are asked a question?  Or while you are glancing at your notes?  Once you have an understanding of when they are occurring, as well as a total count, calculate the number of times per minute that a filled pause is used.

Step 3:  Practice makes perfect.  Or, at least better.

Now you know your current rate of um’s and ah’s.  Continue to practice identifying these speech disfluencies while speaking in front of a group.   After several live presentations, follow up by recording another speech and calculate your new rate per minute.  You may find that you have become a more fluent speaker.

These three steps alone may be all that is needed to effectively reduce your use of filled pauses (Montes et al, 2019; Bell, 2011).  However, if you find that filled pauses are still a problem when you are speaking in front of a group, try replacing them with a more effective speaking behavior that will serve as a competing response.

Use a Silent Pause to Replace Filled Pauses

Although awareness training, alone, has proven to be a successful strategy in reducing a speaker’s use of filled pauses, it may be helpful to include one additional step in your intervention: inserting a silent pause during those situations when you are likely to use a filled pause. A silent pause is essential because speakers would not make sense if they continued with one long stream of words.  It can take the place of the filled pause and will likely help you to speak at a more natural pace.

Additionally, silent pauses will allow your audience time to absorb and process what you are saying.  Many people feel anxious when they pause during their presentation, but experts agree that fluent presenters use silent pauses often in their speeches to emphasize points, engage their audience, and make space for audience participation (Bell, 2011; Henderson, 2007).  So, take a long inhale at the end of your point and/or during transitions in your presentation, resisting the urge to fill those silent gaps with sound.

In conclusion, oral communication skills are important and those um, uh, or likes could be ruining your ability to speak effectively in front of a group.  To become a more competent speaker, follow the steps above to reduce sounds and phrases that have no meaning and detract from your presentation.  Also, keep in mind that silent pauses are the right kind of pause to use in your presentation.  When you feel the urge to end a sentence with “know what I mean?” or “like, does that make sense?”, take a slow deep breath and move on to the next point in your speech when you are ready.

Resources:

Bell, R. L. (2011, October). Is your speech filled with um? 3 tips to eliminate filled pauses from your professional presentation. Supervision, 72(10), 10-13.

Retrieved from. www.supervisionmagazine.com.

Burrus, J., Jackson, T., Xi, N., & Steinberg, J. (2013). Identifying the most important 21st-century workforce competencies: An analysis of the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Research Report. ETS RR-13-21. ETS Research Report Series. Retrieved from https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/ pdf/RR-13-21.pdf

Chronicle of Higher Education and Marketplace (2013). What do employers really want from college grads?

Retrieved from https://www.marketplace.org/2013/03/ 01/education/what-do-employers-really-want-college- grads

Clark, H. H., & Fox Tree, J. E. (2002). Using uh and um in spontaneous speaking. Cognition, 84, 73–111.

Henderson, J. (2007). There’s no such thing as public speaking: Making any presentation or speech as persuasive as a one-on-one conversation. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press

Mancuso, C., & Miltenberger, R. (2016). Using habit reversal to decrease filled pauses and nervous habits in public speaking. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49, 188–192.

Montes,C., Heinicke, M., and Geirerman, D. (2019). Awareness training reduces college students’ speech disfluencies in public speaking. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 52, 746-755.

Spieler, C., & Miltenberger, R. (2017). Using awareness training to decrease nervous habits during public speaking. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 50, 38- 47.
 
Keywords:  public speaking, presentation skills, filled pause

Do you have difficulty setting goals for yourself? Or, if you manage to set goals, do you then struggle to meet those goals? If you answered YES to either of these questions, you are not alone. I’ve been trying to lose weight and live healthier for like the past 10 years! Failing to set goals or meet goals we’ve set can be very frustrating. It’s easy to get lost in self-doubt, become discouraged, and scrap the whole process all-together. I mean, you took the time to set some goals, gave it your best shot, and just didn’t succeed. You’re left thinking, maybe setting goals works for other people, but it just doesn’t work for me.     Now, what if I told you that not all goals are created equal? That there is a simple, straightforward framework you can follow to create realistic, meaningful, and achievable goals? And if you follow this framework, you are much more likely to succeed at reaching your goals. What if it’s not you, but the goals you’ve set that are the problem? Are you back in? Good. Let’s take a look at my goals to lose weight and live healthier. The glaring problem with these goals is that they are too vague. Lose weight? How much weight? By when? Why? How? Using a systematic guide to set goals can streamline the process and help you get it right. In turn, more than likely increase your odds of success. The SMART framework is one such approach to goal setting with a body of evidence that suggests robust application. Although you probably already guessed it, SMART is an acronym.

What do the letters stand for?

Essentially, SMART outlines the key ingredients needed to bake a tasty goal. As presently constructed, my goal to lose weight is clearly not up to par so let’s refine it the SMART way. First and foremost, in order for my goal to be achievable, it needs to be specific and measurable. That’s easy! I’ll just change my goal from lose weight to lose 15 lbs. All good? Not so fast! Even though there’s now a measurable component, my goal still needs more specificity. Let’s remedy that: lose 15 lbs. via portion control, healthy diet, and daily exercise. Aha! Now we’re getting somewhere. Need to tweak it a bit more though. According to SMART, my goal needs to be time-bound. Is my goal to lose 15 lbs. by next week, in 6 months, by 2025? I need to add some type of temporal context. Again, I want this goal to be achievable. I definitely don’t want to sandbag it, but I want a reasonably attainable challenge. Let’s see… a quick search on the internet machine reveals that 1-2 lbs. per week is a healthy weight-loss target. Now the wheels are spinning! I mean, I work full time and I have family responsibilities outside of work. Although I’m confident I could get some sort of daily exercise, I may only get around to vigorous exercise (cardio, yoga, weight training, etc.) 3 times a week, if I’m lucky. Factor in like one cheat day per week times an extra sneak-a-snack here and there… I think I’ll split the difference and aim for a pound-and-a-half per week. So, 15 lbs. divided by 1.5 lbs. per week equals 10 weeks!

New Goal: In the next 10 weeks, I will lose a total of 15 lbs. via portion control, a healthy diet, and daily exercise. 

Now I’ve got something I can work with. I have clear-cut target for a goal that’s very relevant to me. I just started a family. I want to be healthy and thrive so that I can provide for them and increase the odds that I stick around planet Earth long enough to walk my daughter down the aisle. Truth be told, I also want to look good and feel good. In short, this goal matters and I’m motivated to get after it! At this point, I’ve nailed my goal. The next step is to come up with my process. I can use my new-and-improved goal as a center point from which to formulate the details of my plan. It might also be worthwhile to create some smaller target objectives that I could reward myself for achieving on the way to reaching my goal (e.g., earn 1.5 extra servings of protein and dessert on the next cheat day for meeting the previous week’s target of -1.5 lbs. weight loss).   Initially, my plan might look something like this:  

Weight Loss Plan

In the next 10 weeks 🡪

Start Date:

End Date:

Lose a total of 15 lbs. 🡪

Need to lose 1.5 lbs. per week to accomplish in 10 weeks; check weight weekly; document weight on start date, every 7 days thereafter, and on end date

Portion Control 🡪	– Pay attention to calories and nutritional information on foods – Use measuring cups and scale at home – Must reduce calorie intake by ~500 calories per day – Target = 1700-2000 calories/day
Healthy Diet 🡪	– Limit fast food intake and snacking – Prepare meals at home 5-7 days per week, when possible – Take lunch from home, when possible, to avoid eating out – Make healthier choices when eating out or snacking – Eat at least four servings of vegetables daily Eat at least three servings of fruits daily – Replace refined grains with whole grains – Use modest amounts of healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butter, and nut oils – Cut back on refined sugar as much as possible (except the natural sugar in fruit) – Choose low-fat dairy products and lean meat/poultry
Daily Exercise 🡪	– At least 30 minutes of cardio via walking, each day – weather permitting; elliptical is a suitable replacement. – At least 20 minutes of Yoga 2-4 times per week. – Take stairs rather than elevator or escalator, when possible. – Walk to the corner store or nearby destinations (within 1 mile of current location), when feasible

Again, this is an example of what my process might look like. Yours might look different, but it should feel the same. Moving forward, I can make adjustments to my plan as necessary. Documenting progress is good practice and will help with decision-making about how to change my plan. For this goal, I’ll need to document my weight on the start date, every 7 days thereafter, and on the end date. I think I’ll just note on my iCalendar when I exercised, what exercise I did, for how long, etc. As far as tracking my diet, I’ll use the trusty food diary method, since it’s the most cost-effective (see: FREE!). Alright, I’ve got a SMART goal, a solid plan, and a system to track my progress. I’d say I’m ready to rock and roll! Let’s see how this goes…

What are structured work systems?

Many individuals with ASD are visual learners who learn best when information is presented in a structured format with a clear beginning and end point.  Structured work systems are designed to take advantage of these strengths to help individuals with ASD learn to complete tasks independently.

Structured work systems were originally developed by Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children (www.teacch.com) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  It is an instructional strategy that emphasizes visual supports, and its aims are to increase and maximize independent functioning while reducing the frequent need for teacher correction and reprimand (Hume & Odem, 2006).

In a nutshell, the systems are designed to give visual information about what work needs to be done, how much work needs to be done, when the work is completed, and what will happen next. Schedules are used that include different elements (e.g. colors, shapes, numbers, letters or symbols) to indicate what work needs to be completed and can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional or electronic.  Work that is expected to be completed is arranged in containers such as baskets, folders, trays, etc and is stored in designated areas. Work that is “finished” is kept in a different designated area, separated from the “to be done” tasks. The amount of work or number of containers depends on the skills of the learner.

Why should we use structured work systems?

Structured work systems have been shown to increase independence, as well as on-task behavior of both children and adults with ASD (Hume & Oden, 2006; Hume et al, 2012; Kucharczyk et al, 2019).  What does it look like in practice?  These work systems have been used to facilitate students’ ability to complete tasks from beginning to end without adult assistance, function in a general education classroom without paraprofessional staff support, and to help adults continue on a job site without the assistance of a job coach (Reeve & Kabot, 2012).  Structured work systems can be applied to a broad range of settings and can often help people of all ages achieve a higher level of autonomy. Additionally, these instructional strategies have been shown to be effective when implemented by parents (Kucharczyk et al, 2019).

How do we use structured work systems?

Work systems are designed to visually communicate four essential pieces of information to the learner (Schopler et al, 1995; Reeves & Kabot, 2012).

What work do I need to do?

Work systems are designed to help the individual focus on what needs to be completed and what is expected.  The physical environment is arranged in such a way that the tasks that the learner needs to finish are organized into containers so that they can see exactly what needs to be done. The type of container used should match the skills and developmental needs of the individual using them. The containers are then placed in a designated spot such as a shelf, table, or desk and remain there until the learner accesses them.  Work should consist of skills and tasks which have been previously learned the individual.

How much work do I need to do?

A visual work schedule is used to indicate to the individual how many tasks they need to accomplish.  The schedule could be a written list or could consist of symbols, numbers, letters, etc. corresponding to the work containers. If the individual can’t use a visual task list, the number of containers at his work area can provide the necessary information.  Only the amount of work expected to be completed is placed in the container.  This way, the learner knows what is expected and does not get confused.

How do I know when I’m finished?

The learner will know that they are finished because all of the completed tasks will have been moved to the designated “finished” area and there will be no tasks left in the designated “to be done” area. If the individual is using a visual work schedule, they will know that they are finished when there are no more items left in the sequence.

What do I do next?

The learner should be directed as to what to do after all of the work has been completed.  This can be indicated by the last symbol on a visual schedule pointing the individual to something else to do such as a book, going to check a different schedule, another area or location to transition to, or perhaps, a prompt to just relax and take a break.  It is also possible to use a symbol to cue the individual to get the attention of an adult or supervisor to check their work or to get an ok that it is appropriate to transition to more reinforcing activities.

Conclusion

Structured work schedules can be a useful learning strategy for many individuals with ASD, especially if a goal is to increase the individual’s independence.  Additionally, work schedules may be helpful in generalizing previously learned skills to new materials and settings as well as improving maintenance of skills over time.  It is also possible to embed the need to send messages to adults or supervisors into the structured work schedule.  For example, perhaps certain parts of the tasks are intentionally removed from the work area, creating the opportunity for the individual to have to initiate communication with others to ask for help, etc.

Additional information and instructions for implementing structured work systems can be found in Building Independence: How to Create and Use Structured Work Systems (Reeve & Kabot, 2012).

Take a look at our most recent blogs!

• Halloween Tips and Tricks
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• BARS and Pizza
• The ABC’s of Applied Behavior Analysis
• Summer Fun, with Safety in Mind

Resources

Hume, K, Odom, S. (2007).  Effects of an Individual Work System on the Independent Functioning of Students with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1166-1180.

Hume, K., Plavnik, J., Odom, S. (2012).  Promoting Task Accuracy and Independence in Students with Autism Across Educational Setting Through the Use of Individual Work Systems. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 2084-2099.

Kucharczyk, S., Schaefer Whitby, P.J., Mrla, T. (2019). Parent Implementation of Structured Work Systems on Child Acquisition of Independence Skills through Family Preferred Routines. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 54 (1), 83-93.

Reeve, C.E., Kabot, S.S. (2012).  Building Independence: How to Create and Use Structured Work Systems.  AAPC Publishing.

Keywords: structured work systems, independent work systems, structured teaching, learning environment,  increasing independence

The participants involved in the above study were highly motivated to acquire the selected work-related skills, however, and the provided feedback was well received by recipients.  Obviously, this is not always the case.  Receiving feedback can be difficult and many find the process to be uncomfortable. Feedback may not be effective in changing staff behavior if individuals are not receptive.  A staff person’s ability to accept new suggestions and ideas may be an important factor in whether or not performance feedback will result in changes in staff behavior.  

Can individuals be trained to accept feedback more effectively, and, as a result, achieve greater competency?

Another recent study outlines how researchers implemented behavioral skills training to target behaviors demonstrated by employees during feedback sessions with supervisors (Ehrlich et al, 2020).  In this study, employees received feedback regarding their ability to format email correspondence correctly. The participating employees received this feedback both prior to and after they received training that targeted how to receive feedback.  

Training on how to receive feedback consisted of explicit instruction targeting eight specific behaviors that were identified by employers as desirable behaviors for employees to exhibit while receiving feedback.

The eight behaviors targeted for behavioral skills training were as follows:

• Arrives prepared for the meeting; e.g. has the materials necessary to record feedback and recommendations.
• Maintains eye contact during the meeting to indicate whether or not the feedback is being heard.
• Asks appropriate follow-up questions to enhance the quality of feedback.
• Acknowledges corrective feedback, focusing on how to correct mistakes.
• Demonstrates active listening; allowing feedback-giver to review information
• Commits to behavior change, demonstrating that they are willing to make the necessary changes to correct the issue.
• Indicates appreciation for the feedback, increasing the likelihood that feedback sessions will continue.
• Demonstrates appropriate overall demeanor, remaining neutral, and professional throughout the feedback session.

After being provided with training that focused on demonstrating the above-listed skills, and participating in feedback sessions while implementing these skills, the employees completed a greater percentage of correctly formatted emails.  These results indicate that feedback was more effective after receiving targeted instruction on how to receive feedback.  

Although this study did not address which behaviors would be most effective when receiving feedback, it serves as a preliminary investigation of how employees should behave when receiving verbal feedback. The authors state that further research is needed in order to refine the list of skills critical to receiving feedback. 

Resources:

Ehrlich, R.J., Nosik, M.R.,Carr, J.E. & Byron Wine (2020).

Roscoe, E.M., Fisher, W.W., Glover, A.C, & Volkert, V.M. (2006).  Evaluation the relative effects of feedback and contingent money for staff training of stimulus preference assessments. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39, 63-77.

Teaching Employees How to Receive Feedback: A Preliminary Investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 40:1-2, 19-29.

By Master Trainer Cledia Caberlon

Public speaking comes up frequently in our personal and professional lives, from giving a toast at a wedding, to giving a presentation to co-workers or classmates. This task also comes with numerous benefits, such as influencing people, confidence when speaking out or asking questions, as well as getting ahead at work. Despite the possible advances this skill may bring, nearly 25% of Americans are afraid of public speaking, making this one of the most common fears (Ingraham, 2014).

One might think that to master the skill of public speaking, we should eliminate the fear, but according to Friman (2014), one should instead learn to speak well in front of the room despite the fear. How could we possibly speak publicly if we’re afraid? The author gives us 15-steps to follow on how to master public speaking even if we’re scared.

How to Master Public Speaking

Practice!

Preparation is essential to give a good presentation, and practicing is at its core because it results in fluency. Specifically, practicing the first 5 minutes of a presentation because this is where the speaker is very nervous, and the last 5 minutes since this is when the presentation has the most important points.

Watch good speakers.

Pick a presenter you enjoy and watch their presentation, taking notes on how they present their material, then try to replicate it.

Check out the room.

Before your presentation, go to the room where it will take place, and rearrange the furniture how you like it. While there, make your way to the front of the room, and as you visualize the audience give the room the first 5 minutes of your presentation. If you plan on using any technology (microphone, projector, video) during your presentation, this is a good time to test it.

Get the audience’s attention.

In today’s fast-paced society, people’s attention should not be taken for granted, therefore get their attention early as this can set the tone for your talk.

Enter with purpose

As you make your way to the front of the room to start your presentation, do so with intent, grabbing people’s attention as you do. Bring this attention with you to the front of the room and use a strategy to get everyone’s eyes to you before starting. You can find your own approach or state something like “can I please have your attention”.

Introduction not needed.

It is customary to have someone introduce the speaker, but this can sometimes put them in an uncomfortable position. Long introductions may also take up some of your valuable time, so if possible, ask to do your own introduction or if that is not an option, ask that the introduction be short.

Dress up.

This will aid the audience in viewing the speaker with a superior role during the presentation. Ideally, the speaker should be dressed somewhat more than the typical audience member. On the other hand, don’t dress up too much that the audience is focused on your clothes rather than the presentation.

Body language matters.

Good posture goes a long way and communicates confidence as well as respect. Smiling will also help your presentation, as it can reduce your anxiety about being in front of the room, and makes the speaker seem more approachable.

Your voice has many functions.

Think of tempo, volume, and tone as opportunities to emphasize important points and gain the audiences’ attention. We have all attended a talk where the presenter did not have variations in tone, volume, and/or tempo, and in doing so, lost some of the member’s attention.

Be present.

This is your presentation so be fully in the moment, available, and prepared for the talk. Sometimes speakers tend to become self-conscious about their presentation, rather, consciousness should be focused on the material which is being presented.

Don’t assume technology will work.

If you plan on using technology for your presentation, such as audio, video, PowerPoint, then it’s important to have a Plan-B in case those do not function properly. If you’re using audio, have a script for what you’ll say in it’s place, if you’re using slides, print them out so that you’ll have a copy in case the projector doesn’t work. Assume that whatever can go wrong will and develop backups for any technologies you plan to use.

Slides are supplemental.

Use slides to your advantage, but don’t read off of them; the audience has the ability to read, and they are here for your presentation, not just a PowerPoint. In addition, if your slides are well created there should not be enough information on them for you to read. The author recommends having more pictures than words on slides.

Get their attention back.

The audience’s attention will naturally drift, and it’s the speaker’s role to get it back. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, for instance, you can tell a personal story, allow for a brief silence, change the topic, give a relevant example, or ask if there are questions.

I got their attention, now what?

While preparing for your presentation, be clear on what your fundamental point is, or what you want the audience to leave with. When you get their attention, refer to your fundamental message, which is the most important point you can make. Awareness of your fundamental message will also help if you draw a blank during your presentation; focusing on it can get you back on track.

Timing is everything.

Be prepared enough so that you do not go over your allotted time, and always time yourself when practicing your presentation. Be respectful of the next speaker by not running into their time or making your audience late to their next meeting. The last suggestion Friman gives us is to get your feet wet, begin practicing right away and present whenever you can. There will be plenty of opportunities as there is a constant need for public speakers. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish, personal or professional, mastering the front of the room will only benefit your future endeavors. Remember that the key is to learn to talk in front of a group of people while nervous, not to eliminate the nervousness. References Friman, P. C. (2014). Behavior Analyst to the front! A 15-step tutorial on public speaking. Behavior Analyst, 37, 109-118. Ingraham, C. (2014). America’s top fears: Public speaking, heights and bugs. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/30.

By Master Trainer Beth Harlan

Employees in any profession face some level of risk when performing their day-to-day job responsibilities. While risks may vary by severity, frequency, and type, all employers should make an effort to reduce or remove risks to their employees. To do this, you can develop a comprehensive culture of safety at your workplace.

A safe workplace culture is generally defined as a core set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that prioritize staff and client safety in the workplace. 

Staff at All Levels Should Prioritize Safety

One step in developing a safety culture in your workplace is for staff at all levels of the organization to prioritize safety. To clarify, that prioritization needs to not only be clearly communicated in writing to all staff, but all staff need to observe their peers engaging in safe behavior. In order to get staff to engage in safe behavior, managers and leaders in the organization also need to engage in safe behaviors at work. They must also provide praise and other reinforcement for all other staff who engage in safe behavior.

Supervisors must lead by example.

For example, this could look like a supervisor wearing protective equipment when on the floor with clients. It could also look like praising a staff member for wearing a hat when they need to for their safety. Additionally, supervisors could hold meetings where the sole topic is safety. Staff would complete drills and role plays to practice the safety skills that apply to their everyday job tasks. These safety meetings could be a forum for staff to bring up safety concerns. It would provide a way for staff and their supervisors to work together to resolve those safety concerns. In order for those meetings to be successful, staff must be reinforced for their participation. Reinforcement should be given regularly enough to maintain the safe behavior of staff at all levels of the organization. Reinforcement for safety at work could include verbal praise or donuts for teams that frequently show good safety skills. This could also include a point system where not only supervisors, but other staff, could give each other points for engaging in safe behavior. These points could later be exchanged for other items. Leaders should also clearly make safety a significant factor affecting other policy-related decisions. For example, let’s say there is a new policy about how to report injuries. The leaders of the company should explain how this new reporting method will improve safety by increasing accurate and timely reporting of all injuries to staff or clients.

Improve Communication Between All Staff

All staff should be responsible for their clients’ and peers’ safety at work. If staff feel comfortable communicating to their peers and supervisors, they are more likely to report safety concerns. They are more likely to report errors that were made and any recommendations they may have for improving general safety at work.

Studies have shown that a safe workplace culture includes staff being actively engaged in resolving safety issues before they become large-scale problems for the company. Some ways that staff could improve communication are through the use of online forums like Slack. These forums allow staff to post and hold a dialogue about concerns they have at work. Improved communication among staff could also involve supervisor’s accessibility. This would include supervisors being more visible on the floor and meeting with staff frequently to check in . There can also be e-mail communication and notices posted in staff areas around the workplace . These would identify who staff can contact about safety concerns and how they should contact that person. In an ideal safe workplace culture, all staff see themselves as being responsible for safety. Additionally, they see safety as a priority every day at work.

Listen and Respond to Staff Concerns

In order for safety to be a daily priority, staff have to feel confident that their supervisors will respond to their concerns about safety. It is essential that supervisors and managers respond to safety concerns with respect, in a timely manner, and praise staff for bringing concerns to them. Staff are less likely to report if they work at an organization where reports of safety concerns are met with reprisals, punishment, harassment, or apathy from supervisors or other staff. There should be systems in place to support staff who are trying to report errors that occurred on the floor, or report issues that will likely lead to unsafe conditions if left unaddressed. Those systems could include an anonymous way for staff to report safety concerns, or supervisor training that teaches supervisors how to respond supportively and professionally to any reports of safety issues.

Conclusion

Over time, Safe workplace behavior should be integrated into daily routines. All staff should feel comfortable both letting other staff know when they are observing unsafe behavior and praising their peers when they engage in safe workplace behaviors. We are all responsible for workplace safety. The better we become at building safety cultures, the safer we will be as employees, and the safer our clients will be, regardless of setting. Check out some of our other blog posts: How to Make Reinforcement Effective and Organizational Resilience.

Citations:

Agnew, J. (2013, January 23)

Bernard, B. (2018). Safety Culture Oversight: An Intangible Concept for Tangible Issues within Nuclear Installations. Safety, 4(4), 45. doi: 10.3390/safety4040045

McSweeney, F. K., & Murphy, E. S. (2014). The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Operant and Classical Conditioning. John Wiley & Sons.

The essential role of leadership in developing a safety culture. (2017, March 1). Retrieved February 27, 2020.

By Master Trainer Jenna Kozub

The end goal, when working with a student and/or client is for them to improve either their number of skills or their independence in completing a series of skills. When determining skills to focus on, we must be sure to select those are are deemed most essential for the success of the individual.

When I was a Special Education teacher in a Private Therapeutic Day School setting, a student of mine had little to no experience with using a calculator. I found this to be an essential skill for this student and incorporated this into his daily programming. The series of skills that I needed to teach included:

• Get a pencil
• Get a calculator
• Identify all the numbers on the calculator
• Identify the addition and subtraction sign on the calculator
• Identify the equal sign on the calculator
• Look at the paper (with one math problem on it)
• Input the first number from the problem into the calculator
• Select the addition sign on the calculator
• Input the second number from the problem into the calculator
• Select the equal sign on the calculator
• Pick up pencil
• Write answer on paper

Meeting Goals

To meet his goal, I required that he complete each step independently prior to moving on to the next step. The student demonstrated determination while completing these steps. The student also demonstrated interest when he would input larger numbers, and/or use the subtraction or multiplication sign, just to see what would happen. At this point, I knew I had buy-in from the student and was so impressed by his efforts and interest.

Try, Try Again

Weeks of this programming went on and multiple addition problems were made accessible on one page. We even started the same process but incorporated the subtraction sign. And then, right in the middle of his daily math session, the calculator died. The instructional staff working with this student went to get a different calculator. No big deal, right? Wrong. When he was given the new calculator the student became frustrated. The instructional staff asked the student what was wrong but the student could not communicate this to them. This student began engaging in property destruction. The student screamed, “THAT ONE!” (while pointing to the broken calculator).  After prompting the student to say “it’s broken”, and de-escalating the situation, it became evident that the student simply did not know what to do with this new calculator. So, we learned we needed to support him in generalizing this skill.

Ensuring Success

Some ways to ensure program generalization include:  using common stimuli (such as the types of calculators), teaching loosely (varying the time of day or the problem being inputted into the calculator), teaching across settings (changing the location of the activity) and many more. First, we bought three different types of calculators and included the iPad and Galaxy phone calculators for a total of five different calculators. We then reviewed the steps over the different calculators:

• Identify all the numbers on the calculator
• Identify the addition and subtraction sign on the calculator
• Identify the equal sign on the calculator
• Look at the paper (with one math problem on it)
• Input the first number from the problem into the calculator
• Select the addition sign on the calculator
• Input the second number from the problem into the calculator
• Select the equal sign on the calculator

Making Sure It Sticks

To ensure that this skill was completely generalized, we reached out to the students’ parent/guardian and informed them of what we learned. In no way did I want this student to only be able to complete this skill at school. I wanted him to be able to use it at home when completing homework, or even at a future job. We offered to do a parent training to ensure they would teach the program the same way. The parent agreed and requested that we send any materials he needed to use with him.

Moving forward, it was critical that the students’ skills would be programmed for generalization. Program Generalization occurs when a behavior occurs outside of its learned environment. In order to achieve our goal of student success, we need to remember that success is not when they complete it in their learned environment, but rather, when the student can go into their toolbox of skills and apply that skill without us.

When we talk about and practice the use of Differential Reinforcement (DR), one of the first steps is to pinpoint the desirable behavior (the behavior we want to see more of) that we’ll reinforce. In the beginning stages of this process, its typically best to start small, meeting the individual where they are, as we reinforce a singular desirable behavior through behavior chaining.

For example, if I’m trying to increase someone attending to a new task or skill, I might reinforce that specific behavior on a frequent schedule to increase its likelihood of occurring. But what happens when the skill is more complex, involving several steps? What is the best way to approach teaching these more complex skills? The purpose of this blog is to provide a tool for such situations.

Creating a Task Analysis

Let’s start with an example scenario to help depict the process. Imagine you’re serving an individual who would benefit from learning the skill of eating with a fork. There are many reasons why this goal could be selected, namely, to foster independence in some way. Selecting an appropriate behavior to chain considering this aspect as well as social validity is the first step in the process.

Next, we need to break the complex skill down into practical, measurable steps. A simple way to do this is by creating a Task Analysis (TA), which is identified as “the process of breaking a complex skill or series of behaviors into smaller, teachable units”. Using our sample scenario, let’s run through an example of what a simple TA might look like:

Eating with a Fork

1. Pick up the fork with either hand 2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork 3. Lift fork to mouth 4. Open mouth 5. Place the fork carrying the piece of food in mouth 6. Close mouth 7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth

Keep in mind, the above is just an example; there are many ways we
might break down the steps to this skill- for instance, the type of food or
piece size could be specified as well as the grasp used on the fork, and some
steps might be combined or broken apart even further depending on the needs of
the individual.

Defining Behavior Chains

Once we’ve identified and ordered the steps in a TA, we can start the process of creating a behavior chain. Behavior chains are defined by Cooper, et al. (2007) as “a sequence of responses in which each response produces a stimulus change that functions as conditioned reinforcement for that response, and as a discriminative stimulus for the next response in the chain; reinforcement of the last response in the chain maintains the reinforcing effectiveness of the stimulus changes produced by all previous responses in the chain…”

In other words, you need the first step in the process in order to elicit the next, and so on, until the complex behavior is complete. For example, you first have to pick up the fork (step 1) in order to poke a small piece of food with it (step 2) to then eventually get the piece of food to the mouth.

Ways to Create a Behavior Chain

There are three typical ways to go about creating a behavior
chain- forward, backward and total task as outlined below:

• Forward Behavior Chaining
  • Learner is taught/assisted with the first step in the task analysis, while the instructor completes the rest of the steps, teaching the second step only after the first step is completed by the learner independently. Then onto the third step, and so on, until the entire chain is completed independently by the learner.
• Backward Behavior Chaining
  • Instructor completes all but the last step, which is performed by the learner, moving on to teach the second to last step, once the last step is completed by the learner independently
• Total Task Behavior Chaining
  • Learner is taught/assisted through all the steps, each time the TA is practiced until all steps are completed by the learner independently

The type you chose should be based off the complex skill being taught as well as the learner. Because this blog is serving as an introduction to the basic process, we’ll discuss each in greater detail with specific examples as well as the research behind them in a future blog. For now, let’s take a look at one last set of examples, piecing our TA together with a way to track teaching in the three types of behavior chains:

Worksheet Examples

The following sheets are examples across two days/dates that the skill might have been practiced and simulate what documentation could look like.

Forward Behavior Chain

Eating with a Fork – Forward Chain Date: 1/2/2020
Step	Completed by Instructor	Completed by learner w/ assistance	Completed Independently
1. Pick up the fork with either hand		x
2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork	X
3. Lift fork to mouth	X
4. Open mouth	X
5. Place the fork with piece of food in mouth	X
6.  Close mouth	X
7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth	x

Eating with a Fork – Forward Chain Date: 1/8/2020
Step	Completed by Instructor	Completed by learner w/ assistance	Completed Independently
1. Pick up the fork with either hand			x
2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork		x
3. Lift fork to mouth	X
4. Open mouth	X
5. Place the fork with piece of food in mouth	X
6.  Close mouth	X
7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth	x

Backwards Behavior Chain

Eating with a Fork – Backwards Chain Date: 1/2/2020
Step	Completed by Instructor	Completed by learner w/ assistance	Completed Independently
1. Pick up the fork with either hand	x
2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork	x
3. Lift fork to mouth	X
4. Open mouth	X
5. Place the fork with piece of food in mouth	X
6.  Close mouth	X
7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth		x

Eating with a Fork – Backwards Chain Date: 1/8/2020
Step	Completed by Instructor	Completed by learner w/ assistance	Completed Independently
1. Pick up the fork with either hand	x
2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork	x
3. Lift fork to mouth	X
4. Open mouth	X
5. Place the fork with piece of food in mouth	X
6.  Close mouth		x
7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth			x

Total Task Behavior Chain

Eating with a Fork – Total Task Date: 1/2/2020
Step	Completed by Instructor	Completed by learner w/ assistance	Completed Independently
1. Pick up the fork with either hand		X
2. Poke small piece of food with the fork and maintain the food on the fork		X
3. Lift fork to mouth		X
4. Open mouth		X
5. Place the fork with piece of food in mouth		X
6.  Close mouth		X
7. Pull fork from mouth, leaving piece of food inside of mouth		X

Loved this Behavioral Blog? Read more of our series of Behavioral Blogs: Group Contingencies for Positive Behavior or How to Make Reinforcement Effective.

To learn more about Safety-Care and the services that we offer at QBS, email info@qbs.com.

References:

Cooper, J. O. H., Heward, T. E., William, L., Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied Behavior Analysis.

Here at QBS we want to support our trainers and specialists as much as we can. Below is a collective list of different resources we provide for both trainers and specialists.

Telephone Support/Email Support

Call our office at (855) 727-6246 weekdays between 9am-5pm Eastern time (or leave a message) and ask to set up a time to speak with a Safety-Care Master Trainer. You can also send an email to info@qbs.com. Describe your question or concern in the body of the email and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Feel to reach out for anything from Trainer Connect issues, compliance standards questions, procedure questions, to advice on specific escalated situations.

Live Chat Support

Have a quick question while browsing our website? You’re in luck! The live chat you see as you’re scrolling our website sends your question right to an employee at QBS from 9:30am-4:30pm EST. We will be able to answer your question or transfer you to a person who can. Easy as that!

Social Media

We can be found on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We often provide periodic tips, suggestions, new blog topics, and other information over social media. Our YouTube (QBS) provides our customers with an abundance of information involving Safety Care and other interesting topics.

Blog Posts

We post various blogs post on diverse topics like community, crisis prevention, among many others! These posts are for our customers to have resources provided to them on a monthly or weekly basis. You can find our blog posts here.

COVID-19

We are continuously updating our COVID-19 regulations available on our website, which can be found here. These standards include information on how to conduct remote trainings, current grace period, how to maintain skills during this time, how to modify in person training, and FAQs.

Trainer Connect

Trainers with access to Trainer Connect have an abundance of resources at their fingertips. Trainer Connect is where trainers record their trainings. It also allows you to pull reports of specialists and trainers which shows when each person’s certification is expiring. There are also videos available of all procedures in the Safety-Care curriculums. These videos do not have any audio and are only a few seconds in duration. Another resource available on Trainer Connect are  previously recorded Safety-Care Live webinars created for Trainers.

Consultation

We also offer expert paid consultation services to organizations seeking assistance in a number of areas, including adaptation of the Safety-Care curriculum to specific behavioral challenges or clinical settings. If you are interested or would like more information please email info@qbs.com or call our office at (855) 727-6246.

By Master Trainer Lisa LaMela

I’m willing to bet you’ve heard, and thought about, and talked about “CDC recommendations” more in the last 5 months than in the last 3 (or 30?) years combined. If you’re like me, you’ve even lost a little sleep contemplating how to follow these recommendations, and what they mean for you and your loved ones.

One such recommendation is for the use of cloth face covers.  Messaging around whether face masks were necessary, safe and/or appropriate, to be worn by the general public changed a few months back.  In the early days of coronavirus, I remember the news actually telling me not to wear a mask. When that messaging changed, at least where I live here in Pennsylvania back in mid-April, I was confused, but also intuitively relieved.  If our goal is to stop the spread of this illness-causing virus that travels through our noses and mouths, doesn’t a barrier between one’s nose/mouth and the air breathed by others make sense?

It felt weird at first.  It was stuffy and hot and my sunglasses kept fogging up.  Another widely publicized, took-some-practice-for-me, recommendation for slowing virus spread: “don’t touch your face” felt nearly impossible when I started wearing a face mask in public.  But over the last month+, I’ve come to accept this new accessory as just another part of our “new normal.”  But if this much practice, adjustment, and effort is necessary for me as an adult, imagine it from a child’s perspective.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice is for children 2 years and older to wear cloth face coverings when in public settings.  The whole idea is to help prevent people, including children, who may be infected, but not know it, (a bit on asymptomatic spread here) from transmitting the virus.  A few months back, a colleague of mine wrote about improving hand-washing and cleanliness habits, which seemed like a daunting enough task in the midst of a global health crisis.  In the same vein, my goal now is to provide you with some practical steps to help make the practice of wearing masks easier for your little ones.

Make Sure It Fits

Adult size masks won’t work on those little faces.  Masks should fit snuggly, cover the nose, mouth, and chin, and shouldn’t have gaps or openings on the top, bottom, or sides.  An ill-fitting mask will be more tempting to touch and readjust, which means less protection! Remember that the goal here is to keep from touching once it’s on, period.  Many who are producing masks make them in children’s sizes (you can check them out on sites like Etsy, or 15 retailers recommended here), or you could make your own.  It may take some trial and error to get the right fit, but once you do it’ll be safer for everyone.

Model

We can help to normalize wearing face masks by doing it ourselves for our kids to see.  For some children, having something on the face can seem weird or scary.  As our children’s role models, we can show them it that it’s no big deal through or own actions.  If we make it seem terrible/uncomfortable/like such a burden, it will be.  But if we model that it’s no big deal, it’ll be more likely that our kids share our opinion.

Practice at Home

You’ve heard this before, and you’ll hear it again, if you don’t have to go out it’s usually best to stay at home.  However, when our little ones do need to be in public spaces, for example if you need to bring the kids along on a grocery run or other essential errand, in many parts of the country that signals that it’s time to mask-up.  We can make this feel easier if it’s something we’ve already practiced.  Explaining the “rules” (e.g. no touching), and practice, practice, practice!

Keep Those Hands Busy

It’s one thing to simply explain that we shouldn’t touch our masks and faces.  It’s another to make it less likely, or less possible!  (For you Safety-Care users out there, think incompatible behaviors and differential reinforcement).  While practicing wearing a mask, it can be a good idea to give children something else to do.  If they’re sitting idly, thinking about this new, funny thing on their face, they’ll probably be tempted to touch it, play with it, take it off, etc.  But if they’re occupied, all that becomes less likely. For some additional mask-practice, pop it on while coloring, holding onto the ropes of a backyard swing, or flipping the pages of a favorite book!  Occupy those hands!

REWARD!

And with all this practice, don’t forget the rewards! Rewarding that proper mask-wearing-behavior can help to establish safe, healthy habits.  I mean, what kind of behavior analyst would I be if I didn’t talk about the power of positive reinforcement!?  Remember, providing access to the good stuff after the behaviors that we want to see will make it way more likely that we continue seeing those desired behaviors in the future!

So consider having your child(ren) “work toward” something they love.  Think “if you _____, you’ll get ____” type incentives.  Start small and gradually build up the time you’re expecting the mask to be worn.  Just make sure to follow up on those rewards that you’ve promised!  If we say “you’ll earn fruit snacks” and then forget to give the fruit snacks, this’ll never work.

Make It Fun

Incorporating activities and play themes that your child already likes into the world of face mask wearing can help to keep it light and fun.   If you have a budding artist on your hands, consider decorating masks with fabric paint or stickers!  If your child has a favorite stuffed animal, maybe stuffy gets a mask of its own, or perhaps Barbie and Ken put on their masks before jumping in the convertible. Make it fun by pairing the mask theme with things your child already enjoys.

It’s hard to know what the future holds.  In my area, and cities and towns across the country, plans are underway to open schools back up in the fall.  At the same time, alternative plans are under development in case reopening schools isn’t a safe option come fall.  Whatever happens, it does seem likely that masks will continue to be a part of day-to-day for the time being, especially as restrictions continue to lift and more business reopen.  As long as children are expected to cover their faces it’ll be up to many of you parents and professionals out there to support and encourage their proper use.

 

Functional assessment is a critical component to creating and implementing function-based treatment. This is standard practice in the assessment of the challenging behavior of the individuals we serve. Staff may also engage in challenging behaviors such as tardiness, missing meetings, or not completing required tasks or paperwork. When managing staff performance issues, it can be too easy to jump to writing someone up and having them meet with human resources. Staff performance issues should be identified using functional assessment. Carr et al. (2013) created the Performance Diagnostic Checklist – Human Services (PDC – HS) to assess and identify the variables that contribute to staff performance issues.

What is the PDC – HS?

The PDC-HS is an assessment that supervisors can complete to identify environmental factors that contribute to staff performance issues and implement targeted interventions based on the specific function (Carr et al., 2013).

The PDC-HS is a checklist with 20 questions organized into 4 domains:
a) Training
b) Task Clarification & Prompting
c) Resources, Materials, & Processes
d) Performance Consequences, Effort, and Competition

Many questions can be answered based on report by the staff’s supervisor while 7 questions require direct observation (Carr et al., 2013). Questions are answered either yes or no. Each question scored as no is a possible area of intervention. Domains with multiple items scored no should be prioritized first for intervention. Intervention options and literature are provided for each potential function/domain.

How can it help?

It is critical for supervisors to use systematic tools to identify staff performance issues. It can be all too easy to become busy and implement punitive strategies to try to fix staff behavior problems. By using a systematic assessment such as the PDC-HS, it can help supervisors be more effective by:

1. Saving time
2. Reducing punitive consequences
3. Improving staff performance

Supervisors can save time by targeting an intervention to address the specific staff deficit. This saves time by only targeting the specific issue and not providing extra training or instruction for areas that are not indicated in the assessment.

A staff performance assessment can also reduce the use of punitive consequences such as getting a “write up”, a note in their file, or sending an email to human resources. These consequences do not teach a new behavior (ie; staff member performs the task correctly next time). Sometimes supervisors may change the staff’s schedule or tasks to avoid the performance issue. Instead, the PDC-HS helps by identifying the specific concern and targeting the concern with a tailored intervention to solve the issue.

Not only does the PDC-HS reduce the need for punitive consequences, it identifies areas for supervisors to teach staff so that they can be successful with their job. Punitive consequences create an environment where supervisors are looking for behaviors to criticize. However, teaching staff the skills to be successful at work creates a collaborative environment where supervisors support their staff and reinforce positive behaviors.

Supervisors should use an assessment such as the PDC-HS when considering how to manage staff challenging behavior. Using a simple and quick assessment can save time, create a supportive workplace, and improve staff performance. When staff are performing at their best, we can provide effective treatments and quality outcomes to benefit the individuals we serve.

Reference

Carr, J.E., Wilder, D.A., Majdalany, L., Mathisen, D., and Strain, L.A. (2013). An assessment-based solution to a human-service employee performance problem: An initial evaluation of the Performance Diagnostic Checklist – Human Services. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6(1), 16-32.