Information

Why, When, What, and How to

Provide Support and
Reinforcement.
 Providing support and
Reinforcement to your child
Why Reinforcement?
Reinforcement of skills is used for a variety of reasons. Reinforcement tells your child “I did the right
thing!”, “I got the right answer!”, or “I’m correct!”. For most of our children, just hearing “Good job!” or
“You’re right!” isn’t enough, they need to earn items or activities for doing what we want them to do.
Each time they get the item for doing the right thing, they learn what they are supposed to do.

What and When to reinforce?

When using reinforcement we want to make sure we are only providing reinforcement for
correct responses or behaviors.

Example: The goal is for the student to look when a person calls their name. An adult will call the
child’s name.
- When the child turns and looks at the adult who called them provide reinforcement.
- If the child doesn’t turn to look, prompt them and try again. DO NOT provide reinforcement.

© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie

 Providing support and
Reinforcement to your child
You can provide reinforcement in different ways but it all depends on what your child likes.

1st: Make a list of items/activities your child likes.

(examples: snacks, coloring, toys, etc.) [if you need help with ideas, email me]

2nd: Gather a few of the things before you want to start working with your child.

3rd: Sit down with your child and ask them what they want to work for. Provide visuals or
examples for them to pick from. (Example: put out items and ask the child to point to what they want, or
wait for them to grab the item they want.)

4th: Once they pick what they want allow them to play with it for a minute or two. Then say “My
turn.” and take the item. Hold out the item and say either “You can work for *item name*.” or “First
work then *item name*.

5th: When your child does the targeted goal (looks when you call their name, finds the correct picture,
etc.) they can have access to their reinforcing item/activity. (allow them to switch reinforcers if they no
longer want the first item).
© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie
 Examples of Reinforcement
Example 1: Behaviors
When you are trying to decrease a negative behavior like, grabbing for items, you want to reinforce positive
behaviors like, waiting. Here is an example of ways to reinforce your child’s waiting and improve their skill.
1) Follow the steps from slide 3 to identify the proper reinforcer.
2) Tell the child to “wait” (you can use a hand gesture like a stop sign if visual is needed).
3) If the child sits/stands nicely without trying to grab or getting upset say, “Nice waiting!” and provide the
reinforcer. (Increase the time between the direction and the reinforcement as your child is able to wait longer.)

Example 2: Academic Type Tasks

When you are trying to teach a student new concepts they need reinforcement for correct answers.
Here is an example of ways to reinforce correct picture identification.
1) Follow the steps from slide 3 slide to identify the proper reinforcer.
2) Tell the child to find a picture or item, ex: “Find the cat.”
3) If the child correctly touches, points to, etc. the picture named, then say “Nice finding cat!” and provide the
reinforcer.
(As your child is able to attend to tasks for longer time and pick up skills faster, space out the time between
reinforcement. For example you may start by reinforcing every correct answer, but then you move to reinforcement
after 2-3 answers.)

© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie

 Examples of Reinforcement
Example 3: Activities - Short
Staying focused and listening to directions during activities can be hard for our children, especially if the activity
doesn’t interest them or is difficult for them. Providing reinforcement will keep them motivated on the task at
hand.
Here is an example of ways to reinforce completing a puzzle or matching activity.
1) Follow the steps from slide 3 to identify the proper reinforcer.
2) Tell the child “Do the puzzle.”/”Match your colors”.
3) If the child correctly completes the puzzle or matching activity then say “Nice job doing the puzzle.”/”I like
how you finished your matching.” and provide reinforcement.

Example 2: Activities - Long

Staying focused and listening to directions during activities can be hard for our children, especially if the activity
doesn’t interest them, is difficult for them, or takes a while. Providing reinforcement will keep them motivated on
the task at hand.
Here is an example of ways to reinforce during longer activities like an art project.
1) Follow the steps from slide 3 to identify the proper reinforcer.
2) As you do different parts of the art project provide short reinforcement every so often, and especially
when your child seems to get frustrated or irritated. You can provide reinforcement every few seconds,
every few minutes, after specific parts, or on a specific schedule depending on what works for your child.

© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie

 Examples of Reinforcement
Example 4: Using a Token Board
As students learn how reinforcement works, they can often move to getting reinforcement less often or using a
token board to space out reinforcement while staying motivated. A token board is basically a visual
representation of how long they need to work in order to access their reinforcing items or break.
(This is similar to a timer system; the time visually shows them how long work time is, when it will be over, and helps to keep
students motivated and on task.)
Below is an example of how you can use a token board to reinforce.
(Use along with my simple token boards resource.)
1) Follow the steps from slide 3 to identify the proper reinforcer.
token board Picture or word
of reinforcer
2) Get the token board out and either put a picture of the
item/activity your child wants on the board or just have the item nearby.
3) As you go through directions or an activity use the tokens for
reinforcement of appropriate behavior or a targeted skill. - This means,
I am w
orking
for: Toys
when your child responds correctly or does the right thing, put a token
onto their token board while saying something like: “You’re doing great
work!”, “You colored so nicely.”, “Great waiting your turn!” etc.
4) Once the child fills up their token board that means they have
earned their reinforcement. If it is a snack or edible let them have
one or two. If it is a toy or activity let them do it for between
2-5 minutes.

tokens
© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie
 Thank you for downloading/purchasing this item. I hope you enjoy
using it in your classroom/home just as much as I do. Let me know
what you think!!

This item is intended for single classroom use only. Please direct anyone else
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items included in this product were created by me following the terms of use of the
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© 2020 Special Resources by Jessie