We use honey nut Cheerios or Goldfish crackers or a fun toy as rewards for my son- he even worked for hus and kisses the other day! Anything that they like works- the healthier things always go over well if I make sure he is a little hungry when we go to therapy too- then he is willing to work for any food :)
Hi all. Well, I am doing aba therapy with my son and they are also doing it in his preschool class. For reinforcers, I am mainly using food, like chips, raisins, bananas, gummies, etc.. Of course he is most interested in the candy..This is what I packed him for school... But I would really like for him not to have so much sugar, so Im wondering if anyone has any other suggestions for food reinforcers thats kids usually like that are low in sugar.. I appreciate any ideas on this. Thanks!!
Jen
PS
I forgot to mention that my son is on the GFCF diet which makes it harder! lol
diabetic candies have sugar alcohols that can cause stomach distress.
be careful!
Sarah doesnt have much of a sweet tooth..we used broken up pieces for crispy turkey bacon and apple juice (this was her breakfast too) since they came at 9 a..m. and doritos-broken up..sometimes mini m&ms, smarties, french fries chips in a can...also favorite toys or 5 minutes of favorite video worked..we changed almost daily on what worked because they would lose their value so fast once she learned she had to work for them. Being summer small bites of low sugar ice cream would be good:) Good luck!We did skittles , fruit snacks (I heard that tropicana now has a very healthyThere are "mini" smarties/m&m's.
Something to consider...With food rewards, they should be paired with social rewards. Eventually you want to phase out the food once he accepts social rewards (hugging, clapping, tickling, playing etc) to take the place of food. It creates a greater social interest.
There was a post awhile ago that had a big list of social rewards you could choose 2-3 to add to food reward. It's here:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15816&am p;KW
Hihave you tryed fruit
or the diabetic sweets they dont have suger
if you buy the fruit that is extra sweetcthey will be just as sweet has sweets lol
shell
I tried to steer away from too many food reinforcers and made them more social or playing with areally desirable toy. When using food I cut it into very small pieces. LizWe try to stay away from food. Since my son is non-verbal whn he does make anattempt at a sound we do give chips and fruit chews.
We work really hard on finding social reinforcers. in fact once a week all of the therapist meet and come up with social reinforceers tht work really well.
We give tons of piggy back rides, he likes to spin in the office chair. Bubbles!!!! AND an indoor swing!!!!!!!
Where did you get those capsules you put in water that become animals?? Nikolas would love those!
We keep things put away for therapy days. A favorite movie for the personal DVD player, he plays a few minutes, pauses it and does a few things, plays a few minutes more. Also I take away all the toy animals (Nikolas' obsession) for 24 hours prior to therapy. Same with toy cars. And try to make sure the toys they use are things that will keep and hold the boys attention. Also my kids are sensory seekers so I use foam soap instead of shaving cream, it doesn't discolor the carpet if it gets on there, I get it at target. We also use juice, mini kisses and stickers.
The therapist's always used token boards with ds,they started with a two,then three up to five ,after he filled them he got a food reward, so it cuts down onthe amount of food .
Linda
Linda- I got them at the Dollar Tree last year as a Christmas present. Walmart also usuall has them in the toy section with all of the little toys (koosh balls, army men, bouncy balls, etc.)