The Treasure Chest System Hi Tyler's Nana, If you can, read "Transforming the Difficult Child" by Howard Glasser.  It uses a reward system like you're talking about.  It has worked a literal miracle for my son.   There is a website called www.difficultchild.com I don't have time right now to outline all the techiques for you, but if you can send me a PM, I will try to type it out for you so you can use it.      My sons go to a CABAS (ABA) school and they use a token system.  We are in the process of implementing it at home as well.  At first they told me to reward OFTEN, every 2-5 min, 10 min etc.  "Good playing with toys, nice keeping your hands to yourself etc".  They also told me to make items "cheap" at first, 3 tokens, 5 tokens etc.  We are going to use certain things as rewards not a treasure chest, but same idea.  Each item has  a price (for example: 3 for a cookie, 4 for 10 minutes of computer time, etc.) When he does something wrong he gets no token, of course.  In my case I am going to reward my other children when one does something wrong so they will see that they do not get tokens if they don't follow the rules. Oh yeah, we are going to have three rules at first.  I think the low number of tokens at first will solve the I want it now problem.  Until they get the gist of the whole thing they need frequent and immediate reinforcement.  Other things I was told is, never take tokens away for bad behavior and always make sure the reward is immediate.  Example:  If you offer a trip to the ice cream store as a reward and bad behavior (hitting) happens on the way to the store, then you have to still come through on the original reward.  You are caught in a tough place.  Does that make sense? We haven't started yet, so I can't report any success or not, just tips that I was given by the school. That makes good sense.  So what do I do for bad behavior?  He has a LOT of tantrums, he kicks, screams,spits, bites (me and himself), throws things, hurts my other two grandchildren (not living with me).  He does not get along well with children his age or younger, but seems to do better with older children. ooooh! SPC I like that! Delayed gratification is SO important!  GREAT concept! Thank you all......ya'll have been a lot of help.  It's amazing how much I have learned in the few days of just being here with you guys.  I was feeling so lost and defeated and didn't know where to turn for help, but now I feel like I can do this and actually am very excited over this.  Ty has earned 2 coupons and we have 1 to go and I told him if he doesn't go to time out in school today, then we will get to go to the treasure chest.....he jumped with excitement........ I'm using the treasure chest system with my 4 yr DS with pretty good results.  Instead of coupons, I hand out plastic gold colored coins that are about the size and weight of Las Vegas style poker chips. My DS likes to always have something in his hands so sometimes he is motivated to behave just to get a coin and could care less about the chest.  He needs to get 5 coins to get into the chest.  Coins are given out for doing new things or things that are difficult.  Tasks and behaviors that are mastered or routine are not rewarded although I will reward if reinforcement is needed. My biggest success so far is to get my extremely picky DS to eat fresh fruit on a regular basis; previously he would/could only eat meat, grains, and apple sauce and the sight of fruit on his plate would lead to a tantrum.  So I started giving coins if he would keep a piece of fruit on his plate during the meal. Then a few days later I upped the ante requiring him to put the fruit on his fork and taste it with his tongue. Then the next threshold to earning a coin was that he had to put the fruit in his mouth. Then next he had to take a bite but could spit it out. And so over a period of a month or so.  Now he is asking for fruit. Next milestone will be vegetables. When accumulating his coins, he puts them into a little cloth sack that he like to shake to hear his coins rattle.  When we go out, I try to teach him to care for his money responsibly by requiring him to care his sack and not misplace it. If he loses it he starts back a 0 coins.  I carry a few coins in my pocket and the chest is in the car so if we are out shopping, I can reward him for doing what I ask him to do (which is usually "don't touch!"). When he earns a coin, I reinforce basic math concepts by having count how many he has and to figure out how many more he needs.  When he's a little older, I'll probably switch to play money so he can learn the various denominations, how to add the value of coins, and learn how to make change. I'm also using the system to help him learn empathy. His little brother wants to get something in the chest too but he's too little to understand how the system works. So when we open the chest, I have my DS pick something he thinks his brother would like. As for bad behavior, don't take away any coins/coupons given. Instead, try rewarding good behavior when it happens even if it's short or not directed.  Make sure Ty knows why he's being rewarded and offer to give another coupon if he'll do it again.  For example, if Ty has a habit of hoarding his toys and tries to hit any child who want to "share" one of his toys, watch him intently when he plays, look for when he's about to hit another. Then, if he complies, immediately reward and praise him.  Keeping doing it and eventually the triggers that cause bad behavior won't set him off. Helped ME, too -- I need a book so my DH and I are on the same page on reward system and sticker program. ex: we have been doing "if you get 5 stickers THIS WEEK, you get a prize." and our Clin Psych says we should do "WHEN(ever) you get 5 stickers, you get a prize."  Makes sense ... just were used to prize being a MOVIE viewing, which we limit to weekends only.  So ... back to the drawing board! [QUOTE=foxl] Helped ME, too -- I need a book so my DH and I are on the same page on reward system and sticker program. ex: we have been doing "if you get 5 stickers THIS WEEK, you get a prize." and our Clin Psych says we should do "WHEN(ever) you get 5 stickers, you get a prize."  Makes sense ... just were used to prize being a MOVIE viewing, which we limit to weekends only.  So ... back to the drawing board! [/QUOTE] How about this variation: In the treasure box you could have little toys and candy, suitable for an immediate reward AND vouchers for a weekend outing to a movie or park.  As soon as he gets his 5th sticker, open the chest and let your DS decide if he wants immediate gratification or if he wants to exercise a little patients for something better. Or you could say every time he gets 5 stickers he gets to open the chest for an immediate treat and if he 15 stickers THIS week, he ALSO get's to go to the movies on Saturday. We also use the treasure box system for both boys.  One thing we are doing is a sticker system.  They have to earn three stickers in a day in order to get something from the treasure box.  When we started it the boys got a toy every day regardless of if they had received the three stickers.  (We often did extras for them to earn the stickers.)  Now we have them earn stickers for behavior at school, on the bus, and if they do a chore or something extra like getting ready for bed, etc.  It seems to work most of the time.  One thing you can do is make a big chart so they can see what they are doing to earn things in the treasure chest.  We started out with a small number so the boys would understand it better. I have a huge calendar on the wall in the kitchen. For each day my daughter has a 'good" day at school she gets a sticker on that day for the calendar so she can see her progress and a quarter for her special piggy bank. Once she earns $5 she gets to go to a store called "Five Below". It is a like a dollar store but $5 and under. I let her spend her $5 on whatever she wants as long as it doesn't go over. She has to pay the cashier herself. This seems to be working for us now. It was hard at the beginning though because she would have meltdowns wanting to go to the store right away. I agree that delayed gratification is one of the lessons to be taught here. Ok, I've been told to use the treasure chest reward system.  I'm really not sure how it works.  Can someone who is using it help me out here? Ty is 4 yrs old-Asperger Here is what I have done, bought the chest, bought odds and ends to go in it, and am giving him coupons as rewards to purchase the gifts from the treasure chest.  Now, here is my dilemia....how often do I reward and what happens when he does something wrong, do I disipline or just redirect him or what?  I told him he had to get 10 coupons to earn a trip to the treasure chest, is that too many or not enough?  I am also having a problem getting him to understand how the reward system works...he wants the gifts NOW!!  Please Help
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