Premature Ventricular Contractions and more

Dear Listmates:
I agree that it makes so much sense that if something is not going
right to look at the teaching. I have seen first hand how this perspective
has made a difference with my son.
When I was a high school English teacher at Hartford Public High
School, my boss was the best supervisor you could have. When he observed one
of us teach, he always gave great feedback that was very specific and useful.
Our meetings were always productive. When anyone complained about a student
his famous quote was "You know, I usually find that it is not the student its
the teacher." And even though we'd say "Yeah, yeah" and even joke about it,
we knew, bottom line, that it was true.
The teaching is so crucial to what is learned.
Rosie

Hi everyone,
My name is Yaxi Liu and I am new to the group. We live in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
We have a lovely little son who is 2 years and 4 months old. We are looking
for experienced ABA/VBA therapists who can work on our home program.
We will provide professional training and very good pay.
Thank you very much,
Yaxi

Eileen,
I just wondered if they could try teaching you child to put the cup down
properly in an imitation drill? I guess if that didn't work maybe they could do
it through backward chaining. I don't think verbal prompting would do much, at
least at first. I would also make sure that they have a reinforcement plan for
him doing it correctly. Maybe even have a normal child model the behavior---and
really praise the normal child. Just thought I'd throw out a few
suggestions...Eighteen months is a long time not to be able to teach that. It
is definately the teaching that is the problem. As John Stossel(sp?) says,
"Give me a break!!"
Truly

This comes up every year. Have your tutors sign a contract as independent
contractors. Send them a 1099 at the end of the year if they make over $600.
What they do with it is their business. The IRS gets a copy so they 'should'
declare it as income on their taxes and pay appropriately.
The contract wording I used went as follows:
"I agree to provide contract services to Dr. Melinda Smith for the services
and renumberations indicated below. I understand that my relationship to Dr.
Smith is that of an independent contractor and that Dr. Smith does not
withhold or pay on my behalf FICA, state, or federal taxes.
Dr. Smith is required to provide a form 1099 to all contractors who are
renumerated over $600 in a calendar year. I am responsible for reporting and
paying required taxes on all renumberation provide my by Dr. Smith.
Contractor Name ___
Address___
Renumberation for services ____
Signature___
SSN___
Date___"
Make sure you get a 'good' address. The tutor might not be working for you
at the end of the year and you need a place to mail the 1099. Their parents
address is good.
Melinda
Mom to Mr. Scott and John

Dear Listmates:
Sadly, one of our wonderful home tutors is moving. We are looking for
someone to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 3:00 - 5:30. Ideally we want
someone who is trained in ABA and has some Verbal Behavior background. Of
course we will do training as needed. If you know of any therapists who
needs hours -- or have any leads at all -- please email me at GBAShea@....
Rosie

Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 09:08:26 -0500
From: "voyagerfan" <voyagerfan@...
Subject: social security taxes on therapists
Okay, how does this work?
Do I have to pay social security taxes to my therapists if they earn over $x
every year?? What a royal pain THAT would be.
What is the $limit?? Could neighborhood babysitters also end up over the
limit if they do a lot of babysitting in the summer??
=== ok, i must answer this since i am scraping together $ to be able to pay
my taxes on Jan. 16th. i am NOT AN ACCOUNTANT but this is the scenerio with
100% of my cases... here it goes... most of us (therapists and consultants)
are considered "independent contractors." i get a 1099 from each of my
clients at the end of Jan. (that's when they are due) so, my clients do not
end up paying taxes, but Uncle Sam makes sure to get his $ one way or
another... i end up paying my taxes quarterly based on last years amount,
then on top of that i have to pay a self-employment tax, so i get a
double-wammy. again, i'm not an accountant.... alright, off i go to borrow
some more money so i can pay for private health insurance.... :(

I am sorry if this would be considered off topic, but does anyone know if we are
supposed to pay to the government for our therapists? You can e-mail me
privately. Thank you for the help, Vieven

Dear listmates:
I would like to know: how would you teach the attributes "same" and
"different" using the AVB approach?
I mean both tacting same/different and receptive identification of
same/different.
We started our program with what, for lack of better terminology, I will
call a "Lovaas-type" program, based on a structural (rather than functional)
approach to language. Is the procedure different in an AVB approach?
Interested in AVB...no access to a consultant.
Thanks,
Laurel

Hi folks,
I am a teacher of kids with autism and also work privately with one family.
I would like to get some info to a friend who is perhaps interested in
receiving training to work with these kids as a therapist. Having acquired
much of my training and info regarding VB and autism just by working in sort
of a haphazard manner, I wonder if you all can refer both my friend and
myself to some informative websites about autism in general and VB in
particular. Any help will be appreciated! :)
Amy Velazquez
Macksaunt@...

If anybody in the North Miami Beach area is interested
in hiring a great candidate for their home programs or
know of anybody else interested email me directly
at mariahamilton@...

I have forwarded your post to a behavioral discussion and support list.
Those interested will contact you directly.
-Lenny Schafer

Oops, I mistakenly sent the post on the nonverbal reader to the DTT list
instead of to the me-list.
I have been very out of touch on the lists lately just trying to keep up
with things here. We have been having difficulty with David retaining the
tacts he acquires. I think we finally have gotten to the bottom of the
problem. He never did learn to fluency some of the tacts he acquired.
Some of you may have already figured this out, but I hadn't. What fluency
means is that in David's case, he has to be able to say the tact within a
1/2 second of being shown the item or picture. Otherwise he will not
retain it. So what we did was go through all 45 tacts that he had acquired
and we did a probe. Any of them that he took longer than 1/2 second to say
we put in a separate pile to work on. Then when we worked on these tacts
we would prompt immediately. We would work on these words in very fast
paced drilling where we would also have some strong tacts on the table with
one or two that we are working on and we bounce back and forth very
quickly, prompting at first immediately and then at 1/2 second after he
began to not need immediate prompting. It is helping and his responding is
much faster now. It still takes him several days to learn a new tact but
at least we know how to work with him so that he retains them.
We have also been working on David's compulsive behavior, which seems to be
increasing. He gets into these routines with all sorts of things, from
daily living activities to game playing and it begins to cause all sorts of
problems. So we are tackling these things by just not playing into his
compulsiveness. It is difficult because it is upsetting to him but it
works. What we are doing is to interrupt him in his compulsiveness, keep
him from doing it, and then using a count to 10 when he gets upset and is
screaming about it. A couple of examples: I had inadvertently gotten into
a routine when I go wake him up on school days of opening the shades and
turning on the lights in a certain sequence. I learned this one day when I
did it differently and he flew into a rage and made me redo it. Since
then, I frequently go in and do it differently. A second type of
compulsiveness is having to have game pieces on the game board in a "just
so" manner to suit him. He will touch other people's game pieces because
they are not completely lined up on their spot in a way that suits him. We
make him put his hands together when he starts this and if he screams, we
count to ten before going ahead with the game. It has had a remarkable
effect. David will give up his compulsions fairly quickly within a game,
but we have to be on guard all the time, because they will creep back very
quickly if we are not consistent and diligent.
Lynda

A former therapist/tutor from our home program has just relocated to Tulsa.
She is an intelligent, energetic, loving college graduate. I highly
recommend her to any families or agencies seeking therapists.
Please call her directly: Anna (918)492-0301
Laurel

Erika:
I certainly agree that the wait program should be done as naturally as
possible -- you provide great examples and of course there are so many
throughout the day. This is why I think this program was/is so helpful to us
-- there are so many natural instances to teach it -- and it is such a
necessary skill to have (I'm still working on my patience when I wait).
Hopefully, anyone who is teaching a child through ABA would understand that
function is the key. As we all know, it is always so important to understand
the goal/purpose of a program.
We found it extremely important for our son to begin with a short amount
of wait time and build on that until he understood what waiting meant. Now
Jer can basically wait appropriately, without frustration, anywhere and for
extended periods of time. I have the same expectations of him that I would
have of any 4 1/2 year old. And like any 4 1/2 year olds we have our good
times and our not so good.
Thanks for your comments!
Rosie

Hi list,
I am posting for a family who might be moving within the next 3-6 months to
the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Their son is 7 and currently attends school
in a self-contained classroom. He also has a home program in addition to
school utilizing the verbal behavior method. If you have any info on this
area as far services (Medicaid funding, schools, ABA classes, etc) it would
be appreciated. Also, any families in that area or any part of FLA that
would be willing to correspond with this mom via email please email me.
Jenn Godwin :)
Jacksonville, FL
ABAqueen1@...
"If you love your job you never work a day in your life!"

Hi all-
I was wondering if you could post/email a copy of tutor contracts if you have
them in your possession.
Thanks!
Michelle Bidoul
Mom to Ian & Ethan, twins
Michigan Families for Effective Autism Treatment
www.michiganFEAT.org

We are in need of therapist(s) to work with our 5 year old autistic son
in Sterling Heights, Michigan. We have been running an ABA program for
2 years with the last 1.5 years using the verbal behavior method. Our
son is verbal and is at the level of RFFCs and IVs. Professional
training will be provided along with a pleasant work environment and
flexible hours (up to 30 hours per week).
Dave and Linda Adams
adamsdp@...
810-795-9344

Amy,
The goal pf our wait program is that when presnted with a preferred
activity, reinforcer, and the SD, the student will wait appropriately for the
designated amount of time. The SD is "wait" or "you need to wait." As child
reaches for the item you may have to physically prompt the student to put his
hands in his lap. Fade prompts quickly and in a systematic manner.
Eventually, make sure you novel settings, people and materials.
Start with 5 sec., then go to 8 sec., then to 12 etc. Then have them
wait and do trials while they wait. Then have them wait and teach them how
to find something to do while they wait.
This is the abridged version if you have any questions you can email me
at GBAShea@....
Also, Rhonda, thanks for the posts on reinforcement -- so crucial!
Rosie

Hi, everyone. Sorry for the crossposting, but I wanted as many folks to
see this as possible. I'm currently consulting for a family in the Morris
Park area of the Bronx. They have an 8 year old son who desperately needs
more ABA hours at home. He's a great kid with a very, very nice family.
Training will be provided as needed.
Anyone interested, please contact his mom, Eileen, directly at (718)
792-8407 or at Chris09Mike23@.... I would highly recommend this family
to anyone out there doing ABA. Your time will honestly make a tremendous
difference in this child's life. Thanks in advance!
Best,
Christina
Christina Burk, M.A.
Behavioral Consultant (AVB specialization)
www.ChristinaBurkABA.com
ChristinaBurkABA@...
Director, playB.A. inclusion socialization group
www.playBAgroup.com
Christina@...
Moderator, VerbalBehavior@eGroups.com
Moderator, AutismABA@eGroups.com

Teaching Children with Autism
C. A. Thomas & Joseph Cautilli
C. A. Thomas and Joseph Cautilli will be conducting a two-day workshop in
Reading, Pennsylvania February 24th and 25th 2001. It is intended for
parents, teachers, behavior analysts, behavior tutors, behavior modification
assistants, speech pathologists and others who live or work with persons
with developmental disabilities. The workshop will present very effective
and rapid methods for teaching functional language and communication skills,
daily living, pre-academic and academic skills. The focus areas include
gaining instructional control, functional assessment, dealing with problem
behaviors, and very specific training procedures. Training procedures are
illustrated using videotapes and all participants will receive a materials
clearly describing the assessment, training procedures, and containing
relevant data sheets.
Discounts are available for individuals who register early and special rates
are available for parents of children with developmental disabilities
attending the workshop together. Interested participants should contact
(610) 926.9112 or email lattan@... for registration information.
Participation is limited and seating is available on a first come first
serve basis and discounted hotel registration is available on a limited
basis.
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of the workshop participants will have knowledge of:
1. How to design a language intervention using Skinner's model of verbal
behavior.
2. A grasp of the state of the art technology in the acquisition and
generalization of verbal skills for children with autism.
3. An understanding of how to integrate these technologies in a behavioral
development model guided by Skinner's (1957) Verbal Behavior.
4. Developing a milieu language-training packet (including incidental
teaching, mand-modeling, and time delay technique).
5. Using least to most prompt strategy to build tacts and mands.
6. Understanding the use of contingent imitation.
7. The use of discrete trial training for tacts, mands, and to build
intraverbal skills.
8. Using SAFMEDS to build tacting.
9. Using script fading procedures to build conversation, intraverbal skills
10. Using recombinative generalization to build autoclitic frames.
11. Designing recombinative generalization matrixes for use in training.
12. Understand the use of reading and writing programs for children with
visual preferences.
13. Selection based communication systems to build concept formations in
non-verbal children.
See our website ( www.tclc.com ) for other exciting information on training
and education programs.

Hello list,
I am forwarding this message for a friend who does not have access to the
list at this time.
"My name is Jennifer O'Dell and I am going to be a 2nd year Psych major at
Texas Tech starting in January. I am currently looking for families to do
ABA with in the Lubbock and surrounding areas. I have one year experience
and I will be living 5 minutes from Texas Tech. I am looking to start
therapy in January but will be moving to the area after Christmas. I can be
reached at (972) 278-8969 during the evening. My current work phone in (972)
450-2400 x 2553. I can be reached at these numbers until the 27th of
December. I look forward to hearing from you. - Jennifer O'Dell"

Hi Rhonda and all,
I did very the similar thing, only not as extensively as to everywhere in the
house. Mainly because I couldn't come out with concise sentences. Could we
share some ideas what we write around house.
Rhonda, do you lock your basement, or only the videos?
Sentences I wrote:
on top of the banister "Can I slide?", at the bottom "put me down".
On the computer " Crystal, my turn; let me play".
On the TV "I can't do it" (ask him to plug cord from VCR to TV); "TV is not
working". (only plug video or audio cord)
on the other TV "mom, look ________".
Please share your creations.
Dawn
In a message dated 12/13/00 2:20:06 AM Pacific Standard Time,
DTT-NET@egroups.com writes:
<< Currently we have word/sentence prompts all over the house. (Zachary is a
reader.) On the refrigerator we have "I'm hungry. I want to eat....." and
food choices that Zach fills in the blank with. Same with "I'm thirsty. I
want to drink water."
On the door to the basement we have. "Open door. I want to (blank).."
Choices are "get a video", "swing" or "play a computer game" (we have an OT
swing hanging in our basement, along with computer and the video's that are
under lock and key)
Hope this helps. Rhonda

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of data software for a verbal
behavior program?
Thanks, Peg
BowedOak1@...

We have found that using the video camera and taking the data from
watching the tape later to be the only way to keep caught up. My son
doesn't tolerate a slow pace and will drift off if I stop to write
things down. So we set up the camer, tape what the interested in
tracking and watch it later when we can pause, write and catch the details.
Angela

We are in need of a therapist to work with our 6 year-old (as of 2 days ago)
son on Mon and Wed afternoons. We have been doing a VB program for over 18
months under the supervision of Dr Carbone and a local consultant. Jim is
quite verbal and attends typical K from 9:30 until 1 each day. If you know
anyone who is interested, please contact me privately.
Cindy
949-635-9929

Dear list,
This is one of my first post. We are currently trying
to run a VB program with no consultant. Our son can
mand with sign (he has about 25 strong mands, never
scrolls, no prompts), he can sign outside when we say
sign outside. He can even do things like "something
you read is a "book" and he signs book. His motor
imitation is great. He can imitate any kind of sign.
He is also starting to saying the word as he signs.
But he cannot tact with sign. We have taken pictures
of his reinforcers and we have shown him the 3D item
but he is not consistent when he tacts it. My
question is Does anyone else have a kid that does
this? Any ideas as to what to do about it???
Also, we just found out we might be moving to FL. Can
anyone tell me about FL. Is there funding? How much
do therapist make an hour there? Here in SC we have
family who is working for us so we are not paying but
one therapist. Thanks!
Michele

Hi list,
Just to let you know if you are interested in attending any workshops on VB
you can look at the following web pages. If anyone knows of anymore then
please feel free to post them! Jenn :)
Dr. Vince Carbone
www.jerichoschool.org Go under workshops
Dr. Jim Partington
www.behavioranalysts.com/ Go under training division

Hi, all. Just wanted to let you know that I've done a major update on my
site:
www.ChristinaBurkABA.com
I'll be updating it constantly with new info, links, lists, etc., so
check back from time to time. Thanks and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Best,
Christina
Christina Burk, M.A.
Behavioral Consultant (AVB specialization)
www.ChristinaBurkABA.com
ChristinaBurkABA@...
Director, playB.A. inclusion socialization group
www.playBAgroup.com
Christina@...
Moderator, VerbalBehavior@eGroups.com
Moderator, AutismABA@eGroups.com

Hi. We tried to make the object or card to be tacked reinforcing. We would throw
it up in the air once tacked, hide it in his shirt, pretend to eat it, pretend a
puppet would eat it, let him throw it in a bucket, make it dance, put a sticker
on it, let him sit on it, let it slide down some ramp, stack it, let him squirt
water on it, or whatever worked. Good luck.
Teresa

Dear All
My son(2y8m) was diagnosed in July and we have followed GFCFdiet since August
and have just started a traditional ABA programme. I am interested in finding
out about Verbal Behaviour and wondered if anyone can recommend some good
sources of information - we live in England so it isn't possible to go to one of
Dr Carbone's workshops in USA.
In addition I have been reading about heavy metals and chelating(?) and am
looking into the Great Smokies test but I would like to know what happens if
these tests come back positive. Is the process of getting rid of toxic metals
difficult?
Thanks
Elaine

Hi,
I am wanting some creative tacting ideas as this is the program that always has
to be prompted and we never get independent responding. It is almost as if
holding up an item or picture to him is aversive. He is tacting, which is
great, BUT it is always outside of DTT and never under instructional control.
Do any of you have games that you have played or novel ideas regarding tacting?
For receptive discrim, which was a problem, we went to doing a treasure hunt
game and a hide and seek game. For rec commands and motor im, we used follow
the leader type play. These seem to help us "get it" at the table. We run
verbal modules at the table between all of this but I can't come up with a
tacting game to help us. I am wanting learning to be fun. Also, have any of
you completely thrown out targets to start fresh? I am just about ready to
because he hasn't been condition to response so the logical conclusion is he's
been conditioned to extinguish this part of the teaching.
Thanks in advance,
Andrea
PS Thanks for all the great responses to my 'problem'.

I would like to hear from anyone who has seen major verbal gains after age 6.

Hi, all. I've been getting a lot of requests for info on my services
lately. I finally put up most of the website for my private practice, so if
anyone wants basic info, now you can just go to:
www.ChristinaBurkABA.com
I haven't completely finished it yet, but I will soon. Thanks!
Best,
Christina
Christina Burk, M.A.
Behavioral Consultant (AVB specialization)
www.ChristinaBurkABA.com
ChristinaBurkABA@...
Director, playB.A. inclusion socialization group
www.playBAgroup.com
Christina@...
Moderator, VerbalBehavior@eGroups.com
Moderator, AutismABA@eGroups.com

HI,
I really need some help with this: I never wanted to run a business but that is
basically what we do, right? So to keep a professional distance from my
therapists is hard because I feel like they are family...not to mention, they
are often the only adult contact during the day. But lately I am really having
difficulty with a therapist and her personal life. I REALLY care about her but
our program is suffering...it's my fault because I've reassured her that we can
work through anything...and now I feel like I opened a floodgate. AND SHE'S
GOOD but so not
focused right now. I want to keep her on but I'm not sure what to do...
Andrea

I am losing a great therapist due to her husband retiring from military and
they will be moving back home to Louisiana. She will be available January,
2001.
She will be living in Iota, LA which is near Crowley, LA
(Lafayette - 45 mins West, and Lake Charles - 45 minutes East)
She has been with us since February, 2000 and my son has really made
progress with his expressive speech.
She asked that I post this for her since she is not on this list.
If you are in this area, and looking for a therapist, please contact me and
I will forward to her.
JLee@...

Hi all,
One of my former ABA tutors who goes to Oakland University recently gave
a workshop there about Careers in Psychology....she talked about being an
ABA tutor and ended up with a long list of people who are interested.
Anyhow, I don't personally know any of these people (and I don't think
she does either) but it might be a start for someone who is looking for
people. So if you want this list of people, email me and I'll pass it
along.
Take Care,
Louise

Hi all,
My neighbor gave me a copy machine, but the copies are really dark. Does
anyone know why and how to cure this? I know nothing about copy machines,
except that I need this one to work.
Thanks!
Tracy

One of the very few upsides of my child's struggles is that he has
taught me to be a better parent. One of the major changes I had to make
was to take the words "no" and "don't" out of my vocabulary. If I said
don't do something it had no effect.
For example, in the airport he kept touching the baggage claim belt as
it was revolving. No amount of "don't touch that" had any effect. But
when I said "Keep your hands here" (on the frame that wasn't moving)
that's what he did and the touching stopped. I think this is good
parenting on top of good coping skills. My son's friends (yes, he
actually has good friends) have responded well to this too. Telling
someone what you expect of them is much more successful than telling
them what not to do. This didn't come naturally but he taught me.
Just a thought.
jaw

hi there
my daughter samantha,is telling everything that she
thinks. If she is alone or with other people or in the
playschool, she will talk aloud all her thoughts and
pretend etc.when i take her to church she will talk
aloud.(talking out all her thoughts). so how can i
stop this behaviour?
Another problem is that she will not ask questions. if
she wants to know something new, she will say what is
this(to herself) and then this is----. no other
questions like where, why, who etc. how should i train
her. she will laugh, and shout and then say to
herself, why are you laughing?/why are you shouting?.
she is not quiet at all.
thank you
laveena13@...

-
-Dear list,--
Our 3 year old son has difficulty with the concept of "no" or "don't". He is
pretty good with yes and no in making choices, however, when you tell him
"no climbing" or "don't climb" (just one example), he will stop momentarily,
point to his nose (sounds similar to no) and then resume what he was doing
again. He usually stops only briefly to whatever I said no to, so I wonder
if he only stops because we have raised our voice, and perhaps he doesn't
understand "no" or"don't." Or perhaps he does understand "no", but cannot
retain the concept of "no" for more than a few seconds. I also think I need
to make clear the distinction between "no" and "nose". Any ideas on specific
drills to teach "no" in these circumstances? How about a visual prompt to
remind him of "no"?
Helena and Dimitri Dimitrakoudis

Hello,
I am a teacher of several children at a non-verbal, pretty "low functioning"
level and have had consistant trouble teaching colors to students.........does
anyone have any clever ideas that have worked for them?
Ideas are greatly appreciated.
thanks,
julie

Jennie-
Are you looking for specifically a speech/language test? If so, the ROWPVT
would give an estimate of his single word receptive vocabulary. In
addition, many of the skills taught in the VB program are skills tested with
the Preschool Language Scale (normed up to 6 yrs. of age). The problem is,
with the apraxia limiting his verbal output, he will have trouble with the
expressive subtests but you might see a big receptive/expressive split.
Personally, I put little value in most of the standardized tests as far as
measuring skills for most kids with Autism because they don't typically
learn to communicate in a linear, developmental pattern. The tests were
developed and normed on typically developing children. Instead, the kids I
work with often have some skills way above their "age" and others way below.
When you look at how standardized tests require a basal and a ceiling, you
often miss assessing some skills the child may have because they're over the
cut-off point for the ceiling. I typically will only use standardized tests
if I "have to" (i.e insurance issues) but depend mostly on skills
assessments such as is wonderfully documented with the ABLLS. This gives
much more valuable information than any standardized test in my opinion.
Tracy Vail

My daughter is nonverbal and we started a vb program in august, It was not
know actually how much she knew then,since then she can receptively pick 50+
objects or pict(probably alot more but no data ). My question is how many
does she need to know before we start ffc? Oh she can label about 15 items w/
ASL. And she has just started to imiatate sounds very few BA, ah, Pa. Very
excited about this she always has made sounds but never on command it would
always clam her up, if we asked her to say something.She is 6yo.
Nancy

I'm the "kid in the rut" mom. He has gotten better on some things but
not great. However my question now is regarding tacting. A couple of
months ago my son got up to 50-60 objects or pictures he could tact with
no prompt. In the last 3-4 weeks he needs prompts on everything whether
it be an IV prompt or starting the word. He use to just list them right
off. I'm even talking when we have a strong reinforcer. He'll even
look at me as though to say "I want to tell you this but I just can't
remember it". I thought he had these mastered and they're gone. Even
trying new things for variety, once you put a distracter in, he's lost
again.
Any ideas what's going on or any suggestions?
Thanks
Penny

I am currently seeking families in the New Orleans area to work for
providing ABA therapy. I have nearing 2 years experience in ABA home
programs. I hold a Master of Education degree in special education
with a focus on autism. My minor field of study was behavioral
analysis. I am able to provide references as needed. Please feel free
to contact me doy@...

Dear all,
In desperate need of a therapist for 6-8 hrs(very flexible) to work with my
son,age 4yrs 8mo.We are slowly but surely moving to VB approach with Jack. We
live in Billericay,Essex and please e-mail or phone if you can help
(01277-653187)
Many thanks
Nina

To all that sent me info on where to get the puzzle pin, Thank you.
For anyone else that is interested in purchasing the cloisonne pin, this is the
site.
http://www.cycleusa.net/ Look under products and it is the first one.
Kelly

Did anyone happen to video the 20/20 segment on Asperger's or know how I
could purchase a video copy? I missed it and would be very interested to see
it. Please email me and I will give you my mailing address.
Thanks,Lisa (Sarah's mom--and Mary's too)

Hey everyone--I've sent a little over 120 videos so far and I'm starting to
go over all of the original requests to answer any questions you may have had
when you sent your original request. I hope you all found it useful and I
appreciate all the thank you's that were sent. However, if you didn't send a
thank you and you helped someone else learn more about VB that is thank you
enough!!
Let me know if anyone did not receive their copy.
Also, some of you wrote to say that you had trouble with the attachments for
the paperwork on probes, graphs, etc. If you did have trouble with this and
would like me to send thru the mail or fax please send me your mailing
address or fax number and I'll get it to you.
Thanks--and keep up the good work.
Lisa

( sorry for cross-posting)
I would like to begin a charitable program in the St. Louis area that
deals specifically with obtaining supplies to set up a good therapy room
for ABA. I know there are families who cannot afford many of the things
that make a good room and that family directed support etc. would not
cover.
I will be collecting donations of the following and using local Autism
support groups to match the items with families who might need them. I
know this is not an essential part of ABA, but I do believe it would be
a big help:
Used toys in good condition
Table and chairs for table time
Dry Erase boards and markers
Shelving/storage units
Rubbermaid like containers
Gym Mats for floor play
Used Video Cameras/Computers
Any other item that you have found useful in your program that you do
not need anymore.
I have never done anything like this before, but it is something I
really want to do. In trying to start our own program I was amazed at
how much I felt I needed to get. Obviously one can do it with less, but
there are some things that make life a lot easier at a very stressful
time. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate them.
Thanks
Peggy Keller
862-1579
BowedOak1@...

Dear Listmates:
We recently began RFFC and FFC/IV with my son. He is doing surprisingly
well, especially expressively. My question is probably basic, but I would
like your input. Let's say Jer has acquired the ability to respond "apple"
when you say tell me something you eat. Now, we want to teach another food.
Let's say we begin with RFFC. Show me something you eat and teach him to
point to melon. When we go to ask him "what's something you eat," and he
says "apple." He is correct, so do just say "yes and what's something else
you eat" and prompt melon? This questions could apply to other categories as
well. If this makes sense, I'd love some input!

List members,
Please refrain from posting topic that are not ABA/AVB related. If someone
posted something that you do not agree with then please email that person
privately. Everyone on the list does not care to read about why you think
that person was wrong.
Jenn
DTT-NET CO-moderator

Hi-
We've been doing the verbal behavior approach to ABA since May. My
daughter is doing very well. Prior to that, we used a Lovaas-based program
with good, but limited results. We're very pleased that she's testing very
well and is quite indistinguishable.
That being said, I know there's always room for improvement. I attended a
workshop by Dr. Carbone a couple of weeks ago here in St. Louis. It was a
delight. I know my therapists can improve. I'm wondering if there is a
video available that would show a decent amount of solid, errorless or
verbal-behavior style of ABA to refer to on a periodic basis. They have
the basics down, but I want them to see the speed, especially, of a solid,
verbal behavior program.
Thanks for your help. Oh, and thanks to Mark and Patty Cyr for helping to
arrange the wonderful, two day workshop here. Your the best, Mark and
Patty!
-Kim, mom to Molly (5-NT), Lindsay (3-pdd) and baby Kaylie coming at the
beginning of March.

Everyone please post ONE TIP on "TACTING" that has helped your child's program.
MY TIP:
Tacting can happen everywhere.
What is it? couch, chair, tv, bed, flower, etc.
If your child does not know the name of the item, say it "FLOWER" and have your
child ECHO it. Then, immediately ask again "what is it?" in hopes for a clean
trial.
REMEMBER: do not get stuck on one item. If the child with not say "flower"
independently after 1 or 2 tries move on. Talking is suppose to be fun. The
child may not like flowers or may not like the color of the flower (who knows
why he does not want to say "flower" at his moment) You can always pick another
"flower" to TACT or come back to the same "flower" later in the day.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE: A typical 3 year old says over 10,000 words per
day (my 4 year old is up to the 100,000 mark!) so it is important that you get
these kids to practice using their voices anytime throughout his/her day.... not
just during formal teaching sessions.
Good luck.

Hi list,
Just wanted to remind everyone what the description of this group is. Let's
all try to stick to it!
Jenn
DTT-NET CO-moderator
++++++++++++++++++++++++
One of the most complex tasks both parents and professionals face is
developing and implementing an effective language intervention for children
with autism. Parents and professionals are finding that BOTH Discrete Trial
Training (DTT) and Natural Environment Training (NET), together with the help
of Skinner's (1957) Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior to be very
effective for children with autism. And let me say, ALL THE ABOVE are
components of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). This list group was designed
to discuss how all of these components of ABA work together. It is a place
where parents and professionals running home (and school) programs can
discuss concerns and share their knowledge of this type of teaching. Other
issues relating to autism will not be addressed on this list. (DTT-NET is
not a methodology within itself. DTT-NET is an acronym used to describe this
listgroup.)

Mr. Scott has a pledge that he has to say along with the Pledge of
Allegiance every morning at school. It goes along the lines of "I promise to
do my very best, I won't accept any less, my work will be neat...blah blah
blah".
In any event, I had put it on the refrigerator to help him learn it and was
just reading it aloud (for no good reason) and I came to the last line and
said loudly:
"I promise to do my VERY BEST!"
Mr. Scott called in from the other room...
"You may now be seated"
Melinda
Mom to Mr. Scott and John

Erika and all on the list,
So many of you talk about your tutors, or team doing sessions with your
children. I am the only one working with my 5 yr old son. We have just
decided to home school him since the school system here is lacking in
everything he needs.
I am now going to try and find tutors to help me out. My questions are....
How do you find tutors?
Might I ask how much they are paid?
How do you find out their backgrounds? I am so nervous about trusting
someone else with my son.
Did you have to train the tutors and if so how long did it take?
The closest University to us, if wanting to get grad students, is over 30
minutes away. Do you pay for mileage?
So sorry for all the questions but this part is VERY new to me. I have no
idea where to start.
Thank you for your time and I hope you can help. You all have helped me
tremendously in your posts.
Kelly

hey gang as you know I posted not too long ago about how to get my son to " draw
someones attention" by using the word LOOK instead of him just aimlessly
tacting things he saw.
some people gave me great ideas about how to actually teach it in DTT format.
well the good news is the little devil is doing it, not just at home either, in
ANY environment which I am really pleased about...
I did model the response I wanted in the beginning...and then he just did it one
day with those big zebra's at the end of my street one day. MY response of
extreme pleasure got him off SO much, that he actually starting LOOK + tact of
things that were clearly not in view....clever though huh....
Sometimes he would just go point to something and tact it....I would ignore
this, which I had NOT done in the past, too much automatic mommy response...but
by ignoring ( hard to do because every word to me is so important) the tact only
response, he would IMMEDIATELY correct himself and say LOOK + tact+ joint
reference to make sure this time " I " was paying attention....ONLY then would I
show extreme pleasure again going way overboard with dramatics again ...the look
and smile on this kids face is PRICELESS...he is so getting off on my reaction
of pleasure, he has done this before to lesser degrees with social
reinforcement, but he is I can honestly say and know I am right feeling " PROUD"
for the first time and you can see it.
I just wanted to thank you guys for the suggestions they really worked!
Okay so now the next step....
I want him to use the name of the person he wants to show....
ie mommy , look at zebra
same thing , just model or should be just keep practicing with " look" for a few
more weeks till its rock solid since he is still self correcting?
any feed back is appreciated...
warmly,
norrah
ps thank G_d for those freaking zebra's

We need an additional team member to pick up some shifts for our home
program. Experience is always a plus, but we will train as necessary. Child
is 6 years old. Flexible part-time hours. Very supportive, enthusiastic
team.
Contact:
Sharon
ApplPckr42@...

Dear Listers,
Some of you may have attended the St. Louis conference with Carbone.
I assume it's probably the same one I went to and not with a lot of
changes, but I'd love to hear reactions and peoples' thoughts on the subject.
Any new ideas brewing because of this conference? Anybody excited because
they stumbled on a new teaching technique that works for their child really
well?
Jennie

Dear Friends,
Thank you for the advice on receptive, function, feature & what have you.
Lynda, thanks for your private reply too. I mostly agree, but you know I
think Carbone may be incorrect to say it is never the task, e.g., boring,
but the reinforcement.
Good Lord, I certainly have a whole lot of tasks I am sick to death of and
I guess maybe if you offered me a trip to the Virgin Island's, I would find
ironing more exciting. but that is a VERY big prize for ironing shirts for
a month. I don't think anyone can afford to do that very often, if at all,
hence I don't iron. ;-)
I guess a better way to put it is maybe there are no known reinforcers
available that the child wants ENOUGH to do the task. The task has become
aversive in its familiarity. Isaac truly looks pained at the sight of cards
laid out and having to point to them when asked to show, point, find. I
admit this is MY opinion, not confirmed by Ize verbally, but he has done
receptive work, both miserably in the past, and wonderfully now for months,
but just way too much of it since we did not yet know how to have him work
more on language at the time, and we were struggling with staffing issues
and consulting issues. Now, we have slightly more stability and a good
consultant, and we're making some nice gains in language. I think that we
have to find a way to move on, and yet cover the same concepts and skills,
without making him miserable in the process. I can play with reinforcers
and I need to think about this more.
I do think we have to find a balance between reinforcing big time for the
receptive work and the expressive work. Since the expressive is so much
newer, and harder, we probably do give way more positive feedback for
language. How can we possibly avoid the discrepancy though? Talking is
newer, harder and more rewarding for all of us. And it is the priority for
sure. I could care less if Isaac EVER showed me what has a tail, if he can
say some labels, or ask for his wants and needs.
I think I'll just do cards here and there in smaller chunks and try RFFC a
bit more in the NET environment and with new materials. His attention is
still not real high for doing some of it in the natural environment unless
it makes sense to him, and that's not always easy to do. Not everything
fits in context and it's hard to address it more aggressively since Isaac
does not generally learn new concepts by osmosis.
Like an umbrella, and what do you use when it rains? I mean I can hardly
plan for it to rain a significant amount of the time unless I move to
Oregon, so some things need objects or cards.
Anyhow, the good news, yesterday Isaac and his newer therapist were at
home, after making a McDonald's run. They used PECS for fries, coke, etc.,
and Ize verbally manded for coke nicelya few times, and a couple of other
things and he said CHICKEN 3+ times, once pretty clearly, as in I
practically got whiplash turning my head at a speed not condusive to good
neck health, and said, "
Did he just say "chicken?"" (I just came in the door from being out on
errands with his sister, and heard it clear as day!) and the therapist,
unnamed in case she prefers it that way, but she should get accolades for
this, "Oh yeah, he said it a few times."
You can bet we are buying chicken nuggets again VERY soon. That was soooo
exciting, and as exciting was when she said, in three weeks of working with
Isaac, or however long, she was noticing an increase in manding, tacts and
slightly better articulation for the words too. Gotta love somebody who
tells you that!!!
And last, but not least, I went to another therapist's wedding last night,
one of our guys, and had a great time. He has been determined for months to
see us GO OUT, but really, he didn't have to arrange a marriage for us to
do that, but I guess he felt it was imperative to find some excuse to make
us have a night out. Anyhow, the touching thing was his mother came over,
and I had not met her in person before, but had talked to her via phone,
and she told me how much lovely Isaac was, and what a pleasure it was to
have him visit and to make sure Jay brought Ize over more often, because
they had missed him recently! She also said he was listening and following
directions and even more seemed to watching other people talk and was
interested in the goings on, and she had noted a real improvement in the
last few months in his ability to be a part of things, not just there. Ok,
now I love her too.
Jennie

Thanks to everyone who has offered suggestions with manding. Just
wanted to share a scenario which has been successful in such a short
period of time.
Been thinking carefully about contriving EO's and deprivation of
reinforcement to increase the motivation.
Bought some gum for Nick. Hasn't had it in a while. Put 2 pieces on
the table.
N. "What's that?"
Me "It's gum" (I preceded to open a piece and put it in my mouth)
N. "I want gum."
Me "O.K. Sure. You can have it."
N. "Help me open."
Me "Sure. What do you do with gum?" (Prompted, "chew it")
N. "Chew it"
Me "What do you do with gum?"
N. "Chew it" (I handed him the gum)
Me "When you're all done with the gum where do you put it?"
(Have been teaching him not to swallow it. Doing great!)
N. "In the barrel"
Well, in just 3 opportunities, over the course of 2 days, he answers
all the mand/intraverbals independently (learned "chew it") and when
he is done chewing, he independently throws the gum away!
I realize that this is somewhat of a mix of mands and intraverbals,
but I think it's O.K. It has worked and we seem to be having a mini
conversation about gum! The understanding of NOT swallowing the gum
was a bonus.
I will NOT beat this scenario into the ground. I'll always vary my
questions and make it sound as natural as possible.
Feel free to share thoughts that might help others.
Tina

**We will waive the additional on-site registration fee for DTT-NET list
members who
call (925-798-2881) or email (marksundberg@...) before 10/18/00.**
Teaching Language to Children With Autism
A two day training workshop focusing on language assessment and the
development of appropriate and effective language intervention programs for
children with language delays
by
Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D.
October 19 & 20, 2000
Concord Hilton Hotel
1970 Diamond Blvd.
Concord, California
With a special presentation by
Cathy Santopadre
A workshop for parents, special education teachers and aides, speech and
language pathologists, behavior analysts, psychologists, in-home trainers,
students, direct care staff, program specialists, administrators and other
human service professionals.
The Workshop
Two major challenges faced by those working with children with autism are
(1) determining a child's individual language needs, and (2) developing an
intervention program that specifically meets those needs. The objectives
of this workshop are to teach participants how to:
Use a behavioral approach to language assessment (e.g., mands, tacts, and
intraverbals)
Establish an effective individualized language intervention program for
children with autism
Utilize motivational variables to teach language in structured sessions
(discrete trial training), and in on-going daily activities (natural
environment training)
Write language based IEPs and use the most efficient data collection system
Determine if augmentative communication is necessary, and if so, which type
might be best for an individual child (e.g., sign language, PECS, writing)
Make learning enjoyable for the child
This workshop can be helpful for all individuals who work or live with
children with autism or other developmental disabilities. During the first
day the focus will be on a behavioral analysis of language, assessment,
augmentative communication, and initial language training. The second day
will focus on more advanced language training including asking questions,
conversational skills, social interaction, and integration. All
participants will receive a 50 page handout covering
these topics.
Special guest presentation by Cathy Santopadre at the Concord workshop will
take place on Thursday afternoons, and will be followed by a social hour
with a cash-bar. Ms. Santopadre will give a presentation titled "Natural
Teaching Opportunities: Parents Can Make a Difference."
About the Presenters
Mark Sundberg, Ph.D. received his doctorate degree in Applied Behavior
Analysis from Western Michigan University (1980), under the direction of
Dr. Jack Michael. Dr. Sundberg is a licensed psychologist who has been
conducting language research with children with autism and other
developmental disabilities for over 25 years. He is the Senior Behavior
Analyst for Behavior Analysts, Inc. and STARS School, serving children with
autism. He is the founder and past editor of the journal The Analysis of
Verbal Behavior, and is the co-author (with James W. Partington, Ph.D.) of
the books Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental
Disabilities, and The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills: The
ABLLS. He has published over 35 empirical and conceptual papers, manuals,
and book chapters. He has also given over 250 conference presentations and
workshops on methods of language assessment and intervention for children
with autism and other developmental disabilities, and has taught over 70
college courses on behavior analysis, language, and child development.
Cathy Santopadre (presenting in Concord) is the parent of Elizabeth, a
child with autism. She is also the client services coordinator for
Behavior Analysts, Inc. She and her husband Ed, participate in a number of
parent training activities designed to teach parents how to help their
children with autism. The Santopadre's, along with Dr. James Partington,
were recently featured on Dateline NBC in a tribute to Elizabeth's
significant progress.
Workshop Schedule
Thursday
8:00-9:00 am Registration
9:00-10:30 am First morning session
10:30 -10:45 am Break
10:45 -12:00 noon Second morning session
12:00 -1:30 pm Lunch break (on your own)
1:30 - 2:45 pm First afternoon session
2:45 - 3:00 pm Break
3:00 - 4:00 pm Second afternoon session
4:00 - 4:15 pm Break
4:15 - 5:00 pm Guest speaker
5:00 - 6:00 pm Social Hour/Cash bar
Friday
9:00 -10:30 am First morning session
10:30 -10:45 am Break
10:45 -12:00 noon Second morning session
12:00 -1:30 pm Lunch break (on your own)
1:30 - 3:00 pm First afternoon session
3:00 - 3:15 pm Break
3:15 - 4:30 pm Second afternoon session
Accommodations
Special room rates have been arranged for those attending this conference
and their guests. When making your reservations be sure to mention you
will be attending the Teaching Language Workshop in order to receive this
special room rate.
Concord Hilton Hotel 10/19 and 10/20
1970 Diamond Blvd. (off Highway 680 at Willow Pass Rd.). Call (925)
827-2000 for hotel room reservations or further directions. A room rate of
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from either Oakland or San Francisco Airports call East Bay Connections at
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For a map, visit Mapquest at www.mapquest.com
Continuing Education Credit
BCBA credit for Certified Behavior Analysts is available. Certificates of
attendance will be issued to all participants.
Registration
____Concord, CA, October, 19th and 20th
Workshop Fees:
____ $160 Workshop registration
____ $130 Special parent rate
____ $230 Two parents or members of the same family
____ $90 Student rate (Students must be enrolled in at least two college
courses and submit a copy of their course schedule)
____Group rate $140 each for 5 or more persons
(groups must be mailed together with a separate
registration form for each person)
On-site registration will be an additional $30.00
(This fee will be waived for DTT-NET list members who call 925-798-2881
before 10/18/2000)
Optional materials: delivered at the workshop
____Teaching Language to Children With Autism or Other Developmental
Disabilities, by Mark L. Sundberg and James W. Partington ($39 pre-workshop
order rate)
____The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills: The ABLLS, and
The ABLLS Scoring Instructions and IEP Development Guide (a two book set)
by James W. Partington and Mark L. Sundberg, ($55 pre-workshop order rate)
____ A Collection of Reprints on Verbal Behavior by Mark L. Sundberg and
Jack L. Michael ($39 pre-workshop order rate)
$____ Sales tax on books for California residents (8.25%)
$_______ Total fees and book orders
Name:

Tina,
I had to go back and look at your note. I made a mistake with my previous
response. If he is really asking for you to identify something for him, he
is manding for information. If he doesn't know what to ask and says the
wrong thing, then you give him the correct question to ask and it counts as
one mand. It should probably be counted as a prompted mand since you did
have to prompt him. That way when he learns to ask the correct question
and it becomes an unprompted mand then your numbers will accurately reflect
the switch from him having to be prompted with the correct question
initially and then later him being able to say it independently.
Sorry for the confusion. In the case of the bath mand (which is
unprompted), the rest of the questions he is answering on the way to the
bath are not mands though.....they are either tacts or intraverbals.
Lynda

Hello all,
I'm posting for a family on the South Shore, near Boston, MA. Family is
not on the internet.
They are looking for a therapist to join their home ABA program for their 3
yo child.
This is a privately run program, with, currently 15 hours, but want to add
another 15.
Pay is competitive.
Please respond privately.
Thanks.
Rebecca
--- John Rae, Rebecca Ryan
--- jfrrmr19@...
---"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength
lies solely in my tenacity"
Louis Pasteur

Hi becky
I think ( i'm a mom too) you have to think about why these tears
are happening. What has changed so that he would partcipate
and now will not. My guessand it can only be a guess from
what you have said is that the therapy at the daycare - killed his
reinforcers. Did you see how they carried out the programme?
What you have to do in this situation is establish what his reinforcers
are and work with those. My son would do anything - and I mean
anything for a sip of fizzy ribena. So to start him back in therapy
after a dreadful experience period we established his reinforcers-
ribena, music machine, apricot biscuits, and worked on manding -
he asked for them. Once he could ask we introduced other items
such as body parts, echoics etc (easy items) and gradually increased
the intervals before he got to ask for something he wanted.
Once he was giving the responses nicely on the floor we worked at the
table for a while.
So now he can work 20 minutes at the table and give about 100 + reponses
before we call a break. The programme has also become much
more complicated. This is something that took about 4 months to get
to a reasonable state - occassionally we have bad days and sometimes
really great days.
For my son play wouldn't have helped - because he just associated these
attempts to play with him with people he didn't know asking him to do
things he didn't want to do. However if your son has good play skills and
finds this reinforcing this might help .
I think that the theory behind this is really easy to believe if you see it
work.
If you get a chance to attend a Carbone conference it is a real eye opener
to see the videos. We learned alot.
Hope this helps.
Catherine (UK)
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Jennie and all,
I mean't to put that in my post and forgot. We teach FFC carrier phrases
for words that David does NOT have as tacts all the time. We started out
doing it as an experiment to see if teaching the carrier phrases would help
him to learn the tact. We have found that it doesn't really help as much
as we thought it would. We still just have to keep drilling the words in
tact drills in order for David to learn them as tacts. It takes him longer
to learn a word as a tact than it does for him to learn 5 new carrier
phrases for words. I think this is a good example of something that Vince
often says...that just because they learn a word in one category of speech
(receptive id, for instance) doesn't mean that they will automatically know
it in another category of speech (say, tact).
What it does allow us is another way to prompt David during a tact
drill.....by using carrier phrases.
Jennie, thanks for asking that question.
Lynda

Hi All,
My name is Becky and I'm new to this list. My son, Tanner is 4.3
years and has been in Lovaas therapy for a year making great progress
- until now. I enrolled him in the Early Childhood program at school
- which he loves. However, it is much less demanding than therapy,
and he has been sobbing every morning for the past month all the way
to daycare (where his therapy takes place most of the time). Since
he couldn't tell me exactly why he was sobbing - we moved therapy
completely out of daycare to exclusively at home. Now, no more tears
at daycare(good) sobbing at home when a therapist arrives(bad). The
plan now is that the therapists are to discontinue any programs and
only PLAY with Tanner during a session to see if he will start to
enjoy his thrapists again. Tanner is a smart cookie - he will not be
easily coaxed back into doing drills at the table. Has anyone else
experienced this? If so what did you do? and are there other
effective programs besides discreet trial which are more flexible for
the child and can be done in a more "natural" environment? I'm
really not aware of what else is available. I live in northwest
Wisconsin. I'd appreciate ANY help. Thanks!
Becky

Mohamed and Catherine,
Here are some examples of words to teach FFC carrier phrases for (these are
ones that Mohamed asked for):
Bike:
- something with handlebars
- something you ride for fun
- has two wheels
- has peddles
- something you do outside
Fruit (I'd use a specific type of fruit, let's say apple)
- something you can make juice from
- something that grows on trees
- a fruit
- something you can make pies with
- tastes sweet
plate:
- round
- put food on
- use at meals
- find in the cabinet
- category is dishes
knife:
- something you cut with
- has a sharp edge
- a utensil
- use at mealtimes
- use with a fork
boy:
I have never done this one before....I think it would be hard for a child
to distinguish boy from girl unless you started talking anatomy!
So, let's choose horse:
- has a mane
- say's nay
- lives in a stable
- gallops
- is an animal
So, what I would do is put the five pictures out on the table in a line. I
would point to the picture of the bike and say, "Something that has
handlebars is a ......bike" and have the child repeat bike after me. Then
I would say the same carrier phrase again and see if the child would give
the correct response. With David, we usually say the carrier phrase two or
three times and get a response from him each time before moving to the next
card. So it might go like this:
Sd: Tell me something that has handlebars? Bike
Sr: Bike
Sd: Something that has handlebars is a ........bike.
Sr: Bike
Sd: What has handlebars?
Sr: Bike
So you see, the last time we got an independent response, which is what you
want to go for, but if you have to settle for prompted responses at the
beginning of starting new carrier phrases for pictures, that is ok too.
After I did that, I would go to the second picture and do the same thing
with the first carrier phrase for that picture. Get two or three responses
on that picture then move to the next picture, and so on.
I would do all five pictures in one sitting, doing each picture twice if
the child could tolerate it. It goes very fast because you are prompting
the answers except for the last one for each picture. So one sitting for
David would be to run through the five cards twice, working on one carrier
phrase for each picture. I would keep doing this several times a
session/day until the child knows the first carrier phrase for each picture.
As the child learns to give an independent response for the first carrier
phrase for a picture, put that one on maintenance and then begin work on
the second carrier phrase for that picture. And so on, till all five
carrier phrases are learned.
Does this make sense? The key with David is to do a lot of prompted
responses. He learns these pretty quick (for him). Considering how little
receptive language David had when we started these, I was surprised at how
easily he can learn them.
Yes, Catherine, you can use pictures or objects. Also, if you are teaching
RFFC then the child's response is just a pointing response. If you want
them to respond with the name of the picture, then you would require a
verbalization from them....talking or sign.
Also, to then turn these into intraverbals, the child needs to be able to
give the correct response (verbally) without the picture or object being
present....that's what an intraverbal is....being able to talk about
something when it isn't present. So if you want to take it to that stage,
then when you are working with the pictures on the table, you do one or two
Sd's with the picture turned up, then turn the picture over and give a
carrier phrase. This is how you get them to practice responding with the
pictures or objects not being present. If needed, you flash the picture
for them to see if they need a prompt while you are transferring from an
FFC to an intraverbal.
Good luck. Let me know if I can clarify further.
Lynda

Over the summer our autistic son Bradley learned an incredible amount of
skills in his Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) program. The trend of him
regressing was finally reversed. ABA is deemed appropriate for children with
autism by the U.S. Surgeon General and is supported by numerous studies.
Unfortunately, this makes no difference to the Lapeer School District. They
all "oood" and "ahhd" over Bradley's before & after video tape. They know
that this is what he needs but they still won't provide it to him. They will
spend as much money as it takes in litigation to fight this because if they
were to provide it to Bradley then they would have to provide it to other
children as well. God forbid. The Lapeer School District has already spent
over $10,500.00 on three meetings! If we had taken this to court then their
tab would have easily exceeded $100,000.00. This should appall the community
of Lapeer since it is their tax dollars that are being used to fight a
disabled child. We are not taking this to court because even if we won it
would take years and a lot of money. Bradley needs this therapy now. Our
energy needs to be directed towards him right now. Shame on the LCS Special
Education director for digging in her heels. You know who you are because
you are getting this in your mailbox as well. You knew from the beginning
that this was not a matter of who was to pay for this therapy but rather it
was a matter of Bradley getting this therapy at all. How do you sleep at
night? How dare you ignore the recommendations of 4 specialists? How dare
you to not have my child's, or any child for that matter, best interest at
heart. I came down on you hard at our IEP meeting, and rightfully so. I
ripped you up one side and down for ignoring the facts and abusing your
power. You can count on it that I will be advocating for these children in
Lapeer so we will be seeing a lot of each other.
Shamefully, I would have never guessed that I could feel hatred to the extent
that I do. Perhaps out of frustration, devastation and helplessness. But it
is hatred just the same. I have hatred for the system on every single level.
A system that is designed to cheat children out of an education they are
entitled to. A system that gives school districts all the power in the world
and the attitude "make us if you can." Fighting this, especially if you
don't have an attorney, will take everything out of you and then 100% more.
Folks, this is discrimination of the worse kind. It is hard to believe that
this still exists today. Lapeer is very much behind the times. A few years
ago the state home was finally torn down but they just put all the kids in
state home #2, Woodside School. Lapeer will continue to improve their
programs because I intend to keep them on their toes. It is time for the
disabled children & adults in Lapeer to no longer be invisible to the rest of
the community and no longer be cheated out of the services they so
desperately need. This is going to take a lot of work. If you live in
Lapeer, consider getting involved. If Lapeer can afford $100,000.00 in
litigation then they can afford much more than that providing better services
to all of those in special education.
Although I can't go into details I do want to say that no parent should be
treated the way that I have been treated. But unfortunate for the Lapeer
School District, their abuse has made me very strong. I will forever be a
thorn in their side. Ms. Special Education Director, I am a pain in the rear
end and I'm not going anywhere so I suggest you get used to the feel. If you
had provided Bradley with what he needed, he would be in and out of your
system in 2 or 3 years. But now you will be dealing with me for a much
longer length of time. You may as well give Mr. School Attorney his own
office in your administration building because I have a feeling that you may
need his expertise on a regular basis. I would like to thank the school
employees who have shot me smiles of support from across the table. I have a
feeling that there are more of you than I know of. Just remember that alone
you may fall but together you can stand. You can make a difference as well.
On the same note, the ones who have followed orders like some kind of
hypnotized worker bee are the ones that disgust me the most. Perhaps you
should think again the next time you are told to do something unethical and
illegal.
So what now? We are going to do everything we can for Bradley. The fact
that what we can do is not enough is what is so devastating. We will give
him as many hours of Discrete Trial Teaching as we can. The school will take
credit for everything we teach him and that is OK as long as he learns it.
While they are busy taking credit, I will be busy educating this community
not only about Applied Behavior Analysis but also about how to advocate for
their children's rights. I want each and every person who is responsible for
not providing Bradley with what he needs to think about something. Think
about if this was your own child. You would be advocating for your child's
future instead of for a budget. Put yourself in this position and then ask
yourself what you would do. I think this will make you realize what is right
and what is wrong. Because you would not cheat your own child.
Kim Murphy
"Bradley's Mom"
http://www.iqonline.net/murphy/bradley/lapeer.htm
http://www.MichiganFEAT.org
http://www.ark-inc.org
"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Hi,
i will be attending the Behavior Analysts workshop in Pleasant Hill CA on
Oct.10-13.
ABLLS & Teaching Children with Language Delays. i'm looking for a room mate
to share a room with. if interested, please contact me.
thank you,
Selma Martinez
Chicagoland ABA consultant
<ABAinitia@...

Dear List:
We are just beginning to incorporate Verbal Behavior into our program.
We were going to start with 10 strong tacts and teach the function of each
receptively and as an intraverbal. This is what I am not sure of - if we
teach the functions of these, do we then go on to teach the feature and class
or do we add more tacts and again teach the functions. Or do we teach them
all at once. I'm afraid if we teach only the function, the transition to
feature and class might be more difficult. However, I also don't want to
confuse him.
If anyone has any experience doing this either or both ways could you
post to the list or to me privately.
Thanks,
Rosie (Jer Bear's Mom)
GBAShea@...

Just back from a Carbone conference. Still trying to organize
materials and "white board" in an effort to jumpstart my son's
program. Already seeing results since implementing the manding
procedure.
I am wondering if any of you think it would be helpful to have coding
on the back of flash cards. Perhaps boxes that could be checked off
for each of the verbal operants, (tact, mand, echoic, rec., RFFC and
intraverbal). If so, which ones. Or is this coding more beneficial
on the front of the card?
I am considering offering this as an option on my flash cards, which
are available at ConnectTheThoughts.com
Would appreciate any feedback. It seems that this is where families
typically get lost.
Thanks,
Tina

Hi,
We are based in central London. We need a therapist for Approx. 9
hours a week to work with my eight year-old girl. Please contact me
directly.
Thank you, Linda.

To all,
Apologies for clogging up the list--here is the website for the full text of
my husband James Fisher's article in Commonweal Magazine on our son,
"Charlie's World."
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org
Click on the cover of the magazine, and scroll down the resulting table of
contents for the article (lacking the typos in the text I posted earlier).
Thanks and care and cheers,
Kristina

Firstly, thank you to all of those people who emailed suggestions for how to
teach the Wh questions. I might say, in this house we have had some success. We
have found that it is imperative to have a second person helping you and to
generalise it on the first day you introduce it. The second person adds as a
prompter, so the child is still interacting with someone and lowers the
confusion.
We started with Where is it. We made him go outside the bedroom door (with me
and count to 5) my mum hid the Woody and Buzz dolls and we barged in the door
and i prompted him to say 'where is Woody / Buzz?' My mum would show him the
hiding place and we would all clap making it a big game. By the 4th go, i didn't
have to prompt anything and he consequently made us play this game for 40
minutes! Later that day in the park, he dropped his toy plane in the dirt and
asked "Where is it?" - we were dumbfounded and of course went bezerk searching
the park for the plane and answered loudly 'Here it is' . We were so happy with
the generalisation and his picking it up so quick. It relieved him of so much
frustration when he can simply ask for something he has lost. By the end of the
week he was using cute upturned hands as a gesture as well.
The grand finale to this tale was during the closing ceremony Olympic fireworks
last night (i live in Sydney). My parents have an extremely small apartment but
with a great view of the harbour and fireworks from the 18th floor. Jack
watched the show all the while yelling "Fireworks, fireworks" and then at the
end when everyone in the city was cheering and clapping, he stormed into the
room from the balcony, looked at everyone dead in the eye and commanded "Where
are they gone?" everyone fell apart laughing and tried to explain that that was
the finish. His response to that was 'Why' - hear comes the next WH question.
Good luck to all, i can certainly tell you it makes their little lives easier.
Nicole - one very happy mum to Jack

Hi all,
thanks for all your help re: early intervention - many of you emailed
me privately.
Next question for you pros: we have hired a consultant, but as he
does not work for an established ABA consultancy firm, we need to
write a contract. Can you give us some advice as to what sorts of
things we should make sure to include in the contract?
Thanks much!
If you plan to email me privately, please direct mail to
ginav AT vt.edu
-Randy

Shauna writes:
"He discriminates between these sounds really really well, but I can't get
any other sounds out of him such as, K,C,and G, the sounds that require him
to make noise in the back. Has anyone experienced this before? Is there
any way (exercises etc.) that I could facilitate these sounds?? "
Has this kiddo had any oral motor work? Many children have poor oral
proprioceptice awareness and/or hypersensitivity in the oral cavity that
make it difficult for them to produce velar sounds (back sounds). I've had
success doing passive oral motor exercises and gradually moving back to the
velar area. These need to be approached very gradually and in a very
motivating environment.
If he lets you in his mouth try tipping his head back or laying his head in
your lap. Hold the tip of the tongue down and gently push the back of the
tongue toward the velum.
(I'm surprised the family has kept a therapist around that isn't willing to
be part of the team- It's critical that everyone's working together for the
child and not in opposititon.)
Tracy V.

My son is on zyprexa sydis... 5mg a day. How does this medication works
and its side-effects.My son feels lightheaded and he looks like he was on
drugs... Don't like how he looks nor reacts to this medication. He is
usually very hyperactive and today, first day with it in his system, is very
slow and low-key...
Any information will help me calm down.
Miranda

Hi all,
Sorry for the totally off topic post, but I am trying to publish a story my
sister wrote for her kids. It is about her as a child. I don't need it
published professionally, but would like it illustrated and bound. I plan on
giving it to her as a gift. She has done so much for me. If any one out
there can draw and would like to help me, please let me know. Of course I am
willing to pay--maybe a whopping $20 or so(ha-ha). Let me know your price.
I have been trying to do this for a long time. Thanks. Please email me
privately.
Tracy
whcmccain@...

Hello list,
I have been keeping an eye on this list for a while, but this is my first
time posting, so please bear with me.
I have a few questions about the word lists and data that I have been
reading over from the ABBLS.
First, I am wondering if on the word lists, a child should master words
according to groups, or why these are separated into groups at all. I am
sure that this is a silly question, but to be honest, I am a bit overwhelmed
by all the lists and data keeping stuff in this manual.
How does one know what words a child should start with and work through when
starting intraverbals and receptive/expressive skills using picures? ALso,
where in the world does one find all these pictures without having to spend
a ton of money? I have compiled a very large number already from magazines
and newspaper ads, but I just don't seem to be making a dent in this list of
240 words!
Finally, has anyone come up with more user-friendly data sheets? THe ones
in this manual are a little too much for me, I think.
Any help would be great. Sorry this was so long
GinnyZ

Hello everyone
Last week I asked about chicken pox vaccines in NY State and also about what age
boosters were given. I got several responses to my questions along with other
info such as different web addresses on this topic or vaccines in general. I
saved all this info in a vax file and seem to have deleted it by mistake. Im
flipping out because I need all that info. If any of you remember that you
responded to me can you please re post your responses. My name is Janine in NY
and my address is jrlouie@... thanks in advance.

Hi
We are part of a parent support group in Malaysia. There are about 90
families who are currently members.
Some of us are interested in using the VB/NET method.
Would like to know if there are any consultants using this method who are
keen to fly over here to start and supervise Intensive Behaviour
Intervention program.
Kindly e-mail us privately.
Thanks
Leong

Hi we are a group of three speech-lang path. students attending
Columbia U Teacher College. We are doing a project on AVB and we are
looking for precise research on this method. If any one can help,
please direct us to helpful sites or research articles on this
method,
or contribute any feed back from anyone positive or negative, that
would be very helpful.
Thank you
Christa
Stephanie
Andrea.

This letter is in response to an item which ran yesterday in the FEAT Daily
Newsletter.
The article, "A Look at Autism and God," is not necessarily appropriate for
this list, but this response is, so I have forwarded it to here. Please
respond to: Silvermetz@... If you are aware of any other behavioral
based, Sunday schools for autistic children, please let us know at:
FEAT@...
-Lenny Schafer
FEAT

Therapist needed in GA for a new program starting for
a 2 1/2 yr old. Morning hours available (M, Tu and
Fr). Located 35 in SE of Atlanta. No luck with ads in
the newspaper. If anyone is interested or know of
anyone I can contact please let me know (e mail
privately). My son is non-verbal and I am REALLY
needing to get started. Time is clicking away.
Thanks......
Caroline
caroline_hull@...

Hi ,
My name is Bhavani Kodali.
I am looking for a therapist to work with my son who
is 5 years old. Call me at (248) 375-1357, if you are
interested. My email address is
prasad_bhavani@... .
Bhavani Kodali

Hi,
I am looking for a therapist in the Michigan area, to
teach my 5 year old son. Please call me at (248)
375-1357 or email me at prasad_bhavani@..., if
you are interested or if you know of any one.
Bhavani Kodali

Hello,
I believe that Jenn enrolled me in this list, but I would like to add it to
the account at eGroups that I already have - mainly b/c I want to change the
type of message delivery.
Please tell me what I should do.
Thanks, Kristen

Just to let people know Different Roads to Learning is now carrying the book
Verbal Behavior by Skinner. It is $20.00. Also, Julie carries tally
counters as well. Different Roads is a great place! They are very quick
about getting orders out!
http://www.difflearn.com
Jenn

Thank you for the link to the different learning site. I'm new to the
list and am still finding my way through the funding situation and
always looking for products. Joann Muhammad

I just received my copies of ABLLS & Teach.... by S&P. I'm looking
for anyone near me who I can talk with about DTT-NET & VB, and maybe
observe a session so I can understand it better. None of my team
have even heard of S&P or Dr. Carbone, so I have a lot of educating
to do: myself & them. I live in Chester Co. Pennsylvania. Thanks in
advance.
BTW: the files attached to this egroup are great! Thanks for
pointing them out.
Julia

Hi everyone,
Vince Carbone' s workshop #1 scheduled for St. Louis on Oct 10th and 11th is
still accepting registrations. If you need a copy of the registration form
you can email me privately or sign up through the Jericho web site.
Patty

Elsie
The therapy location does not