The Role and Importance of Fluency for
Students with Autism
Donna Salkin, BCBA
and
Tina Lawson, BCBA
National Autism Conference
2013
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network
PaTTAN’s Mission
The mission of the Pennsylvania
Training and Technical Assistance
Network (PaTTAN) is to support the
efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of
Special Education, and to build the
capacity of local educational agencies
to serve students who receive special
education services.
1
PDE’s Commitment to Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Our goal for each child is to ensure
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
teams begin with the general
education setting with the use of
Supplementary Aids and Services
before considering a
more restrictive environment.
Flow of the Day
How can we get
students to enjoy
learning?
What are the
stages of learning
and why do so
many programs fail?
What are learning
channels and how
can they improve
practice?
Why do
I care?
2
Objectives
• Define Participation
• Define Stages of Learning and its impact on
instruction
• Define critical components of fluency
• Define and apply Learning Channels to
facilitate lesson planning
Stages of Learning
Stage Three
Applying and
combining
fluent components
Stage Two
Practicing
Components for
fluency and
endurance
Stage One
Acquiring new
behavior
- 2000 Dr. Carl Binder
3
Compliance
The act of conforming, acquiescing, or yielding
cooperation or obedience
Dictionary.com
True or False?
In order to teach a student, (s)he must be
compliant.
Discuss your view with your neighbor.
4
Compliance
Think of a time someone asked you to do
something and you did it just to be compliant.
Jot it here:
Non Compliance
Failure to act in accordance with a wish or
command
New Oxford American Dictionary 2007
5
Non Compliance
Think of a time when you were non compliant.
Jot it here:
Specific
Behaviors
Areas to
Assess
 Pushing
 Hitting
 Spitting
 Throwing
 Communication
 Academics
 Sensory/Motor
 Social Interaction
Adapted from Parent Survival Manual: A Guide to Crisis Resolution in Autism and
Related Developmental Disorders, Schopler, Eric, editor.
6
Noncompliance?
• Many individuals with autism are described as
noncompliant if they fail to follow instructions
or conform to rules
• Most of the behavior our students display is
likely due to skill deficits in the areas of
communication, social skills, self-management,
academics, etc.
• Need to ask yourself if it is a “failure to
comply” or a “refusal to comply”
Behavioral Notions
BF Skinner
Ogden Lindsley
• The organism is
always right!
• The learner knows
best!
• Learner is a product
of his/her
environment!
7
Positive Behavior Interventions & Support
• Instructors MUST develop alternative learner
behaviors
• Instructors MUST learn how to set the
occasion for the alternative behaviors and
reinforce immediately
Participation
• The learner willingly performs consistently
• The learner willingly continues to perform
even though (s)he is exposed to nonpreferred, difficult, and/or novel tasks
Tucci Learning Solutions, 2006
8
Stages of Learning
Stage Three
Applying and
combining
fluent components
Stage Two
Practicing
Components for
fluency and
endurance
Stage One
Acquiring new
behavior
- 2000 Dr. Carl Binder
Participation…skills are R+ by
the natural consequences
Participation… skills match
context requirements (when
and where)
Participation…
teaching skills
becomes easier
•Conditioning
•Deprivation
•Conditioned
Reinforcement
•Shaping
•Model, Lead, Test
•Prime, Prompt/Fade,
Reinforce
Participation is
fun and
rewarding
9
Types of Participation
Teacher Directed
– The instructor is providing direct
instruction or direction to the learner
Semi Directed
– The learner knows how to do the
assigned task and performs mostly
independently, asking for help when
needed
Types of Participation
Peer Directed
– Peers are present and there is a need for
some level of social responsiveness and
cooperation
Non Directed
– The learner has the choice to do whatever
he/she wants or when no direct instruction
is present
10
Participation
Consider
• locations in the classroom to teach
participation skills
• time in the schedule/lesson
• teaching across people, places, and
instructional materials to promote
generalization of skills
Stages of Learning
Stage Three
Applying and
combining
fluent components
Stage Two
Practicing
Components for
fluency and
endurance
Stage One
Acquiring new
behavior
- 2000 Dr. Carl Binder
11
Fluent…
•
•
•
•
•
•
___________
___________
___________
___________
___________
___________
The Learner Knows Best
• If a child is progressing, the program is right
for that child.
• Focus is on directly observable behavior
• The use of frequency as the universal measure
• Analysis of environmental conditions that
appear to influence behavior
12
When is a Skill Fluent?
• High rate of accurate responding (Lindsley,
1972)
• Must be readily available to the selecting
environment for linking and combining with
other skills (generative learning) (Johnson &
Laying, 1992)
• Response rate and accuracy are maintained
over time (Haughton, 1972; Binder, 1987,
1988)
Likelihood = Rate of Response
• “Teaching is not only producing new behavior,
it is also changing the likelihood that a student
will respond in a certain way. Since we
cannot see a likelihood, we look instead at
how frequently a student does something.
We see how fast he can add. The student
who does problems correctly at a higher rate
is said to know addition facts better than one
who does them at a lower rate.”
•
- Dr. Julie Skinner Vargas, 1977, p.62
13
Benefits of Fluency
• High frequency behavior competes effectively
against lower frequency behavior
• Missing skills prevent acquisition of many
complex skill sets
• Students with autism require very specific and
concrete instruction
• Problematic behavior patterns may develop
during ineffective instruction
Results Associated with Fluency
• Retention and maintenance of skills and
knowledge
• Endurance, attention span, resistance to
distraction
• Stability – the ability to engage in the skill
easily in the face of distraction
14
Results Associated with Fluency
• Application or transfer of training in
application and subsequent learning
(generativity, creativity)
• Adduction confluence of skills to produce
new patterns of responding
Stages of Learning
RESSA
Stage Three
Applying and
combining
fluent components
Stage One
Acquiring new
behavior
Stage Two
Practicing
Components for
fluency and
endurance
- 2000 Dr. Carl Binder
15
Traditional Methods vs Planned Fluency
• Emphasis on accuracy
on (% correct)
• Insufficient practice
opportunities
• Instruction is timeintensive
• Does not guarantee
essential learning
outcomes (RESAA)
• Emphasis on rate
(responses per minute)
• High number of
practice opportunities
• Instruction is not timeintensive
• Does guarantee RESAA
Components of Fluency
•
•
•
•
•
Skills are established (instruction)
Skills are practiced daily
All practices are timed
Performance is graphed
Changes are made when the student does not
grow
• Outcomes of Fluency (RESAA) are empirically
validated
16
How Should Learners Spend their Time?
• Testing and graphing – 10%
• Establishing New Skills – 20%
• Practicing Already Established Skills – 70%
Adapted from Eric & Elizabeth Haughton, 1978
Practice - Effectively
Reasons traditional “drill & practice” fails:
lacks explicit fluency criteria as goals
long durations stretch endurance and attention
often the “chunks” are too big
Reasons well engineered practice succeeds:
includes explicit time-based goals for practice
brief durations allow peak performance
builds fluent elements before application
- 2000 Dr. Carl Binder
17
Timed Practice
• All practices are done under timed
conditions
• Timing intervals range according to skill and
stage of learning
–
–
–
–
1 minute
30 seconds
10 seconds
Duration timing
Fluency Aims
Setting aims
• A range of frequencies
• An estimate of the level required for most
people to achieve a desired outcome.
• Peer data, adult child proportional data,
current performance of learner
• Instructional decision making
• Immediate and future needs
18
History of Learning Channels
• Learning Channels were developed in 1969
• Named by Ogden Lindsley 5 years later
• Eric Haughton (HOT-un) investigated
combinations of these channels
Translate it…
•
•
•
•
•
See/Match
Hear/Do
See/Do
Hear/Touch
See/Write
• On command touch
body parts
• Match words with
picture
• Match like pictures
• Point to pictures based
on function
• Copy a sentence or set
of words
• Imitate gross motor
movements
19
Learning Channels
“Learning channels use active ________
combined to describe how a Behavior
operates as a unit.”
Learning Channel
Fully named with obj. and adj.
SeeSay
See the capital A and say its name
SeeWrite
See question and write answer
HearDo
Hear instruction and do it
Adapted from Standard Celeration Chart 2000 by Graf/Lindsley
Learning Channels
Why use them
• Adds variety to instruction and practice
• Extends skill application by teaching and
practicing many examples of the skill area
• Assists with planning for instruction and
practice
Kubina and Cooper (2000). Changing Learning Channels: An Efficient strategy to facilitate instruction and learning. Intervention and
School and Clinic, 35 (3).
20
Learning Channels
Why
• Communicates with others in plain English
• Reminds us students learn and respond in
many ways
• Helps us select instructional and practice
activities for learners with special needs
• Makes learning more exciting and fun
PaTTAN Publications
Like us on facebook at
www.facebook.com/pattanpublications
www.pattan.net
21
Contact Information
www.pattan.net
Donna Salkin
[email protected]
Phone# 1-800-441-3215
ext. 7267
Tina Lawson
[email protected]
Phone # 1-800-441-3215
ext. 7254
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Tom Corbett
Governor
Pennsylvania Department of Education
William E. Harner, Ph.D.
Acting Secretary
Carolyn C. Dumaresq, Ed. D.
Executive Deputy Secretary
John J. Tommasini
Director
Bureau of Special Education
22