THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION AND REWARD:

The importance of motivation and reward:
Being a behaviour therapist working with children with autism, I commonly come across temper tantrums during my sessions – usually because the child does not want to perform the tasks expected. A common practice among professionals then, (including myself previously) is to force the child to complete his/her task using full hand-over-hand assistance.

After speaking with other professionals in the field (especially in the USA and UK) and doing extensive research on this topic, I learnt that physical intervention is not the most appropriate method to elicit cooperation and compliance from a child. It usually does not have long term effects and causes stressful situations for all – the child, the parents and the therapist/teacher.

Motivation is the key. Just like we are motivated to go to our jobs every day (either because we love our job or we need the money to provide for our families), children (especially those with special needs) need to be motivated to cooperate. This helps reduce challenging behaviours like temper tantrums.

During therapy sessions, motivation is elicited by providing rewards after completing the expected task. Rewards can be edible (chocolates, chips), non-edible (toys, books, TV), an activity (jumping on the trampoline, going for a walk) or sensory (vibrating massager, sound & light toys, shaving cream, brushing on skin).

A reward can work like a magic wand. Children who refused to sit and do any activities, would all of a sudden eagerly finish stacking rings just to get a few bounces on the trampoline. Children who would cry at the very sight of my therapy room would run in and point to the container of bubbles. Magic! I no longer had to force children to listen to my instructions and complete their tasks. Temper tantrums reduced considerably! I only had to keep them motivated! For Kunal (name changed) in the picture below, he loved the texture of shaving foam and had no trouble sitting for a 30 minute session, if he could play with shaving foam after completing a couple of activities. This helped increase his sitting tolerance and reduced his tantrums. It’s worth mentioning that:

1. The same rewards may not work every day, so one needs to have a good list of the child’s preferences. This reduces the chance of the child getting bored of the same reward.
2. Rewards should be given immediately as well as in bits-and-pieces (1 small piece of chocolate v/s of the whole bar, 10 minutes of TV time v/s 30 minutes). This keeps the child wanting for more and increases cooperation for further tasks.
3. When you promise to reward, always keep your promise or the child will not trust you next time!